ROLE OF WOMEN IN NATURE 21ST CENTURY

ABSTRACT

“Woman is a miracle of divine contradictions” – Jules Michelet

Woman is the embodiment of God’s creative power, Shakti. Woman embodies the feminine
aspect of God, through which he created the creation. God placed within women divine qualities
of strength, virtue, love, and the willingness to sacrifice to raise future generations of his spirit
children. Women by divine nature have the greater gift and responsibility for home and children
and nurturing there and in other settings. Women have a divine role, but some may need help
remembering their true identity. They deserve to be treated with the utmost care, respect, and
dignity. Treating women as such, will empower not only the individual but society as a whole.
Perhaps, as a result, men, women, and children will be able to recognize what is divine within
them and act accordingly. It is important to note that celebrating the economic, political and
social achievements of women on International Women’s Day (8th March), a global day every
year with all respect, appreciation, achievements and love towards women should be exercised
every single day to safeguard and value the pomp and glory that comes around in day today life
in all its natural way.

21st Century is an era of Science and technology. In the field of science and technology we can
see constant growth. There is advancement in every field. We have developed advanced missiles,
nuclear power, machines and techniques. The role of women has also changed in the 21st
century. They are no more restricted to cooking, washing clothes, doing household works and
looking after their children and family. Today women is leading in every field and society
whether it be sports, commerce and industry, education, health, politics, technology, navy, army,
agriculture. Due to advancement in the field of science and technology and the active
involvement of women in it we have been able to overcome the evils of our society which were
prevalent in our religion, caste and territory and were danger for the world's peace. Now people
are making maximum utilization of available resources for their well beings and for the
generations to come. We are now a
making a balance between his family responsibilities and outside world and has become an
earning member of the family and a responsible citizen of the society. Women are the new
paradigms of today’s culture beginning from home to working sector. Women work in three
criteria. Women are taking active participation in management, local governance and political
fields. Women trend in working sector has changed with globalization. Women are involved in
SNA activities. A survey has also been conducted about the nature of women work behavior. A
significant part of women are unpaid because they are socially unrecognized. Women work is
rendered invisible because of social perceptions. Women are the resource of our country in every
field. Women have shifted traditional assumptions about their roles and capabilities. Women
have basic rights about decision making. There are facts and figures about women participating
in different roles. In this era women have made comprehensive steps in educational attainment
and workforce participation. Women participation in work is one of the proxy indicators of
women in overall status in society and gender empowerment. Women are managing complex
interfaces between domestic and work culture. This is the very power of women in this 21st
century.
INTRODUCTION

Time can’t be stopped. It runs in its own speed and pace. It is a continuous procedure which goes
on and on un-interrupted. Nobody can stop time. With the time changes days, months, years and
then a complete era is changed. With the passing time history is created, fashion is changed and
we have entered in the 21st century of industrial development leaving behind the evils and
darkness of our old thoughts, beliefs, traditions and prevalent blind faiths of our society. The
term entrepreneur is a loanword from French, and is commonly used to describe an individual
who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on financial risk to do so. The term
was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. As per Indian government a
women who holds 51% of shares and run any business independently is called women
entrepreneur. Women entrepreneurs also contribute to India’s economic prosperity. But, some of
the major problems faced by women entrepreneurs in the country are attributed to lack of
education, lack of proper management, financial support etc. Low education restricts women
from acquiring even functional levels of literacy required to learn skills1. For centuries women
have been victim of social prejudices and discrimination. Even today parents’ prefer male child
then female. Women are generally presumed to be weak, passive, dependent and people oriented.
On the other hand men are considered strong, aggressive, and independent and things oriented.
The development of women entrepreneurship is very low in India, particularly in small cities and
in rural areas. Entrepreneurship in women is a need of recent time. 21st century women are
aware of their rights and duties as well as their work situation. It has been observed that women
from middle class are not eager to alter their role in fear of social dilemma. The development of
women as an entrepreneur 1 is visible among higher class than middle or lower class.
Women who were restricted to only house hold activities previously have now joined hands with
men and are working in every field. She is a Doctor, Engineer, Politician, Professor, Architect
and has even gone to space and created history in every field. They are entrepreneur, a good
decision maker and a good manager, besides they are also a good wife and a good mother.
Women’s empowerment is not a new word in today’s gender literature. Women are becoming
more and more self dependent by accessing to all opportunities which women were denied in the
past. Women have possessed the power to utilize power in every field. The role of women is
rooted into eternity. A woman goes under many transitions. It takes time for women to unfold
her into self established person. There are two types of struggling women in the community. One
who has highly established and the other in a struggling society to confine herself into proper
designation. Gone are the days when men overruled women in each sphere and gone are the days
when women were denied of freedom and opportunities. Now women are setting up enterprises
and taking up income generated activities maintaining family. The role of Indian women has
ranged from that of a deity from pure to vulgar from being supreme to downtrodden and also
innumerable manifestations of virtue or vice. Indian women have undergone drastic change.
Now this change is due to increase in globalization, impact of technology, impact of media and
other cultures, impact of social, economic and political cross currents of the world, and
unforeseen and unanticipated events across the world. The social cultural context of women
growing up remained the same for thousands of years, political ideology and governance of a
nation emerged from the 1940s in India, industrialization took roots and mass education for both
women and men. Women has to play multiple roles sometimes role of wife or mother or role of
parents or daughter and simultaneously in the social setting to play different roles in community
and doing this she has to submerge her own self role and real identity. This is the century of
telecom, IT and financial institutions. Women expertise in all the industries is beginning to
emerge and women are emerging as a force to reckon it. The transition will be where women will
create new paradigms. Ladies, how do we convince 21st century men folk that we're overdue for
some R-E-S-P-E-C-T? If I didn't know better, I'd say we were living in 1973 not 2013. There are
plenty of examples today that remind me of Ron Burgundy in "Anchorman," who told his female
counterpart Veronica Corningstone, "You're just a woman with a small brain. With a brain a
third the size of us. It's science." While that was a knee-slapping joke in the context of the movie,
that kind of entrenched sexism isn't funny when it comes from politicians, corporate America or
even the media itself. So what should we think of GOP leaders on Capitol Hill being trained in
how to better treat and understand women after suffering major losses among female voters in
2012 as a result of out-of-touch comments about things like "legitimate rape" and "aspirin
between your knees" contraception. While Republicans often get a bad rap for being anti woman
and sexist, offensive remarks and actions toward women aren't the sole domain of the GOP.
Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, a Democrat, was recently sentenced to a mere three
month’s home confinement and three years of probation for sexually harassing countless women
for decades. The 71-year-old Filner seemed to lack true understanding of his offenses, saying
he'd undergo behavior-modification therapy to better understand why he was harassing women.

