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The gender pay gap is very real, and it exists not just among ordinary women, but also celebrities. Not just in India, but everywhere. This must change.
India is a country with changing dynamics every second and is dealing with developing nation problems as well as Global issues. In these changing dynamics, there is one thing which is constant- Gender disparity.
Yes, 21-century women in India is still not considered at par with men, even if she proves herself with equal talent and brains. I recently read that top Bollywood actress, Kareena Kapoor demanded equal pay as her co-star Akshay Kumar is getting. I see no reason why this demand should not be made but I do feel it’s unfortunate that even Kareena had to demand this pay equality.
Let’s look into a few startling data, which might burst the empowered women bubble.
65% of women are literate as compared to 80% Men in India.
India has amongst the lowest female labour force participation rates in the world. Less than a third of women are working or actively looking for a job.
According to a recent Economic Times report, women in India earn 19% less than men, reflecting the high gender pay gap in the country, according to the latest Monster Salary Index the gap has narrowed merely by 1% in 2018 from 20% a year ago.
Get ready to gasp –
According to the latest survey men get paid Rs 242 every hour, women earn Rs 46 less!
Now, this is disturbing as well as disheartening.
What is needed to break the glass ceiling?
Women decide to get educated, though with a lot of struggle and handling the prejudices and judgements by the society on her thoughts and choice of career.
Oh! Before I forget, her timings and her attitude to life, length of her clothes, and how many male friends she has and how what and when she talks to them all deciding for her being sanskaari or a slut!
She finishes off her studies thanks to her grit as well as a subtle change in the thought process of parents too. (Ah, the well, educated matrimonial column too has something to contribute to it, but I don’t want to deviate from the topic!)
After all these, she reaches a place of her choice to work and make a difference in society, her life and of course GDP of the country for which she’s paid less as compared to her counterpart male.
Many people might not agree with seeing the noise around how women are now more feminist owing to financial independence as major reason for this newfound voice!
Which in turn is making the social fabric a bit imbalanced (Ahem… quite imbalanced as women are not ready to take this nonsense, obviously).
I don’t know what exactly is “more feminist kind”. We are born with feminist traits, believe me. We are born with all the ‘Devi’ traits who was the earliest feminist.
So we are doing nothing new in asking equality. We never say we can get away without men, but the ratio of female foeticide clearly shows what society prefers. Now when we struggle with so many ifs and buts, and still reach to our dreams, this glass ceiling of paycheque disparity hurts real bad.
At one point we are busy talking of the arrival of ‘new-age women’, and on the other hand, we are still struggling with gender disparity even at the level when women have proven their worth to br equal to their male counterpart.
Yes, I know we are struggling with chances.
We are struggling for opportunities.
We are still struggling to raise our voice.
We are struggling with taking up issues which affects us directly.
But someone somewhere has to start!
No discrimination here.
Equal work, equal pay!
No dilemmas, please.
Founder KalaManthan "An Art Platform" An Equalist. Proud woman. Love to dwell upon the layers within one statement. Poetess || Writer || Entrepreneur read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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