Whether Women Are Equal or More Equal to Men - Research Paper Example

 Whether Women Are Equal or More Equal to Men? Outline: Some issues baffle solution. “Whether women are equal or more equal to men” is one such issue. Several factors react on this issue that makes the permanent solution a difficult task. Social, cultural, political, clubbed with the ego involved in the man-woman relationship! Women deserve reverence; but the modern woman also demands equality and freedom of choice to live life according to her inclinations. If her choice is to live without opting for the institution of marriage, none has the right to prevent it. In the article, the problem is examined from several angles. Especially, how the materialistic civilization, impacted by industrial and internet evolutions have added new dimensions. It is unreasonable to expect that debates on controversial topics need to be applied closures. The only hope of solving the controversies, and getting them diluted, is trough deliberations between the affected parties. Introduction You have, perhaps never come across a discussion or seminar on the topic, ‘Men-their role in the society.’ The discussion is always about women. Men have, perhaps, no role! This is not to say that men cannot do some of the jobs normally done by women! Even today, the best chefs are men! The never-ending talk of giving equal rights to women goes on unabated. The Acts of Parliaments in countries all over the world will not be able to bring equality for women. The change has to be achieved within-both men and women! How can one give equal rights to women? Women can never own equal rights as compared to men! Hasn’t God given her the status of more-equal! Nobody can take that right away. It is the mother, who gives protection for the initial nine months to the divine creative force of the future-male or female! What is prescribed in the sacred texts of religions and what is practiced in the society today are contradictory. A female child is victimized at every stage in life, from the moment of birth notwithstanding the fact that it is she who sacrifices in those situations. Women should be the social, legal and spiritual equals of men. Being a woman, Jean V. Matthews, is eminently suited to write on the subject Women’s Struggle for Equality. The other authors mentioned in this article also have contributed much to the total understanding of the subject. Incidentally, one adverse remark about men—the woman had to struggle to get her rights. Nothing was given to her with love by men- either by the administrators, religious leaders or the politicians! The struggle of women can be compared to the octopus- confrontation in all directions! That has been continuing since the known history of humankind. In this essay discussion is mostly centered round the struggles of women in US. “The first organized and self-proclaimed movement for women’s rights began with a convention of some hundred women and men at Seneca Falls, New York on July 19, 1948. The meeting was greeted with immediate consternation and ridicule in much of the press as an astounding attack on “the order of the things established at the creation of mankind.”(Matthews, 1997, p.3) Wise men, intellectuals both men and women, must have written many thousands of pages about the plight of women in the society and the reformation and rehabilitation procedures needed to improve their lot in life. This title discusses the feminist and political aspects of the women’s suffrage movement in USA. Women began to ask, not glorification of their status, but to consider their plight in relation to the ground realities they faced in the day to day life. Male and female are the alternative beats of the same heart!-yet the confrontation for equal rights has been going on since time-immemorial and it was always been a controversial movement. For her every forward move, men felt that their domain was being encroached systematically and they were on the losing side. Denial of formal school education to women was their undoing, it being the key to the door of progress. The traditional belief that women were mentally inferior to men was strongly challenged. The position began to change drastically in the 1830s and 1840s.Varied movement for the causes of women began to take shape. Moral reform was one of them and this was later used to give boost to campaigns for women’s rights. Another problem, more serious than the rights for women, engulfed the American society during that period—the sensitive issue of slavery! Woman and slave—it was double tragedy! Black women were legally defined as second-class people, so were the women at that time. Many of the male supporters for equality for women were from the ranks of the abolitionists. The French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, who toured the United States in the early 1830s, praised the new nation for having hit on such a felicitous solution to the problem of the relation of the sexes in a democracy. “In no country,” he remarked admiringly, “has such constant care been taken as in America, to trace two clearly distinct lines of action for the two sexes.”