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‘Woman’ Kal Aaj aur Kal
“And
she is not your mother
And
she is not your sister
And
she is not your daughter
She
needs no protector”
Reads
the lines of a song called the Second Sex by Anupam Roy, which means that a
woman is complete in herself and needs nobody to act as her protector. She can
and is capable of protecting her own self. The transformation from the second
gender, as it always has been regarded as the second priority, to the first
gender is inevitable.
Women are the example of strength, love, sacrifice. Though the
pandemic year has seen many glass ceilings been broken by the victorious
ladies, what remains to make a difference is the progress that women made this
year. Shattering all the platitudes, they have come a long way. Yet, a longer
way awaits them. This fight has been a sole universal fight that speaks
volumes. Right from the right to vote, access to education, helping in family
businesses, personally deciding when to have a child, representing other
oppressed women, to juggling between domestic responsibilities and work, to
starting your own company, driving the community to a better future and doing
all the “manly” duties, there have been many hurdles but a difficult fight has led
to a sweeter victory, like always.
The
old times have witnessed regressive ideas, oppression, atrocities and
inhumanity in every way. The good part is much of it has changed owing to modernization
and the bad part is that some of it hasn’t seized to exist. The roles of women
in our society have only kept on changing for good- from the obedient and timid
housewife who spoke only from beneath the ghungta
to the Sarpanch or the Vidhaika, to owning million-dollar businesses.
Predominantly the urban women are seen marking their territory with the help of
all amenities and inbuilt leadership. But what emerged lately has not just
changed the narrative of rural women but also empowered women across all
sections of society.
When
the pandemic brought the entire world to a complete standstill during the
months of 2020, women leaders around the world—Angela Merkel of Germany, and
Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, Nirmala Sitaraman- the Finance Minister of
India, and KK Shailaja- current Minister of Health and Social Welfare of
Kerala, came forth only to show how better-equipped women are with the
qualities of leadership, intelligence and courage. The Nobel Laureates in 2020-
Andrea Ghez, Jennifer Doudna, and France’s Emmanuelle Charpentier have bagged
prizes in Physics and Chemistry which has always been the male-dominated field
of study. Next up Kamala Harris, be her election as the first woman vice president was a political gimmick to attract vote bank or her genuine
credibility in deserving the post, the decision of nominating the first
African-American women and also, the first person of Asian descent is historic
in itself. Whitney Wolfe became the youngest female self-made billionaire after
taking her company Bumble public.
Dutee
Chand, besides becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal at the world
university games in 2019, also came out as the first gay athlete representing
India. Pranjul Bhandari, a macro-economist of repute, worked in both public
policy (India's Ministry of Finance and British Govt) and the private sector
(Goldman Sachs and HSBC). The list goes on and on!
It
is extremely assuring that these women did not stop to renovate, re-invent,
adapt or lead in the difficult times. Even the women who choose to remain away
from the limelight, fight for herself in a toxic surrounding, wants to break
free from the assault and voices the oppressed, are the heroes of all times.
Every woman should be regarded as a fighter- some fight the stereotypes and
some, the male oppression. In short, they fight to live a life of their own
terms.
Having
said that, this article would seem incomplete if we fail to acknowledge the
other side of the coin. On one hand, there has been a never-ending spree of
sexual harassment against women. The judiciary has failed women in many ways.
One of the instances being the skin to skin judgment passed by Bombay High
Court, to the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court declaring that if the accused
rapist agrees to marry the victim, then the charges against him would be considered
to be lifted. Madhya Pradesh High Court granted bail to a man accused of sexual
violence against a woman on the grounds that he visited the victim’s house on
the occasion of Raksha Bandhan with a box of sweets and a rakhi.
Though
there have been a few unfortunate and heart-wrenching instances of sexist and
biased verdicts, what does not go unnoticed is that the laws of India are very
women-centric. Women-centric laws also call for women taking undue advantage.
This Women’s Day we should not only celebrate the greatness of women all over
the world but also prevent misuse of such laws driven by evil motives. Be it
the false cases of dowry, or domestic violence, or sexual harassment, there is
a need to make sure that the motive of women empowerment and feminism does not
become the monster it wanted to defeat in the first place. Here’s to another
year of embracing womanhood!
Tweets:
@narendramodi-
Women are playing a leading role in India’s quest to become Atmanirbhar. On
International Women’s Day, let us commit to encouraging entrepreneurship among
women. Today, I bought a few products that celebrate women enterprise,
creativity and India’s culture. #Narishakti
@Dev_Fadnavis – Anything can be incomplete but #Narishakti! With her abilities as grand as Mother Earth, SHE plays a vital role in social transformation. We must salute and respect every woman in our life and society! Saluting every Nari on #International Women’s Day.
(Advocate
Vedika Chaubey can be reached at vedikachaubey@gmail.com)
