Today’s Women of India

- Debolina Mondal

“She’s the boss.” How many times have we heard things that “she has got it all” and is “ready to take over the world”? That she is the superwoman, and she can shatter the glass ceiling. And then, we also do hear that women need equality and chants of feminism. So, if women have got it all and they can shatter the glass ceiling, then why we need equality? Aren’t we all equal by now?

The Past

A lot of the times we hear that ‘feminism’ is a modern term; It didn’t exist before. Another unfortunate idea we get to hear is, “why does modern women have got to work?” “Who will take care of the household chores?” “God has made men and women different because women must stay in the house protected.” And my personal favourite- “women belong in the kitchen.” So why did modern women have to start working all of a sudden? If it’s about pursuing passion, then they can also do part-time jobs. And, most importantly, if the men in the family are already ‘providing’, where is the need?

These are some of the most popular opinions that you must have seen circulating in social media. But factually, women have been always working since day one of the civilisation. Apart from the 1.5% approximate population of women, the rest have been doing various jobs like of governess/ayah/teacher, dress-maker, washer, flower-maker, women who run small shops etc. while the privileged upper-class women have had the luxury to not work and simply stay at home.

But there was a tragedy. Women’s wealth has been largely controlled by men due to legal and societal norms and; what they earned, never belonged to them. So, one can say that although democracy came, it didn’t really help women and their situation. Women were also easily susceptible to domestic abuse.

Women soon began to realise, that no laws are being made favouring women because they were not voters. Hence, voting rights are necessary for equality and this gave birth to a movement called, women’s suffrage movement and they were largely called suffragettes.

First call for the right to vote

October 28, 1886- a very special autumn day in NYC. The mist has cleared up and the statue of Liberty was bathing under the sunshine. President Clevland took his stage and wanted to show the generous gift of France to America. Suddenly, Lillie Devereux Blake, a prominent women’s leader with her friends were sailing on a boat with a sign: American women have no liberty. And soon, women’s suffrage movement gained its momentum all over the world.

Women’s suffrage movement in India

The fight for equality was no less for Indian women. Indian women were called suffragists and not suffragettes as Indian women had different strategies and political contexts. However, no less important.

India was under British colonisation when suffrage movement in Britain picked up. In 1918, Britain granted limited suffrage to women property holders but, this right was not extended to British India. Prominent women suffragists (not suffragettes) led by Margaret Cousins and Herabai Tata founded an organisation called: Women’s Indian Association in Madras. Their main goals were- equal rights, educational opportunity, social reform and women’s suffrage. An application was made by Cousins to the secretary of the state of British India and it got accepted on 15 December, 1917. On its approval, Sarojini Naidu led deputation of 14 women throughout India, to present the demand to the government of British India. The British parliament enfranchised (right to vote) to women over the age of 30 or who were married to a local government elector but, Indian women didn’t get the enfranchisement (right to vote). Suffragists didn’t lose hope and kept on drawing petitions and published updates about the struggle in Stri Dharma, an anti-colonial, pro-nationalist magazine of the Women’s Indian Association. With the support of Indian National Congress, the Southborough Committee (a British committee), was tasked with developing the electoral regulations. Though they accepted petitions from throughout India, they spoke only with women in Bengal and Punjab.

In April 1919 acknowledged that educated women might be qualified, but concluded that overall women were not ready for the vote. The Madras City Council passed Municipal Act IV in 1919, which gave women the right to vote, but not the right to stand in elections. Suffragists continued pressing the same rights as male electoral in all over India. Women’s suffrage was first passed in Bengal presidency in 1925 and then in Punjab in 1926. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay became the first woman to stand for a legislative seat in the British provinces, but lost by a small margin.

Post-independence

The post-independence era that saw a more significant expansion of women's suffrage in India. India got independence on 1947 and in 1950, India adopted it’s first constitution. In the timeline of women's suffrage, Indian women were among the earliest to achieve full suffrage rights at the national level in 1935.

Women and Mental Health

Coming back to the present, year 2025; women are well-exercising their voting rights and India has seen woman President, Prime Minister and Chief ministers in various states of India; the what could be the issue. Surely women can raise their voices well.

Well, current data shows youth of India especially young women are suffering. They are getting highly stressed which we will call distress in proper terms. 26-year-old woman Anna Sebastian Perayil, employee of Ernst & Young died of massive distress on 20th July, 2024. The Company denied stress due to work and said that Anna must’ve had some prior health issues. Not only stress, women are also facing depression, mood-swings etc. Then Hindu newspaper claims that 90% of women in the corporate sector have faced some sort of mental health issues in their workplace. Some of the very common social challenges that women are facing:

1. Pay gap: Yes, it’s not a myth. No country in this world including India where women get equal pay as men for the same amount of work. India ranked 131 in the Global Gender gap Index, 2025 and has been marked among the lowest even among South-Asian countries.

