English Language · English

Read the passage and answer the question: For centuries, societies across the globe relegated women to the margins of power, treating their labour as invisible and their voices as dispensable. Yet history is filled with paradoxes: while queens, poets, and reformers shaped civilizations, millions of ordinary women remained trapped in structures that denied them education, property rights, and autonomy. The discourse of empowerment often collides with entrenched realities that are not easily undone. Economists argue that empowering women is not a matter of charity but of necessity. Studies repeatedly demonstrate that when women control income, households spend more on health, nutrition, and education, thereby improving long-term productivity. Similarly, when women participate in labour markets, GDP rises by leaps that reshape entire economies. Yet participation remains hindered by barriers both visible and invisible—wage gaps, unpaid domestic work, safety concerns, and cultural taboos that define 'appropriate' roles for women. The paradox deepens in democracies, where women may vote in equal numbers yet remain underrepresented in legislatures and corporate boards. Representation is not merely symbolic; it influences policy priorities. Without genuine inclusion, empowerment becomes a rhetorical flourish rather than a transformative force. What cannot be inferred from the passage?