The Reflection of Divine Nature in Women

Once, women were honored as strong, beautiful, creative, sensual beings. In those ancient times,
we humans were keenly attuned to the heartbeat of the planet. Life was lived on the edge.
Women have done a remarkable service to literature and culture. Vedic scriptures asserted that
women and men both are two sides of the same coin. No one is superior to the other in the
materialistic world. Rigved & Upanishads mention several names of women sages and seers
notably Gargi & Maître. Woman is the manifested divine form of the same absolute energy, say,
masculine energy as is stated by Samkhyas. Seeing divinity even in a small insect is the core
teaching of Hindu scriptures. This idea is reflected in Bhagavad-Gita. “Looking upon all things
as uniformly pervaded by the lord, he does not try to injure self by self and this attains to the
highest goal”.
Our survival as a species depended on our ability to live in harmony with the world. The
feminine aspect of life was necessary for our very survival, and the sacred feminine was honored
by ancient around the world as bringer of life, growth, decline, death and rebirth. Woman was
life itself. The power of women in those ancient times was undeniable without women; we
humans would not be here now. The world changed. We grew apart from the primal rhythms
native to us and we abandoned our old ways to explore human life through a masculine-centric
lens of action and movement. Gifts inherent to women were lost or set aside. Gifts of the
masculine focus, action, physical strength were revered and made central. This volume gives
historical details on how the glorious state of womanhood of the Vedic era got deteriorated to the
present state of all round exploitation of women. It highlights the multiple dimensions of the
problem covering religious, psychological, social and economical fronts. It reviews the history of
woman liberation movements from different angles and illuminates the possibilities of the rise
and dominant role of women in every walk of life in the new era.

The changing scenario with democratic developments and scientific and intellectual evolution
began to show the signs of public awareness and paved the way for expansion of the social
reformation activities since the past two centuries. The roots of the subsequent movement of
women's emancipation, its progress and scope - are also discussed in the present volume with
foresighted guidance. The volume also pays due attention on - how the sexual exploitation of
women, ongoing under the fashionable trends of advertising woman's body in the name of
'recognition' of her beauty and boldness, should be and could be stopped?; how the idea of
women-lib could be oriented to give constructive boost for the righteous progress of women as
well as the other components of human society?

Conceptual Framework of Women Empowerment

One has to view that empowerment is taking place on different levels and change is very
necessary at all levels. We can relate it on basis of three criteria on individual, group and
societal/ community level and interaction between them. Individual means the perception of
oneself to control herself and identify goal and work till it is reached. Group deals with collective
action and sense of agency that woman experience in a group. Society level deals with political
and social climate its norms and public discourse on what is possible and impossible for women.
The three levels are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. Globalization has presented new
challenges for the realization of the goal of women’s equality, the gender impact of which has
not been systematically evaluated fully. From micro-level there is need for reframing policies for
access to employment and quality of employment. Benefits of growing global economy have
been unevenly distributed leading to wider economic disparities, the feminization of poverty,
increased gender inequality through deteriorating working conditions and unsafe working
environment especially in the informal economy and rural areas. Strategies will be designed to
enhance the capacity of women and empower them to meet the negative social and economic
impacts which may flow from the globalization process.
Facts and Figures of Women Employees

