The Right Way to Empower Women

Introduction:

When we hear of women empowerment what comes in our mind is the injustice being done to women. We know that the cruelty to women, domestic violence, and other crimes that have enveloped our society must be eradicated and some traditions and customs must be broken. What is thought of when it comes to women empowerment is that women must have equal rights as that of men and also there must be equal opportunities for all. Both men and women have the right to live a life that they desire. It is also about raising the standards of women in the society and also they must have the freedom to express their thoughts. They must receive an equal share in education and power in the politics. These are what a common person thinks we must achieve in order to empower women.

In order to meet these challenges there have been efforts and campaigns all around the world and many political movements arose but this led to battle with traditions, customs, and religion. So what needed to be done was to create reasoning and logical awareness in one another about what was right and what was wrong. There should have been debates and there have been many so that what was best for the people will become manifest.  This was the way the change should have been brought.  But what was an unfortunate act was that some topics where introduced from nowhere into the women empowerment which are out of reason out of logic and against human morals. These were framed as an injustice and against women's rights and promoted in the name of freedom, gender equality and women empowerment.

Why push women to work?

The first and foremost thing in this regard was that women were asked to work and help in the country's development. Women were promised to be treated equal in terms of opportunities and were shown a way to be financially independent. Being financially independent was stressed upon and the fact that women had always suffered in these terms in almost every society created an atmosphere of hope for them. For some there was a dire need to earn and there is no blame on such and mostly their family members allowed them to go for the work but if they were not allowed to work or if they became victims of jealousy or domestic violence then we needed to raise our voices for them.

But with time the idea that women need to be financially independent and this is must for women empowerment was penetrated in the minds of people. The idea is that "when women work, not only do they become financially independent, they have a huge influence on the larger society and the nation. Their income contributes to the family income. The family lifestyle, savings, children’s education, old-age funds, all get positively impacted." But what is wrong with this is that we do not need women to work if they have financial independence by the side of the family. What I mean is that they belong to a well to do family where the father can afford to spend on the daughters or when the women is married to a well settled person who can meet her demands. Many feminists will say at this point that this is not independence this is clearly dependence. But if we try to understand it or a second then we know that men are obliged to spend on the family, they not only spend on their needs but also spend on the needs or on entertainment of their family members. If we still say that this is not independence cause we have to ask the in-charge for money and sometimes they may not give it. But the fact we underestimate here is the trust on relations. Here it is when it firsts begins to go wrong! A reasonable/responsible father and husband know that they have to look after the demands of their family but if they turn away from their responsibility this still becomes an issue of domestic injustice and there is no blame on women if they decide to work under such conditions. What I want to covey by this is that it is not a must thing for a women to work. 

SOURCE: research gate

Also the idea that 'when a women works she has a huge influence in the society' is a fools talk. What is a clear proof to this argument is the current situation itself. We know there are many working women around us in the society but what influence do they have on the society except those who do something remarkable. This argument actually is a talk of those industries who want the women to work for their own gains.

Do we have a Solution?

Again I am not saying  that women cannot work at all when there is a need they will have to look forward for it. And also there are certain fields where need the women to work for instance we need female doctors and police.  What I am highlighting is that we do not need each and every women to be working. This due to the fact that besides the job they also have the responsibility of maintaining their homes especially the married ones. What points feminists try to make here is that why cannot men take care of the household chores. But what actually it implies is that we are changing the positions/roles of them both. i.e. Men take care of the house and Women go out to earn for their expenses. Will it not be then same issue for the masculine gender that the society is not allowing them to go to work because women need empowerment and for that they need to work? Also as per the natural behavior of both women are capable of maintaining the house more effectively then men as their characteristics include love, affection, care, humility, modesty and understanding. While as men are naturally more capable of earning for the family as their instincts include strength, energy, bravery, tenacity, generosity and wisdom.  

This is a problem all working women are facing especially in Asia that they find it difficult to manage between their work and home and end up in a depressed state. It also affect the industry or the organization that they work for as the women are more often in need of a leave or a holiday so they can fix some things form the other side. 

