Womens Status over Three Generations free essay sample

When I ran for the Congress, when I ran for president, I met more discrimination as a woman than for being black. Men are men. Women have been one of the most disadvantaged groups; they are the only group in the world who have/has been idealized into powerlessness as Erica Jong puts it. This oppression might have found its roots in the physical vulnerability and inability to perform labor during pregnancy, lactation and menstruation. But, this inability restricted only to the period mentioned has been blown out of proportion. And the identity of women has been constructed around these physical aspects. Nursing, caring for children and management of the household became the role of women. We will write a custom essay sample on Womens Status over Three Generations or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The work, all by itself, is of great importance as what women do by assuming these roles is raise the future generation and care for humanity. But to women’s greatest dismay, men haven’t been able to recognize the importance of this role of women. Value was attached to income earning abilities of individuals and this meant women’s work is denied recognition and importance. Ever since birth, the girl child is molded to do household work, to do work of â€Å"secondary† nature, to do â€Å"non-remunerative† work. This idealization of household works in the minds of women, throughout history, lead to the acceptance of the oppression of women by men and women. It took many centuries, before this abusive societal order was questioned and consequently, changed, at least to a certain extent. The 18th century saw the base for the feminist movements take place in the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason, when intellectuals questioned the unequal distribution f power, in order to reform society and advance knowledge for the greater good. The theme was to propagate mankind equality, although women’s equality was not highlighted. The feminist movement, which arose later, is divided into three waves. The first wave, dealt with the fighting for suffrage of women (women’s voting rights). The second wave, involved campaigning for womenà ¢â‚¬â„¢s equality in politics, culture and society. And the third wave has been criticized for being a mere continuation of the 2nd wave. During the past three hundred years, the campaign for women’s equality in all aspects has brought about awareness and subsequently, changes in attitude towards women. Earlier, women were confined to household activities, banned from educational institutions in certain provinces, weren’t given suffrage, couldn’t initiate divorce, subject to foot binding (in China), subject to Hijab (in Muslim countries), subject to Sati (in India) and other gender stereotyping. But, now, women’s status has been elevated from class 2 citizen to that of class 1, they have been provided with suffrage, reservation of a certain number of seats has been made to ensure political participation, Sati and foot binding has been abolished, education for women is being promulgated, dowry has been abolished by law. The profile of an average woman has changed. Her rights have changed, her roles have changed, her position in the society has changed, and her aspirations for the future have changed. And these changes are only an overview. But, this doesn’t mean that the oppression of women is something part of history, there are still many women who suffer. Over the course of the project, I have interviewed eight families and 24 women belonging to different economic strata, castes, region and level of education to observe the change in the profile, attitudes, beliefs, status in society and roles of women over three generations and check for progress (or regress) made by women. Qualification Generation 1 Most of them had more than 4 siblings. Kamala had 9 siblings Mangala had 7, but 2 of them died before they even turned 4. The table below shows the ualification level of any one of the male siblings for the ease of comparision. Name | QualificationLevel| Name| QualificationLevel| Family Background| Durga Koneru-1| 9th pass, Vijaywada| Narasmiha Mudambi | B. Sc Mathematics, Banglore| Educated family| Mangala-1| 4rth pass| Pachiamuthu | 7th pass| Uneducated Family| Shashi Kala Doot-1| 5th pass| Jinesh Bhandhukwala | B. Com| North Indian Family| Prabhavathi Reddy-1| 10th pass| Subba Reddy| 11th pass| South Indian Family| Radha Wadwa-1| 3rd pass, Ajmer| Ashok Lal| B. Com from St Stephens, Delhi| Rich Family | Kamala-1| Nil| Deenabandhu| Nil| Poor Family| Ronda Sarita-1| 11th Std| Vaka Srinivas | 9th pass| Upper Caste| Dhanama-1| 4rth pass| Solomon| Nil | Lower Caste| When all the families answered these questions, one thing was common. Every single woman’s qualification was lower than her sibling’s of the opposite gender. Except the Lower Caste family’s case because Dhanama was born after 14 years and up until then they were struggling to make ends meet and Sarita, who was very proud about the fact that she was the only girl in her class. Prabhavathi Reddy had gotten married when she was in her 8th Std. After shifting to her in-laws house, her husband wanted her to get a degree. So, he tutored her through her 9th and 10th. But, when she failed her 11th Std, she refused to study anymore. She recalls him being angry with her for several weeks for giving up like that. When asked about why they had stopped their education, most of them put a stop to their education because they were asked to do so, with the exception of Ronda Sarita and Prabhavathi. When asked, if they wanted to pursue further education at that point of time. ALL of them said no, except, Ronda Sarita. She wanted to become a doctor, but her father said no and she didn’t put up a fight. So, generation-1 and heir parents lacked interest in pursuing education. Name | QualificationLevel| Sibling’s name| QualificationLevel| Family Background| Suguna Anumolu-11| B. Sc BotanyM. Sc in Applied Botany| Raghav Koneru| B. Tech BangloreM. Sc California| Educated Family| Suguna-11| 10th Std| Vignesh| 12th pass| Uneducated Family| Shalini Jhaver-11| B. Com| No Brothers| -| North Indian Family| Sar ada Reddy-11| B. A Literature| Hari Babu Reddy| B. E Civil Engineering MBA| South Indian Family| Sangeetha Harlalka-11| Left B. Com in1st year| Jagdish Wadwa| B. Com| Rich Family| Gowri-11| 2nd std| Gowtham| 5th Std| Poor Family| Rishita -11| B. Sc Botany| Ronda Ravi| B. Sc Mathematics| Upper Caste Family| Dheenama-11| 5th Std| Yobu| 2nd Std| Lower Caste Fmaily| Generation 2 As seen in the previous generation, the qualification levels of men were much higher than that of women, who were also their sibling. When the interviewees were asked why their education levels were lower than their male siblings and what in their opinion was the reason, most of them said that during the time of their schooling their parents sent them to college/school for basic education, but didn’t really see their daughters pursuing education further or working afterwards. According to Shalini-11, her parents were against her working immediately and told her she could pursue her career after marriage. But, once married she didn’t feel like working. So, in generation 2 although many carried a degree or a credible qualification, they didn’t join the workforce due to lack of interest or awareness. Rishitha-11 said she never even gave it a thought at that point. She new all the while when she was in college that she was not going to work, but get married after she finishes her degree.