By Shreya Shukla:
We live in a patriarchal society where girls are expected be ‘sanskaari’, and the ones who decide to flout such societal norms are considered to stigmatise the entire community.
Who has given them (the so called ‘controllers’) the right to preside over the other section of the society? Besides, why should the latter be discriminated at the hands of the former? These questions seem to beleaguer our society from time immemorial and still people tend to be oblivious towards them.
I am an engineering student. I took admission in an institute of national importance totally on the basis of merit. One day, my friends and I were hashing over our future plans. All the guys heedlessly asked me not to bother as I was “required” to marry a rich lad and cook food for him every day. May be that was a remark aimed only to poke fun at me but deep down I felt awful. I tried to put forth my point. However, they were not convinced.
That day I learnt something. It is passably difficult for a woman to accomplish something in this male dominated world. Even the top 2% population of our country involving the educated and affluent businessmen, lawmakers and politicians are no less in widening the gap between the genders.
Huge business tycoons blessed with a lot of fortune have a belief that their legacy will be passed on to none but men. Girls in these households hardly have a say in the financial matters, supervising the company is a rather distant dream. If such “well read” individuals have a stereotypical notion on the role of females in our society, we can never imagine what the entire rustic population presumes.
Similarly, most of the office bearers and ministers comprise of men. A multitude of males in the political arena make it further difficult for a lady to rise above all odds and stand out in a sexist world. They appear to foster women empowerment but in reality they are eager to pull any emerging woman down. This hypocrisy is reflected in the policies that they implement. Their decisions affect the mindset of the crores of people. Hence, a false conception of prejudice against women is conveyed to the general public.
Although the circumstances have improved over time with ladies advancing towards the acme of excellence in a plethora of fields, a basic transition in the common man mentality is still awaited.
We need to completely brush off this idea of women living within the four walls. It is imperative that every girl grows up to be an educated and self-sufficient lady so that she isn’t a liability on anyone. It is immensely difficult to intimidate and suppress a self-made woman. With independence, a sense of authority is attributed to a person and hence, a potential to bring about a change in the perception of entire human race.