Women Across Cultures - Book Report/Review Example

 There is a significant or pronounced sense of urgency in Farr. She argues that over the past decades that human trafficking is on the rise, and while the numbers involved varies or is difficult to determine, the fact that it has been increasing is indisputable. The estimates for the number of women and children that are trafficked ranges from several hundred thousand individuals annually, to numbers in the very millions. When it comes to providing an estimate for the total number of women trafficked throughout history, of course that number is in the tens of millions, and indeed, the author maintains that this is a practice that has been going on for centuries, and across cultures. One of the key notions that is announced by Farr, and one of the core reasons that she provides as a legitimation for her work, is the sheer volume overall of both the victims of human trafficking, but also the scope in terms of organized crime -- and again, organized crimes that transcend both time and place. Or, organized crime that can be found through history, and through a wide range of major cultures. The thesis of Farr's book, is that the problem is one that largely stems from economic conditions, and from patriarchal values or the social infrastructure and cultural values that legitimate the subjugation of women. First, concerning the economic conditions underlying the trafficking of women and children, her thesis is rather simple. There is a positive correlation between poverty and trafficking of women and children. In other words, where conditions are so desperate that there are little or no opportunities for women, prostitution is viewed as an alternative. Likewise, as a motivating factor for both organized crime and the complicity of the network of individuals involved in the trade. They are both motivated by their own condition or social conditions, but also are aware that this is a situation which can be easily exploited. This is likewise true for individuals who might sell their children or even kidnap individuals for the purposes of trafficking of women and children. While there is a correlation between poverty and the trafficking of women and children, Farr wants to maintain that this is a causal relationship. [Farr, 2005, 1;2;3-5; 41] Along with economic conditions that create an environment that is suitable for the trafficking of women and children, Farr argues that there are cultural or social forces that go into constructing that which legitimates the problem. So, while poverty is a sufficient condition for the trafficking of women and children, it is not the only condition. She argues that there are forces that allow for the coercion and subjugation of women that are cultural or social in nature. Patriarchy is defined in general, as a set of values or cultural norms that are based on the primacy of male authority. Male authority in this sense can be seen as the dominating force within the political institutions, the social institutions and finally, the institution of the family. What this entails or means in terms of consequences or outcomes, is that females and children are raised in an environment where they are nurtured as subjugated to male authority. They are raised in a way that makes them susceptible to male authority and therefore, essentially vulnerable because of their socially constructed position as inferior, weaker and less than their male superiors, so to speak. Thus, while it can be said that the economic condition of poverty is an omnipresent factor or variable contributing to both instances of the trafficking of women and children, but also the rise or increase of it over the past decades. However, this is also a social phenomenon that cannot take place without the existence of a strong patriarchal order that legitimates the practice of the trafficking of women and children. Legitimation, is a cultural or social force that can be defined in terms of the dissemination or reinforcement of values that help contribute to the rise of this problem. Put in simpler terms, the patriarchal forces of legitimation are that which create the conditions under which women and children are basically powerless to challenge the hegemony of the status quo. If you do not grow up believing that your own self-worth is yours to assert, by contrast, you grow up where your worth is defined as external to you, and for Farr, this is the process of patriarchy being a cause for legitimation. [Farr, 2005, ii, iii, 2; 7; 13]. In keeping with the aspect or element of economics, one of the core focus' of the problem of the trafficking of women and children, is globalization. This is a factor in a number of important senses. First, it can be said that a greater integrated world-wide network has been facilitated by breaking down trade and cultural barriers between nations. Likewise, it can be said that many of the fundamental shifts in politics internationally have had a significant contributing factor to the process of globalization, and especially as it effects or creates conditions under which the trafficking of women and children flourishes. In particular, the decline or disappearance of communism from Eastern Europe, has created a vacuum under which the trafficking of women and children has increased. For instance, the trafficking of women from Albania to Italy is a good example of this. Albania has been opened up to liberal market forces over the last few decades, and created the conditions under which the trafficking of women and children has gone in the direction of a neighboring country or nation-state. By