A new Mercer survey on women’s leadership development shows about 15% of the respondents
were from Indian organizations, companies must adopt a philosophy encouraging talented
women to lead from front. 73% companies don’t have a strategy for developing women in
leadership roles. 42% companies do not offer activities targeted to the needs of women leaders.
23% companies offer some activities or programs for women. 9% companies are planning to add
programmes and activities in the future. 20% companies are very concerned about retaining
women in leadership roles. 20% companies want to have work – life programmes to attract and
retain female talent. 81% companies want to help women develop the full range of skills for
senior leadership roles. Many respondents believe that women have the right stuff to be leaders.
The public rates women superior to men according to the survey conducted. 6% of respondents
in this survey of 2,250 adults say that women make better leaders than men. 69% says men and
women make equally good leaders. In this era women have made comprehensive steps in
educational attainment and workforce participation. Only few have made to the higher level of
political or corporate leadership. Respondents also said those women’s family responsibilities
and their shortage of experience holds them back from upper level. What respondents did not
state is that women lack what it takes to be leaders. Respondents rate women better than or equal
to men. Half of the respondents said that women are more honest than men and honesty
according to respondents is the most important to leadership of any of the traits measured in the
survey. The next important leadership trait in public view is intelligence where 38% said women
are smarter than men while 14% said men are smarter.

Women in Management

In the words of Kristof and WuDunn: The world is awakening to a powerful truth: women and
girls aren’t the problem, they’re the solution. Women have increased their participation rates in
managerial and professional jobs but they are paid less even working on the same position
compared to men in the levels of management. This is often called gender segregation. However,
it should be noted that there is crisis of statistics and research on certain minority groups with
female management population in 20 countries. There were an increasing proportion of women
entrepreneurs and small business owners in almost all countries but the growth is slow like in
Argentina and in most countries these proportions were low like in Israel and Turkey.
Women are the most underutilized natural resource in the world.

Local Governance

In India, UN Women has helped more than 65,000 elected women representatives in village
councils in five states acquire skills and confidence to advocate their priorities. Where women
once felt intimated as the men talked they now speak up. They ask for new services such as
systems to ease the burdens of water collection and improve sanitation and mobilize efforts to
prevent child marriage and stop alcohol abuse.

Women’s Participation in India

There has not been much research on female labour force participation in India but its
participation is low compared to other countries. In 1998 India’s Central Statistical Organization
conducted a time use survey in six states for which household duties were classified as
“extended-SNA” activities. The survey showed that urban women spent about nine hours per
week on SNA activities. Analyzing women’s participation decision at the individual level based
on a sample of urban women aged 20 to 59 excluding women who are enrolled in education or
unable to work due to disability and women who are head of their household. Self- employed
women are dropped from the sample due to the non-availability of self-employment earnings
data. It is assumed that women’s participation decision is made conditional on men’s so we do
not consider joint utility maximization or bargaining within household.

Implications

There were some tangible signs of progress though uneven and indications of stalling and back-
sliding. More women are now in the workforce. More women are getting the necessary education
and experience to equip them for success in the workforce. The work and life experiences of
women in several countries in the developing world indicated many distressing features. Women
worldwide still lack basic rights such as education, freedom from violence, opportunities to
pursue what many of us see as taken for granted options and justice in the workplace and in their
societies.

Recent Trends in Patterns of Women’s Work

It is true that compared too many other countries there has been relative stability of aggregate
female work participation rates in India which have remained quite low over time. But there are
wide variations and differing trends across states and rural and urban areas as well as changes in
the pattern of work. Meanwhile in rural India self-employment has come to dominate women’s
activities even in non-agricultural occupations largely because of difficulty of finding paid work.
Women workers dominate in both paid and unpaid domestic work. This activity has also become
increasingly important as an employer especially for urban women. Not only is this activity
becoming feminized but it is becoming more important in the total employment of women
especially in urban India. The NSSO Survey of 2004-05 showed a dramatic increase in the
number of women engaged in domestic service. Further, total increase in the number of women
workers in the entire decade a whopping 14.4% was accounted by domestic work. This suggests
that more remunerative and desirable work is simply not available even for women who wish to
enter the labour force and they are forced to seek this employment as the only alternative. This
further operates to reduce the reservation for women workers and reduce the potential for
increased wages and better working conditions.

Estimating Women’s Work

The point that work participation rates as described by official surveys are not really good
indicators of the productive contributions of women is particularly valid in large parts of India,
where much of the economic activity of women, whether in the home or outside is simply not
recognized as such by other household members and even by the women themselves. A
significant part of women’s work is not just unpaid therefore, it is also socially unrecognized.
This is true of not just social reproduction but other economic activity where women’s work is
rendered invisible by social perceptions. That is why many social scientists take women’s work
participation rate as one of the proxy indicators of women’s overall status in society and of
gender empowerment. It is not just because paid work provides income individually to women
rather than to male members of the household. It is also because the productive contribution of
women is typically less recognized in societies where women are undervalued in general.
In this regard, the difficulties inherent in the statistical system of identifying, enumerating and
quantifying the work performed by women are to be noted. Since many of the activities
associated with household maintenance, provisioning and reproduction which are typically
performed by women or female children are not subject to explicit market relations, there is an
inherent tendency to ignore the actual productive contribution of these activities. Similarly,
social norms, values and perceptions also operate to render most household-based activity
“invisible”. This invisibility gets directly transferred to data inadequacies making officially
generated data in most countries very rough and imprecise indicators of the actual productive
contribution of women. This entire means that women participation is inaccurate. Not only are
the problems of undercounting and invisibility rife but there are often substantial variations in
data across countries which may not reflect actual differences but simply distinct methods of
estimation. Obviously, the nature of women participation in economic activities which involves a
substantial amount of unpaid labour, participation in the labour market or in what is declared to
be economic activity does not capture the full extent of women’s work. The major Indian sources
of data in this matter, the Census of India and the National Sample Surveys have increased their
attempt to recognise women’s work by asking probing questions that seek to establish women’s
involvement in economic activity. However, this is still defined to include only participation in
work for the household farm or enterprise and does not include housework, childcare, care of the
sick and old and related activities associated with social reproduction. It also does not include
related work necessary for provisioning for the household whether it is fuel wood collection in
the rural areas or attempts to obtain access to clean water in the urban areas, activitiesthat are
typically the responsibility of the women of the household.

