She dreams, and dares too
You are what you think.
And what college girls of today think and aspire to be, if one were to go by a recent study, will shock social observers and conservative groups.
The sample study on Indian women in the age group of 19-25 by Grey Worldwide, a Delhi based ad agency, has many startling revelations on girls in metros and mini metros like Bangalore, Lucknow and Chandigarh what they nurture in their hearts, especially how they want their life to be after tying nuptial knot and how determined they are to carve out an independent career even after entering into matrimony.
The rising consumerist culture among women has been captured in the study: Understanding Women Better. Some 4,000 women were covered through a multi-prong approach of eavesdropping on them in college canteens, coffee bars, movie halls and discotheques and through direct approach, questionnaire and open chat.
The ad agency also sought the views of experts and counsellors on the changing preferences, fads and life-style of women. The outcome revealed an emerging consumer pattern in middle and upper-middle class Indian society.
According to the study an overwhelming number of respondents are for taking life with no strings attached. Some are bold enough to say, 'I am not perfect and never pretend to be. Though I have faults, I am not afraid of owning them'.
All of them aspire for money, fame and success, to achieve them shortcuts are okay as 'long as I get what I want'. They are averse to tread the conventional paths to success in their career. For over 65 per cent of them money is critical to success and as a proof of that it is 'necessary to own a big house and a big car,' says the study.
Naresh Gupta, head, Consumer Insights and Planning, Grey Worldwide, a part of the eavesdropping team, revealed the findings to a select gathering in Chennai last Friday in association with the Advertising Club Madras.
'The thick lines between dos and don'ts are getting more vague. Ethics are relative, nobody thinks twice on them anymore,' he says.
Most of the girls surveyed prefer a career in journalism (TV media, rather than print, as the former is glamourous), management, designing, PR-advertising and related fields where there are lots of money with very little hard education. A professional career in politics, medicine, engineering, legal and accountancy is passe. They have absolute support of their parents, too.
Around 85 per cent of those surveyed in Chennai and more than 65 per cent in Mumbai and Delhi have said they share everything with parents. They say even after marriage, if need be, they will reach out to protect their parents, regardless of husband's objections.
There is marked departure in deciding on when to get married. All are vociferous, especially those in Mumbai and Delhi, followed a close third by Chennai, that they will get married only after settling in a secure job. Placing financial independence above everything, all of them say they view their 'husbands as just friends, who can share all household chores and responsibilities'.
For most of them an ideal husband will be in the mould of 'Vivek Oberoi and Shah Rukh Khan who are willing to accept us for what we are with our minuses'. Even after marriage they feel the need to have a separate identity of their own (a separate bank account, independent career, and husbands respecting their privacy).
Another trend that is catching up fast is that young women do not mind if their husbands smoke and drink.
Strangely, the young girls are for living in a joint family, which, they say, will help them manage their domestic affairs better (over 65 per cent across metros). But they come up with a big 'no' on the question of covering their head before in-laws as mark of traditional respect.
There are increasing takers in north Indian metros, and around 33 per cent in Chennai, who are willing to live happily without getting married.
More preference for newage dress fabrics and dress materials, greater say on when to have children, and an intense desire to control their life, without compromising their latent homemaking potential are noticed in the market study.
Expert sociologists and counsellors say that disputes on serious issues of infidelity, divorce, abortions and extra-marital affairs are bound to grow rapidly with women all set to assert their independence and complete control over their lives.
In Chennai, the survey relied only on 400 consumers from six or seven college hostels, whereas in Mumbai and Delhi it covered a larger segment. The study has made a conscious attempt to map the young women's mind and taste, who are bound to rule the consumer market in the near future