‘Behind Every great Woman, You will find a Great…’

Why do women behave in an uncanny manner before men -- They throw bras, embrace and hug male performers on stage?  Would a man ever think of doing such silly frolics in public? By such ridiculous behaviour, they surrender their ‘chastity’ to the male; next, they cry foul.  Discrimination can be challenged and corrected: but ‘equality’ is a far-fetched reality. 

It was Aristotle who said, “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”— But the ancient Greek philosopher lived circa 384 BC. His sayings  are no longer valid.  They say, women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.

Renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist and Christian humanist Dorothy L. Sayers thought, “Wherever you find a great man, you will find a great mother or a great wife standing behind him -- or so they used to say. “It would be interesting to know how many great women have had great fathers and husbands behind them.”- Gaudy Night. How true is the saying when applied to our women politicians?

Women’s share in carriers
Amendments to election laws are being considered to make the female representation in Parliament, and other elected bodies increased to 25 from the present very poor 6 percent. However, women’s share in professional fields indicates very encouraging statistics, especially Teaching, Law and Medicine leading with over 50 percent.  Out of some 350 qualified in law, according to recent news, a staggering 290 were females!  The employment in the corporate sector executive positions also records 50 -50, but only at recruitment stage however going up the ladder to higher levels like MD- CEO and Chairman it drops to an alarming  5 percent. A research conducted to determine the causes has revealed that while male counterparts concentrate on the job as they move up, the ladies devote more time on family welfare, including children’s education and related facts.

Three Waves of Feminism
The roots of feminism are hidden in ancient Greece, most identify the movement by the three waves of feminism. The third being the pressure group in which we are currently living. During the first wave from1830’s to early 20th Century, women fought for equal property and contractual rights. Women in the late 19th to early 20th century became conscious of the fact that they must first gain political power, including suffragette to bring about change was how to make the situation worse. Their political agenda extended to issues relating to sexual and economic matters. The seed was planted that women have the ability to contribute just as much as the men can do. 

History of Women’s Day
   One of the earliest inter-governmental committees, The Commission on the position of Women, which has been the locus for US activities to sustain women’s struggle for fairness was established in 1946. The US set up the Commission to monitor the implementation of women’s rights.  Later its focus moved to the role of women in societal and economic sectors and, as a result of the declaration of the Decade for Women [1975-85], over to women’s empowerment, equipping women with the wherewithal to overcome centuries of prejudices and unfair treatment. The UN began observing International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March since International Women’s Year 1975; but  in December 1977, the General Assembly passed a resolution announcing a Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace. They allowed member nations the liberty to observe it on any day, in accordance with their national customs.

International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. Since those early years, International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. 

The increasing in strength, international women’s groups, which has been backed by four global UN women’s conferences, has facilitated a rallying point to  prop up for women’s rights. 

Weaker Sex is an Imaginary Concept
Why women are termed “weaker sex.” Ogden Nash , the poet said, “I have an idea that the phrase  was coined by some woman to disarm some man she was preparing to overwhelm.”

Do rights come in groups? We shouldn’t have ‘MEN’S’ rights and/or WOMEN’S rights? Or does it come as individuals, and it would be behaviour that would matter, not which person fits in to what group. ‘I am neither a man nor a woman but an author’- says Charlotte Bronte –[Authoress of ‘Jane Eyre’].

They say, women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. Woman of today is a different woman from her grandmother. Gone are the days they were restricted to the kitchen and the hearth. They  are running governments, heading big corporate bodies, help in social change, and so much more.

 Robustness doesn’t have to come in a masculine physique; it is a mental factor, a quality of thought 
History is full instances where women have made amazing contributions to their societies. Some are well known, some not so well known. Francis Bacon thought, ‘Wives are mistresses to young men, companions for middle aged, and nurses to old men. William Congreve, English Playwright once said,
‘Heaven hath no rage like a love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned’.

Women should bear in mind that it is the dignity and decorum of their womanhood that sustains the exalted position of humanity. Do not plead, do not appeal or beg, and do not grovel. Take courage, join hands, stand together and fight collectively. Increasingly, International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities. Can a man  make a woman  feel inferior without her consent?

Feminist Philosophy of Religion. 
According to Buddhism, it is not permissible to consider women as inferior. Samyutta Nikaya says the Queen had given birth to a baby girl; King Kosala was highly disappointed, he had expected a boy. To console the depressed King, the Buddha said: 

‘A female child, O’ Lord of men, may prove
Even a better offspring than a male. 
For she may grow up wise and virtuous, 
Her husband’s mother reverencing, true wife, 
The boy that she may bear may do great deeds, 
And rule great realms, yes, such a son 
Of noble wife becomes his country’s guide,’ - 

The Buddha had emphasised that man is not always the only wise one; women are wiser too. In early Buddhist texts,  it is well accepted that men as well as women are capable of achieving state of Arahants or awakened beings. They can act morally, attain all the meditative states that lead to nibbāna. Women in Buddhist texts is often less than equal, especially in popular literature women are exposed as impediments to men’s progress on the spiritual path. Buddhist literature has little significance compared to Dhamma. The attitude of the Buddha to the role of women was an enlightened one, even when judged by the standards of the modern age. Most of these works were written down several centuries after the Parinibbâna of the Buddha, and that during this time the teachings were sustained by monks, some of whom might not have been entirely free from the prejudices of the age. Samyukkta.Nik., 1, 5, 6-yassa ‘etâdisa.m yâna.m…’   This is the only vehicle. Be it a woman or be it a man,  The one who takes this vehicle can reach the peace of Nibbâna.      

Women under Hinduism Laws of Manu-V, 147-8; says, “A girl, a young woman, or even  an aged one, nothing must be done by herself, even in her own house. A female child must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her Lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent”.
Another popular misconception  in many Buddhist countries is that negative  or “unskillful” karma leads to a male being reborn as a woman, and positive “skillful” karma has the opposite result. There doesn’t seem to be any convincing basis for the belief. In fact the mechanisms of the law of karma are one of the incomprehensible questions for those who had not attained enlightenment. What cause in a person becoming a male or a female were not talk about by the Buddha. Thus well-liked beliefs with regard to this are without basis in the Dhamma.

In the Pali Canon, there are references to the place of females that might not please a modern exponent of “women’s liberation”. The Dhaniya Sutta of the Sutta Nipata extols respect in wives (reminding us of the Christian marriage vow imposed on wives to “obey” their husbands). Then there are the a variety of types of wives that appear in the Sutta and  Vinaya  Pitaka, with the occasional intimation that the more unassuming the kind of wife the better. But it must be kept in mind that these views do not have any kind of obligatory force, and are not always compatible with statements elsewhere. In a collection, as large as the Pali Canon, such contradiction on comparatively minor matter is to be anticipated.