“WE ALL ARE EQUAL”

Deepika Khokhar, lives in New Delhi. She is in second year of her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and English at Delhi University. She aspires to become a Psychologist and wanted to work in the field of mental health and for society. She has a keen interest in volunteering and social activities. 

"Gender is the poetry each of us makes out of the language we are taught.” Gender is of key importance in defining the power, privilege and possibilities that some people have and some people do not have in a given society. Gender enters into all our social relations. When people interact, their view of themselves, including their identity and their rights and possibilities, comes up against the way they are perceived by other people, and the way that others behave towards them.

Gender matters to individuals. But gender is very much alive in the expectations we have for one another, what it means to be a good mother versus a good father, a good female employee versus good male employee, a good female student versus good male student. Gender matters because of all those stereotypes, conscious or not, we all hold. But gender matters beyond even beyond those stereotypes because we have quite literally built those stereotypes in schools, workplaces, and the economy. And to justify all the inequalities involved, we have developed beliefs that explain, and justify sexiest institutions. Gender matters not just as identity or stereotypes but also as the core of how our social world is organized. Just like every society has an economic and political structure, so too, every society has a gender structure.

I belong to West Uttar Pradesh where farming is the main source of income. Male farmers are recognized but female famers are not recognized though females do as much work as men do and they don’t even have properties on their name just because of patriarchal mindset. There is a female farmer in my village who fought for herself. She broke the long standing practice of owning the piece of land by male farmer. She also got herself a Kishaan Credit Card and now she owns more than 5 acres of land. She inspired other women and now a number of women have land on their name also.

A nation can progress and attain higher development growth only when both men and women are entitled to equal opportunities. Women in the society are often concerned and are refrained from getting equal rights as men to health,

education, decision-making and economic independence in terms of wages. The social structure that prevails since long in such a way that girls do not get equal opportunities as men. Women are generally caregivers in the family and because of this women are mostly involved in household activities. There is lesser participation of women in higher education, decision-making roles, and leadership roles. This gender disparity is a hindrance in the growth rate of a country. When women participate in the workplace increases the economic growth rate of the country increases.

As per the World Economic Forum’s gender gap ranking, India stands at rank 108 out of 149 countries. This rank is a major concern as it highlights the immense gap in opportunities in women with comparison to men. In Indian society from a long time back, the social structure has been such that the women are neglected in many areas like education, health, decision-making areas, and financial independence, etc. In the 21st century, women are still preferred gender in home managing activities. Many women quit their job and opt-out from leadership roles because of family commitments. Such actions are very uncommon among men. Countries with less disparity have progressed a lot. The government of India has also started taking steps to ensure gender equality. Several laws to protect girls are also there. However, the government should take initiatives to check the correct proper implementation of policies