Women Empowerment (Cause and Effect in the Nation)
India is a country with diverse population, most of which consists of male as compared to females. A ton of questions have been raised regarding the same. Why is there a vast disproportionate gender ratio between these two genders?
Enriched with culture, India is a country rooted into its societal norms that have been passed down from generations to generations whether it be gender roles or the authority and power, and again the country looks deep into it. The root cause that one might blame for the gender discrimination begins with the societal norms and ends with humans believing it to be true. Hence, women empowerment is a need in the country. There have been constant fight going on to attain women empowerment and let women be aware of their rights and freedom but yet the women of our country are facing a direct backlash in every field of work they work in whether it be formal or informal and the major underlying causes need to be studied.
Economic development is not just about driving up the GDP of a country. What a country is with an impressive economy if it cannot help its citizen to recognize the crucial pillars of the society- THE WOMEN. The employment rate of women is lower than men, there is a concerning gender pay gap ratio between both the genders where men are paid more than women in the same field of work and the literacy rate of women is same as the other two. Our society believes that if a man does household chores it’s a thing which should be applauded and if a woman is doing it, that’s what she’s born for. Hypocrites right? In the different scenario, if a woman is working a paid job she’s is demeaned for it while a man is appreciated for earning the bread. Due to this mentality most of the work done by women is considered as informal and hence remains unpaid. What the people of this country would not understand that the informal unpaid work is the core pillar of all the formal work being done conveniently. If contributed to GDP, the unpaid work by women would contribute about 7.5%. As said involvement of women in work sectors is equally important as it would not only boost the economy but also help in social development of the country, which is very much needed at this point.
What this society assumes is that women must be held accountable for everything whereas men must only hold the dominant power to control the puppets. The lack of accountability in men concerns high crime and rape rates in women and the abuse and domestic violence that women face in household.
The following are the underlying causes for the discrimination that women face in day to day lives-
- Illiteracy among women- Women are deprived of Education due to various factors. Many households believe that spending in a woman’s education is considered a waste of money as they are meant to look after household chores. While education is a fundamental right and government is putting in efforts to grant access to education to every child, people in rural areas still do not believe in that. They get their daughters engaged in household chores or marry off their daughters at a very young age. Illiteracy is the root cause of women not being aware of their social standing, rights and freedom in the society and is a major cause of diseases in women.
- Financial Dependence- Women due to lack of education and societal beliefs remain unemployed making them being depend on men for money, food and shelter. Men see this as a vulnerability which raises the cases of domestic violence and abuse as men start feeling g superior to women trying to prove their dominance and women due to the dependence fear to take a stand for them.
- Lack of Independence- Women due to lack of knowledge and financial dependence are often restricted to be engaged in household chores only. They are set by limits and hence fail to prioritize their dreams. Many a times even educated women are not allowed by the family to work due to the societal norms if what they believe that women are born to help in household chores and not to purse the dominant bread earner role of the family. Due to this lack of independence women often lose motivation due the limits and not being able to perform up to their marked potential remaining underestimated.
- Gender Pay Gap- Despite all the efforts of education, women still are paid lesser than men in various work sectors due to which women often lose motivation and their potential goes wasted. Even for the same work in the same field men are prioritized and paid more while women even after working for long hours remain unpaid.
- Mindset shift- The society sees men as dominant creatures whereas women are often seen as vulnerable giving men the hold more power and authority to rule over women. Women are the first to blame in every aspect and the norms have been passed down from generations to generations and hence there us a serious need for the change in the mindset shift.
- Balancing double duties- Women often fail to give their best potential due the burnout caused due to the balancing of both the duties, that is, household chores as well as paid work and despite the double efforts, they are paid less. Women are bound to look after the chores as this is what society believes them to look after. Despite having a working job stereotype believe that women must look after their homes while men are supposed to lay down after a long day ow work.
There still a lot of factors which normalize the discrimination that women face in their day to day lives. The normalization has occurred due to how often to is faced by females. These causes must be studies and the action must be taken upon.
India is still at a better place with respect to the situation of women in the country in terms of education and empowerment but it still has a long way to go when we talk about the women safety and the mind set shifts.