• Home
• /
• Opinion

Every woman is influential and inspiring in today’s world

On Tuesday, the BBC released their pick of 100 of the most inspiring and influential women and suddenly the world was abuzz.

Who run the world? Girls, the fierce and fabulous Beyonce would have you shout out. With an overwhelming nine nods at the recently announced 2021 Grammy nominations, the singer has created history in a female-dominated music scene this year. But she’s not the only woman to lead the pack in an eventful 2020.

On Tuesday, the BBC released their pick of 100 of the most inspiring and influential women and suddenly the world was abuzz. After all 2020 will go down in history as the year in which leaderships were sorely tested, households turned topsy-turvy, work places compulsorily made to undergo a 360 degree shift and society forced to recalibrate itself post the onslaught of an infectious disease.

A professional footballer, a former sex worker, an octogenarian activist, a Coptic nun, a darts champion, a sake master brewer, a mental health expert, a teacher, a transgender model, a disability activist, an actress, a filmmaker, a singer are among those who made it to the coveted list. The designations are many and the names perhaps not so familiar to those outside the honoree’s circle of influence.

The list also aptly includes Sarah Gilbert, a UK scientist who along with her team of researchers is spearheading the creation of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine.

However personal the accolade might be for the 99 odd women who made it to the international list from across the world, what makes it so relevant is the fact that it could have been any of us. Nay, it is every one of us.

As a token of tribute to the innumerable women out there who have sacrificed their time and at times their lives, fighting their own personal battles as well as public ones, bravely attempting to stay afloat within a system that is often detrimental to their existence, BBC chose to keep one nomination blank. It could be you; it could be any of us.

I believe that while lists are an official acknowledgment and perhaps a prerequisite for formal validation, exclusion from one need not be taken as an indication of one’s insignificance in any manner.

Look at Lady Diana for instance. Who would have thought 25 years after her tragic passing away she’d come back from the dead, so to speak, to dominate social media posts and headlines across world? The Crown might be responsible for stirring the hornet’s nest and bringing back from the dead ghosts better left in peace, but you have to admit due to the power of social media, she is a zillion bytes more impactful today.

The 2020 list is also more pertinent because this year will be etched in history as the most challenging one humanity has ever faced. No other year has perhaps tested the resilience of women world over more than 2020 that saw many juggling a demanding career with household chores in the absence of a support system amidst a worldwide pandemic. But like a recent study revealed if women have had to pay a higher price post the remote working scenario or found themselves falling short of the competition during the busiest time of their lives, its mainly because the men in their lives have not stepped up to the occasion. A woman who holds down a high-powered job or for that matter any job that requires her to give an unstinting chunk of her day towards the running of any organisation, is as much to be lauded as a man in a similar position.

And to the gentleman who told me the other day that a woman can either be a full-fledged career woman or a complete homemaker and should not aspire to be both, I’d like to point out: Life is always going to be a juggling act. The trick is to know which ball to throw up in the air and which to hold on to at any given moment. And that’s an art women have perfected over the years. It, of course, helps to have someone close by to hold the ball once in a while when she wants to munch on chocolate! Personally, I’d nominate each and every woman I know — from the nanny to the teacher to the doctor and the stay-at-home-mum — for the Unsung hero post put up by the BBC. You are truly every woman.

ambica@khaleejtimes.com