Exposing the Ever-existing Gender Challenges in the Corporate World: The Necessity and Audacity of Breaking Misogynist Stereotypes

Dibya Guragain(Silver Insights)

We call today’s era a progressive and inclusive one where the corporate world has come a long way in promoting diversity and inclusivity in terms of gender, age, class, and ethnicity. However, it would be naive to assume that the challenges have been entirely eradicated, especially the gender-related ones. 

Do you think you don’t find any discomfort in being a female employee? Why are we ignoring or silently digesting the fact that the world can never be fair to women instead of advocating and fighting for fairness and justice?

As a girl in the corporate world, I believe it's crucial to shed light on the discomfort females face, especially regarding the inappropriate use of gender-based humor and the insensitivity towards serious matters like child grooming. It's high time we collectively address these issues and consciously choose a more equitable and respectful work environment as responsible and educated professionals.

Gender-Based Jokes: Harmful Microaggressions

Gender-Based Jokes are Harmful

One of the challenges that females often face in the corporate world is the prevalence of gender-based jokes and microaggressions. These seemingly harmless comments might be intended as jokes, but they can highly reflect stereotypes, undermining women's abilities, and creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. Besides, talented and experienced female professionals have to constantly defend their capabilities against outdated perceptions as a result of these microaggressions. Dear fellows, it’s time to realize that minor things are major things; less is more.

When highly talented professionals engage in such humor, they unknowingly promote an environment that disregards the progress made in promoting gender equality. On the other hand, they also reflect their patriarchal upbringing and the conservative society they belong to; no matter how good they are at work. That is why, I dedicate this article to everyone who needs to reflect upon themselves in building a corporate culture where humor is inclusive and uplifting, rather than causing discomfort or perpetuating stereotypes.

Addressing Child Grooming: A Serious Matter

Stop Making Jokes on Child Grooming

I keep the audacity to expose a concerning issue that reveals the lack of sensitivity towards topics as serious as child grooming. This type of behavior is entirely unacceptable, and it's disheartening to see some individuals dismiss it as a joke. Even Though the individuals happen to be responsible fathers or brothers to an underage girl, they disregard the rights of the underage and burp out anything they feel like on such sensitive issues.

I think, in a professional environment, discussions about sensitive matters should be conducted with the utmost respect and seriousness. By making fun of topics like child grooming, let me remind everyone that we undermine the values of empathy and compassion that should be at the core of any workplace culture. Similarly, there’s no place for such a barbarous attitude in the other part of the world; which is much more advanced than the one you were brought up in.

Promoting Change and Inclusivity

Don't feel insecure about equality 

Change begins with awareness, education, and open conversations. As professionals, we must come together to build a more respectful and inclusive work environment. Here are a few steps we can take to address these challenges:

Educate and Raise Awareness: Organize workshops and training sessions to raise awareness about the impact of gender-based jokes and the importance of sensitivity towards serious matters.

Lead by Example: As senior professionals, it's essential to set a civilized tone for the workplace culture. At least you can avoid participating in or promoting inappropriate humor, and encourage others to avoid it too.

Open Dialogue: Create safe spaces for open conversations about workplace challenges, especially the ones regarding gender. Encourage employees to voice their concerns without the fear of revenge because the strength of a true leader lies in the strength of team members. 

Establish Clear Policies: Ensure that the company has well-defined policies against harassment, discrimination, and insensitive behavior. As a brand, it is important for corporate businesses to not highlight gender-based topics or accused individuals who have been a part of any form of crime in their lifetime. Although it could be an easy way of gaining attention; the long-term impression is always costly for the business. Also, it is the responsibility of the administration to strictly enforce these policies and even punish the individuals who do not abide by the rules.

Empower Allies: Encourage male colleagues to become allies in the fight for gender equality. Their support can play a crucial role in dismantling stereotypes. On the other hand, female professionals should let go of their stereotypical mentality and stand against any form of misbehavior or discomfort they face.

