Glass ceiling: ‘Visibility is not equality, symbolism is not power’

Emphasising on the need for hospitable spaces for the participation of ordinary and extraordinary women in public life, women politicians on Saturday opined that the concept of glass ceiling was inaccurate and flawed. “It is a labyrinth. Let us not confuse visibility with equality, symbolism with power,” said Sagarika Ghose, a parliamentarian from the All India Trinamool Congress. Aparajita Sarangi from the BJP, Dr. Thamizhachi Thangapandian from DMK and Ms Ghose were in conversation with senior journalist T.M. Veeraraghav for a panel discussion on ‘Glass Ceiling Shattered: Women leaders shaping Parliament’ on the concluding day of The Hindu Huddle in Bengaluru.

The leaders dissected the reasons surrounding the historically marginalised participation of women, the impact of deep-rooted patriarchy. They also debated about the delimitation bill and its linkage to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. While Ms. Sarangi appealed to everyone to shun the attitude of opposition towards the step taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ms Ghose asked if the Indian electorate truly wanted to spend on sending 800 members to the Lok Sabha. All the panelists opened that though women’s votes had assumed more significance than ever before, it had not reflected in an increased political representation for them.

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“This is not a men vs women issue. It is our collective responsibility to see that the glass ceiling breaks,” Ms. Sarangi said. In a deeply engaging session, the leaders quoted thinkers from Aristole, Pythagoras, Mahatma Gandhi to Maya Angelou, to emphasise on structural inequality and the need for a change in social attitude.

‘Son-worshipping culture’

Ms. Thamizhachi argued that the social culture needed to change, adding that we continued to be a ‘sun-worshipping and son-worshipping culture’. They said that the parties should give more tickets to women.

The leaders said that the culture in the entire region was full of examples of ‘female accession to male martyrdom’. Ms. Ghose observed that her’s was the only party to have bucked the trend in South Asia where several women leaders had been seen inheriting the male martyrdom. She also highlighted that while other parties had little representation of women in politics, the TMC has 37% elected representatives.

Tamil Nadu’s progressive culture

Ms. Thamizhachi spoke of the unique and progressive culture of Tamil Nadu, adding that the history of Self Respect Movement had given space to women to look at the world for themselves. “In the less travelled arena too, Tamil Nadu had the first woman priestess,” she said. Quoting Laura Liswood, she added, “There’s no such thing as a glass ceiling for women. It’s just a thick layer of men.”

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