In brief it is not a need to push every women into working. Instead efforts should be made to make each life better and easier. What is a real need of time with respect to women empowerment is to educate and make aware the masculine gender about the rights of the women and how he must treat her. These campaigns must be done through schools, colleges, local bodies, NGO's or even at other organizations. The fact is that we need to make people come closer and not create an atmosphere that ruin the family structure and lives.

Is my attire important for empowerment?

The other major issue that is being preached in the name of women empowerment is that they must remove the fashion barrier and they must show themselves to the world as it is necessary for them to express themselves. The idea is that traditions like Pardah system, Ghoongath or Hijab are necessary to be overthrown because they are a barrier for women to express themselves. What is being penetrated in the minds of the people is that less the body is covered or more then the level of clothing more do the women get a chance to be known to the world. A serene mind would have opposed the thoughts clearly but the idea was promoted through media, movies, news, internet etc. so much so that it was considered that 'yes presenting ones beauty to the world helps in creating ones prestige and it is necessary to get attention and express yourself.' See what is a treasure to a women by God is her beauty and no one shares a treasure with others whom he or she does not know. I do not want to talk about why these ideas were promoted but what I want is that each mind should reason well before following what it being said to follow.

A STRANGER: Hijab will close many doors of opportunities for you

A MUSLIM WOMAN: Surely, first being the door of hell.

Okay so let us do a short exercise. Try to think about a great women personality that this world has seen. Maybe you thought about Mother Teresa, or Mother Marry  or some other women like them or a great lady related to your religion. These women are a parable of modesty, humility and simplicity. What we find about these women is that they had no interest to present themselves to the world or beautify themselves for the wold. The world knows them while some they didn't even see or meet or talk. Their attire was decent covering their bodies in a proper fashion. Remember that decent clothing is a mark of these great women that are an inspiration and enlightenment to the world that spread love peace and harmony among mankind  and short clothes and display of beauty had been a part of those dance girls and evil women who spread lust, discord and fighting among mankind. The reason why each religion and tradition encouraged women to keep decent clothing and stressed on the use of veils was driven form the ideology that the women folk must become like these great women and in many traditions it is considered to be an important practice for women to cover their head with a veil while entering in a temple or any other place of worship. It was always for their betterment that they kept decency but as of now when women are told to display their beauty not only is their decency and humility lost but also do they follow something that is immoral and unfortunate.

What to do?

In brief I want the women of the world to know that their beauty is not something that they need to display to the world. They need not to remove the veil on their bodies to prove themselves to the world. It is this veil that saves you from the harm of eyes and it is your power against any evil. Please reason well why is it so that people ask you to change your attire to give you a job opportunity if they want to empower you. What is the problem with the people who speak for women empowerment but then impose on you their will to do your work. And yes it is indeed your choice to wear what you want to wear but reason well what is a decent and modest attire for you. Remember your beauty is your treasure and we do not share treasures with unknown people.

What is not feminism?

Their are many other heinous things that i wouldn't like to talk about but one cannot turn away form them either so reason well what is appropriate and just. Yes there are issues which need to be addressed and their are concerns for which our voices must rise. Like we need to raise our voices for oppressed women we need to raise voice against domestic violence , harassment to women, and  other things. But there is no room for things like 'my body my choice' or 'I decide my gender' in this topic. If we properly understand these are actually traps for women and instead on empowering women, they tend to disgrace, humiliate, and downgrade the standards of women. These thing had become increasingly popular in west but what we see has happened is that the basic structure of the society has become disturbed and family systems have been destroyed.  We need to raise awareness with regard to this too so hat it becomes clear to the world what are the real issues faced by the women. So that there is no space for nonsense to get attention and real concerns get addressed and solution developed.

What is better for women? 

World must take steps to empower women in a way that makes their lives easier and better. Relations are must for everyone and what needs to be done is to make these relations better and everlasting in place of what is making them complicated. Awareness is must that girl child is mercy and a ray of hope the origin of mankind and necessary for the survival of humanity, LET THEM LIVE. This is must that girls should receive quality education and that they must not be left without the blessings of reading and writing it is must that their should be adequate infrastructure for their schooling, LET THEM LEARN. Each girl will become a woman one day and it necessary for her to marry, they deserve a loving husband and caring family they need to love them back so they have the right to be provided by their partner that must not be denied and they will become mothers one day too so LET THEM LOVE.  

Let them live a happy life.

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