It’s not a denying fact that women have conquered all the
avenues of knowledge as well as of profession. She has
applied her talent to all the streams to increase the
frontiers of her views and understanding. Women have also
tried her hand in each and every profession. She is walking
equal steps with man in every sphere of life. The clamor of
the feministic activists and feministic authors have helped
them a lot in securing them this social status and
theoretically let all the social creatures know that women
are the backbone of the society. But still there is some gap
and something is missing. Though the gender ratio in job
sectors are significantly changing but the price of women in
the marriage market has remained the same as it were. This
is especially prevalent in middle-class families and the
lower middle-class society. All women both employed and
unemployed are put to the test of beauty. Beauty is the
first thing that all men ask for. Dark is still not fair for
them. Though dusky women are redefining the parameters of
beauty in the glamour world but actually nothing has changed
strikingly. There are many such examples that will be enough
to prove that they are also successful in their respective
professions. . In India, the ruling party at the centre is
headed by a woman; a woman president is also likely to take
over the office. Naomi Campbell, now a super-model, won the
Miss Universe crown and is a very successful woman in the
world of glamour. Some dusky beauties of Bollywood are
Rekha,Hema Malini, Kajol , who are reigning the Indian film
industry. So their dark skin color has failed to prohibit
them to relish the nectar of success and fame.

But at the time of marriages, the parents as well as the
groom are united in their desire for a fair and lovely
bride. This is applicable especially in cases of arranged
marriages though the issue is quite different in the matters
of hearts and love affair.

If the would-be-bride is a working woman, the eligibility
criterion is a little relaxing for them. But again, the
working women have their won problems. Professionals like
doctors, lawyers, policewoman, models, journalists, BPO
employees, are look down for their erratic workloads and
hours. Even women working in IT companies are not spared
from this, due to their irregular working hours. Moreover,
women working in night shift are not eligible bride as
staying long hours outside the house after marriage is not
desirable. If a girl is returning home at night, it becomes
the talk of the town and the news is sold like hot cake.
Gossip and that about a nocturnal girl is more to cherish
than others.

There are many such families who pre-set many conditions
like, the girl would leave the job after the marriage or in
some cases, she is compelled to leave her hard-earned job to
shoulder all the house-hold responsibilities. Jobs that make
a man lucrative in the marriage market goes against the
woman.

Men want their brides to accept their decision on whether to
work or not after the marriage. Moreover, there is question
of moving with husband in case of a transfer. There are also
such families who search only working brides for their son
to appease their hunger of money. In such cases the woman
has to work both inside and outside the house. And moreover
she has to face weird questions from groom’s family at the
time of match making regarding her choice of career.

It has been noticed that the preferences of jobs changes
with community. While Marathis and Bengalis look for working
woman who is also homely, Punjabis prefer pure housewives.
Marathis also give importance to brides with government jobs
and Marwaris prefer a woman who has a small business of her
own.

One profession is surely the most lucrative in marriage
market. School teachers are more in demand and even more
than college lecturers. Primarily for the reasons that
school offers more paid holidays and vacations other than
good salary, convenient working hours and schools are pretty
large in numbers.

In such a moody marriage market it is really a curse to be
the bride’s parents or the bride herself. Socio-economic
conditions sometimes change the directions of the wind but
unfortunately any direction has so far proved to be against
the bride’s wishes. The irony of the fact is that though the
decision rests with the bride, it is mainly governed by her
father, a male.