Feminism & Women Empowerment

“Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength,” said G.D. Anderson.

I have time and again been accused of being anti men/hating men with my recent posts about feminism and women empowerment. But talking about or standing up for women is not being against men. It is just about raising a voice for the injustice towards half the population of the world.

Feminism is a movement of advancing women’s rights whereas women empowerment is one of the tools which facilitates feminism

Feminism and women empowerment are two concepts that are closely related. Women empowerment is a powerful tool to create a sustainable and progressive society. It is possible to help women defend themselves against these injustices with different kinds of empowerment, such as social, economic, educational, political, and psychological.

In the last decades, the concept of women empowerment has changed from welfare to equity approach by which the powerless gain control over their lives and resources to overcome external barriers (lack of health, mobility, education and awareness, status in the family, participation in decision making) and gain internal qualities such as self-awareness and self-confidence. In this way, women’s empowerment has become a pre requisite for the socio-economic development of any community in the process of change.

Empowerment is the process of obtaining basic opportunities for marginalized people, either directly by those people, or through the help of non-marginalized others who share their own access to these opportunities. Empowerment of women signifies harnessing women power by promoting their tremendous potential and encouraging them to work towards attaining a dignified and satisfying way of life through confidence and competence.

The empowerment of women is crucial for the development of the country. In India, where population maintain equal ratio of males and females the emergence of women entrepreneurs have great relevance and importance otherwise it will be amounting to neglecting 50 per cent of the entrepreneurial talent of the country.

Patriarchs head societies all over the world. They have decided and mapped the route their little girls, mothers, sisters and wives shall follow. Women who dare to take a detour from the defined route are castigated and punished.

The worst form of punishment is their estrangement by their families. When a woman chooses the beaten path, her family supports her, and she lives a stifled life pleasing everybody.

If she chooses her heart over society, she has to tread on the unbeaten path alone. This is the sad reality of the modern woman. The ancient era disallowed women from even having a distinct thought process. When the modern era arrived, and she finally found her voice, the whole world is hell-bent on gagging her.

Striving for success is not her problem; her biggest struggle is the first step towards that striving. She finds little to no support of her educated near and dear ones.

Women have had it tough so far. Celebrating a single day as a day dedicated to empowering them is not enough. We need to continue the enthusiasm of 8th March throughout the year and make little girls understand that they possess the power to change the world, soften the society and spread love if they take it upon themselves to do so.

No man should ever dictate their decisions when he is her equal. Nobody can own her. She belongs to herself and therein lies her empowerment.

Don’t treat her like a queen, for she will stop working for anything. Don’t treat her like a girl; she will forget what humanity is. Treat her like a person, and she will understand life and her purpose in it. There lies the salvation of society.; Rebuilt by the hands of a woman who is no different from any man working hard to establish himself.