The Basis for Gender-Based Discrimination: the Social Feminist Perspective - Research Paper Example

 It has long been observed in many societies worldwide that women tend to be undereducated or completely illiterate. Is this the result of inadequate funds and programs to address the issue or is it the result of the permeation of the idea that women belong to the household? Our analysis would suggest the latter. It is rather common in societies worldwide to think of a woman as appropriate only for household chores. There is no need to provide them with a comprehensive education due to the fact that their specialty lies in accomplishing household chores while men are more capable in intellectual pursuits which enable them to economically productive. This reasoning has led to the state of the world today where the number of illiterate girls is twice than that of the boys and the main reason why maternal and infant mortality rates are very high. (Ng, Staton and Scane, 1995, p. 7) A deeper analysis would reveal that the idea that women as specializing in household chores and not in need of comprehensive schooling is a result of the functionalist view which see society as made up of inter-dependent sections which work together to fulfill the functions necessary for the survival of society as a whole. The role of women is to ensure that the basic unit of society, the family, is intact. In this regard, their role is to see that the kids are well cared for and her husband whose role is to work for them is properly nourished and ‘serviced’. According to Roma, Leslie and Eyre (1997), this role of the women as keeper of the household has been glorified and is taken to be the most important factor of ensuring the stability and survival of society. (p. 3) However, assuming a liberal feminist perspective, this encapsulation of the role of women can be taken as a direct contempt for their capability to become economically productive. It actually limits them from participating in any economic activity which can improve themselves and their family’s economic condition as they are trapped in the four corners of the household. The exclusion from receiving adequate education due to their already defined role in society has resulted into ignorance of even the most basic concepts of maternal and infant health resulting to high rates of mortality and abuse. This realization tells us that the low levels of education of women are actually the result of a social construct where women’s role do not require them to be thoroughly educated. 2.0 Providing Economic Opportunities Gender-based discrimination in the workplace is quite common and includes lower wages, restricted choice of occupation, limited rights and prohibitive regulations. Why are women being treated as such? Taken from the perspective of conflict theory, women act as deviants and competitors of valued goods, respect and services enjoyed by the elites which can be taken as the male gender. According to De Lamotte et.al (1997), men have historically enjoyed supremacy over women in terms of educational and economic opportunities. They have been able to maintain this state of affairs not only by preventing women from obtaining decent education but also from entering the workforce. Since they have no income, the female gender is forced to become submissive just to ensure that their basic needs are met. Now that women are entering the workforce and are earning salaries, they become empowered to decide for their own and challenge male dominance. The female is also limiting the job opportunities for the opposite gender. To win the ‘conflict’, men employ measures to dissuade the opposite sex from entering the workforce and they do this by applying gender-based discriminations. Conflict theory does not vary much from the social feminist perspective in explaining the basis for gender-based discrimination. According to a socialist feminist perspective, men are keen to preserve the patriarchal system in their society and anybody who challenges patriarchal beliefs is in direct conflict with them. The gendering of wages has enabled men to retain power in their families and in the institutions of society. Discriminatory practices enable them to retain the structure where they are at the uppermost as women find it hard to survive in a male-dominated, gender-discriminatory setting and are forced into submission and dependence on males again. The measures employed by the male gender seem to have backfired as women, tired of being treated as mere reproductive units, cooks and caregivers, have realized their worth and is now fighting for their rights and sponsoring the movement which we came to know as feminism. 