Womens Creativity as Empowerment - Coursework Example

Re-Inventing Selves Women’s Creativity as Empowerment Introduction Creativity is defined as “The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations etc. originality, progressiveness or imagination…” (www.dictionary.infoplease.com).This definition was chosen by the writer for the sole reason that it contains the fundamentally relevant significant features for the analysis of this topic. “The ability to transcend traditional ideas” in itself is an example of the firmament of creativity. Women’s empowerment isn’t an agency-centric outcome for them to wait till the arrival of Godot; neither do they have to transcend conventions by imposing on men’s existence. The exponential function of creativity has both an individual psychological dimension and a societal phenomenal dimension. On the other hand empowerment is defined as “the process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes” (Empowerment, www.woldbank.org). Causative factors of change that the process of empowerment entails are either the direct or indirect results of agents’ actions that require intervention in social processes. The conceptual and theoretical structure of this paper would thus focus on the causal correlations between the concepts of women’s empowerment and creativity so as to bring out the most relevant and significant issues to the fore. In other words the argumentative posture of the essay would be facilitated by an examination of the impact and its extent of creativity in bringing about empowerment as an essential precondition for real change among women. However the essay would not focus on the consequences of such change for it’s beyond the remit of it. Analysis Thesis statement The primacy and immediacy of women’s empowerment strategies are basically determined by an invariably orthodox dichotomous approach based on gender related prejudices and the attendant beliefs. Creativity as a tool of empowerment marks essentially a paradigm shift away from this orthodox belief and therefore engenders a pivotal transition from the abstract methodologies to more concrete structural factors of change. Creativity is a fundamental conceptual element in societal transformation and is informed by a system of norms and mores that underlie an otherwise dynamic process of women’s empowerment. Research problem or problem statement Empowering women is associated with a set of a priori and a posteriori factors of influence. Women have been seeking to break free of the clutches of a society that cares very little about empowerment of them (Hunter College Women’s Studies Collective, 1995, p.24). This in itself is a formidable challenge to the very imagination of women who fervently hope to overcome not only the age-old prejudices against them but also more subtle negative appendages of transformation. The complexity and diversity of change require creative energies of women to be enhanced to achieve empowerment related outcomes though they ought to be defined and not lumped together with so called abstract empowerment goals. Social processes such as development and positive change hinge on the very empowerment of women; hence the need for creativity is all the more significant. Social prejudices and biases that invariably hinder any effort at women’s empowerment are more likely to be present in this process of change as well. Creativity isn’t a monolithic building block on which to set up women’s future emancipation though it’s a bellwether of positive culture and attitude towards change. Literature review The existing literature on the subject of creativity among women as a causative agent of empowerment is divided into pedagogical and didactic. Pedagogical literature is more focused on the analytical examination of concepts and theories that are essential in constructing models or frameworks of reference. An extensive analytical model building effort to incorporate contingency paradigms and perspectives can be seen here while there has been very little effort by way of a coherent logical approach to understanding the various precipitous elements of change that have been unfolding through the debate of empowerment (Sharma, Jan. 2006, Vol. 21(1) pp. 60-95). Pedagogical literature identifies the existence of some critical issues in the empowerment debate and thus creativity is not only desirable but also essential to overcoming existing barriers to empowerment. These issues – global feminism, deprivation of opportunities or gender-based discrimination, social-structure engendered inequalities including economic inequality and the lack of social infrastructure to empower women - are characterized by the same old economic principle of relative deficiencies. In other words relative deficiencies that women are suffering from in various ways are mostly responsible for the current level of disability among women. According to pedagogical literature disability isn’t an outcome of a definable set of causes or systemic failures. It’s the cumulative outcome of a number of causal factors that basically defy identification and intervention by motivated agents of change. This hydra-headed monster is behind the current level of “disempowerment” among women. The inability to comprehend such realties as socio-economic structural changes over the years in favor of men and the gradual process of resource redistribution from women to men rather than the other way about as claimed by many is at the heart of the matter. Despite these novel features in the current debate on empowering women through creativity, there are many more old-fashioned pedagogical concepts such as lack of education among women and discrimination at the workplace being discussed at every international and national forum. On the other hand didactic process of evolution on the subject of women’s empowerment through creativity has touched on the inevitability of social institutions such as universities and colleges in bringing about a change in attitudes towards empowerment and the importance of creativity. In other words didactic process is intended to advise as to what women should do in order to be creative and subsequently be empowered. Being creative in what women do in order to achieve some desirable aims is a good idea though the extent of such creativity would be limited by a host of exogenous variables such as attitudes of various groups of people, the level of participation by women and the availability of opportunities and resources to be creative. The didactic process of empowering women through creativity goes to the extent of promoting neo-liberal economic ideology as a contextually relevant paradigm for change. Despite the claim by some writers that neo-liberal economics has exacerbated the problems faced by women rather than minimize them, those who support empowerment of women through creativity tend to identify an obvious correlation between neo-liberal institutions and empowerment of women. Thus according to them creativity is promoted by the very process of change brought about by liberal ideology. A perceptive and impervious change has taken place on the aftermath