2016 Oct 14
by Ridmi Upeksha
Feminism; an extremist attribute that symbolizes the equality of a woman, is customarily used to acquire political, cultural, economic equality and seek justice for a woman in any society. This was a major topic in the history of the world that was brought to proper attention in the late 90’s, stabilizing the position of a woman in the society without being differentiated of the gender one has been born with. Feminist movement has brought reassurance for women in many ways in the western society unlike ours, starting from access to proper education, salvage from domestic violence, equality in employment, and extended rights in application for divorce proceedings & right to abortion.
Feminism in our society is still heavily misunderstood for homogenizing gender types. People in our society confuse and complicate equal rights with social acuities, leading it to standardizing all those who believe and stand for equal rights to be rebels who inflict negativity in our cultural beliefs. Although feminism is a stereotype, the concept of the whole topic is merely focused around acquiring equal rights for women, and this has not reached the senses of most of us in our society.
Discrepancy of equal rights between male and female in Sri Lanka is high, even though there are many active feminist movements, and equal rights groups that are currently rotating in Sri Lanka. Especially when it comes to the gender gap in employment in Sri Lanka, female candidates face a much higher unemployment rate, and discrimination in working environments than male candidates. Moreover, not only do e consider the economical aspect of the scenario, the cultural & political gap between a man and a woman in Sri Lanka also tends to lean towards less advantages for a woman than a man. For those who speak up for these issues openly are profoundly being frowned upon in our society, thus leaving feminism in Sri Lanka on hold at a point which it doesn’t appear to be moving towards the development of it.
When it comes to access to education, females have gotten their equal proportion of it completely now than what it was a decade ago. Yet after the age of 16 most of these girls are deprived of making decisions on their own to move forward as an individual. Younger generations need to be taught of their equal place in the society for the growth of our country. Sri Lankans often preaches about how to be a woman, extracting parts from cultural and social notions, creating borders around every single woman where each of their actions in life are given a limit that they cannot exceed. Even though Sri Lanka has a feminist movement at hand, an evident growth in it could make an enormous change in social misconceptions of equal rights, and equal rights for women.
Sri Lanka, much like any other country, needs thorough actions taken towards making alterations to adjust to equal rights of a human, to move forward to a better future with positivity. This includes giving females the right place they deserve in the society, allowing them to take actions in their lives without any interference of personal or social perceptions of how to be a woman in Sri Lanka.
We need to see the bigger picture in addressing issues that women have, and finding answers to them. It is not only a progression of the female group of the country, it will also be the whole country that will be moving forward along sides with. Gender equality is highly required in all parts of a society to build a healthier environment so that there will be a control of gender issues and minimized conflicts related to it. Likewise, feminism and all of it aspects when it comes to achieving equal rights as a women in our society needs to be implemented and encouraged to see the world beyond its borders. Standardizing a human, regardless of the gender could give many answers some of our day to day problems, leading us to society with simpler attributes and new possibilities. Empower women. Women are a key piece in our society. We need every piece to be a whole! To be whole for a better future.
