Roxana Siu; January 5, 2010; Mumbai

I left the U.S. with preconceived notions of India, particularly the women and their daily lives. I was under the impression due to the media, of the high patriarchal society in the Indian culture, and the degrading role of women. I was expecting to see women meekly following men and men running the scheme of things such as business and commerce. According the stereotypes, women were relegated the role of housewives, and I believed such stereotypes. However, on my very first day in Mumbai, I met empowered women who were the top of their graduate management program and esteemed professors who not only broke my stereotype, but explained to us the strives women have taken to succeed in a patriarchal society and the leadership and empowerment, and the struggles the have faced. The young women I met didn't even feel such gender barriers. However, they did explain to us that what the media portray exists within the rural areas of India. Fortunately, there are NGO programs that acknowledge the problems and are making strives in helping young girls in those areas receive an education and help them with the impression that women are worth much more than just in a family context. Such programs help young girls in those areas where women empowerment are non-existent. The head way women are making in India in terms of leadership and empowerment is truly tremendous. Don't get me wrong that women still have a very long way to go in terms of gender equality, and that sentiment can be applied to the whole world, but the rate at which women empowerment had been making head way in the Indian culture is inspirational. I am cheering and am supporting and looking forward to the future of the women in India and how they integrate their integral importance in their country, as India strives for a better economic market. Indian women can be the catalyst for breaking not only the glass ceiling, but maybe also the whole of gender barriers.