Women Empowerment Vs. Being a Woman

 

Richa, a school teacher, earning sufficiently to share the financial load of her husband, managing the household errands and school job proficiently, but does not has a say in the household decisions, what to buy, what not to buy, she does not has participation in it.

Vrinda, a beauty practitioner, self-made women, also earning handsomely, even sometimes double than her software engineer counterpart, but still, have to look up to him for making a simple decision as choosing a dress for herself…..why?

Both the women are financially independent, but not empowered. Not empowered to even take small decisions for their own selves, while having a name in the society, but not even a word of thanks at home.

These days we are hearing about women empowerment, quite a lot, and why not…the issue is of grave concern, but have we really thought about empowering the women?

There are banners, posters, movies, plays, directing, and making people aware of empowering women by educating them, giving them a stand in the corporate, a stand in the parliament, a stand-in armed services, etc. and lot more, but is our society mature enough to grasp the depth of the matter?

Well it doesn’t seem so! Women who are well educated, well paid, having a good status in the society, have to succumb to the atrocities of the society, many times, just to maintain their status quo in the society where they live and why, because of the fear of rejection, fear of being left alone. They are by the definition, empowered enough to take care of themselves but they live in the society……a society not only of men but also of women who are equally responsible for their distress.

Well, why has the issue of women empowerment crept in? We never talk about men's empowerment because they don’t need it! Then why women need it, because society perceives the status of women that way, but fail to understand that no one needs the power infusion but the understanding, that nature has made both the species as equal, complementary to each other and not to dominate one another. Only if women could be treated with due respect and given the credit of what she is, the question of empowering her will vanish itself.

Power doesn’t come only from these superimposed personalities…it comes from within…and I believe all the women are empowered enough to take care of themselves provided they are well accepted with whatever status they have. If someone is divorced, then eyebrows are raised, if someone is left by the family then brows are raised, if someone is in a living relationship then brows are raised, if the woman herself leaves their family then there is a big question mark on the character…why?

Women relent to such situations, not because they are not empowered, but because they are not accepted in this society. If we go back to our Mythology, then we can see, that even Sita was empowered enough to reject Ram after going through the character test and then chose not to live with him after being humiliated. The same is the case in present times also.

If women choose to be a homemaker or a breadwinner, it's her choice. A homemaker though educated is equally empowered when respected and a breadwinner is equally not empowered when not respected. Education brings a difference to the fact that it makes women aware of their powers within but if challenged the uneducated women can also create havoc for her rights. All the forms of ‘DEVI ‘, as described in our mythology are actually the forms of the unleashed powers when challenged.

Their power lies within, and not given. The society needs to be educated for unleashing the power within and it has to be taught from childhood to both men and women that there is nothing like bestowed powers … it's the encouragement, respect, acceptance, and love that reinforces the power of women.

Let women be women, as natural and loving as made by GOD and just not only literate them and people around us, but educate all of them to respect and accept in all their forms and support in troubled times…..that is the real empowerment and a manifestation of their existence.