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In March 2011, Obama’s administration released a report concerning the present women’s condition in U.S.A.: it was really different from the one released 50 years ago, that represented the first report about the women’s status requested by the president J.F. Kennedy. From the previous definition of “perfect housewife” in Kennedy’s administration report in 50’s, nowadays women are described as a “key feature of economy”. Actually, women are in a difficult and controversial position: their condition is unstable, according to the deep contradictions between social roles and individual ambitions. In “Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economical Well-Being”, Valerie Jarret, Obama’s counsellor, states that:

As the report shows, women have made enormous progress on some fronts. Women have not only caught up with men in college attendance but younger women are now more likely than younger men to have a college or a master’s degree. Women are also working more and the number of women and men in the labor force has nearly equalized in recent years. As women’s work has increased, their earnings constitute a growing share of family income. (Jarrett, Tchen, iii)

Unfortunately, it does not mean that gender equality has been reached. Indeed, the report stresses how all these achievements didn’t bring to “earning equality”: American women have an income which is 75% less than men’s one, according to the same level of education and job profile, in spite of the Equal Pay Act, which was passed in 1963 in order to overcome the gender pay gap. Moreover, women are also alone in their unequal condition: the married ones passed from 72% in 1970 to 62% in 2011; the single-parent family is mostly made by women, single or divorced, which brings them to an inferior social condition.

This recent report doesn’t portray, of course, a condition of “gender equality”. The long women path, made by great protests and important social and political achievements, reached a situation which is difficult to define and to change. Since 1950’s women are fighting for their rights, and a lot of important historical changes were traced on the common people way of thinking. It does not regard only political and social stances, but also the way in which women were perceived and symbolized by traditional culture and media. The only way to understand how to give a change to the social role of the women in the contemporary society consists in tracing a trajectory that starts from the beginning of their fight and comes to our period. Just in this way it is possible to get the awareness of what can be improved and what deserves to be saved.

Family, motherhood, domestic life: after the second war world, these were the most important concepts which leaded the American women condition. In 50’s, home was the symbol of the family life, after the wealthy period brought by the economic growth, and every single family had its own house and was able to spend their incomes in consumer goods. According to that, the freedom of the American women could have its own expression in the house-life. The reaffirmation of the women as tutelary god of the domestic life became a symbol of stability in the post-war society. The post-war woman had to be the emblem of a calm and sexually reassuring femininity: maternity was the key-concept of the new femininity, which was meant as a symbol of the new successful American society. So, a political and social discourse leaded by the official history put women in an inferior position than men’s one in the social scale.

A turning point in the American women situation was brought by the publication of Friedan’s book “The Feminine Mystique”. “The problem that has no name – which is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities – is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease (Friedan, 433).” In the same year, the federal report of the Commission on Status of women denounced their discrimination in the working, political and juridical spheres, claiming for fair salaries and maternity leave. Friedan’s voice reawakened women awareness of their condition: she talked about the feeling of frustration and social distress of the American women, who apparently lived in a comfortable and easy condition. It traced the beginning of the women’s fight for their rights and for a new role in the society. It was characterized by an ideological feminist approach, which furthermore brought to the creation of associations for the defense of women rights. A real revolution against the common way of thinking gender discrimination took place in politics, society and media: in the 70’s, the movement gained a series of political successes, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (1972), Women’s Educational Equity Act (1974) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978). Otherwise, the two historical achievements of the movement were about abortion and divorce: in 1973, abortion became legal in U.S.A. after a long case, “Roe vs. Wade”, which was discussed by the United States Supreme Court; in 1969, the governor of California, Ronald Reagan, signed the Family Law Act, in which it was considered legal the No-Fault Divorce, which was accepted by the other states by 1985.

Afterward, in the XXI century, Friedan looked back to the women movement, stressing the important changes brought by its achievements: “There is no doubt that the women’s movement has transformed American society, opening life in many ways for women and men alike. There may be nostalgic yearnings for the feminine mystique, but women are no longer defined solely in terms of their relation – sexual, maternal, or domestic – to men. They are defining their lives themselves by their actions in society (Friedan 2002, 14)”. Her statement is important because it stresses the difference between the position of women in the past century and the present one. The fight for the rights brought to a great success for the women, and their role is, of course changed since the 50’s. Otherwise, the contemporary society is characterized by a peaceful uncritical acceptance of the world as it is: people hear about political disparity, unjustified wars and social problems, without any deep will to change the situation. The affluent society brought a lot of life spheres to a paralysis, which symbolizes the pacific acceptance of the world as it is, with its precarious balances. It seems to be the repetition of that condition of «mystique» defined by Friedman, but in this case applicable to the whole society. So, women also enjoyed the wellness effects on their position: after the great fight for rights, they reach a hypocritical equal role in the society as men’s one. The path to the “gender equality” passed to a more intellectual stage: feminism became feminisms, that means a great division between all the women rights movements, according to their gender, racial, or religious approaches; in the universities an important field of studies, such as Women Studies, carried on important researches about women’s culture and tradition.

What appears as a present achieved condition of gender equality is, abruptly, contradicted by the above-mentioned 2011 federal report “In “Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economical Well-Being”. The success in educational and political spheres does not correspond to an equal salary condition. Most of the women are also ostracized by important roles in the great companies, as well as in politics. Mass-media broadcast a feminine image based on the enhancement of the body, and the cultural icon of women’s inferiority has not been deleted yet. Nowadays, the challenge is no more between men’s and women’s roles: it is evident that the matter is about a more wide range of social problems and inequalities which involve both men and women, and it results as a difficult stand-point to overcome.

Indeed, a lot of recent studies shows as women discrimination is a matter of fact. As Julie Goldscheid stresses: “Workplace inequality based on sex, as well as discrimination based on other protected characteristics, persist notwithstanding several decades of antidiscrimination laws (Goldscheid, 61)”. Otherwise, the 2011 federal report states that women are a key feature of the modern economy: in spite of it their role is corrupted and women have to face a constant discriminatory approach in their workplace. It does not depend any more from a social and political fight with men’s power. It deals with the actual features of our contemporary society, which is not characterized by a shared solidarity in front of all the disparities. Most of the fights which had to be brought are left to the social minorities, which can just try to manage the problems, but they can’t really face alone the spoiled facets of our community. For example, it is the case of the Chicano women movement: it was born in consequence of the success of the Chicano community in their fight for their minority rights in 60’s, but the feminist association “Comision Feminile Mexicana Nacional” had to be created to fight for the adoption of bilingual consent form on the compulsory sterilization of women in U.S.A., in 1975. It shows how it does not exist a real solidarity between the different social members: even in the same community, it is difficult to fight for a common reason, and so everyone is facing the social unease on his own.

