Gender and Identity in Translation - Report Example

Gender and Identity in Translation The word Gender explains the ification using masculinity and femininity. There are both social, cultural, andenvironmental factors are the major reasons leading to gender differences. Gender identity may be affected by a variety of social structures, including the persons ethnic group, employment status, religion, or irreligion, and family. From the beginning this idea had been stuffed in everyone’s mind that women are weaker compared to men, and they are more emotional compared to men so they cannot fulfil all the tasks that a men can. No matter how economically strong a country is, women are never up to the shoulder of men and that there has always been either slight or extreme changes differentiating them (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity). With an addition to age, gender is one of the universal extent on which position differences are relied on. Gender has brought about a lot of different issues in the modern times as were present in the yesteryears. It goes to suggest that gender related issues have formed the backbone of a number of different movements that have also entailed of the racial subjects and the hot debates have narrowly been aimed at the respective topics every now and then. Due consideration has also been placed on their incorporation in the different contexts and settings of the movements in order to bring about a change in the rational thinking and mindset of the people with the passage of time. There has been no as such controversial issue in the policy of modern societies as gender. Male dominance is not a natural but cultural phenomenon made by the people around the world. From the beginning Women have always had lower position than men, but the level of the gap between both the sexes diverge with cultures and time. Her right to the availabilities, her degree of autonomy, her class position and allocation of gender based responsibilities; result in the social powerlessness of women. Women, who comprise are included in half of the worlds population, do two thirds of the worlds work, earn one tenth of the worlds income and as a result get one hundredth of the worlds property (http://www.jigyasa.org/jigyasa_young_sexual_health_gender_sensibility.html). Women have of late been quite instrumental at defending their gender related issues and it is because of these very women that the issues are highlighted every now and then. Quite rightly so, the subjects under consideration should see the light of the day when concerted efforts are made in the proper and right direction with all out efforts. Even though there is so much progress around the world, there are still some areas where the women are degraded in the society. A job doing women not only has to work but also take care of her family and does all the household work and she cannot argue against this. Even today there is a society where the families believe birth of a girl child does not bring smiles to their home. They believe it is the son who inherits the wealth and property from his parents and not the daughter. It was and still is in some societies of eastern part that women have no freedom with concern of making their own decisions. They are being suppressed by telling that they have no role in the society. They have to live in a 4 cornered house and no freedom to go out and explore the world. Their freedom is taken by telling them that they are women and they have no liberty to question against the law and if they will do such an act, they will be beaten up like animals. It is in the societies where even the men are not so educated to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. So they don’t realize the fact that their women are not their slaves (http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/gender.html). By keeping the religious knowledge in mind, it is more convenient to decide between what is right and what is not. One gets to understand the rational point of view as well as negated form as put in place by the society and the values imposed by that very society. Thus the right course of action is undoubtedly difficult to understand though goes a long way in developing the understanding levels of the people thus attached with the thinking scenario. The knowledge of Islam has completely specified that both the men as well as women are the creatures of Allah, and that they both exist at the stage that gives equal value and significance to both of them though this does not substantiate a claim for their equivalence or perfect identity. There has been no point in Quran that gives and clue that the first women who was created by the Almighty Allah was of a lesser value compared to the first man created. There is no point mentioning that a woman is a kind of appendage formed from one of the man’s ribs and in fact both the men and women are created from a single self. Even when it comes to committing a sin, they both are equally punished by God for their wrong doing and equally forgiven when they apologize. If a women commits a civil offence, the Holy Quran tells us, womans punishment is not lesser or no greater than that of a man in a parallel case. If she is wronged or harmed, she is entitled with the same payment just like a man.  The Quran is not less clear in commanding equality for men and women in its directives regarding religious obligations and rewards. We read:  Lo! Men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth, and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give aims and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember Allah and women who remember-Allah hath prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward. (33:35)  These are some of the superficial points that are to keep in mind regarding women’s freedom. The women of today have got almost all of their freedom with their specified limitations. Their have got more prestige and a better role in society. Even a small bird breathing in the cage strives for freedom, so when it comes to us we strive for it to a greater extent. Freedom should be given to everyone but with certain boundaries. But again freedom is something that every living creature requires, whether it is a man or woman. Freedom gives an individual identity to a person. Although meant to bring a larger measure of equality for women, the idea that men and women are not only equal, but equivalent and identical, has actually pushed women into imitating men and even hates their womanhood. Thus it is generating a new type of male chauvinism. Tremendous social pressures have resulted in stripping women of their role-responsibilities