Women Education: A Need Of Social Change - Essay Example

? Women Education: A Need Of Social Change of the of the Introduction Women have been victim of inferior treatment and oppression since a long time. Different societies throughout the world are patriarchal and male dominated and hence, females have never got the freedom to utilize their rights or to express themselves in the society. In fact, females were so suppressed that they did not even know that they have their own rights and independent existence in this world and society. With the movements of feminism, things started changing for women population and they started becoming aware of their personal and social rights. However, the transition was not an easy one. Due to male domination, every institution in the society like politics, literature, education, family, defense etc., used to encourage and promote male dominance. According to Smith (1988), life and world was explained through male interests, male point of view and male ways of seeing, and this was achieved by omitting women from “most form of codified knowledge” and institutions in the society (Afshar, & Maynard, 2000, p.805). However, what really hampered the growth and progress of women was their exclusion from the institution of religion and education. Hence, if feminism is to succeed in true way, then it should aim to educate every woman about her rights, strengths and abilities, as only education can make her aware of her capabilities and can make her confident in making a respectful and strong identity in male dominated society. Roots Of Female Oppression Male domination and male outlook was so strong in the past that it seeped in every aspect of the society. The field of education was also dominated by male thinking. According to Mackinson (1982), the partial and biased male views of the universe had influenced the core of all the academic subjects as the contents, concepts, methods, theories, researches etc., as the academic subjects were all based on male view (Afshar, & Maynard, 2000, p.806). The male dominated thinking in education field stunted the mental growth and social progress of women as it marginalized their perspectives, opportunities and experiences (Afshar, & Maynard, 2000, p.806). Women were excluded from all the institutions in social stratification (Afshar, & Maynard, 2000, p.806). Her role was limited to the domestic chores and serving the family members and that too, without being given any credit for that role. This led to lack of exposure to broad thinking and lack of awareness about their rights and freedom in the society. However, with the movement of feminism, things started changing for women population. Feminism Feminism became a global movement after its movement re-emerged in the ‘West’ in the late 1960’s and 1970’s (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.98). The feminist movement started spreading its wings and reached all corners of the “Third World” by 1980’s (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.98). However, it was not an easy achievement. Variety of revolutionary and social movements was instrumental in bringing the change in the psychology of women and men (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.98). Moreover, it took a lot of time for feminism to take its roots in developing countries from Africa and Asia. This is because progress of women also depends on the culture they are born in. Western feminist Margery Wolfe (1992) stated that if feminists aim to improve the lives of women throughout the world, then they need to understand the cultural values of women from different societies, as understanding the perspective, gender relations and sex role is important if feminism is to be spread without causing conflict between women from different cultures (Sagaria, 2000, p.102). Moreover, there is a huge difference in the way women are treated in Western societies and Eastern societies. For example, women in Western society have freedom to choose their romantic partner and take decisions regarding their marriage (Sagaria, 2000, p.110). However, the same freedom is not enjoyed by women from Asian ethnic background as they are expected to marry a man of their parent’s choice and whenever their parents wish (Sagaria, 2000, p.110). The practice of arranged marriage is strongly followed by people in Eastern cultures. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), women were not allowed to participate in religious rituals and were excluded from all the religious ceremonies (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.104). Even till the early 1960’s, women in PNG were given inferior treatment by making them to sit at distance from men, in the church (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.104). In this way, women are treated more inferiorly in the countries that are not industrialized. However, even development of the society has done no good for women. In developed countries, role of women is degraded by continuously portraying them as sexual objects through television, magazines and advertisements (Rosewarne, 2005, p.68). Hence, women are oppressed in different ways in different cultures. This shows that culture plays a major role in development of feminist outlook in the society and progress of women. However, the social aspects that changed the outlook of women throughout the world were the institutions of religion and education. Tool Of Transformation With the advent of feminism, women all over the world were awakened to the fact that their right to live a respectable and equal life was being snatched by men in the society. Slowly, the roots of feminism started taking hold in all cultures and women from different cultures realized that they also