Finally, another aspect of the matter to be faced is, of course, the strong influence that the society gender perspective plays in the process of women’s identity self-determination. The tradition of women as a second sex, the “other”, the deviation from the norm which is male, seems to have been overcome by all the achievements in the past century: but the problem is still persisting, since nowadays the sociological researches emphasize the presence in the contemporary society of stereotypical standards of what a woman should be. As Izzard and Barden question: “We also wished to think about what happens to a woman’s identity when she feels out of that ‘fit’ – when she cannot feel herself mirrored in the images that society presents to her of ‘Woman’. How does our society constrain women into or release them from narrow definitions? (Izzard and Barden, 2)”. It is a subtle discrimination, which represents the most difficult challenge of the matter, because it is the effect of the identity-making leaded by mass-media.

Taking these points into consideration, I would say that a further step has to be made. It should represent a deep change in the approach to the matter. When I read “The Future of Feminism”, I completely agreed with Betty Friedan when she states that “More than ever, we now have to think about moving to the second stage: the way to live the equality that we fought for in a world of diverse new family combinations of women, men, and children. The second stage is where we must move, women and men together. We need a new and politically active consciousness-raising to get us beyond the polarized and destructive male model of work and decision making and the undervalued women’s model of life – the model that takes it as inevitable that having children is a woman’s free individual choice to short-circuit permanently her earning power and her professional future (Friedan 2002, 15)”. Her opinion is important to understand the point in which we are stuck now: if one of the greatest leaders of the women’s right movement is ready to say that it is the moment to leave the fight against men, and work together in order to get new important achievements, it means that the times are changing. We cannot talk anymore about a fight for the main political rights, which were gained during the past 50 years, but the so-called «second stage» should be a more conscious and shared struggle for real changes in our paralyzed wellness society.

Nowadays, the everyday social problems are shared by both men and women: we are talking about temporary employment, child-care especially for individual families and mobbing in the workplace. It is a matter of fact that these social features are strongly linked with our lives, but as well the common tendency is to feel them as irrelevant to our existence. It results that it is the effect of media and socio-political discourse to lead us to the indifference and the uncritical acceptance of this reality. So, rethinking about the women movement fight as an important historical moment for the social achievements in order to reach gender equality is the key to start the «second stage» of the struggle.

Actually, the main step to be made in this second phase is, of course, a restructuring program of the work system, especially about its conditions. It is the first influence that society got in the everyday women, and as well men, lives: for example, thinking about individual families, managed by woman with a temporary job, it is evident that no help is given by governments to maintain her son. It is obvious that the first consequence is the dismissal of all those expectations about career, in favor of a low-profile job which let woman grows up her son. Furthermore, in the contemporary society the young generation is having great problems to face its career perspectives, because of the difficulties to find an employment. It involves especially women, who suffer more this social unease. As the 2011 federal report shows, their education level highly increased, but their salaries are still low because of the effects of the impasse which occurred in the job market.

In conclusion, it is clear that great achievements were brought in gender equality process during the last fifty years. Women are considered a main feature of the economic system, and they are no more obliged to follow their so called “housewife destiny”. Otherwise, it is important to stress the need of new fights in order to contrast those sexual discriminating tendencies, which still exist in our society. The matter has to be meant as a global problem, and for this reason it should be shared by the different members of the community without any differences of gender and race. Media shouldn’t corrupt our view about the society and its uneasiness: but, on the contrary, we should take advantage of our possibilities to face different realities around the world. For example, in Asia great developments are taking place, and the employment strategies for women are constantly elaborated in accordance with the changing society: as Leng Tang states, “These developments imply less time spent on domestic chores and child-raising, as well as greater possibilities for participating in employment outside the home throughout the life course (Leng Tang, 10)”. The need of gender equality is one of the most important aims to be pursued: but it can be gained just through great efforts made by all the members of the contemporary community, once more united to get their fundamental social rights.

Sources

Jarrett, Valerie and Tchen, Christina. Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being. Washington, U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration, March 2011.

Jackson, David. White House Report: Women lag in pay, gain in education. USA Today, 01 March 2011.

Gerson, Kathleen. Hard Choices: How Women Decide About Work, Career, and Motherhood. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. Print

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. In Peter B. Levy, 100 Key Documents in American Democracy, Westport: Greenwood, 1994. Print

Friedan, Betty. The Future of Feminism. In Free Inquiry, Volume 19: Issue 3, 2002.

Goldscheid, Julie. Gender Violence and Work: Reckoning with the Boundaries of Sex Discrimination Law. In Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Volume 18: Issue 1, 2009.

Izzard, Susannah and Barden, Nicola. Rethinking Gender and Therapy: The Changing Identities of Women. Philadelphia: Open University Press, 2001. Print

Leng Tang, Leng. Old Challenges, New Strategies: Women, Work and Family in Contemporary Asia. Boston: Brill, 2004. Print

Right, role, freedom for women and changing role between men and women was questioned in today society. Especially in Australia – a very multicultural nation where one in four of its 22 million people were born overseas, have a parent who was and four million speak a language other than English. This essay will point out shifting roles of men and women by examining women’s rights in different aspects of that multicultural society such as Health, Work, Politics, Popular culture, Home – family and Education.

Let go back to the 1930s. At that time, the men worked and earned money. The fathers were usually far away from their children. Whereas, the women just stayed at home and took care of home and children. It was generally accepted that women’s roles were as Kindergartener and home-keeper. In the other words their destiny were getting married, having Childs and dedicating their lives to the requests of their husbands and children. This was part of the culture that men and women understood their places in society and accepted it. Furthermore, it was believed that if women work after the marriage, they were slack in their responsibility to their husbands and children. It also could be seen as being lax their obligation to the nation. This is because at those days evolving the number of the nation’s population was one of the most important problems. Therefore, people believed that settling the country’s population was women’s duty. For these reasons just unmarried women often had good jobs. A working married woman was considered to be taking a man’s job, however they were paid less than men. In addition to, Marriage and divorce laws favored men in terms of custody of children and rights to property. All of those were these sorts of inequalities.

