Society still biased: Roopa

Manjunath Hadimani | NT

Roopa D, managing director of Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation has said the society is prejudiced towards women. “Our society hasn’t come out of the biases yet. If a woman fails in any profession, it won’t be just her. People generalize it and say that all women are not capable of doing it. But if a man fails, it might just be an instance of what they say,” she said.

Speaking about the role of women in public service, she said that they put double efforts to prove themselves even if it is not seen to others. “If we talk about biases in society, public service is one of them which are popularly male dominated. Traditionally women are limited to a few roles like receptionist, nurse, doctor and teacher. Certain professions are still male-dominated; the solution for this is that women have to participate more. Most women stay away from politics because they have a lesser chance of winning. Even when it comes to cinema, we don’t see many female lead movies because there is no box-office collection. We have to break such biases, how? We have to think about it,” she said.

Emphasising the need for change from within, she said that change has to start from home. “We have to break the norm of prejudiced thinking where women have to do specific work and men are supposed to do some specific work. According to the Kannada proverb ‘Maneye modala patashale, janani tane modala guru’ the change has to start with our home. Nothing happens if a man lends his hand in the kitchen. Let women have adventurous learning and teach our kids better values,” she said.

Speaking about the women, Akkai said that the duties and responsibilities of the women are not just confined to the kitchen or a house. Every woman has the right to get educated and work in society. She said a woman has the potential to bring about a change globally.