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International Women’s Day: Break The Bias
by Manju Lata
” यत्र नार्यस्तु पूजयन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवता “
It is said a place where women are honored; there the presence of God can be felt. But the question is, how far is this being applied?
Much has already been written about the plight of women in India. It is a fact that socially and economically, women lag far behind men.
If we see the census of 2001, we find Punjab, one of the most prosperous states of India, has the highest shortfall of female children compared to male children.
This proves that mere prosperity is not enough to eliminate gender discrimination, but a robust mental setup is greatly needed.
It is also a fact that if men have more physical energy, women are rich in internal and emotional energy.
That’s why where the men’s power cannot work, the ladies can do that work applying their emotional power. This quality of them makes them very special, worthy of worship.
“Women are worthy of worship. They are the fate of the household, the lamp of enlightenment for all in the household. They bring solace to the family and are an integral part of dharmic life.
Even heaven is under the control of women. The gods reside in those households where women are worshipped and in those households where women are slighted, all efforts at improvement go in vain.”
In Manusmriti 3-56
Even in a beautiful sloka of Rigveda, it is written:–
“O women! These mantras are given to you equally ( as to men ). May your thoughts, too, be harmonious. May your assemblies be open to all without discrimination. Your mind and consciousness should be harmonious.
I ( the rishi ) give you these mantras equally as to men and give you all and equal powers to absorb the full powers of these mantras.”
Rigveda
So were the powers given to women in the Vedic age. They glorified this Vedic period.
In those days, many sages were women only who wrote many of the slokas in the Vedas because the Vedic period had given considerable powers to women, equivalent to men.
Many women rishis like Apala, Aditi, Indrani, Urvashi, Lopamudra, Brahmajaya, Shrutvati, Laksha, etc. were holding high positions in the society and were greatly respected. They were regarded as SHAKTIS.
But now the question arises if such were women’s positions in the ancient era, how did their grandeur deteriorate in due course of time?
Why did the women regarded as SHAKTIS, start to be kept behind the doors?
Many such kinds of questions often disturb the mind. Many reasons were there behind this.
Continous foreign invasions in the country and their wrong attitude towards our women, the male dominance in due course of time in the society were perhaps the primary reason.
The Brahmin class of the society polluted the mind of the society’s people by producing wrong concepts for women.
According to them, women should be kept under their feet. Slowly and gradually, the grandeur of women deteriorated, and they were confined within the four walls, working for family and producing children.
The girl’s fetus started to be killed as the parents felt them a burden, for they had to face a lot after the birth of their daughter.
Conditions were becoming too miserable for women. Though many changes were brought in to improve the women’s position but it was not to that extent as was expected.
We all live in the 21st century; women are holding high positions in society, but how much?
Many of the families still have negative thinking for the girls. Even today, women in India and across the globe face everyday bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.
Everyday experiences leave women and girls feeling vulnerable, their safety and dignity at stake, worse for women and girls from economically weaker backgrounds, marginalized communities, religious minorities, ethnic groups, etc.
Women and young girls often bear the burden of hate and abuse — their bodies becoming the battleground of a family or even a community’s pride and honor.
To put a check on these issues, United Nations declared 8th March as International Women’s Day in 1975.
India celebrates Women’s Day on 14th February, which is the birthday of Sarojini Naidu also.
International Women’s Day on 8th March is a day to celebrate women’s social, economic, and political achievements, reflect on progress, and demand gender equality.
For over the years, International Women’s Day has put the spotlight on issues affecting women worldwide.
Today this day belongs to everyone who believes that women’s rights are human rights. We have got the topic, ” BREAK THE BIAS ” to work upon this time.
But many questions over our minds: how is it possible in such critical and challenging situations? Still, these days when we ladies are not allowed to express ourselves at home, how can we break the bias?
How much of our ideas are welcomed by the menfolk even if we do our bit? They treat us fools.
Even if some families give freedom to their ladies, what about the rest of the families? Why the girls and the ladies are used as tools in the hands of perpetrators?
These are some of the questions which often disturbs our mind. Though we live in the modern era, our mindset still needs a lot of orientation.
The elders are made to feel that there is no difference between a boy and a girl. They should maintain er equality. Equal love and care should be given to them, and no differences should be made in their nurturing.
Though physical differences are there mentally, they should be made strong equally. Many awareness programs in the form of theatre and dance dramas should be organized in the society to make the people understand.
More and more women leaders are to be raised. Domestic violence is strict to be opposed and punished.
Sexual harassment at public places, at the workplace, and inside the home should immediately be acted upon. Changes should be brought in those laws that take years to solve rape cases.
Every country should strictly adhere to that. Proper care, especially for the girl’s education should be made because girls’ education can lighten the lamp of knowledge not only in her parental home but also in her in-law’s side also benefits from her education.
They should make understand that money matter is not only the thing of men’s world but ladies can also do it far better than them.
If such care could be taken, then only proper balance between both the sexes could be balanced.
Manju Lata is a teacher by profession, working in Arunachal Pradesh. Originally she belongs to Gorakhpur, U.P. but since her childhood itself, she has been living here in the beautiful environs of Arunachal Pradesh. She got the Best Teacher Award from the school administration in 2016, STATE TEACHER AWARD on 5th September 2019 from the Govt. Of Arunachal Pradesh, was honored with DR. SARVAPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN AWARD by RNTALKS on 5th September 2021.
She stood first in a national online story writing competition in Hindi, VERVE 2020, on RNTALKS, was the winner of the national online story writing competition, FRAMED VERSES 2020 on W/W PUBLICATION AND LITERATURE. Stood second in national online poetry competition on EWA JINDAGI, 2021.
She was honored with NATION’S PRIDE — WOMAN EXCELLENCY OF INDIA INTERNATIONAL AWARD, 2021 – 22 by project BAALIKA VIDYA IN ASSOCIATION WITH AARAMBHAM FOUNDATION. Besides this, a number of times she has been honored in various small – small events on various platforms.
She is fond of doing gardening, drawing painting, and reading books. Also, she loves to write poems, stories, and quotes. She believes in simple living, hard work, and high thinking.
Hello Ranjeeta,
You have put in a lot of thought and effort into this article.
I feel it is of utmost importance that we women learn to do आत्म-मंथन and find patterns in our behavior that lead us to not being valued.
We get back what we put out into the world
If we learn to care for ourselves, the world will care for us.
Thank you so much for reading the whole article and sharing your thoughts. It means a lot. I absolutely agree about आत्म-मंथन. We have to first learn to value ourselves before we expect others to do so.
Very well penned! True that foreign invasion and their attitude towards women was the primary cause. What I feel is that breaking the bias solution lies in education. Schools should organise workshops for girls with working female models.
Thank you so much for reading the whole article and sharing your thoughts.