Bhubaneswar: The gender inequality inherited from an ever-considered pious social institution called marriage, the challenges and fate a middle-class aspiration suffers after standing up against the societal and economic disparities that exist unapologetically are the plights of women who do want to raise their heads out of age-old social evils. In different stages and different societies, gender issues persistently exist with full-fledged determination to strike a visible boundary between males and females. Except for the biological differences that both the genders feature, no distinct variability can be pointed out logistically to advocate that a woman cannot be able to do what a man can do. Still, she has to fight for each of her rights and opportunities that should be availed to her as a man has without any hindrance.
Society has long been obsessively inbuilt with a mindset of single income in a family where the male member is the breadwinner and the female is the homemaker. The segregation and division of labour within a household very clearly create discrimination underlined as the talent, capability and skills are the terms just associated with particular gender roles as women are internally created for domestic spheres and men are exclusively for outside responsibilities.
When talking about choosing a profession there are common grounds for women taking up certain kinds of jobs which are considered suitable for striking a work-life balance for them. Jobs that are less time-consuming, less demanding, and so on are ideal for women as a society still preaches. On the other hand, the male counterparts are always appropriately fit for any kind of rigorous job/ profession, obviously because they have no home buzzer, no outside noise at odd hours, the responsibility of the family, children, guilt for being away from children, being an absent parent, no barriers for timings for returning home, no moral responsibility as they are traditionally stamped as the breadwinners of the house. The moment a woman enters such a space, she is foremost criticized for not becoming a good mother, wife and daughter-in-law, as it is quickly assumed that she is putting her career and herself on top of all the above. So it seems everyone’s prime accountability is to preach to her how to become an ideal woman.
Economic independence brings freedom and power to women. It is an indirect way to subjugate women and their voices by consistently preaching to them not to do certain things, not being capable of doing certain things and limiting them to households with unpaid labours which are anyways undue and not considered work. Our society still thinks a woman should first prioritise her family, and children and then go out to pursue a career. There cannot be any other option for her. Educational qualifications and holding as many degrees are not enough to empower a woman as long as she is economically dependent on her male counterparts.
-OdishaAge
