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Social theoretical perspective on masculinity
Social theoretical perspective on masculinity
Social theoretical perspective on masculinity
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Madison Miles
World History II Honors
April 17, 2014
Traditional Roles of Indian Women (before and after Leela’s time)
Beginning in the Vedic period around 1700 BCE, women living in Indian society have been documented as subordinate to men in all aspects of life. Throughout Medieval India and up until 19th century women endured a lifestyle of limited freedom. This lack of freedom stemmed from the strict caste system rules about women and the overall male-dominated world India accepted for so long. Traditional society was not a welcoming place for girls, as they endured a confined lifestyle as homemakers. Women were not permitted to have an education, work, choose their own marriages or plan out their own life. However, at the turn of the 19th century the rising concept of nationalism brought social reformers such as Roy Mohan Roy and Behramji Malabari to speak out against unfairness of women. During this period, Indian women began to form their own organizations regarding inequality and became an active participant in the women’s movement. Although women endured hardship and inequality throughout India’s early years, in fact, nationalism gave leeway for male political reformers to speak out against this patriarchal society. As a result, women became a force in the freedom struggle and widened the base for the women’s movement.
The caste system was divided into four Varnas or the literal term of “color”. It began at the top with the Brahmans and worked its way down to the Sudras. The principle of caste is that no one may marry or can “entertain in his or her home a person of another caste” (Caste System, Indian). Furthermore, the caste controlled what one ate. Leela was part of the Brahman caste, which is the wealthiest and mo...
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...viben. She learns that she can “use an education” because the times are changing. Leela is part of the reform movement in her own right, as she realizes wants to become a teacher and break the traditional roles society has set for her. She leaves her small town for boarding school with the desire to break tradition and “accomplish so much” (272). In post independence India, a large number of women’s groups sprang up. These groups challenged patriarchy took up a variety of issues such as violence and a “greater share for women in political decision making”. The nationalism movement in 19th century lead men such as Roy Mohan Roy and B.M Malabari to speak out against female injustice. Their courage and longing to break free from traditional values gave way for women to develop their own groups to touch upon the issues they have to deal with on a daily basis.
The 19th Century is an age that is known for the Industrial Revolution. What some people don’t realize is the effect that this revolution had on gender roles in not only the middle and upper classes (Radek.) It started off at its worst, men were considered powerful, active, and brave; where as women were in no comparison said to be weak, passive, and timid (Radek.) Now we know this not to be true, however, back in the day people only went by what would allow ...
During the long nineteenth century, political revolutions, industrialization, and European imperialism resulted in dramatic changes in the role of women in Western Europe and Eastern Asia. As industrialization spread in Western Europe, women were no longer able to fulfill their dual role as a mother and a worker. After the introduction of industrialization, laborious tasks were moved from the household to factories and women were forced to choose either the life of a mother or the life of a worker. Women who chose to leave their households were subjected to harsh conditions, low wages, and long hours. The majority of married and middle-class women were confined to the home, and deprived of an education and civil rights. Unlike the women of Western Europe, the women of Eastern Asia rapidly constituted a major portion of the work force, but they also faced poor conditions and unfair wages. Similarly to Western Europe, the women of Eastern Asia were of a meaningless status and were expected to remain confined to the home. However, during the nineteenth century, the women of Eastern Asia gained greater educational opportunities. Additionally, the change in the role of women in Western Europe and Eastern Asia resulted in countless suffrage movements for civil rights. Therefore, the role of women in Western Europe and Eastern Asia was significantly similar in terms of the participation in the labor force and their attempts at gaining equal civil rights. However, the women of Eastern Asia had greater opportunities for education.
The rise of nationalist movements and the modern nation-state has affected women’s political and economic participation and social freedoms. Based on the following documents, there were many opportunities and barriers that nationalist movements posed concerning women's rights in the twentieth century. Many women saw the opportunities of the movements accessible to women, but other women focused on the barriers and didn’t feel that the opportunities were accessible.
Women, like black slaves, were treated unequally from the male before the nineteenth century. The role of the women played the part of their description, physically and emotionally weak, which during this time period all women did was took care of their household and husband, and followed their orders. Women were classified as the “weaker sex” or below the standards of men in the early part of the century. Soon after the decades unfolded, women gradually surfaced to breathe the air of freedom and self determination, when they were given specific freedoms such as the opportunity for an education, their voting rights, ownership of property, and being employed.
