Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune
(A constituent of Symbiosis International University)
Women Cell Newsletter- August 2015
“GENDER SENSITIZATION”
CONTENTS
1. FOREWORD
2. WOMEN BREAKING GENDER
STEREOTYPES
3. MEN BREAKING GENDER
STEREOTYPES
4. GENDER EQUALITY OR GENDER
BIASNES?
5. SUCCESS SECRETS OF TOP WOMEN
CORPORATE OFFICIALS
6. UPCOMING EVENTS
PAGE NUMBER
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3
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FOREWORD
It is rightly said that gender equality is not a woman’s issue, it’s a human issue, it affects us all. With this belief as
the foundation of our actions, the women’s cell of Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, have embarked
upon a journey to eradicate the cancer of gender biasness that plagues our society even today.
The fact that this problem is not just in our country, India, rather is a global issue is most worrisome. This
problem pertains not only to women but men too, and it is high time that we look beyond the rose tinted glasses
and realise what a major disservice we are doing to the society at large by forcing men and women to confirm to
expectations we have of them as a gender.
Our issue, this year, covers some remarkable articles about the men and women breaking barriers and
following their dreams. People breaking stereotypes and despite facing immense societal pressure and being
thusly bogged down, rising like phoenixes to make their mark in the world and to be accepted for who they are.
We have our biggest event - Womancipation 2015 lined up for the next month and we anticipate a great deal of
participation from the top B-schools across India.
Senior Editors
Junior Editors
Manjeet Kaur
Sanjukta Malakar
Renu Dhillon
Mekhala Dighe
Shaliki Sharma
Edna Daniels
Kalyan Ram
Aditi Sud
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“WOMEN BREAKING GENDER STEREOTYPES”
By Sanjukta Malakar, Div B, Batch 2015-17
"For most of history, anonymous was a woman."
- Virginia Woolf.
Recalling history, we can clearly sense the drastic change in women’s lives from domesticity and family to
independent voices in almost all fields of work and life.
Do we see any women electrician when we call up to fix our power supply, or a woman plumber or a lady truck
driver? Yes, few countries may have women engaged in such chauvinistic jobs but that does not count up to a
majority percentage. Even though we get to see several women achieve great positions in multinational
companies, there are some career paths which are still considered male-dominated.
Here is a list of such unconventional career options that women have opted for:
Ishita
Malaviya
from
Mumbai created headlines for her exceptional
surfing skills along with a tag of being India’s
first surfer girl. The country’s obsession with
fair skin, going against the flow and choosing
an unconventional career – Malaviya has
broken many such stereotypes and inspired
many women
Bharti Singh is one such lady who changed the
image of the Indian standup comedy scenario. In
this male governed field, Bharti found her way
and became one of India’s most popular
comedians. She became a runner up of a standup
comedy reality TV series and later on went
ahead and participated in many such events and
shows
Mary Kom doesn’t need any introduction. Five
times world boxing champion, Kom is the only
woman boxer to have won a medal in each one
of the six world championships. This 31 year
old lady from Manipur has surely made the
whole nation proud and opened gates for many
other girls who want to opt for a career in
boxing
Bachendri Pal from Uttarakhand became the first
woman to climb Mount Everest and inspired many
such women to follow her individualistic path. Apart
from Pal, Premlata Agarwal became the first Indian
woman mountaineer to scale the seven summits of the
world. Following their footsteps, Poorna Malavath, a
13-year old girl made a record by becoming the
youngest girl to climb Mount Everest
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“MEN BREAKING GENDER STEREOTYPES”
By Mekhala Dighe, Div C, Batch 2015-17
―Heaven help the boy born with talent for ballet‖
The above quote is just a small 9 word reflection on the kind of society we have. The much globalized and
progressed world that we all live in has many more milestones to achieve. For the purpose of this article we
shall be covering only one of such milestones: Gender stereotyping. It means over-generalizations about the
characteristics of an entire group based on gender. In most cases these stereotypes have negative connotations.