2. A Film Critic of Beowulf The film Beowulf is an animated film adaptation of an old English epic poem. It tells the story of a man named Beowulf who saved a kingdom by slaying a murderous monster named Grendel and sired a dragon son with Grendel’s mother. Having learned the concepts related to feminism, I was able to discern some subtle issues that are discussed in the feminist teachings. Most of the film’s scenes depict how strong and ‘manly’ Beowulf is. He was able to slay a sea serpent, kill Grendel, slay in mid-air a fire-breathing dragon and earn the sexual desire of Grendel’s mother. Another male character in the name of Hrothgar is shown to be unafraid of Grendel when he challenged the monster in a duel. He was also shown to be rich and able to have sexual intercourse with any woman in his kingdom. Such macho depictions stand in dark contrast with the way the women were regarded. They were subservient, submissive, objects of desire and reproductive units. Wealtheow, wife of Hrothgar, was just one of the few women whom Hrothgar possesses. Grendel’s mother was shown to be promiscuous and evil. Beowulf also had a mistress who supplied the warmth and heat that Wealtheow would not give him. (Asma, 2007) The scenes in Beowulf inculcates in the minds of the audience the notion that men are strong while women are weak and source of evil. Radical feminists would object to these inferior depictions of women and would deem it fit to point out that men are using the build of their body as an argument for their superiority. Men have muscles and greater strength while women have curves and delicate built and so men are capable of doing remarkable things such as slaying dragons while women cower in fear and hide. In short, the film portrays men as ‘sturdy oaks’ who are capable of ‘giving em hell’ and who does not delve in ‘sissy stuff’. Men are portrayed as pillars of society while women stands in the background waiting to ‘service’ the pillars. The very portrayal of women as weak in the film serves as a tool which a patriarchal society could use to reinforce upon the viewers that women are only good for the house especially for the bed and that they should not involve themselves in political and economic matters. They were made for domestic chores. When viewing the film, children and even adults alike, are made to believe that the role of the women is to become beautiful so that they may attract a strong, wealthy male partner. It defines the role of a queen as a quiet, non-intrusive creature that cries and seduces. The depiction is basically serving as a tool to construct social beliefs of what women should be and what they should not be doing. Do we not see empowerment of women in the Grendel’s mother character played by Angelina Jolie who was depicted to be superior to male counterparts because she can seduce them, play with them and give them the wealth that they desire? While it is true that she is superior economically and physically, she is nonetheless portrayed as an evil woman whose sole purpose is to sire a son – still an object of desire and reproduction. In the end, she mourns for Beowulf which can be taken as a sign of weakness. No male character could be seen crying because they don’t want to be seen as doing ‘sissy stuff’. One can also argue that it would be paranoid of us to think that there is male conspiracy against females because the women in the film were not treated harshly and were instead cared and respected. They were never hurt and had the ability to resist male advances. Wealtheow, for example, was not subjected to a forceful sexual intercourse by Hrothgar. While the female characters were not treated harshly, we need to realize that they were treated with respect because of the positions they hold. Wealtheow was a queen while Grendel’s mother was a supernatural being. A female character who was only a servant had her body held against a wall with one of Beowulf’s soldier insisting himself unto her. This leads us to another concept where class differences could also influence gender–related relationships. It would seem that the film Beowulf have many underlying issues that could make it a hot topic for feminist studies. References: Asma, Stephen. “Never Mind Grendel. Can Beowulf Conquer the 21st-Century Guilt Trip?”. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Dec. 7, 2007 pp. B20 Ng, Roxanne, Pat Staton and Joyce Scane, ed. Anti-Racism, Feminism, and Critical Approaches to Education. Greenwood Pub. Group, 1995. Roman, Leslie G. and Linda Eyre, eds. Dangerous Territories: Struggles for Difference and Equality in Education. Routledge, 1997. DeLamotte, Eugenia C., Natania Meeker, and Jean F. O'Barr, ed. Women Imagine Change: A Global Anthology of Women's Resistance from 600 B.C. to Present. Routledge, 1997. Laslitt, Barbara, Ruth-Ellen B. Joeres, Mary Jo Maynes, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, and Jeanne Barker-Nunn, ed. History and Theory: Feminist Research, Debates, Contestations. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1997 Newton, Judith L., Mary P. Ryan, and Judith R. Walkowitz, ed. Sex and Class in Women's History. 1983. Read More