Women's Equality Day: 'We undeniably have a long way to go', say Mumbai women

Every year, August 26 is celebrated as Women’s Equality Day in the United States of America. In India, women face many challenges on a daily basis at different levels. Mid-day Online reached out to Mumbai women to understand how they perceive equality in the current era

Every single day, women around the world face a variety of issues including safety, rights and sexism, not only at home but also at the workplace. However, like always they continue to fight the system for their own welfare, brave the many challenges that come along with it and cross those hurdles with renewed vigour as they not only fight the people but also the system, which is so often against them.

Every year, Women’s Equality Day is celebrated on August 26 in the US. Over the years, the celebration has also extended to countries around the world. For the uninitiated, the day is marked to observe the day the Nineteenth amendment was made to the US Constitution in 1920 to allow women the right to vote in the country. The day was first celebrated in 1971 and was subsequently designated in 1973.

In India, women have had the right to vote for a very long time and while that has been successful, they are fighting many other demons in their homes and at the workplace, the centre of which is sexism. Mid-day Online spoke to Mumbai women to understand their idea of equality in times like today. While they say there has been an improvement, they say that inequality still plagues the workplace and home, and the misconception about the meaning of feminism, which takes away the true meaning of the word.

Palak Mehra, 29, assistant film director
Living in Mumbai, a fairly developed and forward city in India, I would like to believe that women on the surface level are in parity with men in terms of equal salary, leadership and household roles. However, if you dig in, the patriarchal conditioning of men is still very much relevant in upper middle-class sections of the society. With awareness, I have seen a lot of pinpointing on male chauvinism, but it is something which is rooted in Indian culture and will take ages to go away resulting in women being subject to gender discrimination till then.

In my personal experience, being in a position of power and leading men who are older than me didn't really go well with them at first. I had to raise my voice multiple times and point out to them about their behaviour to make them realise that their inflated male ego is being hurt because if it would have been a man, they would have been just fine.

A man I dated, still wanted to pay for my coffee. Why and for what reason? I am capable enough to pay my own bills. It's 2022 we are talking about. While traditional gender roles are challenged with independent women like me, there are many others who are still suppressed by the patriarchal society we are living in. It's disappointing to say that but we undeniably have a long way to go.

Sarah Syed, 29, media professional
Equal does not mean identical. Many people argue with feminists over points like ‘if women want to be equal why should I give my seat to a pregnant woman in the bus?’. That’s because in his mind being equal means being treated the same. But equality has to be in terms of larger and broader things. For example, I just had a baby. I bore the child in my womb, birthed and nursed him. My husband took care of all house chores, took over night feedings, diaper changes and meal times. We did different things, but we shared the job equally. However, inequality still exists everywhere in rural and urban places. 

Graciana Fernandes, 34, human resources professional
Women for a very long time have been fighting for equality. However, now I do see a change in the way society has embraced it. Most men have learned to accept the fact that women need to be treated equally not only at home but also at the workplace.

With the current generation understanding the importance of equality, parents have started to embed these values at the nascent stage especially if it involves a girl child. There are men who exhibit equality by getting involved in household chores just like any woman would. With diversity and inclusion put in place in most organisations, women have started to hold leadership positions that they justify with ease.

All said and done, I do believe that there is still a small percentage of people in the society who follow a traditional mechanism, and I hope they too turn around and understand the real meaning of equality.

Also Read: How safe do Mumbai’s women on wheels feel on city roads?

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