Men for the field,
Women for the hearth!
Men for the sword
And for the needle she!
Men to command
And women to obey!
How realistically Tennyson has described the miserable condition of women in the past. Earlier they were used as commodities that were purchased and sold just to make them perform certain functions. But gone are the days, now we have stepped into the modern age, the age of women empowerment where half of the population of women is empowered. Outcomes are in the form of Pratibha Patil, Indra Nooyi, Kalpana Chawla, Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra and the list goes on.
Empowering women is essential to the health and social development of families, communities and countries. When women are living safe, fulfilled and productive lives, they can reach their full potential. contributing their skills to the workforce and can raise happier and healthier children.
Empowering women is a fundamental right of women. They can have equal rights to participate in education, society, economics and politics. They are allowed to have higher education and treated in the way as men. In the 21st Century ‘Women Empowerment’ has become a well-known subject on many occasions. Empowerment of women involves many things such as economic opportunities, social equality and personal rights. Women are the primary caretakers of children and elders in every country of the world. International studies demonstrate that when the economy and political organization of a society change, women take the lead in helping the family adjust to new realities and challenges.
They enjoy equal rights and privileges and all rules apply to them equally. Some legal provisions, such as the law against dowry, seek to improve the current position of women in society. Throughout most of history, women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women’s most significant professions. In the 20th century, however, women in most nations won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities.
Giving women greater economic empowerment means enabling women to increase their right to economic resources and their control over meaningful decisions that benefit themselves, their households and their communities. Education has made women independent and they are no longer dependent on men to lead their lives. Business laws have changed to allow more women in the workplace and give them a comfortable environment to work in. Women can now stand tall like men and get equal opportunities in everything.
The women’s movement strives to end discrimination and violence against women through legal, political, and social change. It is one of the most influential social movements in the modern western world and can be divided into two waves. The first began in Newfoundland in the 1890s and eventually brought about voting rights for women. The second has focused on ending gender inequalities in laws, politics, the workplace, and society in general. It gained strength after 1970 when the Royal Commission on the Status of Women (established by the Canadian government in 1967) released its report.
The modern women’s movement has lobbied for and brought about a variety of social reforms. Issues of concern have included: pay equity, pension benefits, affirmative action, daycare, reproductive rights, domestic and sexual violence, sexism and sex-role stereotyping, matrimonial property rights, and women’s representation in government. The movement encompasses many groups, which operate at the community and bureaucratic levels, including Status of Women councils, women’s union groups, native women’s groups, rural women’s groups, and a Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women.