Most Outcry For Equality Of Women example essay topic

Liberation of Men's "Better Half" Throughout history, stereotypes of women- ideological, ethnic, and sexual- seem to exist in all societies. Today and throughout history, women have benn viewed on many, many different ways. Throughout most of history, and in most cultures and societies, women were viewed as "the weaker half" and their purpose was to run the house and take care of things such as cooking and the kids. Via much reform in the United States, American women today are for the most part, viewed as equals to men, and given an equal chance to succeed in life. Unfortunately, many countries and regions of the world, even today, treat women terribly and with no respect. The subject of women and their placement in Chinese society has been an ongoing topic for years, dating back to the beginning of China, as we know it.

In China it has taken an entire political movement to reveal the importance of one half of the human race. In many books such as William Hinton's Fan shen, Jack Belden's China Shakes the World, and Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China, the changing placement of Chinese women is a major part of the story. Women fought and started working, women spoke out and marched and they stood up for themselves. The idea of women's Liberation (women obtaining equal status with men) in China was a long and hard fought struggle that took much fighting and brave people. Women's Liberation in China began with the democratic revolution (attempt to overturn the feudal rule of a landlord class), and completed in the socialist revolution. With the increasing amount of bankruptcy in the rural economy over the past few years, men's domination over women has been weakened.

"The authority of the husband is getting shakier every day". (Ching-Ling, 202) The speed of the Women's Liberation movement closely resembled the advance of the democratic revolution. In 1930, women's status was apparently raised because of the eve of the war against Japanese aggression. At the time, there were already schools where co-education was established. Some, not just a few, were employed as doctors, teachers and hospital nurses. At this time, there were many women engaged in textile industries, but they were discriminated against because they received lower wages than their male counterparts.

At the end of the war against the Japanese, (around 1950) under the Communist government, the movement was accelerated. Women began to work in all different fields, even the military. Women gained economic independence. By completing their work successfully, women started to gain more and more respect for what they could do, not who they were. Women were devoted to their tasks; with much spirit to fulfill the needs of the Communist party. At this time the Minister of Justice and Public Health were both women.

Within the last 50 years or so, even more women enlisted themselves in the military, started work in many fields including the agricultural, transport, communication, mining and commerce fields. Whatever men can do in these fields, women proved that they can match their skills and sometimes better their counterparts. Today in China, by and large every woman who can work can take her place in society, under the idea of equal work for equal pay. As in most cultures throughout history, women in Ireland were not treated equally until much reform and effort. As the country of Ireland has industrialized and urbanized, traditional ways have been challenged and changed, and every part of women's lives has been subject to scrutiny and change. The past thirty-five years has been a period of rapid change for women in Ireland.

The 1970's was a decade of debate and controversy about women and women's role in society. Awareness of women's issues increased awareness which started the desire for change by many females, particularly younger women in urban areas. The idea's of women's liberation was very controversial because they were opposed to ideas of the family taught by the Catholic Church as well as the Constitution of the Republic. The 1970's were a witness to the pursuit of many goals by women, such as equal pay and birthrights. The Commission of the Status of Women was founded to help out in the struggle for equality.

The Commission felt that to achieve equality, discrimination against women, especially in areas such as employment legislation and social welfare. The Commission focused on equality in employment and implementing the recommendations to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Federated Union of employers. The 70's no doubt saw some change but there were several key areas that made little progress. In the eyes on many Irishwomen, equality is not just having the same education and same wages as men.

"A deeper understanding of equality is not based on copying male norms, but on ending the oppression of women: that is, a situation in which every woman can develop freely and confidently and make genuine choices about her life as a woman". (Beale, 187) The 1970's was the decade in which Ireland saw the most outcry for equality of women. Due to the economic recession of the early 1980's the idea of equality became more and more of a reality. Employment was the center of a "backlash" of equality.

Employers were now more prone to hiring women for work, as their industries were expanding. Women still felt at a disadvantage when competing for jobs with men. Over the last ten years, more and more progress has been made. Today, in Ireland, women are treated with respect and by law are suppose to have equal rights. The only thing really blocking Irishwomen from complete equality is the power of male-dominated structures such as the Church and Congress.

The Igbo Tribe is a culture that in Central Africa is a culture that treats women a lot differently than the United States. The Igbo Tribe, along with most tribes in Africa, treats women as inferiors to men. Polygamy, or the condition of having more than one wife is practiced in the Igbo Tribe. Men often marry as many as five women whom he most likely will impregnate several times each. Almost no kind of political life existed for women before the 1950's.

Still, women were considered inferior and most had little or no power in the running of the tribe. Strong ties to traditional ways was the main reason why women never really gained any rights. Peasant women always hard a hard time escaping subjugation. Igbo market women were the first to organize a group claiming their rights, and they were the first women to have the right to accumulate money. Many of the first women's demonstrations occurred in Igbo areas. These congregations were centered on protection of survival strategies.

In the Igbo family, women were very often disciplined in harsh ways. If a woman even forgot to cook a meal for her husband, she could have been beaten. A woman's job was to do household work. She was expected to cook, take care of the children and often to work on the fields. Women were not always timid and quiet. They often spoke out, blocked roads, set fire to markets, took their children to school and assailed the local courts with complaints.

Little progress has been made in the liberation of women in the Igbo Tribe, as well as the rest of Africa. Much work remains to be done, and schools, where attendance today has begun to even out amongst boys and girls, are starting to change for future generations, which hopefully will eventually lead to the equality of men and women. Throughout the history of mankind, women have been treated very differently in different parts and times of the world. Some cultures have viewed woman as superiors to men while others beat them for minor negligence. Liberation for women, in all different types of places, has always been a struggle. Despite small odds, woman have kicked and clawed, and in many places succeeded in the fight for equality.

In the United States almost all believe women are equals to men. Hopefully, all countries will think the same way very soon. "Behind every successful man there is a good woman" and behind man, all of mankind, there is a woman.

Bibliography

Catherine Co query-Vidrovitch. African Women. Boulder: Westview Press, 1997- Young, Marilyn B.
ed Women In China. Michigan: Center for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan, 1993- Beale, Jenny.
Women In Ireland. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1998.