contribute equally in the building of the society and hence, they deserve a respectable treatment in the society. Hence, they started making efforts to practice their rights and work towards their development. Women in different continents started showing their interest in learning, getting educated and participating in social institutions like religion and education. This marked the beginning of rise of feminism all over the world. Religion was the most stubbornly guarded institution from women. Women were treated like useless beings, and by keeping them away from religious places and practices, they were subconsciously made to believe that they were inferior beings (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.104). However, with the advent of feminism, women started taking part in religious practices. For example, a significant change was marked in social structure and development of women from PNG and other Pacific areas, when they were admitted to attend the services of the church (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.105). By the end of the nineteenth century, women in PNG changed the strong masculine image of church by participating in significant numbers in mission work (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.105). However, what really helped in bringing a social change was the education of women along with religious work (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.104). Education has become a strong weapon in the hands of women since the transformation in the field of education. Church women’s organization played a major role as a catalyst in women’s activism right across the Pacific region (Dickson-Waiko, 2003, p.99). Hence, education became a medium of feminist movement. According to Maynard (1998), by bringing “women’s experiences and gender relationships as part of any analysis of social life,” feminism brought transformation in content and subject matter of academic work and education field (Afshar, & Maynard, 2000, p.806). Feminist Jeri Wine (1991) stated that the feminist movement’s major triumph was inclusion of women’s studies in education (Christiansen-Ruffman, 2007, p.114). Hence, education not only increased the awareness of freedom and social rights in women, but also helped them to understand how they can make their own place, and practice their rights in a male dominated society. Hence, education became a strong weapon in hands of women seeking freedom and rights in the social structure. The Act My role reversal act for creating and experiencing social change was based on the beliefs and traditional values of my ethnic culture. I belong to Indian and Guyanese ethnic culture. My father’s parents are from Indian and Guyanese culture in which women are expected to be submissive, socially passive and limiting their existence to the household matters. In another words, they are simply expected to behave and act as they are instructed by men to behave and act. Moreover, due to lack of education, women follow the oppressive traditional beliefs and gender roles so blindly that they don’t even think of going beyond their sphere of household activities. Their opinions, thoughts or contribution is not considered important as men treat them as unknowledgeable. All the decisions are taken by men in the family. The analysis of the gender role pattern in my culture and family revealed that my culture follows a patriarchal system very strongly. Not only that, but the women are discouraged from getting higher education, making their own social status and earning their own money. It is believed that girls have to take care of their husband’s family ultimately so why waste the time and money in getting them highly educated. Hence, my intention was to break this pattern and let the men know that even women are capable planning, organizing and taking decisions. Although my role reversal act was just a drop in the ocean, it did create a stir in my community. My role reversal act was carried out on a weekend when people from my community gather and decide to go for an outing. Usually, these outings are nothing but a get-together where different families gather and spend one whole day together. This involves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The sad thing is that, women do not get to enjoy as they have to cook and look after the kids when men get to spend time chatting, eating, playing cards and enjoying the drinks. So, in reality, only men get to enjoy and women do not. However, men never give a thought to this and don’t even consider ordering food from restaurant to give women in their family a real holiday. Through my role reversal act, I decided to change all this. On a Friday before the weekend on which the get-together was planned, I called up and went to my aunt whose family was going to host the get-together. I told her that I was going to ‘plan’ everything for the party. I told her that she won’t be cooking anything for the party and won’t even worry about the kids. I was going to organize everything. This came as a shock to her and she said my uncle won’t like it. I said I take the responsibility of convincing him. I took the list of number of people attending the party and their food preferences. I also gathered the information of the children who were going to attend the party. According to the list, I ordered the starters and snacks from the nearby restaurant and hired an Indian cook for preparing lunch and dinner for that day. I also contacted a friend of mine who knows a person who arranges games and entertainment for children. I gave the responsibility of entertaining children to this guy. This ensured that women in the family will be free to spend time together without having to worry about their