By- S A Sneha- 2031358
CSA saw another initiative taken for its volunteers by Project Mātram, which conducted a webinar on Gender Sensitization that was held successfully on the evening of 25 September 2020. The event was graced by Anjana Goswami and Puja Mandal, of the EQUAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION. The webinar sheds light on various aspects of prevailing gender discrimination and the lack of gender awareness in our society.
The ECF is an organization that works with young boys, teenagers, and young adults alike to bring a change in society from the root level. They have taken the first step to change by cleaning the mindsets at the heartland of the urban cities. Their primary aim to work with boys is to sensitize young men of their opposite gender.
The event had volunteers come forward with their own anecdotes of having restrictions and facing subtle discrimination in their confined homes, as the host put up a picture and the comment section reflected the existing stereotypes in our society. It showed a spectrum of challenges faced by young girls and boys from choosing what color they should like and the way they control their emotions in their present life. At the end of the webinar, the aim of the event was achieved as all attendees understood the necessity to challenge the existing norms.
Anjana also briefed the audience about the achievements of ECF so far, and the amount of progress they wish to see in the future. The last segment had the significant questions we need to ask ourselves and the society, as a small contribution towards the bigger change we wish to make. The question-answer session also made it clear that gender need not be seen as only two sides of a coin. But, as a spectrum of colors and humans are open to choose a range in that spectrum. With a set of steps, such as generalising menstruation talks at home, including the men in our family in the ‘women’s issues’, encouraging men to be free emotionally, calling out subtle sexism the moment we see it, refraining from using any pronouns for people we know little about and many such ways we need to adapt in our daily lives; to initiate the change, towards a better society, the event came to a successful conclusion.
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