Do women really need to be empowered?

This is a topic really sensitive and has been really highlighted in the past few years. There have been numerous NGOs trying to deal with women empowerment and a lots of business that flourished around it. But my question is – Do women actually need empowerment?

Women empowerment, I believe, is another chapter in the patriarchal system which points that women are not capable enough, that women do not have enough power and thus they need to be empowered. Women do not need to be empowered, we are powerful enough. We just need this patriarchal society to stop creating obstacles in our way.

We hear of so many instances when a woman equally qualified has been rejected in an interview because the management thinks she would not be able to give late nights, or that she would take leave for marriage and for children and so many other reasons.

Stop pointing out that women can’t do this or women can’t do that. We are capable of doing everything men can and much more than that. We have been balancing well our professional and personal lives for decades now. We work 18 hours a day to fulfill our dreams whether it be in office or at home. Women are much more powerful than they think.

I was listening to an interview of Kangana Ranaut, a famous Bollywood actress, she gave an amazing example of the power of women. She said even a woman in village who can barely talk to you and who has never had any rights is more powerful than you think. To test this statement just try and snatch away her kid and she will scratch you with her nails or do anything possible or impossible but she would never let you take away her baby. That shows the power of a woman. Rightly said Kangana , your voice has always been an inspiration.

Let me tell you ancient story. During the Vedic period both men and women used to work together in every aspect besides each other. They were considered equal in all fields. Women were educated brahmins , trained fighters , traders and workers. There was no work that women could not do , there were no boundaries. They were respected much more than the men . Shiva himself had named himseld Ardhnarishwar because he believed that the source of his energy was Shakti( or Sati or Parvati), his better half(Ardhangini). Eventually as greed for power increased in the system a few brahmins realised that women were much powerful than the men. They had the power to generate a life, they had the power to keep the world going. They were becoming better warriors, traders and workers and above all they were getting higher spiritually too. To curb this power a bunch of brahmins decided to lay down a few mythological stories in which women were portrayed to be powerless and not capable of doing anything else except for looking beautiful, doing chores and giving birth.  They were presented as objects to fulfill the desires of men and thus began the era of patriarchy where all things possible are done to stop women from growing and unleashing their power.

William Golding a British novelist once said 

“I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men. They are far superior; they always have been”

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Divya