In our culture the ideal male is considered to be strong both physically and emotionally, non conforming, competent, bread winner of the family, accomplished and most importantly aggressive. He
is tough and formidable and insensitive in a ―manly‖ way. He isn’t the one who sits cries over the many
hardships of life but goes through them as if an animate bulldozer.
The saying goes every rose has its thorns; however in this scenario in my opinion, the saying should be all
thorns have their roses. Many men have broken the pointed and painful stereotypes set for them by this society
by emerging as beautiful flower spreading the fragrance of their talents that are considered ―not so manly‖ by
their respective cultures.
What are the images that would enter our mind when picturing dance forms such as kathak or belly dancing or
ballet? For most of us it would be women striking beautiful poses and well, this is where we go wrong. The
mere fact that we cannot imagine men performing these art forms is gender stereotyping at its worst.
Truth of the matter is that men all over the world and all through the centuries have been an integral part of all
such dance forms. They have fought against all odds to pursue their passion and through their immense talent
have won the hearts of millions of people.
Pt. Birju Maharaj is probably the greatest exponent of kathak as he started dancing at young age of 7. Kathak, a
dance form dominated by women, had for long been thought of as soft, graceful and extremely elegant, words
that most definitely do not coincide with the image of an ideal man. Pt. Birju Mahraj however broke this gender
stereotype and brought about a drastic and a lasting change in the practice by adapting the dance to his own way
and not once coming across as effeminate but rather as a strong and expressive and masculine individual. His
long list of accolades includes a National Film Award for Best Choreography Vishwaroopam, Padma Vibushan
in 1986, the very prestigious Kalidas Samman, Lata Mangeshkar Puruskaar in 2002 and Sangeet Natak
Akademi Award.
But other than achieving these big feats and making a name for themselves there are several men who
unknowingly have cut through gender stereotypes in the smallest of the ways possible, probably so small that no
one ever even noticed.
On November 16, 2013 in Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium after a nail biting cricket match between India and
West Indies the most beautiful thing happened. SachinTendulkar announced his retirement from all forms of
cricket. But that wasn’t beautiful. What was beautiful was the fact that while he announced this extremely sad
news for cricket fans all over the world he shed some heartfelt tears himself on national television in front of
thousands of people. That small gesture that small show of emotion was a proof of his vulnerability at that point
and his undying love for the game and that was something he wasn’t willing or inclined to hide... he wouldn’t
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play for his country anymore and that was an extremely sad moment for him. But unlike what was expected of
him he chose shed those tear instead of keeping them in, in the process breaking another deep rooted gender
stereotype.
Hollywood stars are also going out of their way to break gender stereotypes. Many actors such as Jaden Smith,
Gerard Butler and Kanye West's turned up dressed in skirts at major social events, eventually proving to the
world that a person’s dressing need not make him feminine or masculine and that a man can carry a skirt or
even a dress with panache.
There is a long rocky and difficult path for us to go with regards to gender stereotyping. However these small
efforts can go a long way and someday maybe just someday a boy can cry and not be emasculated for it.

Pandit Birju Maharaj - The
singer and dancer
extraordinaire


Men in Hollywood
redefining fashion
stereotypes

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GENDER EQUALITY OR GENDER BIASNESS..?!?
-By Edna B. Daniels, Div B, Batch 2015-17
As I sit to pen this down, I’m keen on writing the unspoken. Little discussion happens about issues related to
men. We live in a world where the classic man who should be a model of inspiration and aspiration, has been
gutted and replaced with a model designed not to battle for progress or greater good, but to fall on its own pit of
self-loathing, imposed from outside by its feminist creators.
A crusader once said that feminism has come at the cost of men. This is true in the modern world. Let’s look at
some instances& facts According to UNESCO Annual Education Survey, sixty percent of all Bachelor’s degrees in world are
held by women. While this is great for the sisterhood, it leads to some shocking social consequences.
 By analyzing the pay of workers in 147 of the biggest cities in the world, researchers discovered that
unmarried, childless women under 30 are now making eight percent more their male equivalents.
