The Cutting Edge

Earlier this month, a team of 11th grade students from our school participated in the CDLS - Community Development & Leadership Summit, organised by Modern School, New Delhi. This summit brings together students representing more than 20 different schools from across the world to debate important issues as well as learn from each other, effectively establishing a global community of creative leaders.

The following is an essay by one of the participants, Pooja Nambissan [XI - C]

The Cutting Edge

Here’s a little history lesson: Poets and writers often portrayed women as housewives, mere tools of accompaniment for the working male in the 17th and 18th centuries. Shakespeare himself emphasised this in his comedy ‘Taming of the Shrew’. But the character of a woman was elemental in the completion of a picturesque and believable society. That is the case today as well.

But for decades and centuries, women have struggled with the unworthy image of a ‘housewife’. She has tried & tried to break out of this mold, with little success. It was not until the mid-1900s, did man begin to take notice. But how does space travel have anything to do with empowering women?

Perhaps, the story of Valentina Tereshkova would help.

Valentina Tereshkova’s is one of the most inspiring stories of woman empowerment. Brought up by a single mother in economically challenging times, Tereshkova began school only at the age ten. Believe it or not, at the time of her recruitment aboard the Vostok VI, she was not even a trained air pilot. She underwent a gruelling 18 month training as an Air Force pilot. Apart from being an expert amateur parachutist, she had no experience in manoeuvring airborne vehicles of any sort. Admiring fellow cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was quoted as saying, "It was hard for her to master rocket techniques, study spaceship designs and equipment, but she tackled the job stubbornly and devoted much of her own time to study, poring over books and notes in the evening."

At 12:30 PM on June 16, 1963, Junior Lieutenant Tereshkova became the first woman to be launched into space. She describes her experience as hauntingly beautiful and uneventful. Using her radio transmitter she reported, "I see the horizon. A light blue, a beautiful band. This is the Earth. How beautiful it is!”

Ms. Tereshkova’s flight into space was a landmark in the history of womankind. Valentina’s storynot only revealed the power of sincere hard work and dedication, but also shattered stereotypes & broke barriers for women to venture out into space. 

But not all women had it good like Valentina. The first American woman to take to orbit, Dr. Sally Ride, faced harsh sarcasm merely because she was a woman. Speaking to reporters’ hours before the launch, Sally silently endured various rhetorical questions from the gender biased press: Would spaceflight affect her reproductive organs? Did she plan to have children? Did she cry on the job?

On “The Tonight Show,” Johnny Carson joked that the shuttle flight would be delayed because Dr. Ride had to find a purse to match her shoes. At a NASA news conference, Dr. Ride said: “It’s too bad this is such a big deal. It’s too bad our society isn’t further along.”

29 years later, do you think society has changed? Are women given greater respect in the modern era? This has been the topic of great discussion and debate. Nevertheless, women astronauts, like the late Kalpana Chawla, Eileen Collins – the first female commander of a space shuttle, Anousheh  Ansari- the Space ambassador for USA, have come to be highly respected because of their perseverance and willpower to break the gender barrier.

What’s even more beautiful is that these women went on to become advocates for women in space, icons of equality & living proof that women can do anything that men can, if not better. Dr. Sally Ride’s efforts spurned a company, Sally Ride Science, whose aim was to motivate young girls and women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering or math.

As a part of its Golden Jubilee Celebration, NASA invited 400 girl scouts from over the country, aspiring to become ‘successful somebodies’ in their life. A board of NASA’s female astronauts, retired or active, spoke about the difficulties they faced during their life. From dealing with being misfits at school because of their passion, to handling cruel criticisms for being a woman, they spoke of how they held their head high through it all.  Quote Eileen Collins: "I was afraid they were going to say, 'You can't do that, you're a girl.” "So I just never told anybody and, in my own plan, I went out and did it."

In my opinion, women have been empowered ever since Ms. Tereshkova’s first flight. These ‘space women’ have played an important role in this. These headstrong women have become role models for millions of little girls around the world, aiming to pursue a higher education, even against the harsh words of the society. These women stand for breaking the gender barriers. If anything these women are the symbols of empowerment in a society filled with bias and prejudice, spreading the message that women really can do it all, and much more.

[A thought-provoking and inspiring piece.]