write an esay on indian women of 21st century.
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Answer:
Explanation:
Women are an integral part of human society. But for a woman, there couldn’t have been any man. She is the mother of mankind. Despite holding such an important and unquestionable position, role of women has been defined by men over millennia. Our Vedas tell us that women held an important place in ancient culture. No ritual was ever complete without the presence of a woman by her man’s side. All our gods are worshipped alongside their heavenly consorts. There is no dichotomy there. No one questions this. The staunchest of male chauvinist reverentially bows his head to Goddess Lakshmi, or Durga. It is not considered a sign of weakness to bow to female deities.
Women at home and society in general, are a different cup of tea. They are treated as second class citizens. How did this ‘battle of sexes’ begin? How did the men win the winning hand? I think that economics had a role to play in the scheme of things. When man took on the role of a bread earner, and woman took the natural role of a nurturer, these roles suited their intended role by the Creator. Man was physically strong, while the woman was inherently strong. Over a period of time the man started believing that his role was superior to that of the woman as without him there would be no food at the table. Woman’s role was taken as for granted. The physically feeble woman was led to believe this lie for centuries.
Someone as respected as Socrates said that the only reason he put up with his wife, Xanthippe, was that she bore him sons. He said it was like putting up with the noise of geese because they produce eggs and chicks. What an analogy from the most revered philosopher of all ages! Closer home Manu said in 200 B.C.: "by a young girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house". "In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent."
It is only when things went way beyond the level of tolerance that the women raised their voices. The first such voice was heard loud and clear in the early 19th century, when the term ‘women suffragists’ became a household word in the west. We were a British colony at that time, but women across Europe and United States rose as an entity demanding suffrage, or the right to vote. It is to the credit of these courageous women that today women’s right to vote is a ‘given’ in most of the free world, though there are still some countries, mainly in the Middle East that still deny women their universal right to vote.
The suffragists had two points of views. One view was that women’s natural place was at home and the voting rights will enable them to help formulate laws that affect life at home. The other view was that men and women should be equal in every way and there was no such thing as a ‘natural’ role for a woman. The ‘suffrage’ movement can be seen as the first wave of the ‘feminist’ movement that caught widespread imagination in 1960s -1980s. This second wave dealt with the inequalities of laws, as well as perceived cultural inequalities. Although the term ‘feminist’ was coined in 1880, its usage as a movement gained ground in 1960s onwards.
‘Feminists’ were those men and women who wrote, spoke and acted on behalf of women and their rights to social, economical, and political equality. Famous writer Rebecca West defined feminism the best with her now famous comments, “I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute.” Unfortunately this wave got more publicity and notoriety for now infamous, and according to some ‘fictitious’ bra burning episodes, and got identified with that. In this phase, women tried to equate themselves with men by proving that they were as good as men, if not better.
Women’s Rights Movement gained mass support in the latter half of the twentieth century when the essential problems like discrimination, inequality and limited opportunities continued to confront women in all spheres of life. The phrase ‘Women’s Liberation’ appeared in print media in 1966. Late sixties also marked a period in human history when more and more women joined institutes of higher education. From then on, women have not looked back.
Today at the dawn of the 21st century the women across the world are placed at a position of advantage. They are literally on the move. They are paying heed to their inner voice. They are no longer interested in hollow jargon and jingoism. They are finding their individual and collective voice. They are aligned with their conscience, moving ahead with purposeful strides.