 The Guardian recently revealed that forty percent of all UK domestic violence victims are male.
 According to ILO Accidents and Mishaps at Workplace report (2014), men account for ninety three
percent of all workplace deaths in the world. That’s such a disproportionate number that it shouldn’t be
possible even by accident—especially considering women work forty three percent of all hours worked
each year.
 In 2008, Newsweek noted that women win sole-custody battles five out of six times. This leads to a
strange state of affairs where men are often automatically considered to be a bad parent, even in cases
where they’re demonstrably not.
 According to W.H.O. reports, one in eight women will get breast cancer in their lifetimes, while one in
seven men will get prostate cancer. But, unlike breast cancer, no-one has yet been brave enough to start
a media discussion about prostate cancer; meaning the idea of, say, doing a fun-run to raise money for
research is still considered weird.
As parents, we teach boys to lash out instead of restrain themselves. As a culture, we teach men to hide their
emotions even if it kills them. And look where that’s got us: prone to suicide, often unable to see their kids and
unwilling to confront violence with anything but more violence.
People have forgotten the meaning of gender equality. Gender Equality is almost every time equated with
promotion of female rights. According to UNICEF, gender equality "means that women and men, and girls and
boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections.‖
Let’s make a conscious effort to recognize and implement what gender equality really means and make this
college and society a place which treats both the genders equally and respectfully.
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SUCCESS SECRETS OF TOP WOMEN CORPORATE OFFICIALS
-By Nisha Sankar, Div B, Batch 2015-17
We all have heard that behind every man’s success there is a woman. But what’s the secret behind a woman’s
success?
Here are some of the qualities that I think have made women scale the zenith of corporate world.
 Determined
The world’s most successful women really want it and remain determined even in the face of obstacles.
They have the skills, and they put the time in. But more importantly, they have the desire to succeed.
 Think bigger
A successful woman corporate official as well as keeping the main goal in focus is able to think
analytically. Not only does she view a situation as a whole, but is able to break it down into sub parts for
closer inspection. Not only is the goal in view but she can break it down into manageable steps and
make progress towards it.
 Enthusiasm
A successful woman in corporate world is enthusiastic about their work or cause and also about their
role as leader. People will respond more openly to a person of passion and dedication. She is a source of
inspiration, and a motivator towards the required action or cause. She is seen as a part of the team
working towards the goal. She is not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty.
 Disciplined
It takes discipline to achieve and maintain success. You simply can’t do everything, and the world’s
most powerful women stay focused on the areas that will have the biggest impact.
 Delegate at work and home
The most successful women have learned that they too have help, and they have to have faith in the
people around them-at work and at home. It’s not easy, but it’s critical over the long-term.
 Be courageous
They move toward their fear to continually challenge themselves. If you’re not a little bit scared every
day, you’re not learning. And when you’re not learning, you’re done. It is this attitude of constantly
challenging themselves each and every day that set them apart, and helps them become courageous.
 Calm & composed
Good leaders are tolerant of ambiguity and remain calm, composed and steadfast to the main goal.
Storms, emotions, and crises come and go and a successful woman takes these as part of the journey and
keeps a cool head.
Women corporate leaders such as Indra Nooyi, Chanda Kochhar, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Mary T. Barra, Ekta
Kapoor and many more have these qualities imbibed in them which made them reach the pinnacle of success.
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List of upcoming events:
 Womancipation - 22nd Aug 2015
 Raksha Bandhan Celebration -29th Aug 2015
 Self Defense Workshop
 International Men's Day Celebration
 International Women's Day Celebration
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JUNIOR WOMEN CELL
SANJUKTA MALAKAR
EDNA DANIELS
SUSHANT KUMAR
NISHA SANKAR
ADITI SUD
MEKHALA DIGHE
ABINASH MISHRA
NEHA AHLAWAT
WOMEN CELL HEAD
Prof.Dr.Pradnya Chitrao
SENIOR WOMEN CELL
Renu Dhillon
Manjeet Kaur
Kalyan Ram
Shaliki Sharma