Take Two

A Day for (the Right Kind of) Women

Haima Deshpande | 03 Mar, 2011

Women’s Day has become a day to be selective about what defines a successful woman

Yet another Women’s Day is upon us, accompanied by shrill speeches made by successful women who promise to unite and “fight it out for our sisters”. Once the applause dies down, that promise is forgotten.

It is time this charade stopped. Women at the grassroots are far more empowered than their urban counterparts. Unlike city women, those in India’s villages are silent workers. They don’t need urbanites to teach them the ropes. Like the movement for women’s empowerment, women’s issues too have been sidelined over the years. Down the years, the fire that once ignited the women’s movement flamed out.

While the India of the 70s, 80s and 90s saw women from the grassroots make their mark and establish a definite direction for the women’s movement, in 21st century India something has changed drastically. Today the success of a woman is directly proportional to her looks, connections and lineage. Women who fit into any of these categories go miles, while those without these attributes have miles to go before they reach anywhere.

Run a list of successful women through your head, and the reasons for their being there and you will get the picture. Last year when a woman lawyer involved with the Congress Party was drawing up a list of women achievers she was specific in her request—they must not be Congress bashers. Someone else added that if the event has to be covered by the media, particularly news channels, then just anyone won’t do. Connections and looks matter.

In 21st century India, the biggest impediment to women’s empowerment is successful women. Time has proved the theory wrong that men stand in the way of a woman’s success. How many women at the helm of businesses, media, fine arts, politics or any other discipline are magnanimous enough to applaud the achievements of other women? Research indicates that few women make good bosses. Revelations by women employees in many cases indicate that many women bosses vitiate the office environment through their pettiness.

The first step towards being a successful woman today is working on your looks and network. Take a leaf out of the lobbyist Niira Radia’s book—after all, she’s the best example of where good looks and connections can take you.