Gender Stereotypes: A Downfall In Women's Careers In India
Gender stereotypes have always been a severe issue in deciding a woman's career. A woman is
expected to work in the kitchen rather than accomplish her best version. Whether seen from the
perspective of a common man, in the end, a woman always sacrifices her career due to family
pressure or the pressure of society.
Gender stereotypes have played a huge role in knocking down
a woman's career. Gender stereotypes do not only affect a woman mentally but also demotivate
her from stepping further in life, and in the end, she has to depend on the shoulder of her
husband.
The overwhelming comments on a woman's picture over the internet on how she
should dress also affect a woman, mentally, physically, and emotionally. The debate will never
end over whether a woman should work and focus on her career or whether she should focus on
her family because society would never let her do both or would restrict her somehow by
deducting her salary or finding flaws in her work.
This article will further outline the need to
change the pattern of thinking in society in a manner that does not discriminate between
patriarchal and matriarchal societies when it comes to a woman's career. Gender stereotypes have
their origins in the fact that men have more power over women because patriarchal society has
governed things for decades. The article will also discuss the organisational role in the downfall
of women's careers and how an organisation is considered the first step in destroying a woman's
career.
Introduction
Gender stereotypes are preconceived notions of how men and women should be possessed and
how they should behave and move in accordance with their gender. This harmful view of gender
stereotypes was started by locals and has been followed thus far. The moment a girl is born, a
fear in the mind of her family starts developing about how she should behave, how she should be
careful of "boys," how she should dress up girly, how she should not fight like boys, how she
should know every dish to cook, and how she should be reminded that the kitchen is the only
place where she belongs.
There is nothing we can do about society, as we cannot change their
mindset, but we can change our family's mindset, which always reminded us that a woman cannot have her own career and should always stay behind her husband.
It is the twenty-first
century, and many families are encouraging their girl child to stand on her own two feet and be
independent, but the other half of society lags behind when it comes to women having a career
after marriage, as society still assigns women the structured role of being the sole caretaker of
her family, and in the end, she must choose between her career, for which she has fought her
entire life, and her family, for which she must care. Even if society allows women to work, the
amount of harassment at the workplace by superiors, colleagues, and subordinates always
reminds and scares women that they belong in the kitchen.
Gender stereotypes have been considered a pessimistic approach when it comes to deciding a
woman's career in the organization. In India, hardly 13% of women entrepreneurs are running
their businesses and earning on their own. There are various opportunities for women in the
workplace, but at the same time, there are many things that are lacking and restricting them from
going ahead in the future. Lack of resources, lack of financial support, and lack of knowledge are
a few examples of the downfall of women's careers.
A country like India is rich in diversity and
religiously diverse, where 78.9%are Hindus and follow the Hindu religion by their tradition, but
when it comes to women working after marriage in their household, the fear of society rises, and
unfortunately, women have to leave their careers behind in order to take care of their family.
With a massive increase in the population, an increasing number of women are stepping back in
their career, and somehow they are not able to meet the demand of working overtime and are not
able to work in their flexible hours, which leads to a deduction in their payout and demotivates
them to work.
Gender stereotyping is not only visible in the career of a woman; it starts with her family and
slowly impacts society. A girl belonging to a poor family is being stereotyped when it comes to
her study because her family cannot afford it, but the same family is willing to make their son
study and let their girl learn and do household chores. It is not anybody's fault, but the moment
of truth comes when they truly face it. Women have long been treated as an object or as a means
to produce only offspring for future generations, rather than being treated equally for what they
are capable of and what they desire.
Challenges In A Woman's Careers
Women in India today are educated and contribute to the country's GDP, but are they being
compensated for their efforts and abilities? The answer is no. Women have been educated and
treated equally, but this is only from the perspective of society. No one knows the inside story
and the level of harassment women have been through, including not being paid equally like men
and being called "bossy" and incompetent compared to men. In fact, no one cares what level of
education a woman has or how much knowledge she possesses at the end of the day because
women are paid and given opportunities based on their gender.
Women are lacking in many
parameters, like in the business sector, the labour sector, and the banking sector.
Due to a lack of knowledge, many banks do not offer massive loans to women entrepreneurs as
compared to men entrepreneurs because banks require collateral security, which holds women
back from having a successful business.
The corporate sector plays a huge role in the downfall
of a woman's career. Many large companies in India have more male employees than female
employees, and even if women work, they may be sexually harassed, raped, or even underpaid.
Gender stereotyping not only makes a woman less worthy of her responsibilities but also makes
her fragile from within.
From a societal standpoint, a woman in India is always required to step down from her position
and sit behind her husband. The government has contributed to the upliftment of women
entrepreneurs by introducing various schemes, but only about a quarter of society knows about
them and encourages women to work even after marriage.
Rural areas still do not have access to
quality education like urban areas do, but even after providing free education to girl children,
they still hold them back to work for their house after marriage. Women are being discouraged
from working late nights due to an increase in rape cases, the need to care for their families, and
simply because they are women. Gender stereotypes are everywhere, but none more so than the
amount of sacrifice a woman makes in her life by leaving behind her career after marriage, for
which she studied and worked hard her entire life.
Women-owned fashion brands have grown in
India's fashion industry, but women work for men in other industries. Gender stereotyping has
forced us to decide what is right and wrong for society. Many young female entrepreneurs are
emerging in India, but many half-women have stopped working.
Conclusion
Gender stereotyping is self made perception on how a particular gender should follow and should
do but there are a few ideas that can help change people's attitudes toward gender stereotyping
and encourage men and women to treat each gender equally. The primary could be a change in
conduct.
It is imperative to recognise our own social parts in sustaining generalizations, but it is
additionally imperative to pass that learning on to those around us. to instruct the men and boys
in our lives that taking information from ladies isn't an awful thing, and similarly energise
youthful ladies to speak up for themselves, for their thoughts, and for each other. Next, it could
be the way they behave, by not judging others first and getting to know them better.
Create
compassion for others. Attempt to walk in their shoes will make us Learn about almost all
different societies and groups. It is critical that we educate ourselves about our generalisations
Rather than only giving pink to girls and symbolising them as family caregivers, we should start
giving equal education and believe in equality. Although society will never stop judging both
genders, we can raise awareness by conducting surveys and teaching them appropriately.
Women
should be paid for their hard work and not merely on the basis of their gender. The way society
treats men, the same equality should be given to women when they are focusing on their careers.
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