Plight Of A Working Woman

What is Oppression?

Oppression is a type of injustice.It is an inequitable use of power, authority and

politics to prevent someone from being free and equal. The verb oppress can mean

to keep someone down in a social sense,it can also mean to mentally burden

someone, such as with the psychological weight of an oppressive idea.

Women and Oppression?

Historically it is proven that women are oppressed in every culture and society

whether in social sense or psychologically.Tough their condition has improved

with time. They are now allowed to control their lives to some extent, they are

allowed to work in respectful organizations, attend good education institutions

.The oppression of women in the 21st century is perhaps more multi-faceted and

developed than it has been historically. Gains in women’s rights have been

products of the protracted struggle of women and anti-sexist allies over the

centuries, but these gains have not ended the oppression of women. One such

example is the low presence of women in Top executive positions in large

organizations.

Grievances of a Working Woman

Modern woman works as a teacher,a banker,a doctor, a professor,etc. But at the

same time, she is a mother and homemaker,too. Thus her life is quite busy and

tough. She has problems at home and even there are problems at office but she

faces all the problems with a smile on her face. Working woman has to do her

household duties. She has to look after the needs of her children. She also has to

look after the needs of her husband. After doing her household work, she reaches

to her office. Here too, she has some serious work to do. She has to keep balance

between her life at home and her life at office. She is always under mental and physical burden because she has to maintain her personal life as well as her

professional life. Her busy and tough life makes her stronger and stronger. She

knows that she is the most important member in the family so sometimes she has to

sacrifice her professional life to help her family. Really she is a source of

strength,energy, compassion and much more.

This strong woman gives her all to her family and her work but is still not given

the consideration and respect she deserves in both aspects of her life.Here I am

going to talk about the obstacles she has to recover from to gain the recognition

and success she deserves in her working life.

The belief of male superiority in the society creates several hurdles for women at

their workplace. Women discover that they must be much better than their male

colleague to reach at the top. When she achieves that top position in the company,

again it is much difficult for women to work with male employees. Also because of

social and psychological tradition in the society, the women colleagues too don’t

lend support to their own woman boss. Working in such conditions inevitably put

much greater strain on women than men. These types of problems make women

less eager to progress in their career. It has been observed that the family

responsibility expands the working women have to change their job, select part

time job or leave the job. This situation creates unnecessary stress for losing their

job.In India half of the women leave the workforce due to such stress and only 7%

of top executive positions are held by women even if they contribute to almost

50% of the actual workforce.Some workplace problems faced by women that

compel them to leave or hinder their progressing carrier are:-

￾Gender Bias:-

￾We live in a patriarchal society so it makes it difficult to accept the fact that

women are also equally capable to work in the same conditions shoulder to

shoulder with men.Jobs that require frequent travel, physical exertion etc. are still

open for men only as they are considered more eligible than women. Many

companies while hiring women employees ask them openly about their marriage and further family planning as they cannot afford the maternity leaves and other

flexibility perks.Even if a woman rises to a higher position her male and even some

female colleagues find it difficult to accept her as an authority figure and take her

seriously.

Sexual Harassment:-

It is the most shameful and most common aspect of a working woman’s life . They

are sexually taken advantage of or harassed by the males holding power and

authority in their workplaces and are blackmailed to not take action against the

abuse to save their jobs. Even the women holding higher positions are sometimes

subjected to crude remarks and insulting comments about their sexuallity from

their colleagues and subordinates.

Power Play:-

For generations, women have succumbed to the power play that men have played.

With the dawn of the millennium, women are ready for a tough fight.Many women

leaders have stated vehemently that it took them a lot of time and plenty of courage

to survive the power play politics and reach their current position in their

workplace.Driven by emotion and instinct, for women surviving office politics is

one of the toughest challenges as it can hurt her inner soul and disturb her mental

peace.

Ego Clashes:-

Women of power are usually faced with an egotistical man who refuses to take

orders from a woman. Some men go as far as belittling a woman or talking to them

as if they are clueless.

Unsupportive Managers:-

Women are less likely to have access to their senior leaders.They have to work

extra hard to convince them that they are equally able to manage a client or project

that would have been otherwise given to a male colleague without questioning his

capability.

Security:-

Last but not the least the most threatening challenge for women at the workplace is

their security. With more and more cases of physical assault and abuse being

reported in dailies and news channels, women need to learn the art of self-defense

for their security.

Many organizations have employed special security services for helping their

women employees to get back home at late night. Not just working women but

every girl should always be prepared to face the wrath of uncivilized men and

hence must equip themselves with defense mechanisms and face their challenge

with oozing self-confidence.

So,yes we have come a long way but we still have to cover a very long path to say

that women are truly equals in every sense.

By :- -Mansi Mehrotra