formerly performed by them, and they are forced to live a life devoid of personality and individuality. Because completely unlimited freedom of action would make non-violent human existence unfeasible, some manacles on freedom of action are necessary and required. Virtually all codes of action recognize that basic limitation (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566271/Liberty_(freedom).html). However, this is not the case in every part of the world. Even though women are not given the equal rights and liberty as men, there are some areas of the world where the rights of the women are comparatively better than other areas. At this point we will take the example of two countries and compared the status women in their culture. For example in a country like Pakistan the women mainly due to the social and cultural conditions are more deprived than the women in modern western democratic societies. Their struggle for their rights is perhaps as old as the country itself is. The query about gender and power can only be tacit in terms of the social structures and how they distribute values in the society. Looking at the general values, social structures and cultural direction of the Pakistani population, in which we see the women as being the most degraded social as well as political class. Their rights are characterized by reliance, obedience, low self- respect and denial of even some of the basic in their general status. There is again another variation in their social conditions according to which some women have higher authorities than others. Educated and qualified women living in urban areas and from upper classes of the society have a status which is much better than the ones livings breathing in rural areas, even their rights are more compared to them. In the tribal areas of Balochistan, Frontier province, some areas of southern Punjab and interior Sindh, the women live in more unpleasant social conditions than women in other parts of the country. There is more violence done regarding women rights and there is no policy being worked on in opposition to it. The low social status of women due to the traditions of largely feudal and tribal culture makes the biggest blockade in the way of womens contribution in public affairs of the society. When it comes to politics, when the elected governments were in power, there was no as such participation of women in political work. With the entrance of President General Pervez Musharraf, came the essential events to increase womens participation. In the new arrangements that have been broadcasted women will be billed 30 percent of the seats in the national and provincial assemblies (http://www.sachet.org.pk/home/resources/research_material/research_gender_01.asp). Shifting towards the side of Egypt, the Egyptian women have the same economic rights as the Egyptian man. The rights of women are based much more upon differences in the social classes, rather than differences in gender. Rights and privileges were not uniform from one class to another, but within the given classes, it seems that equal economic and legal rights were, for the most part, accorded to both men and women. The Egyptian womans rights are complete to all the legally defined areas of the society. They have been given the authority to manage and organize private property, including: land, transportable goods, servants, slaves, farm animals, and money, as well as economic utensils. A woman can manage her entire property independently and according to her liberated will. She can bring to an end any kind of lawful resolution. She can come into view as a contracting partner in a contract of marriage or a contract of divorce. She has also been given the power to carry out evidence; she could free slaves. She can easily take legal action towards law. They can start proceedings in court freely without the need of a male representative. When a woman brought her own private property to a marriage, this apparently remained hers, although the husband often had the free use of it. During the time of divorce, her property had to go back to her, in addition to any divorce resolution that might be fixed in the original marriage contract. A wife has been given the liberty to inherit one-third of that community property on the death of her husband. A woman can also freely cut off children of her private property. She can selectively leave that property to certain children and not to others. Even when it comes to education, the women are given the freedom to study till any extent they wish to. There is as such no restriction made with relation to education. There are some exceptions again regarding the social class. Lower class women are not highly educated due to the limited money to be spent on them. The upper class almost certainly has a higher rate of literacy women. Many royal princesses at court get private tutors, who educate them to read as well as write. They are still not given the entire freedom to go out to public places alone. Women could also be nationwide heroines in Egypt. Extraordinary cases include Queen Ahhotep of the early Eighteenth Dynasty. The law rights are equal for both women as well as men and there is no leniency been given to the women and if they commit any crime they have to suffer through the same penalty as men (http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptianwomen.html). When it comes to United States, the status of women is better than both Egypt as well as Pakistan. Much of the population consisted of young, single, white indentured women, and as such the colonies to a large degree lacked any social cohesiveness. There was a differentiation been made between white women and black women. The black women were considered the untouchable ones. Even though the white women were not leading in getting all the rights of being women, still their status was better than men. The black women were given the least importance. Women also lost most control of their property when marrying. They could not sue or be sued, or make contracts, and divorce was almost impossible until the late eighteenth century. With the beginning of Revolutionary period, the wifes relationship with her husband also became more liberal, as love and affection instead of obedience and subservience started to characterize the ideal marriage relationship. In addition to that, there were many women who contributed to the work of war through collecting fun raisers and even running family businesses when their husbands were not present. Legendarily expressed by Abigail Adamsto, her husband: I desire you would remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. However, The Declaration