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The savvier Indian woman

Rasheeda Bhagat

WELCOME to the 21st century, when most of those ``connected'' people can claim they are cyber-citizens or citizens of the world. As geographical boundaries come crashing down while you surf the Net, it doesn't matter if you are powerful or meek, rich or poor. If you have something sensible to say, people will listen.

As, literally with every minute, more and more people in the world acquire cyber citizenship, the question that pops up in one's head is on gender and the Net. Can this become a tool of empowerment for women? Especially women who have been suppressed and deprived for centuries?

One has not heard of any specific study having been done to find out if the glass ceiling exists in an information technology workplace, but one suspects it does. As in other professions, here too, women might find it increasingly, or at least comparativ ely, easy to get in. But the acid test comes in growing at the workplace, with the only limitations being one's intellectual, creative and people skills, apart from dedication to the job.

But regarding female Netizens, and how women use the Internet, there are some pointers towards this in the findings of a recent study done by the Internet marketing consultancy firm brainquiver.com. According to a United Trust of India report, this study found that contrary to popular belief, female Netizens were mostly from the college-going crowd; 61 per cent of the women surveyed were married, and over three-quarters of them were above 25 years of age.

Of course, as expected, the survey was done in New Delhi, Mumbai and some smaller cities (``mini-metros'', the report calls them), and the majority of the women queried had an annual income of over Rs 3 lakh.

The focus of the survey was on marketing and looking at women as influential people who have not only purchasing power but who also decide what brands will adorn their homes. And, mind you, no longer is their choice confined to choosing between Pillsbury or Annapurna atta.

Often with more disposable income in her pocket than that of the spouse, the woman is playing a definite and decisive role in the purchase of a particular brand of colour TV, washing machine, microwave oven or dishwasher.

In case you are wondering why a working woman should have more disposable income than her working spouse, it is once again good old tradition and convention that comes into play. In a typical double income, urban Indian home, the bulk of the money the ma n brings home at the end of the month goes into the dal-roti aspect of expenditure.

The man's historic role as the bread-winner takes centrestage, even in the 21st Century. And why should the woman mind? Let him be the `provider'. Let him provide food for the house, clothes for the family, pay the electricity, water, dhobi and telephone bills. At the end of the day, or rather month, if this makes him feel good, though with a much lighter purse, so be it.

But when it comes to the extra frills that make life more interesting, it is often the woman who steps in. With inflation, spiralling prices, supermarkets flooded with enticing brands and multi-cuisine restaurants offering splendid fare, the working woma n in a double-income home no longer wants to put her entire salary in the bank.

So, if the family decides to graduate from a simple oven to a microwave; a semi-automatic to a fully-programmed washing machine; a 290-litre to a 450-litre refrigerator; a 20-inch colour TV to a 24-inch home theatre system and from Vim bars to a dishwash er, in steps the woman.

But, then, if she holds the power to write out a five-figure cheque to pay for any of these `luxuries', obviously she is going to have a say in which brand enters her drawing room or kitchen. After all, most of these machines contribute in considerably r educing the drudgery in her work. As does dining out once or twice a week.

But if the couple has a child, or two children, here the woman is bound to face trouble. Invariably, these days, it is the kids who decide which restaurant will get the family's patronage. Most parents are willing to be led by the nose... as long as the prices on the menu card are affordable. But the problem comes, as it so often does in my home, when one child wants you to choose between Pizza Hut and Pizza Corner and the other one refuses to touch anything but Mughlai food!

So, the economically empowered woman is making quite a few decisions these days, as a consumer. But her ultimate victory will come when she decides which car will replace a Maruti 800 or a Cielo that is being retired.

The man in most homes still thinks that when it comes to automobile technology and making the subtle choice between the advantages one set of gears against the other; or the purring of the engine which can be defined `perfect', he holds the key. At least , ad agencies and copy-writers give credence to this myth.

And so, over the last five years, we have made little headway from the set of Cielo ads where the man was always in the driving seat, pretending he wanted to take the woman out for a drive only to hold her hand. Event today, whether it is Sharukh Khan en dorsing a Santro, or some another male model wanting to drive on and on and on in a Zen or yet another man wanting to take his son to the post-office in a Matiz, the car continues to be the last male bastion.

But, then, we have come this far, and this too is bound to change. Several male bastions have fallen or have been conquered. The initial myth of the magic box called the computer has been busted. Cyber-cafes have as many teenage girls as boys, and a fema le correspondent of Business Line writes in her column about backing up her files at home on her spouse's computer!

As the years roll by and you find more and more women drivers on the road -- was it my brother who made that extremely sexist comment only yesterday that he is yet to see a woman who drives well -- soon one will see more women driving cars that do not be long to their fathers or husbands, but to them -- vehicles bought with their own money, or given to them by their offices. And if it is the former, they will choose their own brands.

So, watch out car-makers who promise very nicely while launching a new model that, as a special concession to women owners, the servicing agents will collect the cars from the women's home and deliver them back after servicing. In future, they will have to keep such promises.

(Feedback can be sent to

rasheeda@thehindu.co.in)