Every year 8th March is celebrated with lots of enthusiasm and emotional speeches towards the rights of women in our society.
Various competitions are held discussing the role of women in the changing society, women empowerment, gender equality and working towards creating a safe and better world for women to live and breathe freely.
A lot is also discussed about granting equal rights to the girl child and understanding feelings of women on an emotional as well as psychological level.
Apart from this, 13th feb (birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu) is also celebrated as the National women’s day in our country. A woman who is respected and celebrated for her role in shaping the society the way it is. A reformer, freedom fighter, social activist and feminist who challenged her circumstances and stood apart.
Going further back, ours is the land of Supremacy of Shakti, The Devi who is believed to be the essence and energy behind everything in this universe.
Be it Navratri or Durga Puja, it is celebrated with great fervor, devotion and respect towards the feminine energy.
But does the same respect fill our hearts when we are dealing with the woman next door ?
Big names from the feminine gender are admired and honored and their examples are set before the society in public functions and speeches but do we really practice what we preach ?
Is our society really inclined towards granting the same status about which it talks highly to women in general.
Beta -beti ek samaan (Son and daughter are equal )
Beti bachao – beti padhao ( save and educate the girl child )
Educate a woman and you’ll educate a society, etc. etc. etc.
Are these golden rules really followed? If yes then why are women still looked down upon and why is there the need of marking special days in the calendar to celebrate womanhood.
A lady driving a car is mocked, “are bachke, vo gaadi aurat chala rahi hai” (save yourself for the vehicle is being driven by a woman)
Or “forget it, you won’t be able to do it. It’s a man’s job”.
Forget all this, the situation becomes all the more pathetic in her home environment, when she has to use the name of her children’s father in order to scare them, (papa ko aane do, shikayat karti hoon aaj – let Dad come and I’ll complain about you). Even her own children are not scared of her.
How much ever educated and career oriented a woman might be, she is expected to take charge of household responsibility and sacrifice her dreams.
If she doesn’t then she is seen as a rebel and selfish woman.
The difference in treatment at workplaces towards male and female counterparts. The difference in their pay structures in some fields and the ever looming question mark on their knowledge, ability and skills..
Is this justified ?
Does it not all reflect on the real status of women in our society?
More so if a female tries to voice her opinion or raise her head, she is humiliated in all the ways she can be.
(Aurat hoke akad dikhaegi -aa tujhe teri sahi jagah dikhaon — you are a woman who is daring to raise her head and voice – let me show you your correct place). This is a common dialogue in our society.
On one hand we worship Durga as Skandmata and Annapurna, feed girls considering them to be kanjaks or forms of goddess and on the other hand some elements in the same society foster wicked thoughts about women.
If a woman is a housewife she is assumed to be worthless and if she is career oriented she is termed selfish.
How much ever educated a woman might be or whatever zeniths she may scale, she is termed as the weaker section, is looked down upon and is a subject of filthy jokes and weird remarks by some of her male counterparts.
Such is the status of women in our society that our boys do not think twice before misbehaving with them.
A woman isn’t safe anywhere both physically and mentally, be it her home environment or her workplace.
Female foeticide, literacy rates, dowry deaths, molestation and awkward behavior at workplaces all point towards the real status of women in the society.
To top it up, if anything untoward happens with a woman, she’s the one who’s asked to silence herself in order to save her reputation and dignity.
Her boundaries have been marked since eons limiting her and her dreams. And she has always been expected to prove her virtuousness.
Despite being educated, independent and capable, women are still considered to be second class citizens. Time and again our patriarchal society tries to prove that the identity of a woman is dependent on her male counterpart and her family. That a chaste woman can have no identity or status of her own.
And to stamp this, the Indian cinema is playing an important role wherein women are objectified and portrayed weak and helpless and subject to sexualization. The songs describe women as if they are second class citizens who are always at mercy of their male counterparts.
Why ??
Why can she not be accepted the way she wants to be ?
Why can’t she be a free bird ?
Why is she limited within the boundaries set by others ?
Why is her identity governed by the mindset of the society ?
These are some questions which need some serious thinking and brainstorming.
They need justifications.
But is society really prepared for this open discussion, acceptance of the fact about independence of women and curbing interference in the decisions taken by women?
It’s high time when the real position of women granted due to the narrow minded outlook of our society needs to be looked into and worked upon.
Women were and are strong. They’ve always passed the tests of time, patience and endurance.
Nothing needs to be changed about them.
Rather we need to train our society to accept the fact wholeheartedly that women are equally capable in order to escalate the status of women in our society.
We need to wipe out that ego which is hampering the process of accepting women as equal.
What say ??
The Momma Clan 
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