And just like I find myself saying as every December comes to an end, another year has passed. In the absolute blink of an eye. And what a glorious year. While the last two years were spent grappling with the global COVID-19 pandemic, this year was about reopening closed doors and opening up and adjusting what we may rightly describe as the new normal. The world may never be the same again, but with practices like work-from-home, a renewed importance on health and immunity and finding a balance between our personal and professional lives, who’s complaining?
For us Indian women, this year had its own highs and lows—in news and in popular trends. We lost two iconic women this year, our nightingale Lata Mangeshkar, and Queen Elizabeth (while not exactly Indian, an iconic figure in her own right). We had the #RaLia wedding to rejoice over (as much as we mourned Ranbir Kapoor saying goodbye to his singledom, we gushed over the pretty bride Alia Bhatt).
This year, aided by Shark Tank, Instagram and many other things, many women opted to follow entrepreneurial ambitions—as homepreneurs, freelancers and even content creators on social media.
Yet, on a serious note, if you ask me, this was the year of stepping forward for Indian women in many, many ways. While there’s still a long way to go, every step counts. This year, aided by Shark Tank, Instagram and many other things, many women opted to follow entrepreneurial ambitions—as homepreneurs, freelancers and even content creators on social media. Busting myths that you needed to be heavily educated or well funded to start up. From Bhagalpur to Bengaluru, an entire ecosystem of confident women has sprung up, who startup on the basis of their own resources, knowledge, and strengths. And I can only pray that this tribe grows.
We’ve definitely come a long way, from sanitary napkin ads showing period blood as ‘blue’ (because red was apparently too ‘real’/ gross), to a plethora of companies creating period products for women like menstrual cups and biodegradable tampons
Another thing that genuinely needs to be appreciated is that women’s health, a long ignored topic, is slowly yet gradually taking centrestage. We’ve definitely come a long way, from sanitary napkin ads showing period blood as ‘blue’ (because red was apparently too ‘real’/ gross), to a plethora of companies creating period products for women like menstrual cups and biodegradable tampons. Conversations like egg freezing, geriatric pregnancy and PCOS, which were pushed under the carpet for years, were screaming loud and proud in celeb and Medical Instagram Influencers’ feeds. And what seems like a trend to stay, women are finally putting their mental, sexual and reproductive health on priority.
In my opinion, both of these areas have been previously ignored not just by men, but even women themselves. And perhaps with the realisation that both health and financial stability are of paramount importance, women are finally reclaiming their own right here.
Financially independent, sexually aware, intellectually empowered, healthy, happy and hearty—the possibilities for women in 2023 are seemingly boundless.
And almost what seems like an end of year gift to womankind, Dictionary.com chose to make ‘woman’ as its word of the year in 2022. Searches for the word on this platform doubled this year compared to that of the previous years, boosted by questions about what it means to be a woman. Now while that question yields endless results, what’s most important is that the search and exploration of what it means to be a woman is on. Financially independent, sexually aware, intellectually empowered, healthy, happy and hearty—the possibilities for women in 2023 are seemingly boundless.
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