2020 is a year of the establishment of political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes that redefined the meaning of gender existence which is a neuropsyuchosocial phenomenon. Feminism is not only about gender equality, it is an infusion of critical thinking, uplifting and empowering the working class, addressing corporate power, and ways to bridge the gap between rich and poor. Women of now are not confined to the house chores only instead, they are busy changing the world, in making the world a better place for humans. In a privileged society like this, women strive hard to survive every day, but what we see is, they are shining and rising with the propagation of the universal law of gender equality, which had been destroyed by the ingrained prejudice against women. Equality not superiority, decision-making power, and the right to sexual autonomy must be granted to every gender.
Women in Asia contribute about 36 percent of Asia’s GDP, India has the biggest potential, at 18 percent of GDP, but it’s high for China as well, at 13 percent. And even for Japan and Singapore and some of the more mature economies, a 5 percent to 6 percent GDP. About 40 to 45 percent of entry-level positions in Asian companies are occupied by women. There’s a lot more for women in today’s date, in China, the All-China Women’s Federation is working with a range of tech companies to boost tech-based skills and entrepreneurship for women. In India, Google and Tata Trusts are working on women’s digital-literacy programs in villages. In Indonesia, the largest e-commerce platforms are cultivating women and training them. UN Women Pakistan, with support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pakistan, initiated a three-year (2017 – 2020) project ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Home-based Workers and Excluded Groups in Pakistan’.
61 percent young women work in agriculture forestry and fishing, 21 percent in manufacturing industry, and 16 percent in community, social and personal services. When we talk about employment by occupations, 11 percent work as professionals, 2 percent are services and sales workers, 52 percent skilled agricultural and fishery workers, 19 percent in craft and related trades.
“Women are leaders everywhere you look—from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes.”
—Nancy Pelosi
CEO of YouTube, Oracle, COO of Facebook, CFO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, President of the European Central Bank, CEO of Bumble, IBM, Chairperson of Pakistan Herald Publications, are women.
“I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. … We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”
—Malala Yousafzai (shot in the head, her crime is to have spoken up for the right of girls to be educated.)
Since a long time women have been in the forefront of activism and protests. Movements like #MeToo and Time’s Up have build up a momentum and making the women powerful than ever before! The right to work, to end the wage gap based on gender, to destroy the construction of Men running society, to kill the idea of male dominant culture, to break the old school norms where women are suppressed in the name of religion and culture, to call out internal misogyny, sexism, injustice and all kinds of abuse towards women, is what a society needs in order to work in sync with the universal laws which has given women a dignified status. We need to create a place where women are given freedom, space, a safe and secure atmosphere, fair treatment so that they can earn, get education, live their life without any barriers of man made rules. Also, feminism is intersectional; it should not exclude people based on their gender, race, socioeconomic status, ability, or sexual orientation.
“It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are.”
Emma Watson
Women empowerment is not only about the advocacy of a feminine gender, the theoretical framework revolves around the equality of all genders. Women are not only uplifting themselves, but speaking and striving to raise the voice for other genders as well. If we see women empowering and coming forward in every field, we can also realise the fact that people who belong to LGBT community are also getting their rights, slowly and gradually. About 40% of LGBT employees work in industries, 15% of LGBT workers are in restaurants and food services, and 7.5% works in hospitals. Gender recognition at workplace is something that disposes social harmony and economic strength, whereas gender discrimination is a significant factor in the slow growth of economy due to less labour or work force.
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” – Maya Angelou
Any gender raising its voice is a fundamental human right, or getting fulfilment of rights is not a privilege. Unfortunately, due to less exposure in past times and orthodox teachings we had given the power of authority to men, with that he rules over and women have not had the kind of opportunities that men have enjoyed. But now women of today are brave, unapologetic, opinionated, and know how to cut off the patterns that no longer serve to their interests for a better future tomorrow as the new social order incorporates the idea of intersectionality more than anything else.
