Having a child in a home is like infusing life into it. And having a girl child is special because the upbringing of a girl child is crucial in many ways. She grows up to be a woman and becomes part of this society which has its own biases and many times poses many struggles for the fairer skin in many aspects of life. It is easier to deny but women, even today with all the resources at their disposal struggle to get equality in this society. Many presume it is easier for single women to survive. But only a few understand the reality. A single mother has her own challenges. She, despite all her desires, has to keep her child at the center of her life & only then does she deserve the respect society gives her. Yes, to become a respected mother, the woman in her dies many deaths. And if a woman chooses to be childless and is single, earning respect or rather surviving in society becomes all the more challenging. Having said that, many women even in families lead a suffocated life. Some die every day behind the closed doors of their bedrooms and yet carry on with their life just that the family survives. This might paint a very pessimistic picture, but one can not deny the reality that exists beyond the social media glare of making it seem all rosy. However, women by nature are resilient and despite all odds are making their marks in society. You can name every sphere of life be it joining the forces, becoming commandos, occupying chairs in the board rooms to fighting elections, you can spot a woman not giving up despite all odds.

And as we all know when women are empowered, a society is empowered because an empowered woman makes supports her family, which in turn supports society and in the long run the entire nation is benefitted. So, if we want a seed to blossom into a full-grown tree bearing fruits, then one has to take care of the sapling by taking care that the sapling gets enough water, sunlight, and manure & gets protected from pests and insects. Just like that, to make women empowered, the effort has to start very early when each girl child is nourished in the proper manner. So, today in this blog post I will focus on just five crucial aspects (though there are numerous ways) required to nurture a girl child.

1. Right parenting: Parenting is very crucial: As the saying goes charity begins at home. So the environment at home where a girl child grows deeply impacts her thinking ability & her entire perspective of seeing the world at large. A free-thinking atmosphere where the focus is given to futuristic ideas plays an important role. The biggest challenge is to make her feel that she is no less than anyone. But at the same time, it is also essential that she understands the importance of holding up grace & elegance in a bold way. This is easier said than done and many parents struggle with it. A girl is no less than a boy and similarly, a boy is not inferior to a girl child has to be exhibited in practice by the elder ones at home, so that the values are embedded in her acumen as well where she understands equality in a practical form
2. Sex education & menstrual hygiene: Attaining puberty for a girl child is a life-changing experience where she struggles to handle what her body undergoes and she completely has to adapt to a new way of life where she learns to handle her menstrual cycle every month and yet carry on with every activity as others. Many parents shy away and do not explain the science behind this phenomenon resulting in a very withdrawn behavior of the girl child at this phase which affects her self-esteem in the long run. Similar is the case with sex education. It might seem surprising but many women, who are not exposed to social media or youtube are clueless about discovering the aspects of sexuality. Even in many modern families talking about sex is considered taboo. So, in such cases, children either remain ignorant or become inquisitive to explore ways to satisfy the urge when the hormones make things difficult during the adolescent phase resulting in unwanted pregnancies in girls children, particularly in their teenage. And we all know what happens when a child is born out of wedlock that too for an underage girl in India! Her life becomes hell. So, educating girl children about their own bodies, and its phenomenon including sex education in an open manner is very crucial. More important is letting them feel safe, that even if there is any wrongdoing, they must confess it at home without fear so that matters can be prevented from becoming worse.
3. Self-defense training: Rapes of women have become so rampant in today’s age that despite legal implications, we can not deny its occurrence with a woman be it outside the home or inside her own bedroom! And for all girls, this training must start as early as possible by making the little ones understand the difference between good touch & bad touch. Almost all women after growing up, realize that at some point or the other it was their own family member, be it their distant uncle or that distant cousin, or the over-friendly neighbor who has taken advantage of their bodies when they were little ones. And trust me, many women struggle to narrate such instances and chose to keep quiet so that there is peace on the family front. But if we allow it to happen generation after generation, are we even progressing? So a girl child must understand the importance of opening up when anything like this happens in front of her parents. In the meantime, every school must include self-defense training for all girl children so that she is able to venture out without fear.
4. Financial Management: Understanding money, having knowledge about personal finance and investments, or even having a savings account must be included in the school, curriculum. Parents at home must also encourage the importance of saving from an early age. Life can be cruel many times and having money helps one sustain in this pricey world. So when we all learn about micro and macroeconomics, we all fail at managing personal finances. And women face the brunt more because, they have always been seen as caregivers taking care of the family, fulfilling its needs, and taking the responsibility of the child and no one understands the struggle that women face to talk or understand money. So this knowledge must be imparted early in life.
5. Legal knowledge: We have laws for everything. We have a comprehensive Constitution and an elaborate legal system. But how many women know about their legal rights? Miniscule is the answer. So be it The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 or Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961or Indian Divorce Act, 1969 or Maternity Benefit Act,1861, or Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, etc, women in general ( except the ones in the legal field) are totally ignorant about their own rights. Forget knowing about such laws, in our country no one wants to visit a police station or a court unless they are bound by any situation. The fear of being duped by an advocate and being harassed by police personnel is still a common notion. So an average man and a simple Indian family want to have the safest distance from any hassle that leads either to a police station or court premises. In such a scenario, women understanding their legal rights seems very difficult. But one is truly empowered when one understands the privileges and rights that one enjoys under the law of the land. So, the daughters of this nation surely need to understand legal education wrt. their rights as well as duties.

Having said all this, there are instances where women have taken advantage of resources available to them to play victim cards and take advantage of the opposite gender. This is not correct and this kind of pseudo-feminist victim mentality is also a result of poor upbringing and is a sign of the flawed character of an individual. This must also be curbed at an early age if the signs are spotted by the elders, either at home, school, or any other surroundings.

I hope you find my suggestions helpful. With this, I sign off hoping the future of our daughters to be bright and filled with equal opportunities for them to prosper as empowered individuals. Do let me know your thoughts.

“This post is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter.” I shall be writing about topics related to women’s empowerment this quarter.

Love,

Chinmayee