History of Literacy Promotion for Women and Gender Discrimination - Literature review Example

Topic: Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction Throughout history and in every part of the world, women continue struggling in every epoch for equal treatment. Even with the recognition of universal human rights and efforts by the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Women’s Convention), achieving gender equality is still far. It may seem that gender equality has been achieved but this is far from the reality as women continue to be discriminated in all spheres of life in various ways in different countries. This is especially so due to social and cultural norms that depicts a woman as an inferior being to man and as such perpetuate inequalities. Religious beliefs also contribute to this mess. The only way to strengthen women to be able to claim their rightful place in society is through education. As such, promotion of women literacy goes hand in hand with elimination of gender discrimination as it will be proved by case studies of different countries such as the US, Japan and South Asia. The aim of this paper is thus to explore the relationship between literacy promotion for women and gender discrimination. It will show that gender discrimination is not a problem of the past but it still exists and can be eliminated through literacy promotion for the women. Gender discrimination according to the women’s convention refers to “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on basis of sex which has the effect of impairing or nullifying recognition , enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of marital status, on basis of equality of men and women of fundamental freedoms in political, economic, social, cultural and any other field.”1 In many societies, women are thus discriminated in areas of employment, political participation, education and health, among many other areas. For example, according to reports by Global Campaign for Education, two-thirds of non-literate adults in the world are women despite education being an economic right guaranteed in the declaration of universal human rights.2 This can in part be attributed to cultural norms that relegate women to the background and consider them only beneficial in home making and not any other area. In Japan for example, the notion of ethics which claims that people are born with different abilities into different statuses is acknowledged. This helps in maintaining the prevailing social order and enhancing gender roles and resulting inequalities.3 It is also difficult to discern gender discrimination in Japan as it is entrenched in the religion and culture. Religions prevalent in Japan like Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism are patriarchal in nature and consider women as impure thus unfit to conduct religious rituals. The role of the women is thus to stay at home and take care of the family and child birth. Through the “five hindrances” in lotus sutra and “three obediences” (obey father, husband and son if widowed), women are discriminated against. Women are always supposed to obey and are not independent. The Buddha in Japan must also be male.4 The family system (ie) in Japan strengthens discrimination against women as it depicts men as the heads of households. Under this system, children custody was exclusive to fathers and illegitimate sons had more rights than legitimate daughters. Adultery was acceptable for men but not for women as polygamous attitude was prevalent. However, the constitution enacted in 1947 abolished this system. Japan culture unlike the western culture also harmonizes good and bad thus not making clear differences of what is right or wrong. In this way, individual qualities and abilities are ignored. Another area of discrimination is political participation where only those who paid taxes could vote. This excluded women from voting since they do not own property hence do not pay taxes. The police security Regulation of 1900 barred women from political participation.5 There also existed Imperial Rescript on Education which was based on Confucian ideas thus undermining women. Girls’ education at the time was for promotion of “good wives and wise daughters” thus education was not necessary for girls. In 1935, only 4.6 females out of one thousand females pursued education beyond high school which was one-tenth of males. 6 Besides, women were not allowed to work away from home. Education was only meant for Samurai sons. However, various women associations were formed to push for women rights and education was crucial to attaining this goal. Educated women made it their duty to enlighten illiterate women by establishing colleges for girls thus these educated women could understand their rights and agitate for them. Christian missionaries also established schools for girls aiming at ending segregation in schools for boys and girls. Women magazines such as Fusin Koron and Shufu no tomo were introduced which addressed women issues and literate women could read.7 They also established universities for girls to further their education. Most education reforms however, were initiated by the Allied Occupation after defeat of Japan in World War II. Education was made free and compulsory, coeducation extended and common curriculum developed. This enabled equality in education and was key to struggle for the emancipation of women. Literacy promotion was thus crucial in ending gender discrimination in Japan. However, equality is far from being achieved as even today, textbooks in Japan are male-centered and still only few women engage in higher education. Women also study humanities as opposed to sciences thus in a 2005 study by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that Japan ranked lowest in 16 countries of women studying science and technology. 