Socio-Cultural Barriers

Woman has to perform multiple roles be it familial or social irrespective of her career as working
woman or an entrepreneur. In our society more importance is being given to male child than to
female child. However the women of today will touch the magic of enlightening themselves. It is
this new beginning women will create a legacy and a heritage and pass it on to generation after
generation. Women are experienced in managing one of the complex organizations imaginable
the household with its many human interfaces. Women have learnt overtime negotiation and
reconciliation and qualities of patience and understanding along with an inherent quality of
emotional intelligence. All these transferable skills can be brought to bear upon the workplace
making it richer from these experiences. Women are working in this multifaceted where
organization scenario changes like a kaleidoscope with every responsibility, accountability and
multiple pulls and pushes which women have faced and came out with success. In the new order,
women will put down roots of a family and discover the freedom of sailing in the open seas. The
women will visualize a new horizon and identify directions and make tough decisions. Women
will cross the threshold to listen to their own voices. The silence of centuries will find the first
voice which will beckon women to sail into the unknown and unchartered land to lay the
foundations of their growth to contribute to a partnership.

Women in the 21st – Still an Illusion of Reality

Notwithstanding the remarkable changes in the position of women in free India there is still a
great divergence between the constitutional position and reality of deprivation and degradation.
The human rights scenario in the country continues to be dismal and depressing. Women are
being brutalized, materialized and subjected to inhuman exploitation and discrimination.
Although gender discrimination has been banned by the constitution of India but are this rights
enjoyed in reality by women. Even half a century after independence women have mostly
remained outside the domain of power and political authority. No doubt the 73rd and 74th
constitutional amendment acts have provided access at the grass-root level but their
representation in the parliament and state legislatures is poor. Insecurity is a major factor which
does not allow women leaders to identify leadership at grass-root level. In reality women
representatives are ornamental in nature and political consciousness is found lacking among
them. However, mere reservation will not solve the problem unless and until women are given
powers to function effectively and they themselves become more conscious and aware of their
rights and duties.

The divine nature and value of a woman

What does it mean when you see a man get down on his knee, get out his ring, and propose to a
woman? It means that in that act the man recognizes your supreme value. For a man to get down
on his knee, with honor and respect, indicates that you are so valuable. He wants you to come to
him; he wants you to give yourself to him, so he will act in a way to make you give yourself. But
a man should never “have you” just to have you! He’s got to be worthy of you, or he’s not worth
having you! And there is hardly a man out here today that’s worthy of you giving away yourself
to him. Culture is the back bone of any civilized country. Customs, behavior etc., ordain the very
culture. Indian culture is one of the most ancient that has been accepted by all historians and
scholars of all streams. Even centuries ago, mother India had witnessed all material and
philosophical prosperity in a continuous flux. The status of womanhood reached its pinnacle in
Vedic times for which extant Sanskrit literature is the evidence.
Swami Vivekananda said, “In India the mother is the centre of the family and our highest ideal.
She is to us the representative of God, as God is the mother of the Universe. It was a female sage
who first found the unity of God, and laid down this doctrine in one of the first hymns of the
Vedas. Our God is both personal and absolute; the absolute is male, the personal, and female.
And thus it comes that we now say: The first manifestation of God is the hand that rocks the
cradle”. In Sanskrit treatises, two prominent aspects of respect to women as mother and wife are
glorified. This entire world is the union of prakriti and purusha according to Samkhya School
that stood on the edifice of Vedic scripture. Prakrti is the feminine energy and the Purusha is the
masculine form of a single absolute entity. ‘The salvation and progress of any country depends
on its women‘.

