Reasons To Respect

When I think about women’s role in building a prosperous society, I find it significant. Unfortunately, in the context of Nepal, women still struggle to be recognised. Traditionally they are defined as the “weaker sex” and they are normally dominated due to societal norms. Gender discrimination exists in different forms in all spheres of life. In addition, it can also be seen that it is women who relatively face more physical and social challenges than men to cope with life situations because of which they have to survive a lot of emotional upheavals.

For instance, during their teenage years, girls begin menstruating and thisleads to them having to cope with a lot of psychological and social pressure, particularly in the context of Nepal where menstrual bleeding is regarded impure and girls are ostracised during their period at least for four days.This is one aspect of gender discrimination because boys do not have this sort of restriction.

Another milestone comes into girls’ life when they get married. After marriage they need to quit a lifestyle they have been living so far and go to their husband’s house where they have to learn a completely new way of living. They encounter different circumstances to adjust to, different relationships to develop and maintain, and even different workloads which are very challenging.

Once they start coping with all sorts of changes pregnancy comes their way. It is entirely a woman’s share to carry and give birth to a child. Again it is she who needs to make adjustments. In her job list another job of child care and development will be added.The stage of menopause is also a very difficult stage in women’s life.It usually begins during late 30s and stays until late 50s. During this period women have to face various kinds of physical, psychological and emotional changes.

Even if women go through these challenges, they do not sit back feeling they are inferior to their male counterparts or they are weak. They know how to balance their life or manage emotional turmoils created by bodily hormones or social norms. Accepting these unavoidable realities they try each and everything to excel in the areas where they have abilities. As a result, there are many women in the world whose contribution is remarkable for the betterment of human kind.

So, why do we continue to consider women as being lesser than men? In fact, currently this stereotyped concept has been challenged by different sorts of research findings which justify women are not the weaker sex but the other way around.For example, women have longer life expectancy than men, they are better at multitasking and they can manage pain in a better way. A study says, “From longevity and surviving illness to coping with trauma and managing pain, we investigate the surprising ways in which women really are the stronger sex.”

Whatever situations come their way, women can handle them in a proper manner and move on. They deserve more respect and recognition in society instead of being discriminated with labels like “inferior or weaker sex,” “second class citizen” or “less intellectual people.”

(Published in an English Daily The Rising Nepal on Friday, Jan. 26, 2017 ) 

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