of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution in the world. Digital age is more open-ended than the former and does promote integration at every level of the societal ladder thus rendering those differences between men and women much less significant (Ewen and Ewen, 1992, p.4). Indeed this is an open invitation to women to be more creative in ICT related fields of activity. This is none so more obvious than in the current debate over empowerment of women. The causality principles of change have been redefined to include time and space centric processes and patterns. Analysis Dynamics of women’s empowerment are varied and complex and require a greater focus of attention in order to understand its various nuances. Similarly creativity has in it a series of denotations and connotations. Attempts by social scientists to delineate its various elements in the current context of social transformation through creativity are essentially connected with empowerment, both as a concept and dynamism. The ideational content of the concept of creativity is replete with some cognitive heuristics such as risk and reward. This paper is focused on the latter aspect of the concept. The reward heuristic has a persuasive element in it. Women who are creative are more likely to succeed in their endeavors while those who aren’t are more likely to fail. This proposition doesn’t take into consideration the fact that opportunities matter rather than the faithful execution of creativity as a notional belief. For instance the ex-President of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, was responsible for introducing democracy to the country though she didn’t have an opportunity to be creative in putting in place some of the most important social, political and legal institutions to cement the gains. The subsequent developments showed that a politically corrupt society wouldn’t raise its head above that predetermined barrier despite valiant efforts by her to bring change to the life of millions of Filipinos. However this example isn’t intended to generalize limitations to creativity but to highlight the fact that individuals who desire to be creative don’t always succeed as such. Especially when women wish to be creative as in the case of rural poor opportunities are scarcer. In Pakistan, a Muslim country, former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto went against tradition and fervently sought to establish democratic institutions in a military-ruled society (Davis, Evans and Lorber, 2006, p.237). She did succeed first in 1988 because of the sentimental wave of popular sympathy over her father’s death. However in 2009 she was murdered at a political rally. After two decades of on-and-off elections and democratic lessons, the country is in anarchy. Creativity is curtailed by circumstances as much as by desire not to be creative. As many women writers and politicians have pointed out empowerment of women isn’t a singular ideological battle to be fought by a few individuals but a process of positive change that has to go through a variety of phases in time and space. In other words it doesn’t have a time and a space limit on it. It will be fluid and be more deterministic in changing the life process of individual women. Creativity is part and parcel of this process. Therefore individual liberties play a much bigger role than any other force in the shaping of the future vision. When after many years a woman goes out into the outer space, a woman becomes the Chief Executive Officer of a multinational company and a minority woman becomes a Judge on the US Supreme Court, there is something like a reminder to us all that women have been empowered to a greater extent. But nevertheless the question “Have they been creative?” arises. This dichotomy is the raison d’être behind many arguments on creativity and women’s empowerment in the modern literature on the subject. Liberal ideological stances adopted by individual researchers have been cited by authors as the inevitable outcome of a long drawn process of disagreements among women ideologues who argue that fundamental causative agents of disparities between men and women are largely responsible for the current level of inadequate empowerment of women. However there is still less agreement among them over the level and nature of the impact that creativity has on empowering them. Creativity has some promise including a great degree of potential in persuading women to adopt change as a last resort of hope. Change and creativity have acquired this level of acceptance through the years because they not only empower but also create a higher level promise among a majority of women irrespective of their social and economic status. Conclusion Creativity is a dynamic process of change that would definitely have an impact on women’s empowerment and the subsequent implications. Implications of this process such as pedagogical and didactic argumentative postures have evolved against the backdrop of a fast changing social and economic environment. Creativity is a concept that has many nuances including the subtle social process changes that invariably affect the individuals’ life and ways of living. While the debate on empowerment of women has taken a new ideological turn there has been much less of an agreement among many writers as to what and how the course of its directional thrust should develop (Harding and Grewal, 2008, p.27). This ideological debate as to which is more/less important than the other hasn’t served the cause of women’s empowerment. Neither has it been helpful in creating awareness among women as to the existence of a variety of opinions among women over the course of direction that creativity as empowerment debate should take. Thus there is the inevitable conclusion that creativity concept as an essential element in empowering women has not only been questioned but also been relegated to the place of a secondary importance in the larger context of a raging theoretical and conceptual debate over the cognitive heuristics such as reward and denial. REFERENCES 1. Definition of empowerment Retrieved from www.worldbank.org on August 16,2009. 2.Definition of creativity retrieved from www.dictionary.infoplease.com on August 16,2009. 3. Ewen, Stuart, and Ewen, Elizabeth, , Channels of Desire: Mass Images and the Shaping of American Consciousness, Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 1992. 4 . Harding, Sandra. and Inderpal Grewal Sciences from Below: Feminisms, Postcolonialities, and Modernities (Next Wave: New Directions in Womens Studies) Durham: Duke University Press, 2008. 5. Hunter College Womens Studies Collective, Womens Realities, Womens Choices: An Introduction to Womens Studies (Hunter College Womens Studies Collective) New York :Oxford University Press, 1995. 6. Kathy, Davis Evans Mary and Lorber , Judith, Handbook of Gender and Womens Studies London: Sage Publications Ltd , 2006. 7. Sharma, Aradhana,” Crossbreeding Institution .Breeding, Struggle, women’s empowerment ,Neoliberal Governmentality and state (Re) formation In India . Cultural Anthroplogy” Vol21,( 1) , (2006): 60-95. Read More