Although we've made significant progress in promoting gender equality in the corporate world, there's still a lot of work to be done. We need to understand that equal payment policies or paid leaves are just not enough to resolve such serious discriminatory issues. Addressing challenges related to gender-based humor or insensitivity towards serious matters is essential for creating an inclusive and respectful work environment. I, as a civilized human being, advocate for changing the rude culture of gender-based humor or finding humor in topics like rape and child grooming.

Dibyas' Magical Pie Shop

 

Once upon a time, in a charming village nestled between rolling hills, there stood a small pie shop known as "Magic Pies." The shop was run by an elderly woman named Dibya, who was renowned throughout the village for her enchanting pies that seemed to cast a spell on anyone who tasted them.

Every morning, Dibya would rise before the sun, don her apron, and set to work creating her delectable pies. The aroma of freshly baked pies would spread through the village, drawing people in from far and wide. Despite the fame of her pies, Dibya never seemed interested in making a fortune because she had a different priority - branding her pies with love and care.

The village, however, was not just any village. It was filled with people who were always in a hurry, chasing after money and success. On the other hand, they would often pass by Magic Pies on their way to more profitable endeavors, ignoring the little shop's magic. To them, Dibyas' dedication to branding her pies with love seemed foolish. "Why waste time on branding when you could be making more money?" they would scoff.

One day, a shrewd businessman named Mr. Ratna arrived in the village. Hearing about the magical pies, he saw an opportunity to turn Dibyas' humble shop into a money-making empire. As a result, he offered to buy the shop and promised to make Magic Pies famous far and wide. However, Dibya hesitated to make a firm decision, unsure of what to do.

Seeing Dibya torn, a young girl named Deepika, who had grown up savoring Magic Pies, decided to help. Deepika had always been curious about the magic behind the pies and believed in the power of Dibyas' branding. So, she approached Dibya with an idea.

Together, Dibya and Deepika transformed the shop into a place of wonder. They painted the exterior with vibrant colors, hung twinkling lights, and created a cozy seating area for people to enjoy their pies. Likewise, Dibya also began to share stories of the love and care she poured into each pie, creating a deeper connection with her customers.

As word spread about the new and magical atmosphere at Magic Pies, people flocked to the shop, not just for the delicious pies, but for the enchanting experience. On top of that, families came to celebrate birthdays, couples held romantic dates, and friends gathered to make cherished memories. Deepika even started organizing pie-making workshops, where people could learn the art of pie-making and the importance of infusing love into their creations.

With time, Magic Pies became a beloved destination, not just for its pies, but for the joy, love, and magic it brought into people's lives. Dibyas' commitment to branding her pies with love had created something far more valuable than money - a community filled with happiness and cherished moments.

And so, the village learned a valuable lesson. While money is important, it's the heart and soul poured into something that truly makes it magical. Dibya and Deepika showed that branding with love and care can create a lasting impact that goes beyond monetary gains, enriching the lives of everyone it touches.

Blockchain Technology: Wipe-Out The Misbelief

 

Whenever there is a conversation about blockchain, people behave like it’s a nigh-on impossible. But the reality is just the opposite since understanding blockchain is as easy as understanding the two words that make blockchain i.e. ‘block’ and ‘chain’. The block resembles records of any form of data and the chain associates the linkage between these blocks. Having said that, it’s not the easiest thing on the planet and can be grueling at times.

The technology is used for various business purposes to keep an unaltered record of its activities, mostly known for secure banking purposes. The decentralized form of blockchain is unchangeable because the blocks consist of the cryptographic hash value of the preceding block along with the time frame record. So, in order to make changes to any record in the blockchain, one should change every single hash and timestamp from every block present in the system. In simple words, the task is impossible for any human being as it takes tremendous time and is tedious as well. So, the demand for blockchain is high as companies would want immutable data for their businesses.

