Do women fully experience equality?

In India, women are considered as Goddess Laxmi and equality for them means assuring them equal rights. We put women on high pedestal, but on the contrary they are not provided with their status, may it be socially or in other fields. To mark the Women’s Equality Day falling on Friday, we spoke to women from different walks of life to know what they feel. They stressed need for equal status to women.

Divjyot Arora, who is a baker, says, "As long as women are made to be a part of the kitchen as the duty of their homes, we won’t be able to introduce any diversity in bakery sector. A very limited number of women can create a vocation in high-end hotels as chefs, but are dominated by men, majorly in India. By introducing women-friendly policies that address the harsh realities such as fitting in the male-dominated kitchen culture, scene can be changed.

Archana Soni, a housewife, speaks about how she is solely responsible for the household, from the very start of the day. "It is me, the female head of the family involved in all of these responsibilities, irrespective of everything. It is said that behind every successful man there is a woman, but I don’t really find any logic behind this. Many times men do preliminary work and women take it to fruition. Therefore, housewife is one of the most underrated jobs, consciously or unconsciously. A housewife requires all the traits of love, respect, affection and anger equally, and is the most professional field all around.

Young feminist Nishpreet Chhabda says, “I strongly believe feminism is about equality but not superiority. During my education phase, we have overcome many gender biases in different aspects where we can say females are not patronised anymore to a major extent. Respect and being polite to every female is what is expected, and also providing them equal opportunities and benefits. This is why I stand for gender equality and wish to see people stop perceiving feminism as hatred towards the opposite gender.

Educationist Asha Deshpande, an assistant professor of journalism at MGM University, feels proud of her feminine gender. She says, "At my workplace around 50% of the authorities are headed by women, including the principal, staff, and all of these departments are working up to the mark, beyond everybody’s expectations. We have all been fulfilling our responsibilities with dedication and hard work and have faced every challenge that came our way. Even in this techno-savvy era, adapting to the changes has made us prove ourselves more effectively.