In the Second World War shortages of labour caused by so many men joining the armed forces opened the door for many more women to work. That was the beginning of change. Many women took up jobs that had previouslydominated by males such as Politics, military affairs, scientific research. Moreover standards of living changed. Technology has developed and it was reforming people’s lifestyles and domestic roles were altered by the invention of washing machines, vacuum cleaners and electricity. For many women this helped to save a lot of time in housework. Therefore since they have more great opportunities to study and contribute for society and following their interest. Many women have now reached higher situations within politics, the occupations and even business in Australia. Further more the introduction of the contraceptive tablet allowed people to more easily plan their families and decide to space their children. That brought a decrease in the number of children in each family. It also allowed married women to pursue careers without the worry of pregnancy interfering with their plans. In addition, much laws has been put in place that purpose to make equal opportunities for women in the workspace, such as good pay, childcare, anti-discrimination and rules against sexual harassment.

For example “during the 1980s women took leading roles in the nation’s affairs. In 1981 Senator Janine Haines became the first woman leader of a major political party-the Australia democrats. In 1986 Justice marry Gaudron was the first women to become a judge of the High court and 1989 Rosemary Follett became the first female chief minister of the ACT ” (Bereson 2001, p.3). And recently Julia was first sworn as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia on 24 June 2010. She was not born in Australia but she is a migrant. This event does not only mean but also confirms the great role of women in Australian society. As a results Australia has become one of the first nations in the world giving women the rights to vote and to be seated in parliament. From that the women in Australia now achieved higher positions within politics. It is no longer considered that these opportunities are not available to women.

Indeed Besides politics, women also more successful in many different fields such as art and culture, sports, even in business. For example “Louise Sauvage won a gold medal in Sydney Olympic Games 2000” (Costain 2003, P.4). “Robin Archer-a woman of many talented she is a singer, writer and a director. She was artistic Director at Melbourne festival art in 2003” (Costain 2003, P.12). Even very traditional organizations such as religion, churches have changed their attitudes towards women, for example the Anglican Church in the mid-1980s in Melbourne accepted women to be ordained as ministers. Today in secondary schools and universities more women than men educated, and more women than men advanced in bachelor degrees in university. “In 2006, women make up for 54.8 per cent of all tertiary education students and 47.5 per cent of all students enrolled in training courses and vocational education. The common were joined in society and culture, management and commerce, hospitality, food industries, and personal services courses. Also there are more than 30 per cent of small business operators in Australia are women. Women hold 57 per cent the Australian public service workforce and 36 per cent of senior executive situations”. (Women-towards equality)

The changing roles of women and greater participation in all levels of society, has led to the role of men to change. Men are now expected to be part of a household management team. In the other word they are ready to share domestic work with their wife. That never ever happened in 1930s. This has caused anxiety in men with traditional backgrounds. They are not sure of their roles any more.

However In fact, women are still in a tougher situation than men when it approaches to vocations and work in general. Child care can be difficult to secure and is often too costly. For example if a child is ill it is usually the mother who will be likely to take their time off work to take care them. The greater responsibilities of teaching children, which are still considered women’s responsibilities, mean that it is so tough for women to get full-time work – especially in jobs requiring overtime. Because of this, instead of full time women usually have to do casual jobs or part-time. Most of these works are not ‘career-orientated’ positions, so it is not realizable for women to reach higher positions in their work. Furthermore women’s attendance is especially strong throughout common culture. Women’s image in film clips, movies, magazines, television shows, newspapers and even news programmers is often as a sexualized decoration. There for Women have often been discriminated against, especially on sexual harassment, even at work.

Ultimately, any change also has two sides. Although the position of women in Australia society has been confirmed, it also means their responsibility is heavier. Especially in some fields that require physical strengths, superior skills and health. These things women are inferior to men. However all string of success mentioned above helped to break down traditional ideas about what women could or could not do. It made women more visible in public society and enabled them to lead lives that were much nearer to men’s lives in standings of liberty and selection.

Gender discrimination has been one of the most primitive forms of discrimination in most civilizations. Though globally most societies are moving towards reform, there is also a realization that there is too much to be changed and women’s rights have been suppressed for too long a time. In matters such as property rights, the treatment extended to women is atrocious, to say the least.

This scenario is not confined to India, but women’s rights in, access to, and control over land, housing, and other prop­erty continue to be limited all over the world. Gender-biased laws, traditional attitudes toward women, and male-dominated social hierarchies pose obstacles to women attaining equal and just rights. The situation tends to be worse in war-torn societies. Absent property rights, a cross-sec­tion of war-affected women-refugees, internally displaced, and heads of households-tend to live in dire poverty and deprivation. Everywhere, women without property rights find it more dif­ficult to gain access to credit that allows them to invest in agriculture or micro-enterprises. Talking about gender bias in ownership rights, which happens to be one of his areas of expertise, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen says:

In many societies the ownership of property can also be very unequal. Even basic assets such as homes and land may be very asymmetrically shared. The absence of claims to property can not only reduce the voice of women, but also make it harder for women to enter and flourish in commercial, economic and even some social activities.2 This type of inequality has existed in most parts of the world, though there are also local variations. For example, even though traditional property rights have favoured men in the bulk of India, in what is now the State of Kerala, there has been, for a long time, matrilineal inheritance for an influential part of the community, namely the Nairs.

This inequality will be the focus of this researcher, through this study.

HYPOTHESIS

The hypothesis of the instant project is that customary laws, most of which are in vogue to date, have institutionalised gender bias within them and therefore discriminate heavily between men and women especially over property rights. Property rights have been one of the oldest contentions of women’s rights activists. Though reforms have come about in the form of various amendments and judgments, equality is still a far-fetched picture.

There has been an attempt to unify Hindu law across the country. Broadly comparing the two most prominent models of customary law – the Mitakshara and the Marumakattayam models, one notices that the latter furthers the unification of Hindu law. It may be recalled that P.V. Kane supporting the recommendation of the Rau Committee stated: “And the unification of Hindu law will be helped by the abolition of the right by birth which is the cornerstone of the Mitakshara School and which the draft Hindu Code seeks to abolish.”

However, what is of greater importance to this study is how in the first place customary laws were discriminatory in nature. The chapters of this study will elaborate on the same.