Women have had it rough throughout history. Their declining position in the world started during the Neolithic revolution, into Rome, and past the Renaissance. However, at the turn of the twentieth century, women began advocating for equality no matter their governmental situation. This promotion of women's rights is evident in communist nations during the twentieth century and their fight against hundreds of years of discrimination. It can be seen that women were brainwashed into believing that their rights were equal with the male population through the use of propaganda, yet this need for liberation continued despite government inadequacy at providing these simple rights. Women in communist countries struggled for rights in the twentieth
together for the better of the shared children. The women had a say in how they would help
“Compare and contrast women’s suffrage movements of the late nineteenth and early centuries with the European feminist movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s.” Whereas the women’s suffrage movements focused mainly on overturning legal obstacles to equality, the feminist movements successfully addressed a broad range of other feminist issues. The first dealt primarily with voting rights and the latter dealt with inequalities such as equal pay and reproductive rights. Both movements made vast gains to the social and legal status of women.
In Nehru’s India, women were victims of a “passive revolution” that subtly advanced bourgeoisie men of higher castes under a guise of parliamentary democracy. Though women have presided over the Indian National Congress, served as a prime minister, and represent a large part of India’s la...
Within the earliest of civilizations of India, pre-pubescent girls were offered to men as wives, which ultimately lead to the destruction of women’s domestic independence. As said in Document 1, “because girls married before they could finish their education, they were not qualified to perform ritual sacrifices. Furthermore, wives’ legal rights eroded.” Likewise, Indian women became politically subordinate to men. However, by modern standards, women’s social
Tales from the beyond, story one: a parent binds his baby girl's feet in China, so it will not grow more than five to six inches because small feet in women are a sign of elegance; story two: a wife is burned alive in India, so she can accompany her husband in death. Are these stories? No, things like this really happened in the past. They are part of the reason that contributed to the birth of the Women's Movement in the 19th century. This movement was also known as the Feminist movement because its foundation came from feminism, an ideology that developed in the 19th century, and whose main goal was to gain equality for women. The goals of the Women's Movement in the 19th century where: to get the vote, to archive equality in property rights, access to education, access to jobs and fair pay, divorce, and children's custody. These ideals had been around for a while, but the 19th century was the perfect time for them to develop. During the 19th century, nations were going through radical changes; countries were adopting new ways of life based mainly of one of three ideologies: liberalism, conservatism, and socialism. The development of one of these ideologies, and the success of feminism in a country went hand in hand, and it is by analyzing the similarities, and differences between feminism, and each of these ideologies that we can see why feminism was most successful in liberal countries.
The starting of the 19th Century was not kind to women, being seen as less then equal to their male counterparts. Women were not allowed to vote, own land, all their possession belonged to their
Since the beginning of civilization, the role of men and women have been portrayed by their capabilities. During wars, men were asked to fight against enemies because they had the necessary strength to combat. On the other hand, women were asked to take care of the household chores and to give birth to increase the overall population of the country. This concept of roles has been highly present in our societies. Women fighting against the gender inequality have created a stir among the dominant group which are men. Since men are still more dominant and keep reigning in this world, often women are restricted from getting fair opportunities to achieve in their goals. Till now, women are forced to be obedient to men in certain societies. From past few decades, this perspective is slowly coming to an end in most of the society. Women are now being empowered by ideologies which is reshaping their identity in many societies.
In the mid nineteenth century America was going through an age of reform. The person who would be the center of these reforms would be the women in society. Women soon realized that in order to make sure that all the reforms went through they would need more power and influence in society. The oppression and discrimination the women felt in this era launched the women into create the women’s right movement. The women fought so zealously for their rights it would be impossible for them not to achieve their goals. The sacrifices, suffering, and criticism that the women activist made would be so that the future generations would benefit the future generations.
In order to achieve these goals, Indian feminist writers have exerted their energies to deconstruct the past, reconstruct a more meaningful present. They have unravelled the thick tapestries of male hegemony and analysed the reasons for the persistent reproduction of conscious and unconscious presumptions about women and they have knitted up a woman’s tradition.
Today, for the most part, women are seen as equal to men. Women are given the same opportunities as men and an equal chance at getting a job as men. In today’s society, women do not just have one role and that role and that being to have kids, but they can pursue any career they wish. However, it was not always this way. According to feminist theorists, western civilizations were patriarchal which means that the society is dominated by males. The society is set up so that the male is above the female in all cultural aspects including family, religion, politics, economics, art, and the social and legal realms. The patriarchal biases of gender between male and female say that a male must be active, dominating, adventurous, rational, and creative. In the novel, A Passage to India, Forster expresses this male dominance by writing, “He took no notice of them, and with this, which would have passed without comment in feminist England, did harm in a community where the male is expected to be lively and helpful” (Forster 52). They say that to be female is to be passive, agreeable, timid, emotional, and conventional. The feminist theorists’ argument of a male centered society is definitely present in the novel A Passage to India. E.M. Forster reveals cultural, economic, and educational factors within the patriarchal society of India that limit women. In E.M. Forster’s novel A Passage to India, Forster exposes derogatory stereotypes of women and portrays women as inferior to men to uphold the view of women during the time period.