Podcast: 'Why Don't We Celebrate a Woman's Job as Much as Her Wedding?'

Are women claiming independence and can intimacy drive better economic outcomes? Why are single women rocking it?

(Photo: Namita Chauhan/The Quint)

Can the mother-in-law impact country’s Gross Domestic Product? Are women claiming rightful independence? Why are single women rocking it?

In her new book, 'Sisterhood Economy,' journalist-turned-entrepreneur Shaili Chopra looks into what’s powering or stopping women to play their role in the functioning of the economy.

By talking to more than 500 different women, across classes, castes, cities, ages, ambitions and desires, she looks into what their day-to-day life looks like, the big and small battles they are slaying every day.

So, what do women want? "The simple answer is women want everything that anybody else can have, and the freedom to choose what they want," Chopra said, speaking to The Quint.

And, how do women get what they want?

"There is politics, and then there are policies, and I feel that women have been absent from both in very big ways. Even today, we can confidently say that in our democracy, a large number of women are raising their voices," Chopra added.

"It’s heartening to see that there is a lot happening in terms of conversation, which is really the starting point, but eventually, politics has to take women's issues to the policy table, where decisions are made to how things will roll out in the country and how women will have more access to money, financial freedom, opportunities, which not in terms of one scheme but rather opportunities."

What are the three things that women encounter everyday that she wishes to be seen defeated?

• The most important of all, is lack of financial freedom; women must have their own money, money that they have earned, money that is there in their accounts, and they can choose how to spend it.

• Women need to talk to each other; we don’t do that; we have jealousies; we are shy; we have egos, we have self-doubts, doubts. If we stop doing that, the sisterhood will seem like a great place, whether it’s online, in DMs or in person.

• There are so many things around us, where people are creating ways in which we can raise our hand and go but we don’t because we are scared, what will people say. Get rid of this self-doubt.