Cultural Realities of South Asian Muslim Societies - Coursework Example

Paper Cultural Realities of South Asian Muslim Societies: A Critical Review The culture is software of human mind and therefore, it is imperative for the organizations to understand and comprehend the cultural realities of the geographical areas in which they are operating or planning to operate. The emerging economic sector of South Asia is believed to have profound role and contribution in the economic future of the global village. The international companies have been engaged in outsourcing their production facilities to the emerging economies of India and Bangladesh. Both of the abovementioned countries have Muslim population in abundance (Murayama and Murayama pp.75). The Muslims on the other hand, constitute more than half of the total workforce of the entire world. The cultural and normative outlook of Muslims is significantly different and divergent from the population of developed nations. The culture of South Asia is strictly based on collectivism while, the individuals are bounded to fulfill the expectations of others. The code of honor is severely rigid when it comes to dealing with the females. The companies that are operating in the featured part of the world are strongly suggested to uphold cultural realities by modifying their practices (Stern 120). The companies are required to hire the male professionals for the leading jobs whereas; the females’ participation should be kept limited to subordination. The people of South Asia are not accustomed to seeing a female as a leader and therefore, she will not be able to exercise control and assertiveness that are essence of leadership. The basic and fundamental purpose of this study is to highlight and advocate the role and value of hijab in the aforementioned cultures and societies. In short, hijab is the license for females to work. The senior citizens of the area need their girls to be covered before leaving the homes. The instrument of hijab is the essence of providing freedom to the females. Additionally, it is important to note that hijab has served as a means for supporting female participation in the societies. The male population was outnumbered and outgunned by the available corporate opportunities in the form of foreign production facilities. The Islamic scholars were contacted and asked to help stimulate the societal and corporate participation of females (Spivak pp.261). The move was a strategic one as it was designed to increase professional and labor supply. The Islamic scholars of the area had conducted a detailed research and found that Prophet Mohammad requested females to play a supportive role in the battles. The females at that time were responsible for taking care of the injured. This event provided the Islamic scholars with a vital argument that they have used to convince people that Islam permits females to participate in the society. However, the core Islamic order that requires females to cover themselves while getting out of their homes created a conflict in conventional religious scholars and modern ones. The debate carried out for number of years before it is observed that Iranian females use scarf in order to cover themselves. The scarf is the ultimate source of engaging females in the society. The use of scarf bridged the conflict and then, both schools of thought agreed upon that a female wearing a scarf meets the minimum hijab requirement and therefore, it is acceptable for the females to wear scarf that helps them in covering their hair and breasts. According to psychology males are attracted to females’ physical attributes such as breasts and hair (Chew-Graham, Bashir and Chantler pp. 336). The Islamic law purposely ordered the females to take concrete measures towards ensuring that their sexual centers are appropriately covered before they leave for work. The females are known to wear gowns on the streets. They prefer to wear scarf in the offices. The scarf is a piece of cloth weaved in such a way that it assists females in covering their hair and breasts. Apparently, scarf is a piece of cloth but on a communal and societal level that helped the females in becoming a productive part of the community. The scarf helped Islamic scholars in presenting a soft image of the religion to the rest of the world. The literal and professional engagement of the suppressed gender improved as a response to the introduction of scarf. The scarf is not a piece of cloth but a portion of work license for the females. The groups that considered a working woman as a representative of evil were forced to change their mind. The change in the mindset took place as the empirical evidence from the history was presented. The Iranian culture along with local corporate sector’s assistance made a significant and notable difference regarding induction of woman as a productive participant of the society. The economic and fiscal pressures compelled the people of developing nations to circumvent feminist thinking. The gender differences are falling apart and the workplace is getting more and more genderless with the passage of time. The promotion and salary are being decided on the basis of performance. The competencies are given more and more importance while recruiting and hiring. The notions of effectiveness and efficiency are treated as sacred values of organizational existence. The power of scarf aided the females of developing Islamic economies in proving their abilities to the rest of the world. The females gave an important and valuable message to suppressed women of other areas. The growing female participation in corporate activities of South Asia is a living example of religion’s importance in terms of rendering aid for the suppressed societal levels of the community. The role of Islamic values remained invaluable in the process of empowering female who was buried alive a few centuries ago. The strength of economic pressures should also be commended due to its ability to support flexibility in the communities. In the past, Europe and other developed continents of the world managed to break the gender discrimination. The melting down of glass ceiling occurred in reaction to increasing need for labor and human resources. The corporate world sponsored and ran a feminist campaign in order to empower female (Adya pp. 625). The corporate need of labor was fulfilled and so does the economic requirements of the women. The long-term implications of female empowerment included increased labor supply, educational betterment and lessening gender discrimination. The developing nations are going to become developed ones by using their human resources in a better and efficient way. The females are famous for their creativity. They are also believed to be the masters of empathy whereas, they make exceptional counselors. The females are also blessed with the ability to dedicate in the direction of details and therefore, they are getting more lead in all professional grounds over their counter-sex. Findings The key findings of the study are as follows: - The female empowerment is known to occur in the response of growing economic pressures The economic needs empowered females in the west and now it is the turn of South Asian Muslim women The Islamic values that asked the females to cover themselves was presented as an excuse for circumventing women rights The corporate need to increase labor supply played a significant role in promoting scarf in the females The scarf is a strategic tool that helped the female in becoming more productive member of the society In the past, people held on to the point that Islam does not allow females to leave their homes Islamic scholars quoted Prophet Mohammad asking females to participate in battles and then, promoted the use of scarf in women so that the requirement of cover up can be fulfilled The induction of scarf was inspired by Iranian culture that empowered women previously The psychological research states that men are attracted to women’s breasts and hair and therefore, the scarf is an effective tool to minimize the sexual appeal The workplace in South Asian workplace is becoming increasingly genderless and companies are valuing one’s competencies over sexual status Conclusion The economic pressures are believed to be the key reason for major societal change that is known to take place in the human history. The European countries engaged their women in order to compensate labor shortage and same thing occurred in the developing nations of South Asia. The trend of outsourcing production facilities to South Asian economies grew and therefore, the labor demand experienced an upheaval as well. The corporate sector decided to manage the challenge by engaging the woman. The Muslim females were not permitted to leave their homes in the name of Islamic values. The labor shortage cannot be managed without the participation of Muslim females. The Islamic scholars were requested to find a way of inducing professionalism in females. The researchers quoted Prophet Mohammad’s request to the females to engage in helping injured soldiers. The Islamic philosophy of female engagement was attained with the help of promoting use of scarf. Based on the whole discussion, it can be duly argued that females’ freedom should be significantly attributed towards institutionalization of scarf in South Asian Muslim culture. Works Cited Adya, Monica. "Women at work: Differences in IT career experiences and perceptions between South Asian and American women." Human Resource Management 47, 3 (2008): 601–635. Chew-Graham, Carolyn, Bashir, Col, Chantler, Khatidja, Burman, Erica, Batsleer, Janet. "South Asian women, psychological distress and self-harm: lessons for primary care trusts." Health & Social Care in the Community 10, 5 (2002): 339–347. Murayama, Mayumi and Murayama, Nobuko. "Revisiting Labour and Gender Issues in Export Processing Zones: Cases of South Korea, Bangladesh and India." Economic and Political Weekly 44,22 (2009): 73-83. Spivak, Giiyatri. "Diasporas old and new: Women in the transnational world." Textual Practice 10,2 (1996): 245-269. Stern, Jessica. "Pakistan's Jihad Culture." Foreign Affairs 79, 6 (2000): 115-126. Read More