The Working Woman's Woes: 5 Women Share Experiences

The working woman’s life in India seems to be riddled with challenges. Right from convincing respective families for their choice of profession to adjusting to the sexist environment in most of the workplaces, the challenges are never-ending. The recent case involving female colleagues turning to social media to report a case of sexual harassment against the founder of the organisation has brought the issue of women's safety at workplaces in public eye again. It is true that not every company is harsh towards its female colleagues; there are a lot of reasons that contribute towards the inconvenience faced by female employees on a day-to-day basis.

SheThePeople.TV spoke to a bunch of working women who opened up about the plethora of problems they face at their workplaces, specifically because of their gender.

Dress Code for women is a regressive idea

Ayesha Dutta, working for a company based in Paschim Vihar, shares her woes.

"I have a big issue with my male colleagues who try to judge a woman by the clothes she wears to the office. I mean, I wear whatever I feel like. My boss wasn't happy with this and asked all female employees to follow a dress code. Isn't that ridiculous? The men are allowed to wear whatever they choose to because the boss knows that it's men who judge women. The vice-versa doesn't happen."

Read also: 5 Ways To Promote Gender Equality At Workplaces

Male co-workers shirk work 

Chaitanya Singh, whose mother works as a Female Dressing Room In-Charge In A Delhi Hospital, talks about the men's "avoiding work" attitude that makes her mom lose her peace of mind.

"One thing she cribs about every time is that whenever her male colleagues want to refuse some work, they can easily do so. The worst part is that it is automatically assumed that a woman will complete it. And most of the times, it is my mother who has to deal with those unfinished tasks. There should be some sense of decorum and equality while delegating work."

Assuming men are better at some tasks

Rashi Goel, an aspiring corporate professional, gained some practical working experience during an NGO internship in her college days. She recollects:

"That was the first time I realized how people assume some domains of work to be more apt for men or vice-versa. My internship involved some field work. At that time, the authorities made sure that a guy accompanies us, even at the cost of delaying the work by days."

Preconceived notions about women's work

Karishma Verma, working as an air-hostess with a reputed airline, blames people's lack of awareness for the inconvenience caused to them.

"People assume our job to be very easy for us because according to them, we are born to serve. So, this comes naturally to us. They do not realize that we are the ones who are going to evacuate them in cases of emergency. And this is true for all professions that have more women than men. They must realize that we are for their safety first and then service."

Different descriptions for similar traits

"I have a problem with how women and men are perceived differently for the same kind of work. My male colleague and I follow the same strategy of being a no-nonsense business leader. But only I am referred to as "rude". Isn't that unfair?" says a corporate professional who doesn't wished to be named.

Read also: Serena Williams Talks About Sexism

Charvi Is An Intern With SheThePeople.TV