Ill Effects of the Education of Women
Education has always been, is, and shall always be a boon to any individual. However, just like anything else, education of women has its negative points too, specially in India.
In India by early 20th century, education of women started on a small scale, and, by now in the 21st century, we find the education of girls has become very common and spread throughout the length and breadth of India. It has, by now been realized that education is absolutely essential for women. This is because it is the women who contribute greatly to the growth of the society, and with this being understood, by now there is a growth in the education of women, and, even in the rural areas we find girls going to school. So much is good and it is an indication that the Indian psyche has changed to a great extent in regard of education for women.
Nowhere it is possible that education has an evil effect also. However, here in India at least this education of women has its disadvantages also. Where women are educated, the family grows very healthy, the children get help in their studies, the husband is looked after better and the house is very well kept. This is in short, the result of having an educated wife and an educated mother. However, it is these two important spheres of a family that suffer most with an educated woman in the house. Does this sound like an anomaly, that, an educated woman is an asset to the family and yet she can be the harbinger of distress also in the same family? Let us now analyse how this contradiction arises. Once, women are educated there is, as expected, a change in their behaviours, attitudes, interests and desires. They develop an immense amount of confidence which is good for her work place but, causes discontent in the family. This is because, the female qualities of women get slightly crushed when they start working outside the home. Their strong qualities of love, tolerance, adjustment and attitude to serve all take to the winds. This, in turn creates a sort of a vacuum in the family which is used to these qualities of the woman of the family. These qualities of the women provide a sort of a cushion of rest against all the vagaries of the outside world. When this aspect of the family is lost or, at least reduced, the feeling of peace at home gets somewhat reduced or lost.
Once women are educated they develop a mind of their own and thus become less adjustable to the new family they come to, after marriage. They are also less accommodating and so less submissive. With the loss of these fine qualities of women the home loses its paradise like appearance and feel. Moreover, it also becomes to some extent difficult for the family also to handle her conveniently. This is because her interest or rather her involvement in the home starts dwindling and she has no time also to hear to the woes of the family members, leave aside her sorting their problems as she did earlier. Besides, her becoming difficult, she also does not seem to be wholly satisfied within the four walls of the home which now depresses her as, she wishes to go out of the home and get satisfaction from the outside involvement. That means women who were at one time very happy at home, and took it as their paradise are now just not interested in confining themselves to the home, no matter how wonderful it may be.
The result of this education and further on, their working out of home leaves the families high and dry. The home remains uncared for, the elders become a burden, an undesirable and useless entity and the children a burden. Is this not a complete loss to the family? Though the women working out improves the financial status of the families but there is a greater loss on all other fronts. This financial status improves at the heavy cost of physical presence of the women at home, the mental adjustments of all the members and. the emotional touch to all. Thus all these privileges the members of families enjoyed when the women were at home are sacrificed at the altar of a job, at the altar of a double income. These women are left with no quality time to be spent with any member of the family, as, all their time and energy is spent for their bosses outside the home.
The results of this education of women are to be seen in almost every home to-day. The homes are unkempt, elders wreathing in pain and the children growing in the nearby creches, and getting addicted to drugs when they come of age. This is the sum total achievement of the education of women specially when they also start working. One basic thing that education of women has led to is a multitude of problems in the homes and thus the society. Not that education of women should be stopped but surely it is time we find a via media between educated working woman and a happy healthy wholesome family. Such a family where elders get their share of respect and service, the children get the congenial atmosphere for growth and grooming – and, it cannot be doubted that, all this only women can give. It is also seen that, at times there are women who, even though working provide these ideal families also, they and only they should work, as, it seems they are really capable of maintaining both the job and family fronts intact and happy. We must remember that, the home should not be sacrificed for anything at all.
