Women Already Have Rights — The Problem Is People Still Think They’re in Charge of Them

Women don’t need to earn rights. We already have them. Who are men to deny us of our rights?

I remember sitting at a family gathering during a wedding last month, chatting about life and work in general, when one of my relatives casually said, “Women have so much freedom these days. We’re letting them do everything now.”

I didn’t react much in that moment, but those words stuck with me. “Letting” women do things? As if our rights, our freedom or our choices are something that men give us out of their benevolence. As if freedom is a gift men hand out when they feel like it.

The truth is, women are not asking for special treatment. We are not looking for favors. We are asking for what every human being deserves by default, respect, safety, freedom, and the right to live on our own terms.

This is typical in many movies in India. Its considered lucky if the husband is a good man, respects her rights and career choices, but if he doesn’t, its her ‘fate’. But most people move for divorce only when it cross unbearable limits for a long time. Till then, she is simply told to adjust in a hope that the things might change for the better. Ofc, this toxic trend is decreasing day by day, but it’s still the major state here.

The problem is, the world still talks like women’s rights are something men can give or take away. Like we have to behave a certain way to “deserve” them. But that’s not how rights work. You don’t get rights because someone allows you to have them, you have them because you’re human.

When a woman walks home safely, gets equal pay for equal work, or is listened to without being talked over, that’s not some great achievement. That’s the bare minimum. And yet, society treats it like progress. It’s not progress to give someone what should have never been denied.

So no, we’re not “lucky” to have freedom. We’re not “being allowed” to live our lives. We are claiming what’s already ours.

And honestly, it’s time the world caught up with that.

Do you feel the same? Do you feel that our rights are something that men believe they give us or is it something we have systematically denied until recently?