Blockchain differs from traditional databases in terms of structure and storage protocols. However, grasping the idea of this technology becomes much easier for beginners when it is compared to the normal database. This database is shared along a peer-to-peer network which enables every single node to access the same information. Furthermore, the change in one or a few nodes is not sufficient for altering the blockchain data. Hence, programs called scripts manage the distributivity and management of blockchain.

On the other hand, a strong encryption algorithm is applied to each block of data and the hash value of the previous block is placed on each next block to create an unbreakable chain as mentioned above. That is also the main reason that digital currencies like Bitcoin run on blockchain technology. Well, Satoshi Nakamoto, an anonymous founder of Bitcoin generated this platform in 2009 with the major highlight of eradicating third parties for monetary transactions.  

Blockchain can be used for several important purposes such as

• Collecting votes in national elections,
• Banking transactions,
• Medical data for keeping unaltered health records of patients,
• Non-fungible tokens(NFTs),
• Fundraising sectors, 
• Artificial intelligence, etc.

The conversations and discussions on blockchain and digital currencies should be widened in the least developed countries like Nepal as it could open up roads for employment and financial growth.

Looking at affluent companies that use blockchain might be convincing for readers who are still in doubt:

• IBM
• WallMart
• Oracle
• Microsoft
• ConsenSys
• Amazon
• Bank Of America
• Google and so on.

What is WordPress? How to Use It? (Beginner’s Guide)

 

While talking about WordPress, do you think of developing a website without coding?  Yes, you’re right. WordPress is a free and open-source platform to frame great ideas on the internet with zero coding knowledge. Making it easier, we call it a content management system i.e. a platform where you can edit and create content on the provided theme.

Are you a beginner? If you are willing to start your own WordPress website, then this blog is for you.   

Here’s how we begin,

Before beginning the basic use of WordPress, this blog will clarify your doubts about the themes, plugins, and their uses in WordPress.

Installation is the first step that you should know.

WordPress Installation:   

Start with installing Bitnami WordPress from the browser. For that

1.      Go to the browser

2.      Type Bitnami WordPress on the search bar

3.      Open the first link

4.      Click on download

 

After downloading the software, you need to install it on your device. Follow the given steps for that,

1.      Open the downloaded Bitnami file

2.      Choose language(preferably English) and click ok

3.      Click next until you reach Create an Admin page

4.      Edit login details(remember the details for future use)

5.      Keep clicking next until the WordPress is installed.

6.      Click Finish.

 

This will take you to a page where you should click on ACCESS WordPress to run a WordPress site on your PC.  

The simple and easy way to get access to your website is to type localhost/WordPress because this is a local installation.

We shall learn about types of installation in further blogs.

Dashboard Essentials

Dashboard knowledge will help you in customizing your website the way you want it. It is simply a managerial page of the website to which admins get access.

Before getting to the dashboard you must enter your username and password in the localhost for the local server.

For example, localhost/mybeginning/wp-login where mybeginning is your domain name.

The leftmost horizontal bar shows essential tools to manage your website.

Home: Home is the front view of the dashboard from where you can reach other icons. It is the actual dashboard that you reach on logging in with an admin username and password.

Updates: Updates let you know the recently updated versions of plugins and other notifications.

Posts: In the posts section you can create new posts along with the categories and tags. You can also view your posts from the posts section.    

Media: The media section has two options where you can add new media or view the library of your old media. You can add videos, audio, images, file, etc. to use them on your web pages.

Pages: Pages represents the pages that you can add to the header or menu section of your website. Pages are dynamic in nature. It means you can decide the number of pages on your website by adding pages through the Add New option. You can also view your pages and modify them.  

Comments: Comments allow you to view the comments on your page or post. You also get an option to remove comments.  

Appearance: Appearance allows you to activate a new theme, customize it; work on the menus, widgets, and so on. You are able to manage how your website should appear in the appearance section.

Plugins: Plugins allow you to add extra features such as SEO, slider, etc. to the website. You can view your plugins, and add new or edit the existing ones in this section.

