The role of women in the society has always been fluctuating. Women has played different roles in a man's life and has worked hard to be in par with men. The society has seen and protrayed women as the weaker sex. The meaning of weaker sex is a little different though. It does not mean women are meant to be protected and cherished. It means women are a par lesser than men and are meant to be treated as subordinates. Women, all over the world have accepted their cultural responsibilities and have yet fought to break the mold.
Tamil Nadu has always set the cultural standard for the world. India as whole is looked upon with reverence when it comes to heritage and family value. Little did it do to uplift the status of the women in the society. Women have come a long way. Education and Digital world has changed the roles and rules. They have helped break taboos and made women confident.
The more women become independent, the more safety is becoming an issue. Women are being targeted in all avenues and she has to take an extra step to stay in the race. People have always ridiculed , threatened , emotionally bonded and tried all ways both good and bad to keep her within closed circles. Women has battled both external forces and inner demons to succeed in life. The recent threat is her safety. They are physically weak and emotionally attached to some strings which stops them from protecting themselves.
But it is only women's right to fight for their safety and right.Is it not the duty of every individual in the society to fight for her. The crimes against women is on the rise. Be it rape, murder, suicide , the list of victims grows daily and rapidly. What do we do about it? The corporate world is flooding the market with women empowerment and safety programs in attempt to capture attention and brand mileage. But are these programs making a change in reality is a separate discussion.
Will these issues stop women from coming out? Maybe to some extent , it will. How do we change it? Are we teaching our youth and children about gender equality? Difference starts at home. Every household of the 19th century created a rift between the male and female children in terms of minor to major things. The situation is changing. But are we instilling the importance of respecting each other or are we teaching them to turn blind to the things happening around us. If this violence against women continues, Will be cause a socio - economic change. Are we slowing moving to the Ancient Era?
Tamil Nadu has always set the cultural standard for the world. India as whole is looked upon with reverence when it comes to heritage and family value. Little did it do to uplift the status of the women in the society. Women have come a long way. Education and Digital world has changed the roles and rules. They have helped break taboos and made women confident.
The more women become independent, the more safety is becoming an issue. Women are being targeted in all avenues and she has to take an extra step to stay in the race. People have always ridiculed , threatened , emotionally bonded and tried all ways both good and bad to keep her within closed circles. Women has battled both external forces and inner demons to succeed in life. The recent threat is her safety. They are physically weak and emotionally attached to some strings which stops them from protecting themselves.
But it is only women's right to fight for their safety and right.Is it not the duty of every individual in the society to fight for her. The crimes against women is on the rise. Be it rape, murder, suicide , the list of victims grows daily and rapidly. What do we do about it? The corporate world is flooding the market with women empowerment and safety programs in attempt to capture attention and brand mileage. But are these programs making a change in reality is a separate discussion.
Will these issues stop women from coming out? Maybe to some extent , it will. How do we change it? Are we teaching our youth and children about gender equality? Difference starts at home. Every household of the 19th century created a rift between the male and female children in terms of minor to major things. The situation is changing. But are we instilling the importance of respecting each other or are we teaching them to turn blind to the things happening around us. If this violence against women continues, Will be cause a socio - economic change. Are we slowing moving to the Ancient Era?
When you are criticized most, many of the times the fact is you are doing the correct thing but it is causing discomfort to others.
ReplyDeleteNow , do you stop doing the correct thing for that? No, you don't. At first you may get a setback, may be you will stop doing the correct thing. But then you will gather courage and go forward to do what is right.
The world's society has been patriarchal right from the beginning. Over several thousand years, women were restricted to indoors. It is only over few hundred years, women are working outdoors along with men.
So this means what? The society is changing and that too at a rapid pace. The voice of women is getting importance within the passing of time. Her status is increasing day by day.
We all know that the mass chunk of society hates change. So the feudal father in law who treated his wife as a person dependent on her on all respect finds his daughter in law taking her own decision in all spheres, is bound to react. He is afraid...hell he is no more super power. Sometimes his son gets irritated too. He has seen his mother obediently obey his father's order. So when he has a disagreement with his wife, he may thing "If she was as obedient as my mother".
It all starts from home. The way you treat your womenfolk at home, the same way you will treat them outside. But thankfully some people are changing. That irritates the mass and they react. They react because they are feeling insecure. So sometimes they resort to violence and abusive behaviour because they are afraid of the rising strength of women. Their violent behaviour is not a sign of their aggression, but it is a sign of their defense mechanism. It is like the way the British Empire used to punish the freedom fighters, so that the others do not rebel. But that did not stop them.
So in short the violence on women is increasing because
A. Women are coming forward in every field. This is not to the liking of this patriarchal society and thus it is reacting and resisting this change. in various manner.
B. There are more reporting about instances of violence on woman. There were violence in earlier time too, but middle class Indians did not report because of saving of 'izzat of bahu beti'. That has changed. So sometimes the instance of violence seems much more than what is actually happening.
We are moving forward and not backward, hence there is so much obstacles. The first time when someone talked about women's education, there were much more reaction.
Dear Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI admire your honesty and the clarity with which you've written this. There's always going to remain a large space between aspirations and reality. But nothing shouldn't be given up merely for that reason. Not atleast when it is a noble hope upliftment of women.