Section 23 of the Hindu Succession Act is again a glaring incidence of gender bias in law. One of the main driving factors behind the enactment of the Hindu Succession Act was to give right to property to women yet by enacting Section 23, the right to enjoy the property is very much restricted for women. The female heirs are not entitled to sue their brother for partition. It is only if one of the brothers choose to partition the property that the sisters can get a share in it. Further the Schedule giving Class I heirs also reflects inequality. As can be seen clearly while the son’s son’s son and son’s son’s daughter get a share, a daughter’s daughter’s son and daughter’s daughter’s daughter do not get anything. Similarly while the widows of a predeceased son and grandson are Class I heirs the husband of a deceased daughter or a granddaughter are not heirs.

NATURE AND SCOPE

The scope of this project is restricted to studying the gender bias in customary laws over property rights in various laws. The researcher would not intend to explore other inequalities, which may follow the same pattern as existent in case of property rights. The researcher’s attempt would be to analyse the laws in order to bring out factual evidence in support of the hypothesis. For the purpose of this study, the researcher will not only analyse the laws but will also refer to cases, which in extension of the legal provisions also aided the process of discrimination. However, the customary laws will be the primary area of focus.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

[I] Are customary laws discriminatory in nature? Which are the laws and how do they discriminate on the basis of gender?

The law relating to succession is a glaring example of inequality still pervading in our system. Women are not recognized as coparceners in the joint Hindu family. The self-acquired property devolves on survivors as per Schedule 1 of the Act. Class I heirs include mother, widow and daughter as successors of a Hindu male dying intestate. In Dayabhaga School, women have some better right than that of Mitakshara, as they become the coparceners. Yet on account of the freedom to bequeath by a will very often the female’s right to property by succession gets curtailed. It is common experience that the patriarchal sentiments are so strong that the father would rather write a will bequeathing all his properties to his sons in order to ensure that no part of his property falls in the hands of his daughter/daughters.

[II] What has been the approach of courts towards these discriminatory laws?

As the provisions of the laws are blatantly discriminatory, there is little that courts can do. Their hands are tied and so they continue to play into the hands of discriminatory laws. For instance Kanshi v. Sant Lal and Anr the Punjab High Court ruled that: “females have no right under custom to challenge alienation by males and that the suit on their behalf is wholly incompetent and is liable to be dismissed on this short ground.”

[III] What are the reforms being brought in order to stop the discrimination practiced by customary laws?

Legislations were passed by five Indian states namely; Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra to remove the discriminatory features of the right by birth under the Mitakshara law. Kerala Legislature took the lead in 1976 when it passed the Kerala Joint Family System (Abolition) Act, 1976 (hereafter the Kerala Act). This legislation broadly followed the recommendations of the Hindu Law Committee – the Rau Committee – and abolished the right of birth under the Mitakshara as well as the Marumakattayam law. On the other hand, the Andhra Pradesh Legislature conferred the right by birth on daughters who are unmarried on the date when the Act came into force. This approach, instead of abolishing the right by birth, strengthens it, while broadly removing the gender discrimination inherent in Mitakshara coparcenary. The States of Tamil Nadu (1989), Maharashtra (1994) and Karnataka (1994) followed the Andhra model.

CHAPTER I: DISCRIMINATORY LAWS: A GLOBAL BACKGROUND

The most obvious proof of the discrimination of women in various religions is the existence of the strong gender bias in customary laws related to property. Both the laws related to property – testamentary and intestate – discriminate women. Somehow, most societies could never see a woman as an executor of property and control of land was traditionally a right that men enjoyed.

This researcher is in favour of granting property rights to women for reasons other than equality. In many regions of the world, house­holds, communities, and societies are destroyed by civil war, invasions from neighboring countries, and interethnic violence. During periods of violence and conflict, the destruction of material and physical resources is devastating for fam­ilies and communities, particularly for low-income populations. The destruc­tion, however, goes beyond the material and physical. Community cohesion, governance institutions, community authority structures, and socioeconomic subsistence networks are also destroyed, leaving the most vulnerable-such as women and children-destitute and with minimal recourse for even their daily survival. Often families flee the violence and destruction to other parts of their countries or to other countries, leaving most of their belongings and assets behind. Apart from this, due to the absence of property rights for women are also unable to invest in small-scale industries or other micro-enterprises.

The process of rebuilding communities’ social structures and institutions is slow and uneven. Nevertheless, the restora­tion of civil and human rights to all groups-including women-is the basis for rebuilding a democratic post-conflict society. Land and housing make up one crucial set of rights. Property rights are recognized as an important factor in the struggle to attain economic develop­ment, social equity, and democratic gov­ernance. As cultural heritage and a productive resource, the value and meaning of land is universally recognized. Its social and psychological values for rural families are also impor­tant. The challenge is to improve social equity while working for peace, security, and reconstruction. But peace must be understood as more than the absence of war and violence; reconstruction must be seen as more than bricks, roads, and telephone networks; and security must be defined as more than a strong mili­tary force.

The numerous ways in which inequality is propagated is appalling. There are no generic remedies for the disease of inequality. The patterns of inequality can also change from time to time. In fact, this researcher would safely argue that from in the Indian context, the forms of inequality have become less material and more sociological overtime. Though on the outset, laws are being framed and amended from day to day, granting more rights to women, the genus or the origin of male superiority itself has not been destroyed. Different forms of gender inequality can impose diverse adversities on the lives of men – young and old, in addition to those of women and girls. In understanding the different aspects of the evil of gender inequality, we have to look beyond the predicament of women and examine the problems created for men as well by the asymmetric treatment of women. These causal connections, which can be very significant, can vary with the form of gender inequality. Finally, inequalities of different kinds can also, frequently enough, feed each other, and we have to be aware of their interlinkages.

It may be noted in this context, that there is a very unhealthy belief among thinkers in this context that Eastern and South-Asian countries are infested with inequality more drastically and that the West is relatively safe. This is an extremely false assumption. The patterns may differ, as said earlier, but discrimination in its multifarious forms exists all across the globe. For example, India, along with Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has had female heads of governments, which the United States or Japan has not yet had. Indeed, in the case of Bangladesh, where both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are women, one might begin to wonder whether any man could possibly rise to a leadership position there in the near future.

In fact, going way back in time, the Indian some of the most significant thinking in the area of rights of women has come from women intellectuals such as Gargi and Maitreyee in the Upanishads, which dates back to eighth century B.C. The classic formulation of this distinction would, of course, come about four centuries later, from Aristotle, in Nicomachean Ethics, but it is interesting that the first sharp formulation of the value of living for men and women should have come from a woman thinker in a society that has not yet – three thousand years later – been able to overcome the mortality differential between women and men.