of Independence still remained andocentric, stating, "All men are created equal". During the time of 1830s as well as 1840s, many of the changes in the status of women that occurred in the post-Revolutionary period for example, the belief in love between spouses and even the role of women in their home continued at an increased pace. This was an age of reform movements, in which Americans decided to get better the moral fibre of themselves as well as of their nation in extraordinary numbers. The wifes role in this process was important because she was seen as the cultivator of morality in her husband and children. Besides domesticity, women were also expected to be righteous, pure, and passive to men. These four components were well-known by many people at the time and were considered to be "the natural state" of womanhood, echoes of this ideology still existing today. Victoria Woodhull made a debate in the 1870s that the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution already certified the equality of voting rights to women. She found the results of the arguments of the United States Supreme Court after the entire one century. Still there was a strong movement with antagonism to suffrage. Womens suffrage was finally assured by Constitutional Amendment through the 19th Amendment, which was then passed by Congressional vote in May and June 1919, and ratified by thirty-six states in little over a year. The status of women was again to its decrease after the Great Depression. At that time all the property was taken from the women. But gradually the conditions got better and they were leaded towards prosperity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_women_in_the_United_States). Conclusion With the introduction of Industrial Revolution, the women have made a lot of progress towards equality with men, although they still have not the exact same level. There are places where women still don’t have a better life to live due to poverty. At the level, our main focus is on the women living in rural areas where, farming is the main theme of living, women work hard equally as men. The result is not very fruitful to them as being women gets them a much lesser pay for the same work as the men are doing and thus their economic value is declined. The women of upper middle class and upper class are increasingly cramped to the home with little to do except to take care of their children. The women of Egypt enjoy their rights and are free from the stresses that are made in poor countries. Pakistan too has made a lot of progress as regarding women’s rights. Pakistan is the first Muslim country to elect a woman, who was Benazir Bhutto, as a Head of Government. While Pakistani women continue to struggle for advancement, they have made strides by a number of measures. Among these are the rising numbers of women in well-paid professional occupations, increased activism by feminist groups. Women in Pakistan have progressed in various fields of life such as politics, education, economy, services, health and many more. The Pakistani women of today enjoy a better status than most Islamic and Middle Eastern women. With an exception of Indonesia, Pakistan is the only country to have a Female Major-General in the army. Pakistan is the only Muslim country to have women fighter pilots in its Air Force/Military besides Indonesia. Though even United States also had its depression time when the rights of the women were taken for a period of time, they too got it back and leaded towards prosperity and success and the women made their way through and until now they have covered the world and have got their name written in golden words in the history (http://www2.huberlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/the_status_of_women_in_the_wor.html). Appendix 1: Stereotype roles of men and women  Some of the Stereotype Roles of Women and Men are given below: Women Men Dependent Independent Weak  Powerful  Less Important  More important Incompetent Competent  Warm Discipline  Emotional Logical Housekeepers Decision Makers Housekeepers Leaders Fearful Brave Cautious Adventurous  Flexible Focused Warm Self-reliant Passive Active Modest Outspoken Soft-spoken Assertive Nurturing Strong Personal Opinion Public Opinion  1) A home is a proper place for women  1) Female services can be provided in the absence of male  2) Women are delicate  2) Status of women is restricted to home industry or typing and now to computers, etc.  3) Women are emotional, can weep any time.  3) Women must keep away from administration.  4) Womens income is additional income.  4) Women must be paid less for their services 5) Women should get married in early age. 5) Women should not spend more time in education 6) Women are good to follow orders. 6) No need of taking womens suggestions. 7) Women who talk more and have self respect face more problems. 7) Dependent, modest and those who obey the order can be given work. http://www.jigyasa.org/jigyasa_young_sexual_health_gender_sensibility.html Sex roles:-Similarities and Differences Similarities Differences 1. Basic needs of food ,clothes , shelter medicine, education etc. are similar. 2. It is proved that that there is no difference in general knowledge in men and women. 3. There is no difference in creativity. 4. Men and women are equally social and love others without any discrimination. 1. Women usually mature after the age of 10 to 11 while men are matured along with adolescence. 2. Males are more powerful physically than women. 3. Males get sick more often as compared to females. 4. Males are more aggressive form childhood while female is gentle. References Wikipedia, 22 May 2006, Gender Identity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity Family Planning Association, Gender Sensibility: http://www.jigyasa.org/jigyasa_young_sexual_health_gender_sensibility.html Sociology, GENDER AND SOCIETY: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/gender.html “Liberty (freedom)," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopaedia 2006 http://encarta.msn.com 1997-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Rasul Bakhsh Rais, July 27, 2002, Gender Discrimination: http://www.sachet.org.pk/home/resources/research_material/research_gender_01.asp Women in Ancient Egypt: http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptianwomen.html Wikipedia, 23 May 2006, History of women in the United States: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_women_in_the_United_States Huberlin, The Status of Women in the World: http://www2.huberlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/the_status_of_women_in_the_wor.html Word Count: 3,224 Read More