children. Fortunately, I had enough money to organize this and when I was short of money, I asked my female relatives to contribute little. They were so happy with the plan that they contributed from their little savings happily. The next day, when the guests arrived, they were surprised to see that women were tension free and had quickly gathered in the nearby room. This was the time that I decided to declare my plan. I gathered everyone’s attention and announced that women were not going to cook today. My uncle was little irritated with me and showed his opposition by looking down at the floor. I said that it has been years since women in our family had enjoyed a day off. They have never complained about their misery but me being a woman, I understand their suffocation. During my announcement, I also stressed on the fact that the money for the food and entertainment had come from women and so, the men should not feel that women have touched their money without their permission. I told them how I planned and organized it, and asked men openly if they liked the idea. They had to show their approval and they did realize that women’s happiness and comfort is truly ignored when men organizes the party. However, when woman organizes a party, she takes into consideration everyone’s comfort and hence, is a true organizer. Although it was difficult for most of the men to digest this behavior of mine initially, by the end of the day, they all agreed that this should be the way every get-together be planned. Even though little scared and hesitant in the beginning, I felt very happy and content with my decision. This also helped me to realize that even I have a potential to plan, organize and take right decisions as men. Hence, my role reversal act not only helped in shattering the rigid traditional social pattern, but also increased my confidence and self-esteem. I do believe that my act was an act of feminism as it was intended to break the oppressive pattern of women in my family. Feminist Theory Applicable To The Act There are different types of feminism. Liberal feminism is one of the feminist theories that emphasizes that by implementing the policies which will create equal opportunities for women, a social and legal reform can be brought about (Andersen, 2009, p.358). The liberal perspective is that human rationality can be utilized to create a humanitarian change (Andersen, 2009, p.362). Liberal feminists think that the injustice is the society is due to the irrationality and ignorance of people (Andersen, 2009, p.362). Moreover, women are considered weak as they are emotional and not ‘rational’ (Callahan, Hasler & Tolson, 2005, p.513). Hence, the liberal feminists believe that the source of social change lies in ‘reason’ and ‘pursuit of the knowledge’ by people (Andersen, 2009, p.362). On the other hand, radical feminism believes that the primary source of women’s oppression is the patriarchal social relations (Andersen, 2009, p.383). However, my approach was different. The feminist theory that is applicable to my act is the socialist feminist theory. Socialist Feminism The socialist feminism theory is the most relevant theory of feminism as its goals go beyond the goals set by liberal feminism (Andersen, 2009, p.383). Socialist Feminism believes that the “structure of capitalism and its interrelationship with patriarchal gender relations” is responsible for the oppression of women (Andersen, 2009, p.383). Socialist feminists believed the gender relations are equally important to class relations in determining the root cause of the women oppression (Andersen, 2009, p.391). According to socialist feminist Juliet Mitchell, as women have always been associated with private sphere like home, children, reproduction etc., they have never been given an opportunity to practice authority or take decisions (Andersen, 2009, p.3893). On the other hand, men have been associated with public sphere of “paid work, institutionalized religion, political authority” etc., and hence, are considered superior to women who are limited to private spheres (Andersen, 2009, p.393). Socialist feminists believe that women will achieve equal status and respectable position in the society not only when they participate in economic section of the society by earning, but also when they get freedom from the patriarchal system of the society which is highly based on discrimination and prejudice towards women (Andersen, 2009, p.393). Hence, I do believe that my role reversal act was more of a socialist feminism act as I not only was able to break the patriarchal beliefs and practices in my family but also ‘sponsored’ the party. References Andersen, M.L. (2009). Thinking About Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Person Education, Inc. Afshar, H. & Maynard, M. (2000): Gender and Ethnicity at the Millennium: From Margin to Centre. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 23 (5), 805-819. Callahan, J. L., Hasler, M.G. & Tolson, H. (2005). Perceptions of emotion expressiveness: gender differences among senior executives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 26 ( 7). 512-528. Christiansen-Ruffman, L. (2007). Women, Knowledge, And Change: Gender Is Not Enough. International Development Studies/ Women’s Studies, 32 (1/2), 114-138. Dickson-Waiko, A. (2003). The Missing Rib: Mobilizing Church Women For Change In Papua New Guinea. Oceania, 74 (1/2), 98-119. Rosewarne, L. (2005). The men’s gallery Outdoor advertising and public space: Gender, fear, and feminism. Women’s Studies International Forum 28, 67– 78 Sagaria, M. (2000). Constructions of Feminism in Unequal Relationships: A Personal Account from a North American in a Cross-cultural Household. NWSA Journal, 12 (1), 100-118. Read More