Women in the 21 st century

Where are all the talented women?

The year is 2014, the population of our country has reached almost a billion now, and fifty percent of that huge number constitutes women. Arudhati Bhattacharya has become the first chief of SBI in the last 206 years.  KalpanaChawla, Mother Teresa,SainaNehwal, Sonia Gandhi,Sunita Williams, ChandaKochar, Shikha Sharma, Indira Nooyi  are a few others who have made notable contributions to the society in the field of economics, finance,politics, sports,astro-science and business. We are proud as women ourselves to read about them and celebrate their success, but it is hard to suppress that question which the feminist in me puts forth. Where are all the other talented women?

Safe Society – A distant dream

The society at large has opened up a window or two for the empowerment of women but there are still iron-doors to be wrenched apart. Recently, ‘Nirbheek’ - a small hand- gun has hit the Indian market. The gun has been specially designed for women to defend themselves when attacked. It is a small, light-weight gun, and it is Pink! It is hard for me to imagine a more clichéd version of it. Why does the responsibility of having to protect herself depend only on her? Is that the brilliant solution the society can come up with after the brutal Delhi gang – rape case?

Every time we step forward three paces there are forces around us and also within us to set us back by two paces. No wonder there are only a few of us who make it to the top. How do we empower the other talented women, bring them out of the heavy boulders and help them soar?

Networking:

Women have been known for their team work and group effort. We have been dealing with so many social pressures for ages, that we are now well equipped and instinctive when it comes to socializing. When we couple these innate qualities in us with financial independence and physical fitness we enable ourselves and become empowered. We could use this to our advantage. Attending workshops, training programs would benefit us immensely and it’s a great way to meeting new people. Co-operative societies and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) have networking as their main ingredient.

E-commerce:

The time is perfect for women to invest on retailing and e-commerce. The reason I have concluded that solution is that, most of the retail space has been conceptualized, designed and executed by men. Further progress for them can only be through discounting their sales or through season/festive offers. There is a wonderful opportunity for the women to design businesses that would entice the whole customer segment of women. The different categories in that particular segment of business could only be designed by women and it presents a huge opportunity.

For artists and small businesses too, e –commerce could work in a great way if they could handle online systems by themselves. Marketing, brand building and sales could be made possible from anywhere.

Entrepreneurship:

Economic stability and the social status of women could be enhanced much when entrepreneurship gains momentum among women. When women attend trade fairs and exhibitions they are exposed to different ideas and they could also use the trade fairs as a means to market their own products later. While many policies are being introduced to facilitate women entrepreneurship in India, like, Indira MahilaYojana (IMY), Trade related entrepreneurship assistance and development of women (TREAD) and various other schemes and agencies in every Five Year Plan since 1951, we rarely utilize the welfare policies in its entirety. Women are set back mainly because of their ignorance of their very own legal rights and the women’s associations that exist to support them.

Reading:

We need to realize that self-care is more important. Only when we are at our best physical and mental health can we help others. Cultivating the habit of reading good material goes a long way in keeping us informed, energized and ready. Being open to new ideas and thought process would help free the mind and freedom always starts from within.

Steven Covey’s . ‘7 Habits of highly effective people’, Robin Sharma’s ‘Mega living! 30 days to a perfect life’, Robert Schuller’s, ‘Tough times never last, but tough people do’ are some great books to start with.

Conclusion:

The revolution has just begun; we have more doors to break and more hearts to melt.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/women-should-empower-themselves-kiran-bedi/article3843441.ece
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25366859
http://forbesindia.com/article/exit-interview/ecommerce-should-position-itself-for-women/34991/1 

Posted in: