Not Just Housewives Anymore Sociology Essay
Women in the past were of fewer rights than these days. Women were treated inferior to men in the workplace, and no one tried to seek change. Nowadays, women are represented by organizations and they have shown great roles in coordination with male roles. Women are not only workers that ignore their household roles but also great caregivers. Women can balance and manage to deserve what they get now.
Not Just Housewives
Women are basically the primary caregivers. They are beings that are made not only to spread love and care; they also have major characteristics that make them great mothers and wives. That’s mainly the only role women had decades ago where women were not allowed to go to schools, to work, and sometimes obliged to stay home. A lot has changed ever since women recognized that a world with working women is possible. Nowadays, women are incorporated heavily in funded work fields. Women are progressively colonizing the entire working power fifty years ago and almost around 60% of women aged of 16 and above work, not to mention that the number of working wives whether they have kids or not, has tripled since 1960 (Ogunrin, 2003 in Ogunrin et.al. 2008). There is a question worth being asked if it is answered, no room for mystery will be allowed and the question is: Are women truly worthy of being equal to men? And can women manage between taking care and sharing love with families and being successful and brilliant at workplaces?
An important yet not enough credited fact is that a major change has been noticed where women now are able to enter the workplace that was owned by men and attain greater ranks (Black et.al., 1998). After being incorporated to the workplace women have come to an understanding that their rights should no longer be oppressed, due to such fact, women have come to find ways to defend their rights and seek change. Organizations developed by women have come into existence to help and guide women to the right path and to keep them involved in the society in several ways, ways they have been banned from being part of. For instance, women founded health organizations like the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) which was founded to help women adapt easily to the new social norms and enhance gender equality worldwide. Other organizations founded by women seek not only gender equality but also help women know their rights and push them toward their goals.
Since the worldwide organizations stood for women’s rights, and after that women made massive treads toward receiving equal educations, they succeeded to tear out this right which was totally forbidden for women. Education contributed in the movement of the revolution that women had. It was considered a pathway to women’s equality with men. Not only that, it also ameliorated the role of women in every society by refuting the fact that says that men are smarter than women by having university degrees. Given that the higher the education the more the empowerment of women nowadays, women decided to attend universities in order to have authorities, high work positions, and high ranks in the society. In addition to that, education has entered the radical countries and raised awareness among the people, especially men, in order to give women the priority to choose, to improve, and to get accepted in the society. It worked in some countries and failed in some. To illustrate, in Saudi Arabia, women are determined and when they are, they always find a way to become better and advanced (you can have it all, 2008). Education played a major part in diminishing the gap among genders. In 1995, the Unicef states that challenging the sex differentiation, universities succeed to ameliorate many women. These differences are noticed in 20 to 30 women for every 100 men who take part in 3rd rand education (Unicef, 1995, in Orgunin et.al. 2008).
But no wonder some women still suffer from gender discrimination. This fact is proved in the workplace. Women were never treated fairly when it comes to having good jobs. Sung (2007) mentioned in his article that women in Asia who have graduated from college are finding it difficult to get jobs than man do. And it’s no lie that in countries where men and women have equal access to education, women remain jobless while men always find jobs. We now notice that women, almost all over the world, are everywhere in any work field. Business majors, engineering, and journalism are not only restricted to men, they also include women. Even when it comes to being paid, women and men earn equally and get raises based on their work, achievement and skills and not on their gender. As UN declares in the year 2005, almost equal numbers of men and women seek university studies, and another point worth mentioning is that since 1990, women have held employments that are not in the agricultural field (sung, 2007). But when statistics are gathered and facts are investigated, women do not step into all types of jobs out there. A study done by American Elites proves that even though women share positions in the workplace with men, there is no doubt that men dominated women in religious and business field ( Black et.al, 1998).
Another point worth mentioning is that women have problems with being paid. They not only are paid little money for their hard work in some countries, they are paid lesser than men. In Nigeria for instance, for two decades, women’s salaries have been augmented but still to a lesser wage than men earn. That is why, women, especially Nigerian women, feel undertreated and ignored. For several years, women have suffered from gender discrimination. While women worked hard to earn a living, they never were capable of getting exactly what they deserve. Nowadays, thanks to women’s determination and will to be treated equally, they earn exactly the same as men do regardless of their gender.
What prevented women of reaching high working posts or even to enter the world of politics is the lack of education and the belief that says women are governed by their hearts and cannot make good judgments based on intellect. From the time when women took the right of education and had organizations to defend their needs, conquering the political fields became possible. In Monrovia, Liberia for instance, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the first African and Liberian woman elected to be president. She’s an example of a successful 21st century woman. She earned a masters in Harvard and is know as the iron-woman for her mental and intellectual strength and power. Nowadays we have ladies who are vice presidents, leaders and also queens. For centuries, a queen and princesses are not just a symbol of feminism, they also symbolize power and determination. Queen Elisabeth, Princess Diana and Queen Rania are just examples of faces known by everyone and acknowledged by all except no one. Ever since women have earned the right to learn, to earn a college degree, to work and to live freely, women had all the rights to become active in their society and not just bystanders. An article entitled “You Can Have it All” (2008) introduced a very important yet right idea which indicated that those who believe that women cannot have everything, should get acquainted with Middle eastern women of the 21st century who are strong willed and eager to work , achieve and excel.
Another issue worth discussing is that women have not only struggled to have every right to share men’s rights to work, rise, and be politically involved, they have also been facing impediments and judgments that state that women, the natural caregivers, cannot enter work place, since they cannot in any way balance their lives. How can a working woman be able to juggle two jobs a day? Can a modern working woman find time to take care of her house, children and husband and still manage to have an exterior job? The answer is yes, why will it be any different? If women can manage their time and energy and direct their efforts to making it possible, then there’s nothing to keep them from being successful at home and at work. As Tilly and Scott’s study mentioned by Forrest(1988), the results show that women who take part in the workplace do not lose or ignore their primary and leading role at home with the family. When it comes to women in this century, the 21st century, working wives or mothers is not something weird, unusual or unacceptable, it’s every woman’s right to have a life of her own outside the perimeter of the home. There’s a very big misunderstanding Forrest(1988) suggests. He says that work and family are believed to be two separate things, whereas in reality, the limits between the two are not that solid, mostly when it comes to women. An important point comes to mind which is that women who work not only seek self-satisfaction or freedom, they do work to have a better chance in being successful and in helping out the husband or partner in economical needs and in fulfilling and satisfying the family and personal needs such as food, clothing and daily activities.
This life is not a mere path we have to follow. Every single person has a role in this life. Nothing comes into being without an aim. When the word woman is said, the first thing that comes to mind is a wife, a mother and a caregiver. This is not but entirely true. Women are emotional, caring and have instincts that make them such great beings, but this doesn’t mean that the only thing they know how to do is care and love. Women have been the proof that everything is possible and that when there’s a will there’s a way. They have been struggling to prove to others that they exist and do belong in every aspect of life. They can be doctors just as good and even in times better than men. Don’t forget that a doctor has to be not only smart and witty but also affectionate, what better doctor would patients have than caring ones? A woman’s fights for freedom, rights and needs in my opinion have ended in their benefit. Yes women not only deserve but must be treated equally to men if not in every aspect at least in the ones they have a say in, since women can be good at what they do. And as long as women can find a way to be great workers and ideal mothers and wives, why not give them the credit when they do make it work?