The most important angle that this researcher intends to focus on is the economic angle. Property rights to resources such as land, water, and trees play a fundamental role in governing the patterns of natural resource management, as well as in the welfare of individuals, households, and communities who depend on those resources. Policies that shape property rights can play a major role in promoting (or inhibiting) economic growth, equity of distribution, and sustainability of the resource base. If we can understand existing natural resource property regimes, how they are determined, and the role played by policy in that determination, policies can be devised that are supportive of broad-based economic growth, especially in rural areas. Property rights include far more than titles and pieces of paper specifying “ownership” of a defined piece of land or other resource. They encompass a diverse set of tenure rules and other aspects of access to and use of resources. If we understand property rights to refer to an individual’s capacity to call upon the collective to stand behind his or her claim to a benefit stream, then property rights describe relationships between people. The success of any policy, whether designed to prevent further depletion of degradation of the natural resource, or to enhance the resource base, or to ensure sustainable resource utilization, or to improve household welfare, depends on an ability to successfully anticipate the responses of individuals. Time and again, however, actual responses differ from anticipated responses.

However, restricting our view only to the discriminatory property rights in India, the primary focus of this shall be the various succession acts:

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956

The Indian Succession Act, 1925

The Muslim laws – the Hanafi Law of Inheritance

CHAPTER II: A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF DISCRIMINATORY CUSTOMARY LAWS IN INDIA

This chapter will discuss the discriminatory laws in various religions in India in relation to property.

[A] Hindus

The Mitakshara School of law confers inheritance rights to men over women.

The Hindu Succession Act has its roots in customary Hindu laws and is applicable to those who follow Aliyasantana law, Sthanamdar, Marumakkatayam law and Nambudri law and is

This act has following discriminatory aspects:

The agnates are preferred over cognates.

Widows who are re-marrying are not allowed to inherit the property of the deceased.

Though the proposed amendments to the Hindu Succession Acts aim to make succession a relatively non-discriminatory affair, the customary laws substantially remain preferential and prejudiced in their outlook.

[B] Tribals

As customary laws, that are completely uncodified govern succession among tribals, discrimination against women continues among tribal communities, unstinted. In this context, a notable incident occurred in 1982, when members of Ho tribe (including Madhu Kishwar, Sonamuni and Muki Dui) questioned the legitimacy of sections 7, 8 and 76 of the Chotanagar Tenancy Act as violative of right to equality. Juliana Lakra also challenged this through a writ petition in 1986.

The basis was that the provisions of this act only allowed descendents in the male line to become raiyats. The court however, dismissed the aforesaid claim of violation on the grounds that, if admitted the state of law would become increasingly chaotic. Despite the insightful minority judgment by Justice Ramaswamy, the rule that governs the tribal succession is the majority judgment.

[C] Christians

Christians are governed by another discriminatory act, The Indian Succession Act. The most glaring inequality in the act that deserves to be highlighted is that a widow is not entitled to distributive share of her husband’s estate if she is excluded by a contract to such a share. Also, with a large number of Christian tribals in India, being completely unaware of their rights, property rights for women is still a dream, far-fetched.

[D] Muslims

The laws governing Muslim succession were more discriminatory than all the other laws at one point of time. Only men, who were said to be the defenders and protectors of land, were entitled to inheritance. The Holy Quran explicitly states that Man is a trustee of the wealth he owns for the duration of his life. However, with growing awareness and modernization in their capacity as mother, wife, daughter and sister, women are allowed to inherit property.

CHAPTER III: CONCLUSION: ESCAPING THE LEASH OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION

The year of 2005 saw major attempts to end the trail of discriminatory and retrograde inheritance laws. The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 intends to obliterate most of the inequalities. The amendment brings in equal inheritance rights for men in agricultural land as men. Daughters, even married ones will be coparcenors in joint family property.

Muslim women in India fall under the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, which overrides regressive customary practices and does away with their rigid discriminatory patterns by making a rule to the effect that widow cannot be excluded by any other heir and are protected by testamentary restrictions, though their share in lower than that of men.

The only way out of the rut of discrimination when it comes to property rights is by a reformed analysis of rights, which will look beyond who holds legal title. For land we need to look at complex bundles of rights held by different people, rather than a single “owner” of any given resource unit. The rights to access, withdraw, manage, exclude others from the resource, and to transmit or alienate rights all must be considered. Men and women often have rights to use the resource in different ways, say when it comes to agricultural rights: for different crops, grazing, and gathering on land; for irrigating, washing, watering animals, or other enterprises using water; for timber, fruits, leaves, firewood, shade, or other products from trees. Land rights have received the greatest amount of attention. As a fixed and (generally) enduring asset, it is easier to define the boundaries of the resource unit.

Good socioeconomic design to change the property rights of women and their status in general requires understanding the production systems, resource base, distribution of labor, and bargaining power of men and women of different classes. Care should be taken to understand local norms for equity and how resources are distributed in the larger web of production activities and access to benefits. It is also important to determine how effective those norms and practices are for sustaining de facto equity. However, these elements are not static; policy interventions should be expected to change these patterns. Analysis of the rules that govern resource distribution and production systems may help in anticipating how they will change, but there is no mechanistic determination.

Men and women are considered as social actors (Erickson & Murphy, 2010). An actor makes his own responses based on his understanding, ability, and resources by giving meaning to every event that happens in the scene (Buota, Frerks & Bannon, 2005). While they may be forced by the demands of the given situations of the film or scenes, later on they will try to adjust their responses based on their strategies and agendas. Thus, gender plays an important role in this perspective. Gender is a kind of concept created in the society which has various differing attributes created for men and women (Giddens, 2006). It contains a very critical factor in determining the kind of opportunities for individuals or groups as it strongly influences the nature of roles these people play within social institutions such as the household and the state. Once it is assigned, individuals are expected to behave according to whether they are ‘male’ or ‘female.’ It differs from ‘sex’ in the sense that ‘sex’ refers to the biological femaleness or maleness of an individual as determined by their sex chromosomes and physical appearances (Crooks & Baur, 2010).

Socialisation is defined as the acquisition of roles and norms in a specific society that are expected of people (Weiten, et al., 2008). This involves the efforts whereby members of society are trained how to behave appropriately in every occasion. Corollary to this is the concept of gender roles which is defined as the cultural expectations regarding appropriate behavior attributable for each gender. According to Alice Eagly in her so-called social theory, gender differences occur because there are different cultural expectations in men and women in a particular society regarding their roles (Lippa, 2005). The theory does not focus mainly on biological differences; although, it does not deny that they exist. Rather, it focuses more on behavioral differences than femininity and masculinity. Gender differences are culturally produced and not biologically determined (Giddens, 2006).