(p.7) The social complexity of the women’s movement began to change during the 1870s. The new force to swell the ranks of the feminists was from the upper middle class. The crux of the issue came to the fore. Women began to argue that they were not equal, but more equal! Women claimed moral superiority over men. The issues like “free love” and controlling childbearing were freely debated. The presentation of the Declaration of Rights for Woman at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia was a fitting finale as for the reaffirmation of the natural and equal rights of women. “Thus, in the first half of the century there were numerous instances of women expanding their options and activities in ways that fueled the debate on the women question and formed much of the ferment from which feminism arose?”(p.8) African American women had their special problems. The problems of the race were too acute as compared to the problems of gender. “African American women did not define an exclusively feminist agenda for advancing the race. The women’s groups had as a part of their overall mission a commitment to engage in activities for the advancement of the African people at the local, national, and even the international levels.”(Collier, et.el.2001, p 9-10) The women question: The original question related to women still remains the original question, though its punch has diluted much. “Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions. In the 20th century, however, women in most nations won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities. Perhaps most important, they fought for and to a large degree accomplished a re-evaluation of traditional views of their role in society.” (WIC…) The phenomenon of woman feeling degraded in the workplace is still common even in the so-called reputed organizations. The management looks the other way in cases of sexual harassments as well. According to Martha Burk, “It is extremely common. Sexual harassment is often written off as "just joking around," or the women are labeled "over sensitive." …. Sometimes these infractions result in lawsuits, which can take years to litigate. More often, the women just move on, because they cannot afford the financial and emotional strain of fighting with a large, well-funded company for years.”(Riccio….) As women wish to avail the employment opportunities more and more due to varied factors, a new dimension is added to the existing friction between h man-woman relationships. The view that that woman has the limitations and can not be the match for man in the employment market has strong supporters. “ Such perceptions arose out of commonly held stereotypes, including notions that women do not work; are less committed to their careers than men; are not tough enough to succeed in the business world…..are not sufficiently aggressive; rather they are too passive; are to emotional.”(Gregory, 2003, p.10-11) The early attitudes: That woman is the creative source of human life is unquestionable. That is ordained by Nature. Her historical credentials as conferred on by the society (men) do not speak well about her. She is dubbed as intellectually inferior to men and from the traditional point of view; she is the major source of temptation and evil. Greek mythology provides the example of Pandora, who opened the forbidden box and unleashed plagues and lots of miseries to mankind. The Roman Law compared women to children, and inferior to men on all counts. “Early Christian theology perpetuated these views. St. Jerome, a 4th-century Latin father of the Christian church, said: "Woman is the gate of the devil, the path of wickedness, the sting of the serpent, in a word a perilous object." Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century Christian theologian, said that woman was "created to be man's helpmeet, but her unique role is in conception . . . since for other purposes men would be better assisted by other men." (WIC…) If one makes brief comparison, women from the East enjoyed more freedom and rights. In India for example, marriage did not deprive women of their property rights or individual freedom. But society demanded implicit obedience from women towards men. Traditionally, they had to walk behind men. Widows could not remarry. One common point in West and East was, male children were preferred over girls. But history is the witness, whenever they were allowed freedom, be it personal or intellectual, they came out with sterling results. The role of Christian nuns in the religious life of Europe was outstanding. The examples of women-power are Queen Elizabeth of England in the 16th century, Katherine of Russia in the 18th century and Queen Victoria of England in the 19th century. From historical perspective, it is true that women were discriminated against, and that discrimination still continues in some religions, though on a diluted scale. But religion can play an important role for the advancement of women. “The power of religion, focused on the advancement of women, is capable of achieving a degree of success far beyond that accessible through social or political movements or trough appeal to economic or philosophic arguments.” (Khan, et.el, 2003, preface-p.x) The weaker sex—a misconception! This is more a literary platitude than the reality. Psychological tests have proved that women have more tolerance for pain and they are resistant to many diseases. But the technological advances have a telling effect on the life and attitudes of women. Facilities related to contraception and legalized abortions have made it possible for her to determine the size of the family. But the cultural pressure on women to stay as housewives, be mothers and look after the household is still strong. This is the intellectual blockade the brilliant women have to suffer. Gender justice is, was and will always remain a contentious issue. Mary Briody Mahowald writes, “The focus on gender justice calls for consideration of inequalities that arise from gender differences…because women are a non-dominant group feminist standpoint theory imputes that status to them.” (2000, p.6) “Women obtained 19 percent of all undergraduate college degrees around the beginning of the 20th century. By 1984 the figure had sharply increased to 49 percent. Women also increased their numbers in graduate study. By the mid-1980s women were earning 49 percent of all master's degrees and about 33 percent of all doctoral degrees. In 1985 about 53 percent of all college students were women, more than one quarter of who were above age 29.”