Bhubaneswar: Women in various stages of their life have to face discrimination in terms of their careers, in the domestic sphere, and pressure from society. Gender discrimination in different forms is a common factor resulting in women sacrificing their education, economic independence, career and aspirations coerced by family responsibility, reputation, lack of encouragement and so on.
To begin with, girls losing out on opportunities in education for their brothers in the family is not a new phenomenon. The family faces an economic deterioration then the girl child in the family only has to drop out of her studies. Though the mindset of girls being someone else’s property is still instilled. Moreover, dowry demands are heavily associated with the girl’s education, the more educated a girl would be the higher amount of dowry needed to marry her off. Likewise, the reputation of the family is associated with the kind of profession a woman chooses for herself or whether she should work outside or not. For example, women from higher caste are not allowed to work outside even though they are highly educated.
Gender discrimination is reflected in girls choosing the subjects in college and the kind of toys a girl should play with to division of responsibility within a household. Sports are stamped as girls’ games and boys’ games. Gender discrimination is so immersed within us that it is unrecognisable. The gender biases begin from the mother’s womb itself. The blessings given by the elders to a boy and a girl are different, and the reactions and excitement are shown differently in the birth of a boy and a girl. It indicates nothing but the deep-rooted and well-ingrained patriarchal system which had been operated since time immemorial in innumerable forms barring any economic state, geographical borders, and social distinctions.
In the modern era, women and girl children have not been spared from the age-old practice and belief system about gender discrimination. This phenomenon has been invincible and encompassed every field. Education, employment, family, and society, none of these brackets are free from gender bias.
-OdishaAge