This paper aims to explore the concept of gender differences and analyse whether there is a justification on the resulting gender inequality, if any. First, it will trace back the traditional view of female roles in society so do men’s roles. Second, it will analyse the historical impact of such roles on the current situation of gender equality and/or inequality. Finally, it will compare the functionalist approach of social roles and female response to gender inequality. It is the hope of the writer that this paper will create a significant contribution to the world’s views on how men and women can excel by their biological and cultural given capabilities.

DISCUSSIONS

Gender is not a new topic in archaeology (Nelson, 2004). Gender construction and gender relations are within the ambit of archaeology (Hamilton, 2007). Archaeologists examine certain group responses to both the natural and social environments. Human bone is one of the options archaeologists resort to in order to detect patterns of gender differences. By assessing the human bones, archaeologists can determine the indicators of division of labour between genders, if such gender-based category exists, and they can evaluate the changes in work patterns during significant cultural changes such as adoption of agriculture (Meade & Wiesner-Hanks, 2006). For instance, in a gold-mine exploration in Zimbabwe, nine out of 16 skeletons were identified to be females, implying that miners were women (Nelson, 2006). The question thus arises: Is it only the males who built all those stone tools? A society is established by having both male and female. How they interact is another thing. By focusing on constructed roles as well as behaviours, instead of sexual bodies per se, there is a clear demand to balance attention for both male and female (Geller & Stockett, 2006). There are different sociological interpretations whether gender differences would result to gender inequalities (Giddens, 2006). This paper will approach the question by first examining some biological bases and second, by analysing sociological theories regarding gender roles. Finally, this paper will consider scholarly ideas that believe in equality between the two sexes.

No one can dispute the biological differences between the male and female. Women have two “X” chromosomes and men have one “X” chromosome and one “Y” chromosome (Gardner, 2005). Researchers discovered scientific findings regarding sex differences that the cerebral cortex of the right hemisphere—a structure responsible for higher mental processes such as thinking, perception, memory and ability to recognise objects—is thicker in male than in female brain (Crooks & Baur, 2010). In addition, men tend to use only one brain hemisphere when performing verbal tasks while women tend to use both hemispheres. That is why it is believed that men score better in mathematics and spatial problems while women are better in language and other verbal tasks (Carroll, 2009). Although this might not be true all the time, for some females score higher in mathematics than males; the statement refers to the males as collective body since average scores of males as a group are somewhat higher than the average score of females as a group (Gardner, 2005). There are other numerous biological differences between men and women; however, these differences should not be used to discriminate either of the two sexes; rather these researches should be used to enhance the health and well-being of men and women (Savic-Berglund, 2010).

Sociological theories help us understand the impact of the changes in gender roles toward family relationship, workplaces, and academic performances. Gender inequality is defined by sociologists as the difference in the power, status, and prestige the men and women have in society or group to which they belong (Giddens, 2006). There are three main frameworks that explain why gender inequality exists. These are the symbolic interaction, conflict theory and functionalist approach (Andersen & Taylor, 2007). This paper will magnify the functionalist approach and women’s response to such.

Symbolic interaction theory stresses the dominance of males over females especially in the verbal skills whereby males tend to talk more aggressively and competently than females who talk more politely (Thio & Taylor, 2011). Conflict theory traces its roots to the study of class conflict by Karl Marx (Lamanna & Riedmann, 2008). Families are viewed as a source of power in a society which is inherently unfair because males dominate over females, the latter being financially dependent on the former (Andersen & Taylor, 2007). According to the functionalist approach, the society is composed of interrelated parts that will work effectively if men and women will perform duties and responsibilities allocated to them by the society (Tischler, 2010). Men will perform the instrumental tasks while women will perform the expressive tasks (Kendall, 2008). This means that men are the providers of economic support and the ones that make decisions in the family, while women are the providers of affection and emotional support. Women will be dependent on men for food and support, thus men may be viewed to dominate over women (Tischler, 2010). This theory is believed to benefit the society as a whole (Andersen & Taylor, 2007). There are three reasons why this theory of division of labour is beneficial. First, it enhances the expertise of each individual based on his task. Second, it does away with competition between men and women that can damage family relationships. Lastly, it strengthens family ties by making men and women dependent on each other (Brinkerhoff, White, & Ortega, 2007). This pattern became a practice over time and was associated with biological differences.

Critics of functionalist approach argue that such approach has been appropriate for one time, yet it undermined the changes in gender during cultural evolution (Shepard, 2009). They argue that the approach is dysfunctional, and it is for the best interest of society that individuals should be judged and treated based on their abilities rather than instrumental and expressive roles. Functionalists ignore the opportunities of women being highly paid in the corporate world because the latter have to think of their responsibilities of taking care of their homes and children (Browne, 2006). Radical feminism became popular and women’s roles now became broader in the sense that dual couple workers are visible in almost every family (Browne, 2006). The radical feminists argue that women are exploited by men sexually by relying on the inherent capability of women to give birth and to render free domestic labour (Giddens, 2006). According to them, in order to decrease gender inequality, there should be revolutionary changes to the cultural order rather than legal remedies to increase opportunities for women (Ryle, 2011).

Another known feminine movement against gender inequality is liberal feminism which advocates that men and women have many similarities which entitle them to equal opportunities (Wood, 2008). While radical feminism focuses on women’s rights especially on the smaller social structure in society which is the family, liberal feminism focuses more on the public institutional structure (Aitchison, 2003). These two movements ensure that in all facets of life, women will be treated equally.

CONCLUSION

After examining the biological and sociological differences between men and women, the final analysis of the question whether gender differences should result to gender inequality is not necessarily to be in the affirmative. Functionalists’ inequality of labour may have advantages in some respects, but the reality lets us see that women are discriminated both biologically and socially. Thus, there should be three tests that must be considered in order for gender inequality to be justifiable. First, there should be a strong reason to discriminate as demanded by the nature of the job. For instance, in some places where there is a need to take off all of the clothing for security reasons in visiting prisoners, jail guards should be of the same sex when they inspect prison visitors. This is to protect both sexes from malicious conducts and to preserve their privacies. Second, physical characteristics should not always be viewed as the sole determining factor of one’s capability. Instead it should be treated as just one of the areas of concern of managers or employers. The nature of human beings is so complex that there are a lot of factors to be considered in order to measure their true capability. And third, managers or employers should exhaust first all the possible ways in order to have equality in job opportunities. Inequality or discrimination should be the last resort. In order for equality to be realised, there should be rejection of the traditional models of relationships. This rejection would open new opportunities to develop roles where the subordinate group blends with the superior group. Only then social and even economic harmony will be realised whereby each one is compensated or rewarded based on one’s abilities and not based on sexuality.