8 Another case study that reflects the link between literacy promotion for women and gender discrimination is the United States. The US has people of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds creating room for various types of discrimination for women. Despite being discriminated on basis of color and religion women also experience gender discrimination despite the various anti-discrimination laws enacted by the federal government and respective states. Women in America have struggled for decades to have equal rights as men and education has gone a long way to achieving this goal. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination based on color or gender but it was still difficult for women to be recognized as equal to men in a patriarchal society like US. In 2000, women comprised of 46.5 % of the workforce but only 11.7 % held the Board of Directors position of fortune 500 companies and comprised only 12.5 % of corporate officers.9 Women are also barred from taking certain careers. For example, Illinois bars women from becoming lawyers and also restricts the number of work hours for women.10 However, agitation by enlightened women who are literate has enabled women to move closer to achieving equality. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission recognizes the plight of women and guards them against discrimination. According to Miller and King, illiterate women often suffer from victimization and abuse by men.11 They do not know their legal rights and such persevere in such environments. However, education enables them to know their rights and seek redress thus ending such discrimination. Education and employment are thus best strategies for strengthening women’s agency in voice and achieving positions of authority and decision-making. According to Miller and King, South Asia is a country with the largest gap between rates of male and female literacy (67% and 45% respectively).12 Though it has 21% of world’s female population, it comprises of 44 % of world illiterate. As such, the country is ridden with poverty. This is due to its Islamic culture that encourages early marriages. Women also lack information on their entitlements under the law thus cannot defend themselves against discrimination. The female literacy rates in South Asia are 50% those of males. Girls and boys still seat and play separately and girls perform most of classroom chores.13Due to illiteracy, female infanticide which is a form of gender discrimination is high. Women have no access to reproductive health and education thus suffers silently. Literacy is thus vital for ending such discrimination. Conclusion Gender discrimination is considered a problem of the past, but still exists and literacy promotion can do good to women providing motivation and education to claim their rightful place in their society. This is evidenced by the various literacy promotion efforts put forward by various women groups in Japan and US thus tremendous achievements. Failure to promote literacy in South Asia has left women and the region as a whole in poverty as women are the backbone of the economy and continuous gender discrimination for women in the society. Japan has almost achieved equality but obstacles to attain complete equality are still in place. Women in all countries still get discriminated in employment despite anti-discriminatory laws embedded in the constitution. Political participation for women is also low and rarely is women elected into office. This is in line with patriarchal society cultures that elevate men and subordinate women. Furthermore, in education women take soft subjects like arts and humanities and leave sciences to men thus enhancing inequalities. However, literacy promotion is the key to eliminating gender inequalities in all aspects of life. References Abeyesekera Sunila. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of women. http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/IHRIP/circle/modules/module4.html[Accessed January 19, 2014]. GCE. 2012. Gender Discrimination in Education: The Violation of Rights of Women and Girls. Global Campaign for Education. http://campaignforeducation.org/docs/reports/GCE-INTERIM-Gender-Report.pdf[Accessed January 19, 2014] Gregory, Raymond F.2003. Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming Barriers to Gender Equality. USA: Rutgers University Press. Hara Kimi and Fujimura-Fanselow, K. 2011. Educational Challenges Past and Present. In Kuniko Fujimura-Fanselow (ed). Transforming Japan: How Feminism and Diversity are Making a Difference. New York,NY: Feminist Press. Joseph Suad and Lagmabadi Afsana. L. 2006. Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures: Family, Body, Sexuality and Health, Volume 3. Netherlands: Brill Kaneko Sachiko. 2011. The struggle for Legal Rights and Reforms: A Historical View. In Kuniko Fujimura-Fanselow (ed). Transforming Japan: How Feminism and Diversity are Making a Difference. New York,NY: Feminist Press. Miller, Mev and King Kathleen P(EDS). 2009. Empowering Women Through Literacy: Views from Experience. USA: Information Age Publishing. Okano Haruko, K. 2011. Women in Japanese Buddhism. In Kuniko Fujimura-Fanselow (ed). Transforming Japan: How Feminism and Diversity are Making a Difference. New York,NY: Feminist Press. Read More