A Major Religious and Political Transformation Effect - Essay Example

The history is witness to the fact that throughout the world, the patriarchal society has tried to impose restrictions on the freedom of women and have promoted constitutional laws and social precepts and guidelines that not only confine women’s independence but they encourage men to create social environment that smother their potential and creativity. The patriarchal society was created by men to maintain a dominant position in the society that restricts the role of women in any decision making and promotes a set of rules for their conduct and actions, both within the family and outside the family environment. Some women like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Mary Tudor, Catherine, the great, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and some others have achieved a prominent place in the annals of history but their numbers are negligible on the wider context of the social order. Those were exceptional women in exceptional time who were able to rise above their gender. Though none of these exemplary women leaders were able to influence the socio-cultural role of women to any considerable extent but they were able to ignite some ambitions and desires within the women to question their traditional subservient role. The dictums of French revolution which legally denied women any rights as an individual became the foundation for the early feminist movement in Europe. After the French revolution in 1789, Declaration of Rights of Man and of the citizen (gmu) provoked women activists to demand inclusivity. Olympe de Gouges, a noted playwright, published Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne1 (1791) and became a torch bearer for the upcoming feminist movement. The American civil war brought forth the focus on the changing role of women in the American society. The sporadic movement for empowering women actually started making significant stride after the WWII when the women had to go out of their homes to earn and support their families. The changing paradigms of socio-economic compulsion became the major propellant for the feminist movement in the West. Basic right for self expression and empowerment of women increasingly became a major issue for the societies at large. Feminism can be broadly defined as empowerment of women whereby they are able to exert one’s choices for their own good by implementing them. In the contemporary time, empowerment has become one of the most crucial issues among the women activists as it directly influences the welfare of the women and the society at large. Empowerment facilitates realization of self worth, instilling self confidence in one’s ability to make independent decisions about themselves, especially with relation to their socio-economic and political decisions. Hence, an empowered woman has more options and freedom to transform those choices into concrete action plans for the betterment of self and the society at large. The feminist movement went a long way in overcoming the racial prejudices and uniting women across the race, culture, color and class. Marlene LeGates, in her book has quoted French Activist Nelly Rousell, ‘Among us there are no ruling classes, no privileged classes. All of us can declare war on today’s society… great ladies are mistreated by princely brutes; bourgeoises dispossessed of their property; working women frustrated by their meager salary..’ (LeGates, 2001, p3). The gender equality was not an option in the olden times but the changing socio-economic processes gradually transformed the social structure and social norms. The dichotomy in the roles of the males and females were reduced when women started going out to earn and contribute financially in the household expenditures. Initially the joint family system supported the working women mainly because other women in the family contributed to household chores thus letting the working woman have respite from the more strenuous household chores. Later on as development became more pronounced, the joint families were replaced by the nuclear family and in the changing socio economic environment, men also started helping towards household chores, though cooking still remained the most prized traits of the women who loved to show the creativity in the cuisines and pampered their men folk and children by cooking innovative dishes. The ‘wage work’ was the most significant factor of feminist movement because it made women realise that working outside the home gave them more recognition as an individual which was denied to them when they worked long hours at home, doing various household chores. Counihan in her book Around the Tuscan Table succinctly describes the changing expectations of the women when she says, ‘A housewife never gets the recognition that a working woman gets…. Cooking was often the first chore from the reproductive sphere that men took up’ (Counihan, 2004) and ends up by showing the tacit acceptance of the evolving roles of women in the society by the men. DeLamotte et al. in their book Women Imagine Change have traced women’s resistance towards their traditional role as oppressed and how they were able to gain relative power over their life. The authors have collected the experiences of women across thirty countries who have fought for their rights in their own unique way and made a significant difference in their own small way in a man dominated area. The book has illustrated the frustrations of Catherine Waugh, a qualified law graduate who was unable to get a job in the male dominated legal system because ‘I was no man’ (DeLamotte et al. 1997). Post WWII feminist movement was especially significant because it was targeted towards social institutions and demanded equal participation of the gender roles in the overall perspectives. Women activists showed though examples that they have not only have the intellectual capability but they also the inherent potential to compete in a man’s world and succeed. LeGates has gone on to say that ‘participants (of the various women’s movements) attacked the male monopoly of education, professional careers, and culture; married women’s economic and legal dependence; sexual and moral double standards; women’s lack of control over their bodies; the drudgery of housework; low wages; and, not least, women’s exclusion from politics’(LeGates p.197). The compulsions of the socio-economic developments and technological advancements have been the primary reasons for the empowerment of the women who have been denied their rights as individuals in the patriarchal society. The literature has shown that no matter what, women cannot be confined into categories that restrict their individuality and their freedom of expression. Despite this highly prejudiced social norms and stifling atmosphere, women have the power to influence and make a definite impact on the society, changing and creating a new vision for their untapped potential and great scope for their development as individuals. The feminist movement has great historic importance because it laid the stable foundation of empowerment of women through restructuring and reform in social and cultural order and constitutional amendments throughout the world, especially in developed nations. Reference Counihan, Carole M. (2004). Around the Tuscan Table: Food, family nd Gender in twentieth century Florence. New York. Routledge. LeGates, Marlene. (2001). In Their Time: A History of Feminism in Western Society. New York. Routledge. Eugnia DeLamotte, Natania Meeker and Jean OBarr. (1997) Women Imagine Change. A Global Anthology of Womens resistance from 600BCE to Present. New York. Routledge. Declaration of Rights of Man and of the citizen. (1789). Available from: < http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/295/> [Accessed 14 October, 2008]. Olympe de Gouges. (1791). The Rights of Women. Available from: < http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/gouges.html> [Accessed 14 October, 2008]. Read More