Dowry has been an integral aspect of traditional arranged Hindu marriage. Over hundreds of years the dowry term has evolved from the ceremonial and voluntary gift giving to the bride’s family in a form of monetary extortion demanded by the groom’s family. Traditionally dowry means denoted gifts of kanyadana, such as precious items like expensive cloths given it both the bride and groom’s family during the time of marriage. The practice was derived from the high cultural and spiritual merit accorded to gift givers and gift giving in the Vedas and other Hindu literature. Dowry was originally used as a means to both sanctify material wealth and enhance social status in marriage. In modern sense dowry has reflect a change in the system such that the presentation of gifts no longer remains a voluntary process. In Indo pak bride’s families are often compelled to provide dowry in the name of gift giving and evaluated in terms of total cash value. Groom’s family has a high socioeconomic status. The modern practice of dowry is characterized by a shift from voluntary to forced gift giving as well as the primary role of the groom’s family in determining the demand for gifts from the bride’s family. It is understood that the term dowry is a broad reference to the totality of assets transferred from the bride’s family to the groom’s at the time of a marriage. The transfers of dowry are characterizing by three steps: which is First the property transfer to the bride, Second, there are those gifts that continue to be part of the ceremonial aspect of the marriage and symbolize union between the two families. These would be matched by reciprocal gifts of equal value from the groom’s family. Thirdly there are those assets that can be called “marriage payments” An economically it is this final aspect that constitutes the actual significant economic cost of dowry for a bride’s family, and is perhaps the most costly among the three aspects of the dowry

Dowry violence is depended on culturally accepted, legally sanctioned and media generated form of violence and recognized the most gender issue by development activists in Pakistan. Pakistani Muslims have embraced the dowry system as a cultural practice and tradition due to the Indianization of Islam in the subcontinent..Despite 59 years of independence till there is no any indication for discarding of this system. Dowry is no longer a set of gift items meant for contributing towards starting of the practical life of a newly married couple. Lavish and loud marriages, designers’ items studded bride, bridegroom and other family members, many course meals etc. all stand for the dowry system .In a country where a vast majority of population lives below poverty line and is devoid of basic human needs like water, sanitation, electricity. Health and education the growing trend of such Exhibiting Marriages is adding to the miseries of the not so privileged and creation of the lesser God. Dowry System causes a number of psychological and emotional traumas and ethical challenges by causing delayed marriages, marriage with elderly person, incept person, taunts, threats, and torture of greedy in-laws and husband, and financial crises. Dowry and expenses on marriage are frequently used explanations for the denial of right of inheritance to women. There are certain tribes and clans in the province of NWFP and Baluchistan where boys have to pay for the bride. If they cannot pay the right Bridal Price they cannot get married. This practice itself qualifies as a separate research entity. On the other hand the Bride who is sold is treated as a property and is entitled to be sold further. An interesting and innovative response to the question of limiting marriage expenses that has come from some welfare wings of certain Religious groups and public departments and welfare oriented Pakistan NGOs in the recent years is the phenomenon of Mass Weddings. While there are no doubts in the good faith of the planners and implementers of such weddings. This solution besides carrying transparency issues like instance how the eligible couples are selected, what is the actual expense and compromises on the individual self esteem are in fact endorsing the custom and institution of dowry (Rakhshinda, 2006)

Importance of this study is explained that a large number of women faced many dowry problems including that psychological, social and economical factors common in our society. This is a serious issue in our Pakistan. I am going to explore a sociological study of women perception towards dowry in urban areas of Tehsil D.G.Khan.

Keeping in mind these points the present study will be conducted to investigate the following objectives.

To check the role of dowry in the success or failure of marital adjustment.

To study the perception of women towards the dowry practices.

To give possible suggestions for the solution of this problem.

V. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Bloch and Rao (2001) Estimated that the domestic violence can be use from spouses to their family because the absent of dowry and a case study was conducted in three villages of India which results showed that women who payed smaller dowries suffer an increased risk of marital violence, as do women who come from richer families.

Maristella and Aloysius(2002) Showed that when married daughters leave their parents home and their married brothers do not selfless parents provide dowries for daughters and gifts for sons in order to meet free ride problem between their married sons and daughters. The study has assessment on the form of the dowry contract, the barring of daughters from bequests, and the turn down of dowries in earlier dowry giving societies. These assessment are regular with historical verification from earliest Near Eastern civilizations, ancient Greece, Roman and Byzantine empire, western Europe from 500 to 1500 AD, the Jews from remains to the Middle Ages, Arab Islam from 650 AD to modern times, China, Japan, medieval and regeneration Tuscany, early-modern England, modern Brazil, North America, and existing India

Terilt (2002) argued that marriages in conventional societies often include a transfer between the concerned parties. In a few societies, a transfer is complete from the groom to the family of bride (a brideprice), even as in others it goes from the bride to the groom (dowry). He investigate whether differences in the form of marriages that are permitted can description for these explanation He fine the symmetry bride value is positive under polygyny and harmful under monogamy. The form has a number of other interesting implications that are in order with what is san in the data. Pologyny leads to a superior difference in age among husbands and wives, a younger marriage age for women, and higher infertility

Siwan (2003) concluded that in difference to most dowry-leaning societies in which expenses have decline with reconstruction those in India have undergone important increase over the last five decades. He explains the difference between these two experiences by focus on the part played by caste. The notional model contrast caste- and non-caste-base societies: in the former, there exist an inborn section to status (caste) that is self-determining of wealth, and in the latter, wealth is the primary determinant of caste. Modernization is understood to occupy two components: growing average wealth and increasing wealth diffusion within caste groups. He advance showed that, in caste based societies, the increases in wealth diffusion that come with modernization necessarily lead to increases in dowry expenses whereas in non-caste-based societies, increased diffusion has no real outcome on dowry expenses and increasing average wealth causes the expenses to turn down.

