AgVoice: Moving towards gender equality - A reality or a mirage?

Veena Gidwani, former CEO, Madison PR, pens down her thoughts this Women's Day - how a lot of things have changed for today's women professionals, but at the same time she notes that there are still some areas where women are held back by a conservative society.

As I write this column on the eve of International Women’s Day, I can’t help thinking about Margaret Thatcher’s quote: “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman”. While I believe that every single day of the year is Women’s Day, I do feel that March 8 provides us all (men and women) an opportunity to celebrate the incredible progress of women in different fields from technology to sports to politics to industry, etc., and think about what we as a nation can do to bring about gender equality in the true sense of the word, across all strata of our society. For while more and more women are excelling in their pursuits and doing a great job of meeting their professional and personal goals, they often do not get the recognition they deserve. They also face oppression from rigid and conservative families and in-laws.

In the corporate world, several studies have shown that companies that have women on their Boards, perform better than the ones with an all male Board. Women bring a lot to the table – knowledge and capability, integrity, talent, patience, tact strength, the ability to multi-task etc.

They do particularly well in service businesses like Advertising, Marketing, Media, PR, Banking, Hospitality, etc., and have reached the top most positions in their respective organisations, driving growth and innovation. Each of these women play multiple roles of successful business executive, wife, mother, daughter, etc., and try to give their best to each role. In recent times many progressive corporates, with the aim of retaining talented young women, have introduced many initiatives like flexi working hours, work from home, maternity leave of six months, having crèches for children in offices, etc. All of these make it easier for women to continue with their careers after becoming mothers.

It is also heartening to see initiatives like Air India’s flight with an all women crew on Women’s Day this year, Titan Raga’s new TVC on breaking the bias against women’s success and the movie ‘Neerja’, which beautifully portrays the true story of a 23 year old courageous flight purser, who saves hundreds of passengers on a hijacked flight, without for a moment thinking of her own life and safety, performing her professional duty to the highest standards of selflessness. All of these work to getting women the recognition they deserve.

While today’s modern woman pursues her career with passion, she also demonstrates the same passion and vigour for her family roles. Considering we work in an always connected business world, with travel and long work hours, help from her spouse at home in terms of sharing duties and workload is a huge relief. It’s great that brands like Ariel with their campaign – Share the Load/ Why Should Laundry Be a Woman’s Job – are sensitising men to this. As more men respect the contribution of their spouses and share responsibilities equally, more women will flourish and succeed. There is also a need for conservative families to educate their young boys on equality and respect for women.

I’d like to end with a quote from Ayn Rand, which I think beautifully portrays the spirit of today’s women: “The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me”. Women today are unstoppable, but is the world giving them the environment to touch the sky?

(Veena Gidwani is a strategic PR consultant, author and former CEO of Madison PR)