Womens Roles Then and Now - Essay Example

? Women’s Roles Then & Now Lecturer Women have always been secondary to men. This is contrary to historical evidence which show that women were the leaders in the house during the prehistoric times. This situation however changed with the concept of settled living, civilization, which demanded various tasks that needed strength, which women had much less than men. Physical labor was demanded, women now began to look after the home as men perform more physical duties, and the pattern was set. The role of women was to be a significant part of the entire society. Many historical feminists such as Alice Walker and Isabel Allende believed that women were necessary in order for the society to run smoothly. Women have been treated as unequal and far different from men (Majupuria, 1990). These feminists believed that although men were stronger physically than women, women had strengths far much superior in most areas. This made women more suited in life for certain responsibilities. This paper therefore seeks to address women’s role then and now. In so doing, the paper will script a conversation between two notable women from 18th and 19th century (Alice Walker and Isabel Allende) on the roles women should play in the society. In this conversation, the paper will include biographic details of the women, their historical status in the period they lived, the opinion the held during the time they lived on the role women should play in the society, and what they might think about the current roles of women. Alice Walker, best referred to as the author of The Color Purple, was Georgia sharecropper’s eighth child. After being blinded in one eye in a childhood accident, she became a valedictorian in her local school. She attended Sarah Lawrence College and Spellman College on scholarships and graduated in 1965. Alice Walker was a volunteer in the 1960 voter registration drive in Georgia, and later worked in Welfare Department in New York City after college. Alice Walker divorced in 1976 from her 1967 marriage. Her first poetic book was released in 1968 and her very first novel just after giving birth to her daughter in 1970. The early novels, poems and short stories of Alice Walker dealt with themes such as violence, rape, racism, women discrimination, sexism, multi generational perspectives, and troubled relationships. Alice Walker became known to a much wider audience in 1982 when The Color Purple came out. This brought both controversy and fame. She was criticized widely for portraying men negatively in The Color Purple. Alice Walker was credited with introducing for African American feminism the word “womanist”. Alice Walker took on the female circumcision in Africa in 1989 and 1992 in Possessing the Secret of Joy and The Temple of My Familiar. This brought further controversy on the role of women in the society and attracted questions whether Alice Walker was a cultural imperialist so as she could criticize other cultures. The works of Alice Walker are known for emphasis on women roles and portrayal of the life of African American life. She illustrates vividly the racism, poverty, and sexism that make a woman life a struggle. She also portrayed women as the strengths of the community and family, and as a person of self worth and spirituality. Most of Alice Walker’s novels show women in other history periods than our own. For example, she gives a sense of similarities and differences of the condition of women today and in the past. Alice Walker has continued to be active in feminist causes and matters of economic justice focusing on the role of women (Walker, 1998). Isabel Allende was born in Peru, Lima to a Chilean diplomat father. She lived with her divorced mother. Isabel Allende worked as a secretary and then journalist on television, print and in documentary movies. After the assassination and overthrow of Salvador Allende, her uncle, president of Chile in 1973, Isabel, her husband and children left for Venezuela for safety. It was during exile that Isabel begun to write her first novel, The House of the Spirits, which was particularly based on her own family and Chilean Politics. Isabel Allende continued to publish novels based on the role of women and on her experience as a woman. She addressed both the traditional and modern roles of a woman in the society, and empowered women on their roles in the economy (Allende, 1986). Both Isabel Allende and Alice Walker have concurrent opinions on the role the women should play in society during their lifetimes. Both documented in their works that women were traditionally entrusted with land cultivation and staple food production. Isabel was of the opinion that women traditionally gathered sea food and did inshore fishing. Women were also in the manufacturing of traditionally valuable items such as ornaments and loom woven lavalavas, which were used in purchasing canoes and gifts in significant events in the community such as funerals or wedding. Alice Walker on the other hand saw the traditional roles of a woman as bearing children and taking care of the family in early years of their life. She thinks of women as the primary teachers of children. Women also initiated community planning and men would announce them publicly. Women were land protectors and had a say in who gets land in the kin group (Barbara, 2012). According to Alice Walker, the women’s role were defined clearly and permitted them to contribute to the community and family. According to the works of these women, Alice Walker and Isabel Allende, they might see women as equal to men. They define the current and modern roles of women as similar to the role of men. According to these two women, the roles of women have changed. Control of children is now left for school teachers and women are competing men in the economic market. Women have become marginalized economically, and seen as housewives primarily. Women are today in the job market and leaving family care to care institutions. For example, there is a huge growth of female doctors and in other professions. Women are today visible in government positions, and the private sector too provides many opportunities for women advancement (Barbara, 2012). References Allende, I. (1986). The House of the Spirits, London: Hardcover. Barbara, A. (2012). Grace Under Pressure: The Roles of Women-Then and Now-In the Catholic Church, London: WestBow Press Majupuria, I. (1990). Tibetan Women, Then & Now: A Faithful and Vivid Account of the Status and Role of Tibetan Women who Lived in Ancient Tibet as Well as Those who are Living Today in and Outside Tibet, New York: M. Devi Publishers Walker, A. (1998). The Color Purple, London: Trade Paperback Read More