QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1.Write a paragraph on The role of educated empowered women in building a strong nation.

Education is the foundation upon which any change is built. It helps women to help themselves and break theshackles of exclusion. Women represent half the world’s population. But they contribute far less than 50 per cent of economic activity. In some countries, per capita income lags significantly because women are denied equal opportunity. Numerous studies show that illiterate women have high levels of fertility and mortality, poor nutritional status, low earning potential, and little autonomy within the household. A woman’s lack of education also has a negative impact on the health and well being of her children. For instance, a recent survey in India found that infant mortality was inversely related to mother’s educational level. Women are more likely to spend their resources on health and education, creating a powerful ripple effect across society and across generations. One study suggests that women invest up to 90 percent of their earnings this way, as opposed to just 30-40 percent for men. Thus education and empowerment of women can work wonders in building a strong nation.

2. The role of learning, labour and leadership skills in making a woman liberated.

Education is the foundation upon which any change is built. It helps women to help themselves and break the shackles of exclusion. Labour facilitates women to flourish and achieve their true potential. It helps women to become independent, bold and resourceful. Leadership enables women to rise and fulfil their innate abilities and talents. Here there is plenty of room for improvement.
3. Women should step outside their comfort zones. Discuss

When women lead they tend to do as good a job as others, if not a better job. They are more likely to make decisions based on consensus building, inclusion, compassion and with a focus on long term sustainability. But women sometimes lack the confidence to match their competence. So they need to change that mindset and reset the narrative in their favour. Some women though educated and qualified for a job tend to be comfortable with child bearing and child rearing. They feel happy inside the home and never step out to express their talents. Their talents cannot be tapped in this context. Some women become satisfied with a small job though they are capable of more competent job.

4. Women sometimes lack confidence to match their competence. Comment on the statement.

Women are gifted with so many talents and abilities. But circumstances pose certain constraints in their lives. They do not realize their talents. Sometimes at home, sometimes at school, at other times at workplace, women are bound by so many limitations. Right from their childhood, they are chained. They suffocate under the heavy pressure of don’t s. This blocks the free flow of their powers. Women are actually strong and tough. More than men, they are capable of multitasking. They are competent enough to lead and take up responsibilities. But most of the times, they stay back. They hesitate to take up responsibilities. It is their diffidence which pulls them back. It is high time they realized their innate potentials. Then only women can contribute their due to the nation building process.

SPACE OF WOMAN IN A FAMILY

Throughout history, the space occupied by women has undergone a dramatic change. The attitudes of the society towards her role in the family were shaped mostly by the different religious texts. The first pairs of couples – Adam and Eve and Siva and Parvathy introduced by the three religions – Christianity, Islam and Hinduism throw light on the fact that Man and Woman together make one and the whole. Hence religions present woman’s role neither lesser nor inferior, but her role is to complete the other half. But what later history relates is the deterioration of her role in a patriarchal society. Woman was confined within the four walls of the house. Child bearing and rearing became her sole responsibility. Her voice could not be heard even about the matters related to her future. She became the victim of many atrocities. Thanks to the efforts of many reformers, gradually women could break the walls. Education liberated them and gave them dignity. They began to assume the role of bread winner and family head. She started finding a space in the public too. This public space won her worthy position in the private also.The twenty first century witnesses a redefinition of woman’s role in the family. From the traditional roles of housewife and mother she has marched ahead. Her voice is heard in matters regarding marriage, procreation and so on. The disintegration of joint family and formation of nuclear families resulted in the crumbling of family as an institution. Now woman enjoys rights regarding when she should marry, whether she should marry, when she should have children, how to plan in favour of career etc. Side by side we can see that premarital and extramarital relations are on the rise. This results in the erosion of values of love and compassion. Children became the worst sufferers. The broken families have generated crimes and violence. It is high time man and woman extended their hands in mutual support and mutual respect to hold family safe and secure. At a time when woman finds a space even in space, her role rolled from submission to autonomy. Still, in some quarters, she is tarnished, while in some other quarters, she forgets what she can do in shaping a generation. Love is the noblest feeling one can cherish and it can be profusely found in the set up of a family only. Only a woman can restore the family within the bondage of love. Therefore, her space within in the family has become all the more vital.