A job interview can be very stressful, especially when you have been jobless for almost six months. Who would have thought developed economies would be tumbling into a financial crisis every four years?
The U.S. subprime loan crash in 2008 and the European meltdown in 2012 had sent a vast number of qualified professionals into a spiral of unemployment. Educated and well-groomed corporate professionals seemed more like scavengers from a movie about a dystopian future; taking up any job that pays.
I decided to try out for the role of a customer support executive at an international ‘call center’. After two rounds of telephonic interviews, the company’s human resources department called me over for a final face-to-face discussion at their swanky corporate office.
On way to the interview, while stuck in traffic, my mind wandered to the timeline of my fledgling professional career… I had moved from being a glorified investment banker to a jobless state within months and was trying to make my living at a customer support executive.
I was hopeful the prospective employer would offer me a good package after knowing that I came from a different place. My mind was wandering when, all of a sudden, a eunuch showed up and asked me for some money.
I shooed it away but my daydreaming state of mind was interrupted.
Damn the eunuch! I was jobless and penniless but was not willing to beg on the streets. But was I much different?
Unlike the eunuch, I had a formal education, but my degrees and certifications had no value. I frequently ended up borrowing small sums of money from my friends. My family members and relatives felt that I was a degenerate.
Meanwhile, the traffic cleared and I carried on the comparative analysis with the eunuch until the human resources ladBitterSweet called out my name for the final round of interview with the operations managers.
“What is your opinion on women empowerment?” quipped the smartly dressed ops manager.
“What can we, as a society, do to promote awareness on gender equality? What would you do if you have the power to affect the change?”
Here I was, being asked about women empowerment, when I was unable to rise above my own shit!
To make matters worse, it was a woman who was asking me this, and how I answered would get me the jo. Or not.
I deliberated for a second whether I should share my honest bitterness or sugar coat some crap.
“How can you mention women empowerment and gender equality in the same sentence?” I blurted out.
“If all the genders are to be treated equally why talk only about women empowerment? Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of gender equality?”
Frowning now, the ops manager came back at me: “Men have dominated women for ages. Locking them up in houses, not allowing them access to proper education, restricting them from taking up jobs and forcing them to take care of the family.”
“It seems you are old fashioned and underestimate girl power. Women should be treated as equals. In fact, our company has taken many steps for creating awareness on women empowerment. Many of our key management personnel are strong and determined women.”
I had just landed myself in a sexist debate with a female who was interviewing me for a job. I had to make amends and salvage the situation.
“Madam, please allow me to explain. I believe there has been a serious misunderstanding,” I replied.
“I accept that women have gone through grave injustice at the hands of men. But that was prominent in the past. My grandmothers spent almost all of their lives inside the kitchen and barely came out of the house. But that was more than eight decades ago. Many girls were killed at birth, or they were neglected when growing up. Female infanticide was rampant. Dowry cases were on the rise. Domestic violence was more of a routine activity. Yes! It was all a reality.”
“However, my mother was however not confined to this. She came down to from Kerala to Mumbai, found a job here and took care of her siblings till she got married. Even after she got married, she didn’t stop. She took care of everyone in the house. No one forced her to do it. She did it out of her own free will.
“I am sure this would be the case in every house. Each one of us has witnessed at least one empowered women – our own mother”.
“Many women, who now claim that they are not empowered are the ones crying out for attention. They tend to forget; there is another gender – the transgenders, destitute and abandoned. They are denied formal education. They won’t get any job and have to beg for a living.”
“They are considered a taboo for no apparent fault of their own. I have personally witnessed young girls getting uncomfortable simply by their presence. In such cases, their boyfriends get to play the hero just because they were cool enough to deal with the eunuch and comfort the damsel in distress”.
“Aren’t these the same things that men did to women a century ago? Now the only change is that both males and females are together doing it to the transgenders. In my humble opinion, I feel that women are much more emotionally mature than men. So why is it that they overlook this dark aspect of our society and still manage to shift the focus to themselves?”
“You claim that there are many female leaders in the organization but is there even a single transgender employee in this company. Do you know of any corporation that even hires transgenders? In my honest opinion, I think the time for women empowerment has passed. It was a milestone which has been successfully achieved. Now it is the age of human enlightenment. Each person, no matter the gender should be empowered to live a life of dignity.”
I felt a deep sense of relief on expressing myself during the interview because that was the only satisfaction I got.
Needless to say, I was not considered for the role because of my aggressive views and misogynistic mindset. And about the job hunt – it continues…