Users: Users are the people that have access to the website dashboard. In this section, you can add, remove or edit the roles of users.   

Tools: Tools allow the user to extract data from the website and import data from another location.

Settings: Settings regarding media, blogs, website URL, and other features are available here and can be modified as per the need.

Themes on WordPress

Themes in WordPress are the designs and layouts that will be visible to visitors.

In order to install the theme on your website, you need to

1.      Go to the Appearance section on the left-hand side and click on Themes.

2.      Choose to Add New option to navigate themes.

3.      Either choose from old themes or install a new one.

4.      After installation, click on activate.

5.      Click on Customize to edit the theme.

 

You can also buy themes at affordable prices.

Plugins Installation

You would want to put on functionalities to your WordPress site after its creation. Plugins help you set every small to big feature in your website.  

WordPress provides more than 55 thousand plugins for free.

For the installation, you need to follow the following steps:

1.      Click on plugins on the left side of the dashboard

2.      Click on Add new

3.      Click Install Now and then Activate 

Begin now to create your first project.

What is SEO Copywriting? How to Write an SEO-friendly Copy? Beginner's Tips

 

SEO copywriting is the practice of writing advertising content by making it search-friendly in the search engine/browser. The purpose of SEO copywriting is to increase brand awareness by reaching a maximum number of people. Furthermore, it helps in improving the ranking of the website.

Are you in search of a guideline to optimize your site in the search engine?  Knowing the work habit of a search engine is necessary before diving into SEO copywriting.

Here are tips on writing SEO-friendly copy.

On-page SEO:

On-page SEO is the optimization technique that is in total control of the user. Generating in-depth and quality contents are part of On-Page SEO.  You get to modify your URL, Metadata, etc. while working on On-Page SEO. Moreover, it helps in getting organic traffic.

The tricks and techniques that you need to implement while doing on-page SEO are as follows:

i.                 Write attractive Meta descriptions.

ii.                The URL of the page should be simple and short.

iii.               Use keywords in the title and in the body part within 100 words.

iv.               The keyword density should be optimum. It means that use an equal quantity of keywords in all paragraphs of the content.

v.                Use a structured format. This means that you should use numbering and bullets for describing a process or points.

vi.               You should keep enough spacing to make it easily readable.

Keyword Selection:

Keywords are simply the words or phrases that people use to surf content on the web. Including such words in the website makes it searchable. A search engine is a programmed machine that identifies certain words and displays them on the search screen accordingly.  

The selection of keywords is a wise and crucial process in search engine optimization. The long-tailed and short-tailed keywords can be chosen for your content with the use of different keyword-searching tools.

A few of them are:

·        Google’s keyword planner

·        Microsoft keyword planner tool

·        Soovle

·        Google Trends, and so on

Metadata:

Metadata consists of two major components for optimizing website content.

·        Meta Title

·        Meta description

 

The meta title is the title that we give to our posts. The length and word selection of the Meta title determines the readability of the contents because this is what users would view initially. Remembering to keep the Meta title between 50 to 60 characters long is mandatory.

Likewise, the text that appears below the title is the Meta description. This is the short descriptive sentence that reveals what’s inside the post. It should contain the main keyword. Likewise, the length should be 130 to 160 characters long.

You must not forget to include the keyword in both the Metadata.

Backlinks:

As you know citations; backlinks are similar components. These are the links from another source to your content or website. It is believed that backlinks generate a vote of confidence and referral for the website.  

Here are a few methods to create backlinks for free:

·        Contribute your article to a journal or magazine.

·        Generate internal links i.e. link different pages from your own website.

·        Make use of unique infographics so that others would use them to give you credit.

·        Choose social media comments to refer to your web page.

Write attractive content:

No matter the perfection of SEO, dull content would always increase the bounce rate on your website. The bounce rate is the rate of visitors leaving your website which is not a good thing.