(WIC….) The Legal Status of Women is comparable to a difficult hurdle race. During the early history of USA, wife and children were the material possession of men. “For most men, especially middle-class white men, the world was neatly dichotomized into private (women’s spheres) and public (men’s spheres). The personal (women’s domain) and the political (the public arena of power and action) were disconnected.”(Cole, et.el, 2003, p.5) Legal rights for women were gradually liberalized to women in USA. Mississippi (1839), New York (1848) and Massachusetts (1854), passed laws that permitted married women to own property separate from their husbands. But the legally divorced husband kept legal control of both children and property. In the 1960s, many federal laws for improvement in the economic status of women were passed. The Equal Pay Act of 1963, The Civil rights Act of 1964 and a Presidential Executive Order in 1967 brought women on par with men on many counts. But the battle against discrimination still rages. The world of commerce in USA is still biased against women on many counts. Married women will not get independent credit cards in many retail stores. Divorced single woman has problems in obtaining credit to purchase a house or a car. Sex discrimination in the definition of crimes persists in some States of USA. Women prostitutes are prosecuted although the male customers are allowed to go scot-free. Things have changed much for women. The presence of women is strong in every profession, like doctors, preachers, teaches, writers, singers, lawyers, engineers, etc. American women had the right to vote since 1920. Jeanette Rankin of Montana, elected in 1917, was the first woman member of the United States House of Representatives. Since then, women have reached great heights and have held major political positions in USA. Reagan set a precedent with his appointment in 1981 of Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman on the United States Supreme Court. Strategy for mediation: Jean V. Matthews has given a very interesting book, “Women’s struggle for equality.” The relationship between man and woman can be compared to the scale of justice. Both arms of the scale are equally important. A country can pass any number of laws. Laws can bring social equality but they can never bring social harmony. Happy homes can not be created by legislations and by constitutional guarantees. It is within the heart of the individual, man or woman. ‘Vivaha’ (marriage) is a Sanskrit word. ‘Vaha’ means ‘to flow’ ‘Vi’ means ‘harmoniously together. Therefore, the word ‘vivaha’ means to flow together harmoniously. Two distinct individuals, two separate personalities born, bred, and brought up in two different set of circumstances try to come together from the day of the marriage, to find a common identity, a common goal and to be precise, a common all! An individual, man or woman, is the unit of society. In a family each member is the best judge to decide what is good for the family. Nothing wrong in aspiring and achieving individual materialistic goals; but contributing to the happiness of the family, even if it means sacrificing some of the individual ambitions, is a greater virtue. Inner tensions and ‘wars’ can come to a end, when the thought process of an individual changes; when the thoughts are changed, the mind is changed; when the mind is changed, the man is changed; when the man is changed, the society is changed; when the society is changed, the nation is changed; such changed nations can make the concept of ‘world is one family’ an attainable reality! So, who is superior? Men or women? The understanding by women that they contain men, and the understanding of men that they are an integral part of women, is the guaranteed path to peace—WO MEN! ************** Works Cited: Cole, Johnnetta, B: Gender Talk: The Struggle For Women's Equality in African American Communities: One World/Ballantine (December 30, 2003) Collier-Thomas, Bettye, (Author) Franklin, Vincent P.(Author);Sisters in the Struggle: African American women in the civil rights-black. New York University Press, New York: 2001 Gregory, Raymond F; Women and workplace discrimination; overcoming barriers to gender equality; 2003, Rogers University Press, NJ, USA Khan, Janet A (Author), Khan, Peter, J (Author); Advancement of women; 2003; Bahai Publishing, Illinois Mahowald, Mary Briody; Genes, Women, Equality: Oxford University Press, New York; 2000 Matthews, Jean V: Women's Struggle for Equality: The First Phase, 1828-1876 (American Ways Series): Ivan R. Dee, Publisher (April 25, 1997) Ricco, Heather: HILARY Magazine; Article: Sex Discrimination in the Workplace Retrieved on October 29, 2009 WIC - Women's History in AmericaWOMEN'S RIGHTS. Retrieved on October 25, 2009 Read More