THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN TODAY SOCIETY VERSUS THEIR TRADITIONAL ROLE - Essay Example

The role of women in today’s society versus their traditional role In today’s society women have a lot more responsibilities and empowerment than they had as compared to the traditional society. Modern women are educated, talented and share high posts and are at par with their male counterparts. In Mark Twain’s ‘Two ways of seeing a river’, the writer muses upon the beauty of a wonderful sunset in the river. Twain compares the beauty of the river with the charm of a beautiful woman. He uses phrases like graceful curves, woody heights, reflected images and remarks that the beauty of the river bewitched him.

However, with the passage of time, the writer forgot about the beauty the river exuded and instead concentrated only on thoughts of the usefulness the river in helping the author to safely row his steamboat. Moreover, instead of admiring the beauty of the river, he started finding out the negative traits the river had. He was more concerned in looking at a single living branch of a tall dead tree, difficulty in steering the steamboat in the night and other such problems the river may pose. The plain simple lives when people had time to watch the elegance of a woman has been lost with the passage of time.

The author pities all those who overlook the gracefulness, elegance and charm a woman exudes especially doctors (Twain, 1883). Take the example of the legendary Egyptian queen Cleopatra. She was known for her beauty and charm. At the same time she was a great ruler and her achievement as a queen has spurred many stories (Tour Egypt, 2011). This is a single case. In the traditional society life of women spiralled around the house and family. Most women got married at an early age and were thrust with the responsibility of bearing and caring off offspring.

The role of modern women today is much greater. She has to equally take care of the house, family and also venture out to work. Women are venturing out to highly skilled professions and are excelling in all walks of life. Universities are opening its doors to women in order to pursue more complex education and have a great career. Today’s society is more concerned with the usefulness and the contribution of a woman and has little time to admire her charm and beauty. Globalization has made lives extremely complex and busy and people have very little time to admire the natural beauty of the woman.

Law strives to protect the rights of women in modern society. But, despite this, a woman still has to perform the traditional roles of looking after and managing a family. Of course there are exceptions for everything. The role of woman in Saudi Arabia has still not changed in this regard. There are many basic rights which women are still denied in this country. Women hardly enjoy any freedom and are seldom entrusted with any other duties other than managing the house and family (Pejman, 2004).

All these comparisons actually bring out the fact that today’s women have been entrusted with a lot more responsibilities. In most cases, a woman sacrifices her career for managing the children and house. There will be seldom any instances where a man has sacrificed anything for the upkeep of the family. Despite the hue and cry, about not making any gender discrimination, the fact still remains that the modern society also considers woman to perform her same traditional duties along with added responsibilities.

References: Twain, Mark. (1883). “Life on the Mississippi”. Middlesex: The Echo Library. Tour Egypt. (2011). “Cleopatra VII Ptolemaic Dynasty”. Retrieved July 02, 2011 from http://www.touregypt.net/cleopatr.htm Pejman, P. (2004, March 30) “Saudi Arabia: Women say religious traditions block their rights”. Retrieved July 2, 2011 from http://www.religiousconsultation.org/News_Tracker/Saudi_women_say_religious_traditions_block_rights.htm