HER story: a journey of empowerment

 

As a female, the concept of "WE for Gender Equality and an Inclusive Society" gives me hope and burden. It recognizes that it has taken a long time, and many times not easy, to get to a place of gender equality, and there have been successes as well as challenges for a sustained period of time. The significance of the "WE" is strong in the message, as it switches the take away from one being solely about an individual struggle, to something greater. It recognizes that our fight for equal rights and opportunities is not one's fight, but that we all share responsibility to act. That sense of "WE" is what is needed in order to dismantle entrenched structural barriers and systemic bias to be able to move forward.

Connecting the women's movement, gender

equality, to "an Inclusive Society" underlines the fact that gender equality is part of a larger social justice issues. It reinforces the ideal that we cannot fight for gender equality in a vacuum, but must be connected to and supported by a society that values difference, acknowledges inclusivity, and dismantles all discrimination. For me, this means fighting for women's rights, and rights of all marginalized identities, but also, seeing the connections through our fights for social justice as they are enmeshed and depend on one another to be effective.

The expression "WE for Gender Equality and

an Inclusive Society" strikes a chord with me as a woman, not just as a slogan, but as a call for engendering change. It is an acknowledgement that achieving real gender equality will require real change to the very fabric of our societies and cultures. It is not enough to change a policy or practice; we need to examine and confront the attitudinal biases and prejudices that contribute to gender inequality in our lives at home, school, work, and in other social settings. This includes confronting various forms of discrimination, and create a respectful and supportive social culture. The "WE" has to be understood as more than an act of plurality, it is also a statement of collective responsibility for change, an expectation to act collectively, and a reminder that gender equality cannot be achieved without all of us working towards achieving it. 

In addition, the inclusion of "an Inclusive Society" is critical to meaningful change. Gender equality cannot be understood as a stand-alone issue; it cannot exist without linkage to other social justice issues outside of gender. An inclusive society recognizes and values diversity, promotes and celebrates differences, and engages in deliberate action toward dismantling all forms of oppression and discrimination. This includes working on multiple levels to address race, class, sexual orientation, and disability as intersecting and interconnected issues of inequality and oppression, where the variations of inequities and oppression are connected in complex and interdependent ways.

Reference 

Http://www.blogger.com

•https://theartarium.com/blogs/news/empowering-women-key-to-social-responsibility

•https://notionpress.com/in/read/essays-on-women-empowerment/

•https://www.voicesofyouth.org/blog/empowering-women-unlocking-worlds-potential