Someone as respected as Socrates said that the only reason he put up with his wife, Xanthippe,
was that she bore him sons. He said it was like putting up with the noise of geese because they
produce eggs and chicks. What an analogy from the most revered philosopher of all ages! Closer
home Manu said in 200 B.C.: "by a young girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one,
nothing must be done independently, even in her own house". "In childhood a female must be
subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must
never be independent."
The Role of Women in Family

Yatra nāryastu pūjyante ramante tatra devatāḥ

Yatraitāstu Na pūjyante sarvāstatrāphalāḥ kriyāḥ
“The divine are extremely happy where women are respected;
Where they are not, all actions are fruitless”

Manusmṛiti is one of the most influential social texts that have molded much of practical social
behavior, practices of Hindu society in India. In the last century, it has been grossly criticized for
political, sectarian and divisive reasons by people who don’t understand Sanskrit, metaphors and
have no compassion. This great text has to say on woman, wife in its practical, spiritual and
open-hearted way! This is only a very small extract from this large book. This should at the same
time pay respect to women everywhere and also give back some good name to this awesome
work of social importance.
The wise father shall not take anything by way of ‘fee’ from her groom. By taking a dowry out of
greed (bride price), he becomes the seller of his offspring.
The relatives who, out of folly, live off of the woman’s property like vehicle, clothes; those
sinners go to worst hells (forget about dowry given by the bride’s father, it was more prevalent
for the groom to give bride price, as is in many other cultures as well).
Many Ṛiṣhi’s have prescribed a token fee of a pair of cow and bull in ‘ārṣha’ (आआआआ)
marriage, but even that is akin to selling your daughter.
Where such fee is not taken (but may be given out of affection by the groom’s side), that is not
selling, but worshiping/respecting and showing affection to the woman. If desiring more
prosperity in life, father, brother, husband, husband’s younger brother (older is considered as
father only) they all should respect the bride and adorn her (with ornaments).
The divine are extremely happy where women are respected (worshiped, figuratively), where
they are not, all actions (projects) are fruitless.
The family in which the daughters or newlywed brides mourn, that family suffers a quick
destruction; and where they don’t it surely prospers.
Those homes that these disrespected women (daughters, daughters-in-laws) cast curse upon,
they are eradicated as if destroyed by (the tantric deity of black magic) Kṛityā (आआआआआआ) .
Hence, men who seek prosperity should always respect women) on solemn occasions and
festivals, adorn with ornaments, clothes and fool.
The family in which the husband is content with the wife and the wife is content with the
husband, is certain to have divine blessings. [this doesn't mean only sexual contentment but how
the two perform their duties to the home, family, their conduct, etc. like how a wife manages the
whole house, relations, children, finances etc. or how the husband protects, earns, has social
reputation, standing and circle etc.
If the wife is not attractive (and/or doesn’t attempt to attract with makeup etc.) and/or the
husband is not attracted; the husband’s progeny is not possible on that account of lack of
attraction.
When the women look beautiful (adorn jewelry, do makeup, dress up) the whole family looks
good, and when they don’t everything looks insipid. “
As against the propaganda over Manu’s statement on the liberation of women, it is crystal clear
that women were given a highest position not only in Manuscript but also in Sanskrit literature.
Moreover, ‘It is unfair to judge the status of women in the east by the standard of the west’. In
this article, an effort is done to show that women were attributed highest position in Hindu
scriptures and their role as a mother and wife is very crucial in nurturing the inherited values
passed on to us since time immemorial. And to women all over – mothers, sisters, wives,
daughters, friends, in whatever form they meet us, they bring the divine energy with them. Now
this doesn’t at all mean to throw the relation off-balance by thinking it is only the woman who is
divine. But it is to emphasize that they too are divine, and not property, slave or object. This also
doesn’t mean that all women are always right and good, just like not all men are right or good.
A marriage is always of respect, and is not just for lust, it is family building, providing a happy,
safe trusting environment, where both husband and wife have to be happy to complete the
picture. If the husband is called pati-parameshavara i.e. “husband is ultimate god”, then the
wife is also called gṛiha-lakṣhmī i.e. “prosperity of the home”. Only a balanced, respectful
relationship will give any meaning to it. All individuals inherently possesses male and female
attributes, otherwise there is no balance in the society. A married woman is as revered as one’s
own mother, since mother is the incarnated form of the supreme self. There might be a belief that
‘male dominated society did not encourage the woman writers in Indian context.’ In the
medieval period, Buddhism duly encouraged women to write the Vinaya Pithakasand Sutta
Pithakas in Pali language. But this it is not the cause of emergence of women writers in India. Sri
Sankaracharya (8th AD) when visited the city of Mahishmati to debate with a great scholar
Mandana Mishra, he enquires about his house address with some women carrying water. They
guide him by replying in a poetic way in Sanskrit. Also, Ubhaya Bharati, the wife of Mandana
Mishra is a great scholar in Sanskrit and philosophy, who could not be defeated in debate by
Sankaracharya.
Henry Steele Commager, an American historian wrote of the late nineteenth century American
woman. “In all matters of church and school, women took the lead. Women not only controlled
education and religion but largely dictated the standards of literature and art and clothed
culture so ostentatiously in feminine garb that the term itself came to have connotations”. The
present status of women is no different than that of the Vedic ideals transferred over times. There
are warriors, politicians, writers, scientists, astronauts, administrators, teachers who perfectly
render their job while outdoing a male compatriot. At the same time masculinity devoid of union
with feminity is incomplete in society. It is not out of context to consider Ms. Suzanne Brogger’s
opinion. It is in her words – “If a woman can only succeeded by emulating men, I think it is a
great loss and not a success. The aim is not only for a woman to succeed, but to keep her
womanhood and let her womanhood influence society”.