So always focus on writing appealing and readable content.   

The tips on writing readable content are:

·        Make use of simple and relevant language. Do not twist or complicate the sentences for technical writing.

·        The first paragraph should be persuasive enough.

·        Don’t go out of your title.

·        Provide facts

·        Give examples

·        Target audience as per their age, culture, profession, etc.

Remove objects slowing down the site:

SEO is also affected by the bulky infographics on your website. Several technical factors slow down your web page. A copywriter must know these factors to mitigate them at the correct time.

We have listed some of them here:

· Big-sized or Large images can be cropped or compressed.

·        Heavy plugins: Removal of unnecessary plugins will help in speeding up your site.

·        Bulky media: Large-sized audio or video files need to be compressed in size.

Making use of software like GTmetrix is recommended to calculate the speed of your website.

Organization of contents:

Your contents need to be clean and precise in order to deliver relevant content to the readers.

Let us help you with the techniques to organize your blog content:

·        Making use of an equal density of keywords helps in the process.

·        Make use of bullets whenever you need to explain the topic in points.

·        Make use of numbering for the procedure.

·        Include one topic in one paragraph.

   

Love Has No Age

 

Bruce, a person in his late 70s, considered me his daughter and told me the secret of life.

"The only thing I regret about life is not having true love. I remained unmarried for my entire life and never had someone with whom I could share the coldness and warmth of life. There is scantiness in life without love. Love from someone special."

Indeed,

“Love” is the foundation of life. I believe that whatever exists in this universe is incomplete without love.

Neither the scantiness of that adoration can be fulfilled with materialistic wealth nor can it be replaced with the fulfillment of sexual appetite.

The relation between two souls is like that of light and shadow. When it comes to love, becoming ageless, timeless, boundless, and limitless feels beautiful. You are really blessed if you have a person who accepts you with all your flaws, just the way you are.

Applications of Python Programming

 

Have you ever wondered about the vast popularity of Python programming language over the past few years? This is so because of its various application areas in the real world.

Let us clarify the various applications of Python programming.

AI and Machine Learning:

Artificial intelligence allows the machine to learn things on its own with the most negligible human interaction. This is why developers choose Python to minimize their workload.

Furthermore, the availability of build-in tools and libraries such as

·       Keras,

·       Seaborn,

·       SciPy and

·       Numpy

 

for machine learning, data visualization, computing, and complex data analysis make Python more desirable among the programming languages.  

Game Development

People’s increasing desire for 3D games is fulfilled by games built on Python. Mostly interactive games are made using Python programming language.

Even a basic level of understanding of Python can help an individual develop games in much less time. Whether it is a quiz, pong, or Disney’s Toontown Online; the PyGame library has been helpful in generating practical outputs.  

Web Development

Protocol integration and processing are easier in Python libraries such as

·       Flask

·       Django

·       Pyramid

 

These frameworks support HTTPS, SSL, FTP, JSON, XML, and many more protocols and file formats, providing greater scalability for programmers. Hence, the most attractive and Secure web applications can be built with Python.   

GUI for Desktop

You can program simple to advance forms of Desktop applications with Python. Tkinter is the most famous Python library for this purpose. The availability of several toolkits makes the language preferable for desktop app developers.

These toolkits are:

·       Kivy

·       PYQT

·       GKT+

·       WxWidgets, etc.

Business Specific Applications

Business applications are mostly e-commerce oriented.

The easily manageable and user-friendly applications can be developed with handy Python management systems like

·       Plone

·       Django CMS

 

On the other hand, python based web applications such as Odoo and Tryton also provide efficiency in developing business applications of any kind.

Data Science

Python has a special place in the world of data science. It can become a ladder in stepping up to the data scientist carrier. Being an open-source and object-oriented programming language; it helps in mathematical functionalities and statistics.

The various platforms provided by Python for data and numeric purposes are:

·       Pandas

·       SciPy

·       Seaborn

·       Matplotlib, etc.