Women should be restricted to work connected with the home and children. They should not engage in politics, commerce, or industry. How far do you agree with this statement?
Men and women have similar faculties and capacities. The difference of sex may asset itself in family relationships, but there is no reason at all for it to assert itself in emotional, cultural, political or commercial matters. The very idea of restricting women to work connected with the home is motivated by a desire to bring increased freedom to the male population. It has its roots in the perpetual clash between liberty and equality. Men have enjoyed freedom over the ages simply because women were denied it. The Greek city-states did not bestow any rights on women or on slaves. In both Eastern and Western societies, for centuries, the belief that a woman’s place is in the home has been perpetuated. The myth of the fair sex or the weaker sex has proved a convenient peg on which to hang all kinds of inequality. Women had no independence or rights. In certain countries daughters could not inherit the property of their fathers, only male heirs were in direct line of succession, and widows who had no sons had no right to ancestral property.
There have been a few cases of brave women who have struggled for their rights, but a full-fledged movement only began towards the close of the nineteenth century. It is only now, after years of struggle, that women in some parts of the world have left the confines of the house. They are coming forward to participate in the task of bread-winning and even in the defence of the country. There are women scientists, administrators, executives, engineers, doctors, lawyers, judges, and politicians. Though their numbers are still limited, their work has won them recognition. They now join the police not only as constables but also as officers. Even postal services employ women.
There are patches of matriarchal families in some societies and it is true that the greatest equality is enjoyed in those societies where the matriarchal system has prevailed. There is no possible reason for denying women these possible avenues of development. They have proven their merit and worth in almost all spheres of work. It is true that long working hours may interfere with their housekeeping and rearing of children, but advanced societies have begun to cater to this requirement. Many women give up their jobs for a few years to attend to these important functions. When the children are a little older, they come back to work with increased facilities and better gadgets at their disposal, housework has become less time-consuming than before.
Participation in the business of life is very important if we are to have a better society, a healthy home, and men and women who are not frustrated and discontented. It would be an attempt to put the clock back if we were to differentiate between the sexes. It is impossible to make non-persons out of people. In some ways, women are even better workers than men. We have no right to discriminate against women.
