Women Empowerment - Much ado about nothing

Often heard this phrase- Women Empowerment but it still seems notional to me, a lot more intriguing – as it continues to highlight the dichotomy between theory and practice! Somehow I feel that we have coined these flamboyant phrases to please ourselves!

I do not intend to sound a wee bit pessimistic but at the same time I can’t fool myself into believing something that am not convinced about and that is this age old gap between the notion of empowerment and the actual empowerment-if I may say so!

I must give the credit where it is due and therefore how so ever disillusioned I may sound, I truly appreciate that Indian Legislature has given us laws to protect and safeguard the interest of women in our country. From the times of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who initiated a mass movement against child marriage, today we have legislations prohibiting child marriage, legislation that abolished the sati pratha, laws that make dowry an offence, we have our judiciary that has interpreted these statutes to realize their true scope, we have judiciary that has been, at more than one occasion, proactive, remember the Vishakha Case, where the Hon’ble Supreme Court has framed the guidelines against sexual harassment of women at workplace, indeed all this and a lot more-but still today, for every Kiran Bedi in our country we have countless Vishakha’s, for every Kalpana Chawla we have countless Bhawari Devi’s , for every Neelam Katara in our country we will have countless Bharti Yadavs who are caught in the prevalent gender bias in the society.

Allow me to quote from the judgment of State v. Vikas Yadav & Vishal Yadav, SC 78/02, at para 32, page 1069, where the Hon’ble Judge has in unequivocal terms stated:

The motive for Nitish's murder can thus be better understood in the context of socio cultural framework of society where in some sections of society from birth repressive socialisation of girls ensures that they are kept unaware of their rights…

This isn’t an illusion, just the picture as it stands today! Despite laws, more & more stringent laws, despite the new found love for the International Women’s Day, this gap still remains as wide as it has always been! It makes me question our own understanding of what we actually mean by empowering women- this phrase in itself sounds a bit chauvinistic, in so far as it first pronounces women to be inherently subordinate to their opposite sex and therefore require external assistance to help become capable, if not at par with men! I don’t know, but it in some way gives this sense.

I am not getting into the debate of the biological difference between the two sexes-of who is strong and who is not, infact I am consciously avoiding this line of argument, to me it is fallacious! All that I am trying to analyze is the reason for this gap-between our belief of empowerment and the actual state as it is and the answer lies within us-it’s a lot to do with our approach and attitude, a lot to do with our pretensions, our fake ego, our insensitivity and till such time we get over all this-no matter we get a thousand more Raja ram Mohan Roys, the ratio between our Kiran Bedis and Bhawari Devis would always remain this disturbing!!!

Even if the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed, how far would this go in bridging the gap! To me, this again appears as a flamboyant tool, for some people to promote the disillusionment for a whole lot of others to cash in their vote banks!

Let’s get to basics, lets first ask ourselves-have we given women the right/freedom to choose- freedom without any extra baggage of what she “ought” to have done or not done. There exists something called as dignity of an individual-have we ever thought of them as individuals- not as discharging roles of a mother, daughters, sisters, girlfriends, wives and so on……..I don’t know but I feel we have failed miserably! This is irrespective of class, be it the urbane or the uncouth-this is probably one of the fewer common threads that binds these two extremes, i.e. the approach or the attitude towards women!

Do you remember the television ad campaign “Bell Bajao”, where it was an attempt to encourage people to intervene if they witness domestic violence and abuse-that called for attitudinal change, which was aimed at sensitizing people. Just imagine, we have a whole bible of legislative tools/statutes to protect and promote the interest of women, yet when measured in terms of efficacy- it is not noteworthy! We haven’t been able to sensitize ourselves, expecting attitudinal changes appear a distant dream….

More than anything, its about self-introspection. I mean why not take charge of our own actions, at individual level and make a firm resolve that at least we will be honest in acknowledging that we are a part of the same set-up, system that promotes age old prejudices towards women and lets take that small step towards bridging that gap-lets start this change – from repressive socialization to progressive socialization!

And I know before questioning anyone else I must do a self-analysis and see if I am one of those who really understands the true meaning of women empowerment! For, if I must hope for a change I must first begin the change at home!

I am hopeful and therefore I will change!!!

(This is for my loving Maa and my little sister, with lots of luv!)

(Photograph: Anmol Dharmadhikari)