Women: Independent but still forced to be dependent

Women who work at their workplace and at their homes are never given equal chances to voice out their opinions at either of the places. Decision making in a family is usually taken by the head of the family and so it is carried out probably by the male head. Even with women getting freedom to decide and be financially independent, the patriarchal influence is still present to a great extent. According to the National Family Health survey 2015-2016, 63% of women participate in household decisions alone or jointly with their husband and 16% of them do not participate. Let’s analyse the position of women in decision making in various areas.

At Home

A joint family or a nuclear family with working women. The whole house would probably be managed by the women of the family but when decision making, financial responsibilities are considered, the men decide. Even if the female counterparts voice out their opinions, the family considers the decision of the men to be the wiser one. Similarly in the simple purchase of a car or a large good, the family takes a decision without acknowledging the women.

It’s not the same case everywhere and women are included in most of the decisions but the old notion that men are the real decision makers hasn’t gone. Especially in the rural areas where women are involved in all the work, they are actually not involved in any decision making anywhere. The rural women contribute a lot to the economy as most of them belong to the labour force. The decision to bear babies is also taken by the male partner and this also involves the education on consensual sex. So even in one’s own home women aren’t considered to be capable of making decisions.The responsibility of heading the family is moved to the female members only when the male members suffers from serious illnesses or passes away.

At Workplace

We are all aware of the baseless gender discriminations in the workspaces. The work, the dedication, the position might be the same but when it comes to decision making, the male employees are given priority. While companies with women leadership also are there where women lead. Statistics have also shown that the companies with female leadership have an equity of 10.1% compared to 7.4% from companies that do not have women leadership. The various fields like political, entertainment, bureaucracy also have less involvement of women when compared to men.

Background and Reasons

Women in the early Vedic period enjoyed high status in the society. They were also given equal rights and position in the society. There were also matrilineal societies in India like the Nayars who were later suppressed by the patriarchal influence. Even today, the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya still follow the females of the community. They take care of the entire affairs of the tribe. Later so many issues emerged against like child marriage, polygamy, sati began.

There is also a common misconception that women make decisions on emotional bases and get too stressed. Studies reveal that men and women decide in the same manner. Men usually end up taking risks when stressed. So there is no proof to say that women are incapable of deciding on any matter.

Living Examples

With the present pandemic being the best example to show that the places like Taiwan, Iceland, Finland, New Zealand and many more nations have the women leading them and these places have fared well in the pandemic times. Women in other fields like Priyanka Chopra, P.V. Sindhu and many more. Even in the earlier times nation leaders like Late Indira Gandhi, late Kalpana Chawla prove it clearly.

Even when brave women come out and prove they face a lot of criticisms everyday and this makes the job harder for women.

Way forward

As we are aware of the troubles, the solutions to it have to be looked upon to emphasize equality in decision making anywhere.

• The women reservation bill that provides 33% reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State legislative assembly hasn’t been passed yet. Steps have to be taken in this sector.
• Any form of empowerment begins at home. By practicing the concept of equality in decision making at home makes the young, elderly and all others aware of its importance.
• Educating the women of our society is very essential and this will surely make them aware of their rights. Also the younger population has to be educated about it.
• Inclusion of women in the political, economic fields etc. has to be practised and their participation has to be noted too.
• Women have the right to raise their voice and they are to be made better laws to make them feel safer in doing so.

Thus we have observed that the basic rights of women are to be considered and by doing that, we will be able to bring in the equality that every woman deserves.