2. Imposter Syndrome: Women in India often times have to do extra work in order to prove their worth. Studies show that women in India suffers from Imposter syndrome, a behavioural health phenomenon where an individual self-doubt of one’s own intellect, skills and achievements. It has been noted that in executive level, the imposter syndrome is increased in women.

3. Sexual Harassment: For Indian women sexual harassment at work place is not a new thing. In recent years, the number of sexual harassment cases in workplace has increased which could be a reason that the companies have started reporting but this can’t be claimed that corporates in India are handling sexual harassment cases better.

4. Gender Based Discrimination: India’s corporate sectors are patriarchal, which means dominated by men. And this is where, when it comes to taking leadership positions, men are favoured more over women. Often times, women’s assertiveness are being seen as bossy and men’s assertiveness is being seen as a good leadership quality. The glass ceiling affect is still a reality. There are lesser women representative in the corporate sector in India.

5. Menstrual Leave: It’s a brand-new concept and even women in executive level will strictly deny menstrual leave to women and will call it unnecessary. Even though medical field has published several researches on how cortisol secreation is at highest during heavy flow. Even women and Child Development Minister of India in 2023 has said that menstrual leave can’t be allowed as it will cause more discrimination when it comes to hiring by the corporate sectors.

6. Maternal Leave: When it comes to maternal leave, it is only for 26 weeks up to two children. In which 8 weeks is prior to delivery and the rest is post-delivery. Throughout the pregnancy, a woman goes through both physical and hormonal changes which affects the mental health of women a lot. Elevated stress and mood-fluctuations are a constant.

7. Paternal Leave: Yes, Paternal leave is very much required as the presence and constant support of the spouse is required. Studies shows that a pregnant woman reduce anxiety and increases self-efficacy (an individual’s belief that they are capable of doing a task on their own). But when the paternal leave is for just 15 days that how can we expect that a better woman’s health can be ensured.

8. Child Care leave: Child Care leave is available only for mothers for 730 days. But when it comes to parenting, presence of both the parents are required. As both parents play a key-role in parenting. Also, when Child Care leave is only applicable for women, then somewhere, we also expect women to play the majority role in parenting. But in reality, after the child reaches the age of 1, then role of both the parents start becoming equal.

As the role of women keep on getting more difficult and less rewarding, the corporates of India prefer to indulge themselves on celebrations like women’s day and mother’s day. Although, celebrations are always for valid cause but till, nothing much changes then, as an individual what steps we may take to make our lives better and those who are around us.

Survival of the fittest

If your work is in a very toxic environment, then just “leave it”. And if you can do that, I truly admire your audacity and I am sure many others would do that. But not all of us are lucky. Some of us are living from one paycheck to another and, as much as we hate the job, we need the money. But desperation doesn’t always mean we can’t think through. Here are some techniques, which might help

1. Relaxation techniques: Reacting to every situation that happens in your work-place is not going to help. Reactions are not always overt but can be also covert. You might not shout but on inside you could be feeling you are losing your control. Remember, one can’t think well when they are hyperventilating. And a chaotic mind leads to a chaotic choice and that won’t help you to earn anymore respect. Take a deep breathe and remember, it’s just a job. You might feel this is all and the end but, it is not. Calm down your mind and treat your job like a job. You can find many small meditation techniques with a soothing voice a good background music. Sit in the most comforting corner of your home and do that. Let all the thoughts come to your mind, all of it that sounds scary. But after that you will find your mind calmed down and no thoughts interrupting.

2. Brisk walk: During high stress a brisk 20 mins evening walk helps. It helps you to unwind your day and also improve sleep. Try to take the walk without earplugs and just notice your surroundings. And if you feel very low in energy, then morning walks would help.

3. Journaling: Now, while you’re doing the above activities, whatever thoughts were coming to your mind, you might journal that. As you are writing down your thoughts and feelings, you will have a track of emotions. Later on, you may also come up with a solution on how to tackle that.

4. Learn to negotiate: Your current workplace might feel like it’s trying to trap you. But once you’ve been able to calm down, you may start being assertive slowly and gradually. Start with small things like unable to do overtime every day. But might do it for few days. It won’t be easy but if required, bring the doctor’s certificate. Next, you might start saying no to those tasks which might feel like burdening to you.

5. Plan your exit: As you have started negotiating and getting small wins, then relish that and use the little endorphins that you’ve gained to plan your exit now. Not all companies are like this and now you know what you don’t want in your next job. Make a list of what you hate about current job and it’s non-negotiable and make another list of what you dislike about your current job but can work around it. And in the next interview, you may ask your queries.

6. Therapy: As we reached to the end of the article, and if all the above points are not really helping your cause, then seeking help doesn’t make you look weak. Therapy doesn’t only give you a clarity but also helps you to learn new skills that is tailored to your temperament and personality. Don’t worry. You’re not the first person to go through this and you won’t be the last either. Thousands of others have overcome this, so could you. Believe in yourself. You’re just doing fine. Wish you all the best.