The Role of Women in Society

Our women are not incredible because they have managed to avoid the difficulties of life quite
the opposite. They are incredible because of the way they face the trials of life. Despite the
challenges and tests life has to offer from marriage or lack of marriage, children’s choices, poor
health, lack of opportunities, and many other problems they remain remarkably strong and
immovable and true to the faith. Since the creation of the world, women have played a very
important role in shaping the civilization and culture of people. The role of women in society
may change from time to time, but the influence of women has always been significant. It’s a
chance for so many people to move beyond “celebrating” and take action to create meaningful
and sustainable change for women and girls. International Women’s Day has been observed
since in the early 1900′s, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that
saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. We do have female astronauts
and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a
family, women have real choices. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in
legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models
in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate
fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not
present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the
violence against them is worse than that of men. The United States even designates the whole
month of March as ‘Women’s History Month.

The Role of Men in Women Empowerment

There are many good reasons to engage men in building gender equality, especially given that
some men’s practices, identities, and relations can sustain inequalities. Across the globe, there is
growing interest in the question of men’s roles in fostering gender equality. The impetus for male
inclusion in gender-related work is associated with an important shift in how gender issues are
conceived and addressed. Men have always been part of the policies and practices of
development work, for example, but they have traditionally been treated as generic and
ungendered representatives of all humanity. Men are unavoidably involved in gender issues.
Most immediately, men (or more accurately, specific groups of men) control the resources
required to implement women’s claims for justice. But, more broadly, gender inequalities are
based in gender relations, in the complex webs of relationships that exist at every level of human
experience. Men are as implicated in gender issues as women, and addressing men’s attitudes
and roles is a crucial element in reconstructing gender relations and equality.
Men often play a crucial role as “gatekeepers” of the current gender order through their
responsibilities as decision-makers and leaders within their families and communities. They may
participate in sexist practices and maintain unjust gender relations by perpetrating violence
against women, controlling women’s reproductive and familial decision making, limiting
women’s access to community resources and political power, or espousing patriarchal beliefs
and norms that allow other men to engage in such actions. Gender work with men has also been
fueled by the more hopeful insight that men have a positive role to play in fostering gender
equality. There is growing recognition that gender inequality is an issue of concern to women
and men alike and that men have a stake in fostering gender equality. Some men are already
living in gender-just ways: they respect and care for the women and girls in their lives, and they
reject traditional, sexist norms of manhood. And some men are already playing a role in fostering
gender equality. Experiences in conflict and post-conflict societies also provide powerful
examples of how gender disparities harm men and progress toward gender equality benefits
them. Finally, excluding men from work on gender relations can provoke male hostility and
retaliation. It can intensify gender inequalities and thus leave women with yet more work to do
among unsympathetic men and patriarchal power relations. Given that women already interact
with men on a daily basis in their households and public lives, involving men in the re
negotiation of gender relations can make interventions more relevant and workable and create
lasting change. Male inclusion increases men’s responsibility for change and their belief that
they too will gain from gender equality, and can address many men’s sense of anxiety and fear as
traditional masculinities are undermined. Many men receive formal and informal benefits from
gender inequalities, including material rewards and interpersonal power. At the same time, men
also pay significant costs, particularly to their emotional and physical health. More widely, men
can be and are motivated by interests other than those associated with maintaining gender
privilege.
Men live in social relationships with women and girls their wives and girl friends, sisters,
daughters, mothers, aunts, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and so on and “the quality of every
man’s life depends to a large extent on the quality of those relationships.” Many men hold high
hopes for their daughters’ futures, care for their sisters, value their mothers, and disapprove at
least privately of male peers’ abusive treatment of their wives and girlfriends. Men may support
gender equality because of their ethical, political, or spiritual commitments. Male human rights
activists have advocated for gender equality because of their commitment to ideals of liberation
and social justice, while male religious leaders have promoted faith-based beliefs in ideals of
compassion and justice for women. Thus, some men have embraced a moral imperative that men
share their rights and responsibilities with women.

What principles then should inform efforts to engage men in gender-related

policies and practices?

Three interrelated principles guide the positive involvement of men in gender issues: men’s
involvement must have a pro-feminist purpose, interventions must be sensitive to diversities
among men, and we must acknowledge and support men’s positive contributions. In addition, to
be effective, the interventions chosen must be culturally appropriate and theoretically
informe while it is important to understand these three principles for male involvement in
gender-related work, it is equally important to be able to translate them into effective
interventions. It is clear, for example, that effective interventions must be culturally appropriate
they must be grounded in the realities of men’s lives and relations and local gender cultures.
There is no doubt that involving men in efforts toward gender equality has the potential to
greatly enhance the impact and reach of this work, but whether it does so or not will depend on
the play of political and cultural forces. Still, building a gender-just world will bring benefits to
both women and men, and the reconstruction of gender relations will require their shared
commitment and involvement.

