Position and role of a woman in society

 

Though women comprise of 50% of the world population, still  in most of the places, theyl belong to the most neglected section of society. Even modern society relegate them to a secondary position. Why? Is it because they belong to weaker sex? Or they are incapable or incompetent? Nay, it is not so.

It is said, “An enlightened woman is a source of infinite energy”. She works shoulder-to-shoulder with men in fields, rears children at home and shapes them into responsible citizens, and manages house-hold with all ingenuity of a financial expert in a situation of ever rising prices. She has proved herself to be second to none in any area whether it is industry, media, IT, politics, environment, housing, technology, rural development, social works or reforms, management, armed forces or civil services, which are all very different from her traditional role as a housewife.

It is the mindset of people due to traditional values, religious beliefs, socio-economic-political set up or circumstances that create hurdles on way to women’s progrss and empowerment. In fact, they represent a vast reservoir of human resource, which has remained untapped and unutilized to a great extent despite all the efforts done so far. Women are both entitled to and responsible for contributing to national development. In fact, development plans or programs could not be very effective unless women are allowed to participate equally in its implementation. It means toning up the systems. Task of involving them in developmental tasks/nation building activities needs national determination and political will. To curb injustice done to women so far, there should be drastic reforms in laws relating to status of women not just on papers but in real life as well. Without it, development of women can never be achieved.

To uplift position of women in society, organising a sound system of education and training is most important to inculcate in them proper knowledge, attitude, work-habits and skills. For it, a good and congenial atmosphere has to be createded. They should be made capable of taking their own decisions and to think of their own well being, as each one possess distinct personality, distinct voice and distinct learning. They should be inspired to join the mainstream. It needs creation of enough job-opportunities and making women aware of avenues open to them. Quite often, they find reluctance on the  part of employers  as a number of candidates are always there waiting in queue for each and every job. Rejection acts as a disincentive for women to join the mainstream. Therefore some feminists suggest for job reservation for women. But it will not necessarily lead to the sustainable development of women.

Dramatic changes have taken place in the role, ambitions and attitude of women in last few decades. Departing from their traditional role of reproducers, mothers and wives, today’s women are also as ambitious and care about their career as men do. The need of the time is to maintain a balance between femininity and ambition.