Women Liberation Is Still a Fiction - Research Paper Example

 Women Liberation  Women work in the offices. In many institutions they head their male colleagues. Women are found to have better success rates in academics. They are no more behind the success of every man; they are rather beside the success of every man. Men are of the opinion that they give adequate respect to their female counterparts. They feel there is equitable share of responsibilities between a man and a woman. Hence women should no more have anguish regarding their position in the society. They have achieved their liberty. Women in the present age carry on double tasking. They are considered more responsible and hence even the domestic front has to be looked after by women of the houses. The paper argues on the fact that women liberation is still a fiction. The indicators which give the impression of women liberation are in fact illusions. Most of the offices in the world today give the statistics of women employees. The figure is encouraging. Ii indicates that so many women have come out from the domestic front and are engaging themselves in the economic activities. In reality the picture is completely different. It is true that women participate in economic activities but how much they are a part of the economy remains a big question. In most cases women work as hard as men rather more than men but her contribution is not seen as a worthy one in the society. The belief is such that her income is mainly for satisfying unimportant desires and hence do not have an importance that is equal to that of a man. Women today put on bold attire. This is because they are liberated from the clutches of conservatism. Through their dress they try to show the world that they can express their desires in the modern society. Unfortunately it does not remain so easy for women. A study has proved that men were of the opinion that women should pay attention to the kind of dresses that they wear. They should not put on something which will catch the attention of men because that may cause rape and other sexual offences. (Campbell and Norris, 39). “Only through eradication of outward ornament can women atone for the vices of their sex”. (Coon, 32). Through this it can be understood that the existing belief was that female sexuality was a vice and it can only be controlled if women control their appearances. It was expected that the proper norm for women was to put on drab dresses in order to prevent sexual exploitation. In this regard it can be said that the society in fact justifies sexual exploitation of women on the grounds that it is women who provoke the men. Women of the present age have attained sexual autonomy. They can now express their sexual desires unlike the yester years. Whereas the story that runs underneath is completely different from this notion. Present day objectification of women is different in the sense that their bodies are used as medium to earn money. A glaring example which uses women bodies to fulfill the desires of men is pornography. LeMoncheck holds the opinion that medium like pornography and prostitution utilizes women as a tool and prop which men uses to satisfy their desires. Through these means the status of women is demeaned. ((LeMoncheck, 122). Therefore just by portraying a woman who takes a lead in a pornography we cannot say that the modern women have achieved sexual autonomy. In fact “pornography is making female equality and not simply depicting it”. (Cohen and Wellman, 231). The media has played an important role in bringing the women to the fore front. Rather it can be said that it is media which has given prominence to women of the society. It is true that media has been instrumental in providing prominence to women. The question in this regard remains as to how media has brought women to the lime light. The actual scenario as to how the media represents women is that it sexually objectifies women. The various advertisements use the body of a woman to sell a particular product. The product’s attractiveness is compared to a woman’s sexuality. Thus it can be said that it is an ultimate way by which the media degrades a woman. Such portrayals by the media in fact strengthen the issue of gender construct which exists in our society. (Cortese, 61). Apart from that the fashion which the media shows imbibes into the minds of women that a flawless body is the route to ultimate beauty and happiness. It in fact makes the woman give more importance to her body that is a woman herself starts treating her body as a commodity and hence becomes the perpetrator of her suppression. (Slee, 405). Today even in the domestic front women get a lot more liberties than they used to get previously. Many of the husbands today help their wives in the domestic chores. That is women today enjoy more equality of status with their husbands. In the real life scenario that is not the case because in most cases, according to socialist Fourier marriage is an institutionalized form of prostitution that is women are forced to give their husbands sexual favors even if it is against their wish because the husbands believe that it is their legitimate right to use their wives for sexual pleasures. (Atkinson, Dallin and Lapidus, 86).  Thus it can be inferred that in the domestic front may be the apparent scenario has changed. The fact that women should go by the desires of their husbands still remains embedded in the minds of the men folk. As most of the world societies today are yet patriarchal in nature the women of those societies also remain subjugated to a large extent. A subjugated woman is one who conforms to all the decisions and judgments taken by the men folk. Subjugated women also easily adapt to the male hierarchy which exists in the society. It can be said in a way, that the patriarchal society gives a man the validation to control a woman. A male hegemony has developed in the society and it is difficult to escape from it. (Hall, 116). Taking into account the entire study we may conclude saying that seeing the recent change in the society we may apparently feel that women today have achieved liberty. They have been able to come out from the age old oppression. The reality in fact is far from such an assumption because till today women are subjugated in various ways. Especially the sexuality of women becomes a major means to objectify the body of a woman. A woman gets deprived in every phase of her life from liberty. Through direct and indirect means women are subject to indignation. This is mainly because a male hegemony exists in our society and as a result the men as well as the women accept the fact that women are inferior to their male counterparts and hence should always conform to the men folk. The socialization of a woman right from her childhood happens in such a way that the belief of male supremacy gets embedded in their minds. Thus from the study it can be understood that women live under the false impression of being liberated but the truth remains that women liberation is still a fiction and a long way to achieve. The first step towards women liberation lies in recognizing the women as human entities.  Works Cited 1. Atkinson, Dorothy, Dallin Alexander and Lapidus Gail. Women in Russia. Chicago: Stanford University Press, 1977. 2. Campbell, Patricia and Norris, Kathleen. Democratization and the protection of human rights: challenges and contradictions. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998. 3. Cohen Andrew and Wellman Christopher. Contemporary debates in applied ethics. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. 4. Coon, Lynda. Sacred fictions: holy women and hagiography in late antiquity. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997. 5. Cortese, Anthony, J, P. Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. 6. Hall, Constance. Women and empowerment: strategies for increasing autonomy. London: Taylor & Francis, 1992. 7. LeMoncheck, Linda. Loose women, lecherous men: a feminist philosophy of sex. USA: Oxford University Press, 1997. 8. Slee Phillip. Child, adolescent, and family development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Read More