A human family has for long been venerated
by all divine religions & schools of thought as an institution which leads
to procreation of human beings & subsequent molding of their personalities.
While the cradle of responsibilities falls equally on man & woman; the
anthropological evolution entrusts a pivotal role to woman. Although quite
often when a woman opts for this role, she is deemed unfit or incompetent for
any other concomitant role.
Societies across geographies & times
have been marred in an unremitting deliberation of carving out the precincts of
woman’s role beyond families. A few months back there was a big tumult in France when a
female minister had to take maternity leave. Media raised the national debate
on whether such high positions of imperativeness be given to women who might
choose their family responsibilities over a “JOB”. The debate died sadly
without any conclusions.
But what astounds me is the fact that women
have faced questions on their abilities, whenever they have chosen to tread the
path of a “role which has been carved out for them in human societies since the
concept of family came into being”, without facts in the history corroborating
the same. Examples in history are galore elucidating the female commitment to
the responsibilities she has assumed either as part of an empress (having
larger responsibilities of taking care of her kingdom) or as an ordinary woman
who toils in the hot sun in order to secure a good future for her child &
family. If Rani of Jhansi could rewrite the tales of bravery on a battlefield
with her child on her back (infact she was then the leader of first war of
Indian independence in year 1857), then there are ladies who fight the battle
of survival (not only in physical terms but also in terms of their dreams of
brighter future) on the rice fields or construction sites everyday. Many poets’
libretto have described the beauty of female care & compassion through this
picturesque portrayal of motherhood, where the towel not only shields the child
from the threats but also at the same time teaches him/her the important
lessons of life through mother’s journey each day.
So, where & why does this question
emanate? Is the answer in the long human history of treating women as citizens
of second order? Or, is it just a chauvinist attitude of patriarchic design of
human society which has still not come to terms with looking beyond the defined
confines of a woman’s role in the institution of family?
Although I don’t have an answer to these
questions (which I don’t feel are important enough to answer at this juncture),
my thoughts are focused on whether a woman can be questioned on her abilities
to carve out a successful career after break from work even without an answer
to these questions.
Even as human societies have evolved into
designs of greater erudition; a woman’s role whether in the formative years of
her child or as a “homemaker” has not got diluted. Today too, she plays a
crucial role of weaving the individual aspirations into “one” making “a family or a home” & moulds her child in his/her
formative years into the kind of person he/she becomes in future.
I think most of the doubt on a female’s
abilities rests on a premise that two equally important roles cannot be handled
concurrently. But, I feel the above premise stands nullified in wake of what the
examples from human history (across times & geographies) edifies us.
This
brings me to an interesting facet which thus far has remained unquestioned
& not deliberated. Does the organization in its present design have the
support system to hold female aspirations of balancing her career as well as
her family? We, as an organization, now need to take a deeper look into the
support systems that have been built (or not built) to bear the load of female ambitions
especially when she assumes the role of a “family bearer” instead of raising
questions on her abilities to do the same.