The Role of Women in Women Empowerment

A woman’s level of empowerment will vary, sometimes enormously, according to other criteria
such as her class or caste, ethnicity, relative wealth, age, family position etc. and any analysis of
women’s power or lack of it must appreciate these other contributory dimensions. We have to
relate empowerment at three levels: empowerment on the individual, group, and
societal/community level and the interaction between these. The individual level deals with
individual women’s abilities to take control over their lives, their perceptions about their own
value and abilities, their abilities to identify a goal and work towards this goal. The group level
deals with the collective action and sense of agency that woman experience together, in a group.
The societal level deals with the permissiveness of the political and social climate, the societal
norms and the public discourse on what is possible and impossible for women to do, how women
should behave etc. The different levels are seen as interconnected and mutually reinforcing, e.g.
when empowerment on individual level occurs, this will have effect on the group and societal
level. Women who are empowered on an individual level will most likely go on and affect the
other levels. Empowerment on a group level e.g. women organizing around a particular need is
likely to have effect on the individual empowerment of the women in the form of increased self
esteem and sense of agency.
Globalization has presented new challenges for the realization of the goal of women’s equality,
the gender impact of which has not been systematically evaluated fully. However, from the
micro-level studies that were commissioned by the Department of Women & Child
Development, it is evident that there is a need for re-framing policies for access to employment
and quality of employment. Benefits of the growing global economy have been unevenly
distributed leading to wider economic disparities, the feminization of poverty, increased gender
inequality through often deteriorating working conditions and unsafe working environment
especially in the informal economy and rural areas. Education is a powerful tool of social
transformation. Hence, education for women has to be paid special attention. Greater access for
women to education must be ensured in the educational system. Gender sensitivity must be
developed.
Governmental Organizations are formal agencies working for the empowerment of women. But
this work requires multidimensional approach and hence a large number of voluntary
organizations / NGO’s have gained increased attention in the field from grass root level to
national & international level. Their role is so impressive because they work with missionary
zeal and commitment. Promotion of equality between women & men and the empowerment of
women is central to the work of United Nations. The UN actively promotes women’s human
rights and works to eradicate, discourage of violence against women, including in armed conflict
and through trafficking. The popular UNESCO slogan should come in handy: “Educate a man
and you educate an individual; educate a woman and you educate a family”.

Feel and Experience the Challenge to Survive the Practical Real Life

No woman is ordinary. We are each a unique expression of the feminine. Each one of us, male
and female, carries within our psyche both Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine archetype
energies. From these archetypal energies come all our conscious thoughts, plans, desires, goals
and agendas. These energies intertwine and cooperate to produce a uniquely personal expression
and experience of life. The new divine feminine is modern woman’s way of connecting to
ancient ways of being a woman. Personally as a woman I feel, both women and men needs to get
empowered in their own way as they are equally to be respected and to be valued as a human.
The status of women would improve only if they educate themselves and grab every opportunity
to become stronger and more powerful than before. It’s the totality speaks not either women
alone or men alone as critical half. In this context, the significant details to be practiced which is
a real challenge in this fast paced life of 21st century by the human with all his/her divinity
should be as follows:

1. Update your consciousness, clarity, freedom, courage and discipline.

2. Free yourself from false beliefs and assumptions.
3. Uproot dysfunctional patterns of thinking, feeling & behaving.
4. Relinquish guilt, shame, blame, victim consciousness & co-dependence.
5. Communicate & navigate through your experience in a meaningful way.
6. Learn from your life and step forward.
7. Increase your state of awareness.
8. Become more fulfilled & on-purpose in your daily life.
Much of humanity has lost connection with our feminine qualities. There is a deep disconnection
with the Earth, with our bodies, and with the very essence of life. And as a result, for many
people, life has lost its deeper sense of soul purpose or meaning. When we are starved of this
connection, we quite literally wither and dry up inside. We can feel isolated and alone. As a
result, there is a deep healing needed for our collective planetary soul. And we are called to now
offer a place where we can come together in sacred space and undertake a soul retrieval of the
feminine, both for ourselves and our larger community. In doing so, we have an opportunity to
reconnect with the ancient feminine wisdom that lives both inside our bodies and in the layers of
the collective unconscious.
In developing increased awareness, you get more in touch with your relationships, your finances,
and your creative expression. As you become more aware, more at peace, you develop more
confidence, which automatically brings out your skills. The time is changing, not to create a
world of inequality, but to express balance, hope, wisdom, and the unique gifts that both men and
women share with one another and with the world. Women today tap into ancient feminine
energy making it their own. To safeguard your own freedom, divinity and strength, you need to
have a strong sense of yourself, one has to be confident, have a clear vision, take efforts, do
workouts, because if you don’t; you will get distracted by other people’s perceptions.
As a woman I feel proud and grateful to be the part of this world with humble lessons and
experiences learned from my personal life as well as from knowledgeable personalities directly
and indirectly which reflects to practice and preach for a constructive healthier natural life style
within the family as well as for the society, to be followed by the human of all genders to
maintain and balance the integrity, peace and purpose of the divine life and natural way of living
with all its simplicity, values and strength.

