Well, all it takes is a few minutes to challenge long-held beliefs. As a 22-year-old, when I look back to an ordinary incident that happened around four years ago, when I was in high school, I realise it shaped and changed the way I used to understand “women empowerment.”
After a tiring rehearsal for the annual function, I boarded the school bus. On my way back home, an intriguing conversation with the lady conductor made me break a long-held belief with which I was growing up—or I should say, a belief that was growing in me.
As soon as the bus started moving, I opened the window to let some fresh air in, and soon my mind was captured by the thoughts of tomorrow’s performance for the annual function.A little later, I asked the lady conductor how long it would take to reach home.
She did not reply to my question directly. Instead, she began telling me about her routine,how she leaves her kids alone at home and comes to work. The feeling of guilt for not being there for her children could be subtly heard through her tone, coupled with an expression of compulsion and helplessness for earning to survive and sustain.
However, without taking a minute to resonate with her previous answer, I posed another question with childlike curiosity. I asked her, “Can your husband not take care of the kids while you are at work?”
Just as I finished my question, she quickly jumped to answer,as if she already knew this was coming. She told me she had left her husband because he would steal her money and was an alcoholic. This time, the feeling of guilt was replaced with one of liberation and satisfaction.
With that, our conversation ended. I turned to look out the window. The chilled wind kept touching my face while I was grappling with my shaken beliefs.
Until then, the idea and definition of women empowerment I had was very different from the one I had just encountered. I realised that, for all those years, the associations I had drawn with the concept of women empowerment were limited. For me, the idols of women empowerment were the recognised women holding positions of power. Due to my narrow exposure, I failed to recognise the women around me who, in their own quiet and strong ways, were breaking norms.
That bus ride made me realise that women empowerment is not an elite concept. There are many women who might not even be aware of what “women empowerment” technically means, yet they are setting extraordinary examples every day and shaping their lives with courage and dignity.