We need to teach our girls that there is no limit to a woman's strength
Our world is a better place when all people are accepted for their talent, skills and abilities regardless of their gender.”For ages, women have been a victim of the glass ceiling. Glass ceiling is a metaphor that is used to depict invisible barriers given to women to prevent them from rising beyond the system. The barrier exists due to a pre-conception of gender roles, age, colour, wages and many more. The roadmap to success doesn’t even exist for women. In one of the researches, it was found that the ratio of women in executive positions is massively unequal, especially in Asia and the Pacific region. Simultaneously, in developed countries too, the situation is not too gloomy.
The status quo has always been a boy’s club and women have never been considered taking leadership roles.
In the words of Sudha Murthy, “women of today play a critical role in the success of entrepreneurs.” She explains the importance of dedication, sacrifice and strength that goes into building remarkable ventures. Success is not merely achieving milestones, but breaking down barriers that pave the way for others. With inspiring numbers, women of today are inspiring and guiding others, especially igniting the hearts of future generations.
Inspiring Indian women such as Indra Nooyi (Former CEO of PepsiCo); Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Founder and CEO of Biocon); Smriti Irani (Minister of Women and Child Development in India); Akshata Murty (Director of Catamaran Ventures) and many more show that with determination and perseverance, women can break glass ceilings and achieve their goals. Every one of them has been a trailblazer and has been recognised fully in their work. Not only this but from Nirmala Sitharaman, becoming the 1st full-time finance minister of India to PV Sindhu being the Badminton World Championship, women have always proved themselves to be equally at par with their male counterparts. Furthermore, personalities such as Hekani Jakhalu and Salhoutuonuo Kruse also became the first women to be elected to the 60-member Nagaland Assembly since the State came into being in 1963.
In the corporate world, the term “glass ceiling” is still very much a part of today as it was years ago. As stated before, glass ceilings are still found in the workplaces, not only in the discrimination of pay scales but also marked by sexual harassment, exploitation at work and a feeling of insecurity in women due to conduct of the opposite sex. Since ages, the time a woman takes birth, they have been considered to be a liability and to break this stereotype thinking, it becomes the need of the hour to educate the men of today in this respect thereby, giving equal opportunities and encouragement to break the barrier to gender equality.
Remember, one should never doubt themselves, there are plenty of people who will do that. Behind every great woman, there will be another woman whispering, “you’ve got this” in her ear. There are always going to be people who don’t believe a woman can stand on her two feet and create something of her own but the fact is she can and she is doing it.
We need to teach our daughters and sisters that there is no limit to a woman's strength and ambition. They should also be taught to worry less about fitting into the glass slippers and more about shattering glass ceilings, thereby uplifting each other while at the same time embracing femininity, as there is beauty in it. Every revolution needs a soundtrack.
(The writer is an educator)
