An ambitious man? A Hero. An ambitious woman? Wicked.
The world has progressed a lot, in terms of inventions, science and developments in every field. But when it comes to women,the world is still behind. Even today in the 21st century, when a boy speaks confidently in class he is said to have leadership quality.
A girl does the same and is asked to “lower her tone”. A man leaves home to chase ambition and is called responsible. A woman does the same and is asked who will look after her family. Same actions. Different judgements.
Why are men and women still measured by different standards?
At some point, the question is no longer about individuals. It becomes about society itself:
“Who decided that ambition looks admirable in men but unacceptable in women?”
In the world,in societies, man and woman are measured constantly by entirely different yardsticks;
For man,
- Ambition is considered to be power or strength.
- Assertiveness is leadership.
- Independence is maturity
- Career focus is responsibility.
For women,
All these characteristics are given different meaning:
- Ambition becomes ego.
- Assertiveness becomes an attitude.
- Independence becomes rebellion.
- Career focus becomes neglect.
The World Economic Forum Report (2024) delivers a reality check: it says that true gender equality is still generations away. It tells that no country has fully achieved gender parity. At our current pace, the global gender gap will not fully close until the year 2158, this timeline is five generations away.
At a time when the world shows that much attention is given to education and employment gaps, a deeper issue persists beneath the surface: how behavior itself is interpreted differently based on gender.
This is not only a question of opportunity. It is a question of perception.
There are many regions, where people in societies don’t let their women to get education, as they fear women after getting education will not be controlled and also will be able to stand
for herself. According to UNICEF,an estimated 119 million girls are out of school worldwide.
In society, if a man gets education, he is considered to make good decisions. At the same time if a woman is educated, she is not considered to take decisions or said that
She’s not having enough exposure to make a decision. How’s that possible that if a man and women are both educated, have explored surroundings, how is the only one between them to be enough Strengthful or intelligent to take a decision. A man who makes a decision is said to be the leader of the house. If a woman tries to do that, she has been instantly told to stop and focus on her work.
Why can a man make a decision and a woman cannot?
Today, when the world has progressed a lot even in terms of education, inequality persists in outcomes. According to UN Women, women hold only about 26% of parliamentary seats globally, and remain significantly underrepresented in senior leadership positions across sectors.In corporate environments, multiple field studies including research from Haward and Yale have shown that identical resumes receive different evaluations depending on whether the applicant is male or female, with male candidates often rated as more competent
and hirable. These findings suggest something important: inequality is not structural. It is also perceptual.
These double standards are not accidental , they are inherited. These standards are linked with cultural traditions, there are many people
that says our culture doesn’t allow women to go to work, to make decisions. Society uses culture to control women.
It is also because of generational parenting patterns, there is no change in parenting patterns, our forefathers told women are linked to domestic life, so our parents and the same way we will tell our generations. Whereas, it is important to go with the current and updated parenting.
Society has always glorified women who live at home or are married. Women are being seen as only to get married and to look after the families,It is the trap of good women and society uses it against every woman. All these expectations are not always spoken loudly- but they are taught silently from the time the daughter is born in a house.
These double standards have a great effect on the women, when the women are told to adjust, compromise and prioritise harmony most of them have to accept it because of society’s pressure or family. On the other hand, women who reject all these ideas, are being judged for her character, ambitions, dreams, over time because of continuous judgment some women start feeling guilty that they prioritise their ambition, they suddenly feel pressure to be soft in nature,be feminine and adjustable and be accepted by society.
But the men are being praised and encouraged to take risks, speak up and lead. Why is that so? Why do we celebrate leadership in man but obedience in women?
There are many women who balance and try to balance their career as well as family. Men,in contrast, are only considered to look up to his career. It shows men are less frequently expected to carry equal responsibility in both dominions.This creates not only inequality in opportunity but inequality in exhaustion.
It is high time for society to realize that ambition, dream have no gender. A man and woman both can be ambitious and should be respected to go with their own choices rather than to suppress any one gender and to highlight the other.
Society should know that if ambition is valuable, why does it lose value when expressed by women?
If leadership is strength, why is it praised in one gender and questioned in another?
If independence is maturity,why is it not equally encouraged?
The inconsistency suggests that the issue is not ambition itself-but how ambition is interpreted.
A woman’s worth has rarely come from single authority but by generations of belief, culture and expectation. The women of today do not lack ambition, intelligence or leadership. So,after these the crucial question is not whether the women are capable of ambition or independence.That has already been answered.The question is why those traits still require permission when expressed by women- and praise when expressed by men.
Until that contradiction is resolved the measure of worth will remain uneven .
And the question will continue to stand:
Who decides a woman’s worth?