The suffragists had two points of views. One view was that women’s natural place was at home
and the voting rights will enable them to help formulate laws that affect life at home. The other
view was that men and women should be equal in every way and there was no such thing as a
‘natural’ role for a woman. The ‘suffrage’ movement can be seen as the first wave of the
‘feminist’ movement that caught widespread imagination in 1960s -1980s. This second wave
dealt with the inequalities of laws, as well as perceived cultural inequalities. Although the term
‘feminist’ was coined in 1880, its usage as a movement gained ground in 1960s onwards.
‘Feminists’ were those men and women who wrote, spoke and acted on behalf of women and
their rights to social, economical, and political equality. Famous writer Rebecca West defined
feminism the best with her now famous comments, “I myself have never been able to find out
precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express
sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute.” Unfortunately this wave got
more publicity and notoriety for now infamous, and according to some ‘fictitious’ bra burning
episodes, and got identified with that. In this phase, women tried to equate themselves with men
by proving that they were as good as men, if not better. Women’s Rights Movement gained mass
support in the latter half of the twentieth century when the essential problems like discrimination,
inequality and limited opportunities continued to confront women in all spheres of life. The
phrase ‘Women’s Liberation’ appeared in print media in 1966. Late sixties also marked a period
in human history when more and more women joined institutes of higher education. From then
on, women have not looked back.
Today at the dawn of the 21st century the women across the world are placed at a position of
advantage. They are literally on the move. They are paying heed to their inner voice. They are no
longer interested in hollow jargon and jingoism. They are finding their individual and collective
voice. They are aligned with their conscience, moving ahead with purposeful strides. 21st century
is the century for change. The Planet Earth is ready for ‘The Shift of the Ages’. In this New Age,
love and compassion will rule the roost, and the woman with her natural attributes of compassion
will sow the seeds of global transformation. These changes have already begun, and soon they
will gain an unprecedented momentum. The time is ripe for women of all races, castes, class, and
nationalities to come together to be the harbinger of this change. Mother Earth is crying for
attention, soon like the mythological ‘Shakti’ it will show its true might and annihilate all the
evil forces along the way. Only women can be empathetic to the ‘Mother’s plight in her hour of
need. When I say ‘women’, I mean the ‘feminine’ in men and women alike. Indian scriptures
have always spoken about ‘Ardhnareeshwar’, the Masculine- Feminine deity. The time has come
to invoke that Masculine-feminine balance in all of us. Events on Earth demand the emergence
of the feminine essence of Love all around. In the 21st century women do not need to look at the
historical injustices done to her. It’s time to put all that behind her and look forward to her
empowered role in this ‘Aquarian age’. Women today need not look anywhere for a perfect role
model. They need to look within and listen to their intuition, to take the right action at the right
time. All they need right now is to set the right intention, and all their intentions will bear fruits
sooner than later. Such is the power of the New Age. You may well be asking, how can we
change the traditions that have been entrenched in our systems through ages? All I can say is that
no matter how entrenched the traditions appear, if they do not resonate with your present reality,
they are no longer true for you. This entire Universe is ever-changing, why do you and I need to
be stuck in age old systems that no longer serve any purpose? The entire creation is constantly in
motion; even our so called traditions are loosening their stranglehold. Try them, give them a
push, they will give way.
CONCLUSION

Women have shifted traditional assumptions about their roles and capabilities. There has been a
marked change and it has been for the better. Many of its benefits have yet to touch the majority
and all of us continue to experience various forms of gender discrimination. If laws designed to
address the concerns of women are to have a dramatic and positive impact on women’s lives,
they must be sensitive to the social, economic, and political disempowerment of women
throughout the world. The most important measure of their success should be the extent to which
they enable woman to interpret, apply and enforce laws of their own making, incorporating their
own voices, values and concerns. Have you seen a grown up elephant tied to a tiny stake with an
ordinary rope? Have you ever wondered why doesn’t the mighty beast just give a powerful tug
and break free? The problem is that since childhood the elephant has been conditioned to believe
that he is not capable of breaking free. As a baby, when he was tied to the stake for the first time
he did try to break free but could not succeed, eventually he gave up trying, thinking that he
can’t; and now when he has grown up to be the most powerful of animals on this Planet, he
‘believes’ that he can’t do it. Beliefs are ‘that’ powerful. Women need to break free of their
limiting beliefs. Do you want to know how you, as a person, can make a difference? In this
cosmic dance, we are all partners. When one of us moves a step, it helps rotate the Universe by
one degree. When each one of us makes a small, insignificant move, it has the power to move the
mountains. Now do you believe in your power? Someone has to become the first to move in your
community, your neighborhood, your country. By taking one step, one turn you will affect the
lives of women you don’t even know. Who are you waiting for? Get ready to write the history.
Will you? Some of you must be experiencing doubts. ‘I do not have so much courage’. You do
not need to be Rani Laxmi Bai to bring about this change. All you need to do is find your voice.
All you need to do is spread unconditional love and compassion. Just take that first step in
whichever way you can. Use the power of tears, use the power of anger, and use the power of
words. But USE it. Let me assure you that the 21st century is the century of the ‘feminine’. If you
don’t believe me now, you soon will......