What to read after WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN THE 21st CENTURY: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE?

In the ancient period women were known to engage in many productive activities but over the time reproduction and challenges of pregnancy and childbirth gradually made her dependent on men for protection and food. Women have been relegated to the margins in spite of the fact that they are numerically half of the world's population. This has resulted in women being unable to take a place of human dignity as free and independent entities associated with men on an intellectual and professional equal wavelength. The need for women's empowerment is felt because of the status they have in society since the beginning. There is a need to redefine the status of women especially in the Indian society. The impoverished and illiterate status of most women in society is due to their inability to attain sufficient levels of economic power. To sustain any level of empowerment, women have to be educated to be aware of their rights and privileges in the contemporary society. It is only when they become aware of their status in society that they will be able to take full advantage of the concessions offered to them as a corrective measure. Women empowerment has to begin with women's active participation. Unless women throw off the v shackles that ignore their talent, skill and spirit women through education and economic self-reliance, cannot be empowered. Unless they are empowered to take a decisive part in the social, political and economic life of the country, the very development of the country will be lop-sided. Women’s Empowerment is a process whereby women become able to organise themselves to increase their own self reliance, to assert their independent right to make choices and to control resources which will assist in challenging and eliminating their own subordination. The goal of women’s empowerment is to address the issues relating to women’s subordination, inequality and inequity. Hence it is a process where women are able to change from a state of powerlessness (I cannot) to a state of collective self-confidence (we can). Over the years, the scholars and researchers have been engaged in studying and analysing matters related to the better half of the human beings, i.e. ‘Women’. Hence, more number of research studies been done and books are being published, concerning women issues. The book is an effort, to identify and bestows various facets of women empowerment. It discusses the challenges and impediments faced by women, recommends strategies to vi address those challenges and ways to cultivate the conditions leading to women’s empowerment. It attempts at its best to find the possibilities of overcoming the obstacles, identifying significant areas to be strengthened in the dynamic process of empowering women in India. It is meant to be a modest contribution to assess women’s empowerment against the background of current scenario in the twenty first century. I express my sincere gratitude to my parents Shri. Shankarayya R. Hiremath, Rtd. Principal and Smt. Veena S. Hiremath, Homemaker; my sister Ms. Tejaswini S. Hiremath, Lecturer in English; my respected teachers; colleagues, relatives; friends and my dear students for the substantive support in the process of publishing this book. I extend my thanks to all the members who have supported directly and indirectly towards the publication of this book. My earnest thanks to publishers, Blue Diamond Publishing, 232 Magar Para Chowk, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh, Zip Code – 495001. I wish that, all the readers will find this book an enriching resource.