market liberalization, it can be said that it is significant in at least two-senses, first, it has created increased poverty or the polarization between the affluent and the poor. Thus, in former communist countries where basically everyone was poor -- except for the corrupt officials at the top or the underground economies, after this political ideology disappeared, the political ideology of capitalism that is much more accepting of poverty and destitution as simply the natural outcome of market forces that favor capital over labor [Farr, 2005, 8; 108-109; 54; 3]. A second factor contributing to the causes and rise of the trafficking of women and children, is organized crime. There are very few nations that are not impacted by organized crime, and the power and impact of these groups can be seen in almost every instance where the trafficking of women and children is a phenomenon that is significant in terms of the number overall. Likewise, and in keeping with the element of crime, corruption can be understood as a third and significant causal factor. While it is the case that organized crime is a force for the trafficking of women and children, it is also the case that organized crime cannot really take root in society without some forces that basically allow it to happen. Thus, there is a positive correlation between the prevalence and flourishing of organized crime syndicates, and officials and political institutions that are essentially corrupt. Very often, the corruption that takes place is a person or organization that is in a position of trust. For instance, where the trafficking of women and children persists, there are often police officers, bankers and even travel agents that are involved. Thus, while the second major causal factor can be said to be the organized crime syndicates, these organizations cannot necessarily thrive without some institutions that allow them to exist. It has to be stressed that the trafficking of women and children, is something that involves a wide range of operations in order that it can succeed. To put this in fairly crude terms, one cannot simply transport a person the way they can a package sent by a courier. There has to be a complicity in the entire process between organized crime and the various channels and networks that can successfully move individuals from one place to the next. The size of this enterprise basically dictates that there are many groups and individuals who necessarily have to be involved in order to see that this enterprise is carried forward.[Farr, 2005, pp. 106-109] Burn reinforces Farr on a number of points. Most notably, Burn and Farr compliment each-other on the cultural significance of the patriarchal values as being the core source of legitimation. In other words, the oppression and subjugation of women is an important contributing factor or variable that goes into shaping or allowing the problem to grow. Thus, human trafficking are simply a matter of crime or criminal matters. The same value system that goes into telling young girls that they must grow up with a certain deference and respect to male authority, are the very very same social forces that legitimate the trafficking of women and children on a global scale. What is of further importance, and an intersection between Burn and Farr, is the distinction between 'sex' and 'gender'. While Farr touches on the issue, Burn develops this notion with a wider degree of comprehension. Gender roles are succinct from the biological sex of individuals, and further, these roles are socially constructed. In other words, the very definitions of male or female aside from the basic biological distinctions, are definitions that fall within the domain or sphere of social life. Thus, they can be changed in an emancipatory way as much as they can be perpetuated for continuing the basic power relations that go into the subjugation of women and children. It is these social forces and how they originated and how they are perpetuated, that represent the strongest complimentary relationship between Burn and Farr. [Burn, 2010, 46-8; 77; 79-81]. My perspective on the issue of human trafficking for the sake of prostitution has been transformed in a number of important senses. First, I had no idea that the extent of the problem was as pervasive as it is – I had no awareness that it transcended almost all international borders. Further, I was under the misguided idea that this was basically a lifestyle choice, and far from it. I had no idea how subtle and complex social forces are, and in particular, in terms of how they influence and legitimate the problem. Although the author does in the conclusion book at those instances where prostitution is a form of emancipation and empowerment, which is a very alternative feminist perspective and very contemporary, she largely views the roots of the problem as stemming from well beyond individual choice. At its worst, it is basic enslavement, and at best, it is a set of coercive social forces that limit the perspectives and therefore, the choices for women. These social forces are the outcome of the social construction of gender roles, and they can as easily be eliminated as they are perpetuated if there is the will and co-operation to do so. Works Cited: Burn, Shawn Meghan (Ed.). 2010. Women Across Cultures: a Global Perspective. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Farr, Kathryn. 2005. Sex Trafficking: the Global Market In Women And Children. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. ON THE WORLD CRISIS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND PROSTITUTION Read More