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A famous quotation reads as such "Woman was taken out of a man; not out of his head to top him, not out of his feet
to be trampled underfoot, but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arms to be protected, near his heart to be loved"
In our society the stereotype of husband is that he is the breadwinner of the family which in our society emphasise the person-traditionally the male - who "brings in the bread" (food or money to buy food) from outside.
As we know the stereotype is more of a myth then reality. Because more than 50% of married women work outside and among married women with children 6 to 17 years old,more then 70% are employed, in USA.
The fact that male and female differ biologically does not explain why human male and female should differ in behaviour or treated differently by society. Yet no society we know of treat male and female equally in the same way. Indeed females have fewer advantages then males.
Since many of the differences between male and female reflect cultural expectations and experiences,many reseraches now prefer to
call it Gender difference keeping sex difference for purely bilogical differences.
Condoleezza Rice, Sonia Gandhi, Oprah Winfrey,
Sharmila Chanu,
Pratibha Patil, Aishwariya Rai, Taslima Nasreem, etc. represents women from all walks of life: ranging from an ordinary girl with die hard spirit and courage, our very own Sharmila Chanu who is firm with her decision to fast unto death in order to save the youths
from the tortures of the unwanted policies of the lawmakers, to being the administrator of the entire nation, our honourable president, Pratibha Patil.
All these women represents connotation of one word "Power". They are the representatives of women in every sphere of life, in every type of society. Their persona is their power, skill, determination in this so called male dominated society.
Women empowerment is the "talk of the town". Modern woman has become more vocal about her needs. She has become more conscious
about her rights. Financial independence has made her assertive. She expects equality and respect from the opposite gender.
She wants both her mental and physical needs to be respected.
I Am Proud To Be A Woo-man!
Gone are the days when a female patiently waits for a male to woo her with a red rose and a mushy card. Gone are the days
when a teenage, late bloomer cried in despair when her dream man proposed her best friend instead. Today females have left behind the stereo typical notion of Adam wooing Eve first.
Nowadays many of the females ranging from the love smitten freakled teenager to the matured fine lady doesnt hesistate to
select and approach the male of their choice. Many of my female juniours used to go ga ga about their gang of girls being in a steady relationship in which all the boys were approached by the girls first (of course, they are smart beautiful girls!).
Many females even went on to become a female casanova. Different people may have different take on this. Some may find it absurd
and abnormal, others may find it cool and sensible.
But the bottom line is: Society is evolving,women have become more confident
and have overcome their inhibition in listing their wants and desires.
Chak De Girls!
Thanks to films like "chak de india" which proved
to be a moral booster specially for the girls.
We girls could not help ending our round of applause (good that it was not a multiplex) and whistles when the gang of jerks were given a solid thrashing by the girls and the underestimated, neglected "child" of Indian sport,the women hockey team went on to win the world cup.
The film was a real inspiration.
Pink Football:
Nowadays women could not bear being left out on important events: from attending the oath taking ceremony at the parliament to
enjoying the football world cup among the male crowds. New football fan is women so much so that a new term has been coined
called "pink fotball".
In the world of pink football, "girls are as important as boys". From serving in the army to being a bartender, women are leaving
no stones unturned in choosing their type of profession.
Many women who wants to serve liquor at bar doesnt think twice about taking up this job as long as the bar have a good bouncer. Many are still counting for the Delhi Excise Bill, 2007 which would allow them for the same.
"You Bitch"!Who Cares???
Women today almost deal with everything like men. They can even deal with being call a bitch. When the New York Council decide to
ban the word, as being sexiest and hateful, many women opposed it.
Many women feel that banning the word will be ridiculous as it is harmless and they would like to use the word more often
than men. Linsay Lohan was recently spotted wearing a shirt reading "Skinny Bitch".
Etiquettes rules and good manners guide may be apprehensive about the use of the word but many fashion world beleives that the word is trendy and non-sexiest,reports TOI.
Tigress!
Gone are the days when the heroine gets rescued by the hero when the villian capture her in a white gypsy.
Today women have become more aware about her surrounding, more responsive to the slightest change in her environment.
When she feels the presence of the slightest entropy in her surrounding, she is ready to handle it herself. Family issue,
sibling issue, career issue, she is all there for you!
She can be the pillar of strength for the entire family. (I feel like a hero when my brothers come to me with their problems,
when my love sick cousins pour out their emotions to me, and they do while they hesitate to share with their male friends,
wonder why???).
Modern women doesnt agree with their duty towards her parents ending with marriage. With women earning more and being
self independent, relationship has also undergone tremendous change.
Confessions, confusions, love story gone wrong, career decisions,you can all go to a woman (mother,sister,girlfriend,wife or just another friend),to clear your doubts or ease your problems.
Home Buyers!
Women now perform the dual role of being homemaker as well as house buyer. A recent report states that "a house is the first
investment women make after they start earning and already outrank single men in may metropolitan cities".
Well in my case too,and many of my friends with promising careers,buying a house is our first priority as soon as we get a good job.
We dream everyday about our "beautiful house" and how we would organise get togethers, meet every weekends, just girls and girls,
even after marrriage and make our poor husband jealous of us.
Well a sociologist states that "This is a progressive nation,gender inequality is giving way to women trailblazing in all fields.
Women are aspiring for higher studies, bigger jobs and they are steadily POSTPONING MARRIAGE TO MAKE A NAME. They are out to prove that they are better than men "A homemaker opined".
Some of the power house women: (References: Hello magazine,newspapers)
Sonia Gandhi: India"s own Jackie"o and Evita rolled into one,Sonia Gandhi hold the master key of the politics of this country.
Many a puppet she strings enigmatic. A fist in the Congress hand, she is the maker or breaker of the party rulling the country.
She is one woman power point,the epitome of power equation.Today her smallest gesture can change the course of the country,
a crease on her brow can outhrow the entrenched. She also ushered in a new era where modernity is based on some core values.
Talisma Nasreem: A well qualified doctor herself, she is a Bangladeshi writer of women oriented book like Lajja(shame),
Aamer Meyebala(My girlhood) who has been living an uncertain life facing threats and dire consequences for raising her
rational voice.
She has been writing about women"s right and secular humanism,gender equality, sexual exploitation etc. She stands for an idea
and for her "idea cannot be limited by boundaries".
Parmeshwar Godrej: One of India's top ten power players featured among her male counterparts like Vijay Mallay, Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani etc. She has the power to draw the biggest and brightest celebrity to her drawing room. She is a socialite,
interior designer and AIDS activist. She is a social inspiration, the mother-hen.
Aishwariya Rai: Her minute is worth a crore,Afterall she charged 3 crore for a 3 minute performance at the Commonwealth Games
at Melbourne. Bred of tulips named after her at Amsterdam, voted the most beautiful Miss World of all times, engraved in wax at
Madame Tussuads, the list goes on. We can love her or hate her but simple cant ignore this dainty damsel.
It is without doubts that women are exceeling in every sphere of life just like their male counterparts.
Yet there are many women who had never been exposed to the glares of the media, who live in the most remote area, yet who have shown tremendous courage and determination, whose stories are unheard to the world yet who had succeded in making a difference to their own litle society, women who had been victims of dowry, physical abuse, rape, AIDS, poverty, yet who survived to tell their tale of woes and helped to save another woman, women who had stood up to fight for a cause,all of them are "power house" women.
I salute all these women and I am proud to be a woman!
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* Jenni contributes to e-pao.net regularly.
This article was webcasted on September 18th 2007.
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