Luciana et al (2004) estimated that in current years, dowry levels have rise to earlier unforeseen level. Along with Hindus in north India dowry can sum to three or four times a family’s total resources. Amid Muslims in Bangladesh and Hindus in south India, dowry has become everyday while the practice did not survive a generation ago. The organization of dowry has been generally criticized socially malign, and legally banned. Some modern economic writings suggest that dowry functions as a bequest or pre-mortem tradition imply it persist because it is “good for the bride.” Using panel data from an adult study in rural Bangladesh, he explores the involvement between dowry and the incidence of domestic violence to test the bequest theory of dowry. They found that, opposing to the calculation of the bequest theory, married females who unpaid dowry at marriage have a higher likelihood of treatment domestic violence compare to those who did not. In accumulation the relation between dowry and violence is highly level-definite respondents who paid small dowries description much higher levels of violence than those who paid large dowries. In fact, paying no dowry is just as protective, if not more so, in conditions of prevent violence as the main dowry expenses

Anderson (2004) concluded that laws restricting dowries have existed in most societies where these transfers have occurred. Central to the policy debates is the actual role of the dowry payment. It is typically believed that intervention is required when dowries serve as a ‘price’ for marriage (“groom price”), but not when dowries are means of endowing daughters with some financial security (“pre-mortem inheritance”). He developed a simple matching model of marriage which integrates the two different roles for dowry. It is demonstrated that when modernization occurs, dowry payments can evolve from a pre-mortem inheritance into a groom price. The model generated implications which empirically distinguish the two different motives. The predictions are tested using recent data from Pakistan, where dowry legislation is currently an active policy issue. This investigation concludes that, in urban areas the payment is serving as a groom price, instead of the traditional pre-mortem inheritance to women. However, his study showed that this is not such a large concern in rural areas.

Geirbo and Imam (2006) concluded to a lot of what is written concerning dowry focus on the dangerous aspect He argue that in consult purpose dowry as a social problem, we require to identify more regarding why people maintain the observe It give an indication of the communication associated to bridal and divorce previous to it explore the motivation people have for mean and delightful dowry. In the ending, it is discuss how this prudence meets the rationality of the government and NGOs in the local interpretation and use of legislation and in the use of microcredit. Protection is organization to be the main inspiration for charitable dowry. A rewarded dowry gives a expectation that the daughter will be treat well in her in-law’s house. Because dowry is associated to Mohr, it also gives a protection in casing of divorce. However, a voluntary dowry does not give women entitlements towards her in-laws, only a expect that they will luxury her well. As well women’s privilege to Mohr depends on compensation of dowry as well as her presentation as a wife. Men, on the other hand, are supposed as have unquestioned prerogative to dowry. This disproportion is see as living being connected to a perception of women as organism helpless to substantial and social threat in addition to instead of a threat to their family and district In termination it is optional that as a substitute of target dowry straight support labors would increase from target the cause in front the motivation sympathetic and attractive dowry. Plummeting the hazard factor that craft married condition and dowry critical for women is a method to conflict the observe. One method to do this is by implement occupation programmers for adult girlsat. A distance from this, the current femininity beliefs has to be challenge methodically along with together girls and boys from an early on age. The monograph is base on qualitative investigate in Domar under Nilphamari constituency in Bangladesh.

Babur (2007) concluded that dowry system is another form of social and traditional practice whose consequences result direct violence of women. There is hardly any family in Pakistan un which this dowry system is not followed. Not a signal day passes without dowry death and torture women. News papers are full of stories torture of women who bring in sufficient dowry. Unable to bear the torched, some brides are forced to commit suicide and some are burnt alive under the cover of stove deaths, which is also called bride burning in which women are burn alive after being covered with kerosene oil.

Afzal (2007) estimated an equation explaining the determinates of dowry they concentrate on a very ordinary socio economic problem for subcontinent, the problem of dowry from a social planer’s individual, whom requirements to reduce generally dowry transport they regard as the consequence of change in a many applicable parameter like husband height, wife height wet land dry land, year of marriage and years of education, for woman and men on these conclusion. According to the assorted studies the dowry occurrence is survive greatly in rural subcontinent, at the same time investigate associated to the organization is very unusual. The aspire of his study to estimation an equation amplification the determinant of dowry. some explanation of dowry is renowned using a simple imaginary structure and the calculation of this form are experienced Using the data provide them for this project is tested and reliable so that they will be capable to sketch their win testable associations and determinant of dowry. His study recommended although there are religious and cultural difference, the organization of dowry in Pakistan appear to be for the same cause as in India. A abstract structure was inhabited that was inclusive of the essential variable by test through the several regression analyses and the investigational conclusion show the sovereign variable use to test have an contact on dowry by apply several deterioration pace astute method.

Arunachalamy and Loganz (2008) concluded that dowries have been model as pre-mortem bequest to daughters or as groom-prices rewarded to in-laws. These two course of models give way equally limited prediction but observed tests of these prediction have been assorted We draw from past evidence that suggest a empirically marriage promote, where some households use dowries as a bequest and others use dowries as a cost. The challenging theory of dowry allow us to arrangement an exogenous key failure that places households in the price or bequest management The experimental approach allow for several check on the strength of management obligation Using demonstration marriage data from rural Bangladesh, we verification of het- erogeneity in dowry motive that bequest dowries have decline in frequency and quantity above time; and that bequest familes are improved o_ compare to cost households on a assortment of benefit procedures.

Attila et al (2008) suggested that accessible notional and experiential research on dowries has complexity secretarial for the large changes in dowry level experimental in many countries over the history many decades. To clarify clear trend in dowry levels in Bangladesh, they represent consideration to an institutional feature of marriage contract earlier unseen in the journalism the mehr or customary Islamic bride price, which function as a prenuptial accord in Bangladesh payable to the non-payment carry out of being only allocated winning divorce. We increase a reproduction of marriage contract in which mehr serve as a obstruction to husbands exit marriage and a constituent of dowry is an quantity that present compensate the groom for the cost of mehr. The contracts are welfare-improving because they induce husbands to internalize the social costs of divorce for women. We explore how mehr and dowry answer to exogenous changes in the costs of polygamy and divorce, and explicate that our model gives a different set of predictions than customary models of dowry expenses without contractible mehr. To assessment the model’s prediction empirically dictions, we use data composed on marriage contract among 1956 and 2004 from a large family analysis from the Northwest region of the country, and make use of input changes in Muslim Family Law in 1961 and 1974. They show that minor changes in dowry levels took place in particular after the authorized changes, consequent to consecutive changes in levels of mehr.

Sarwat and Imtiaz (2009) concluded that the center of this study is to approximate an equation elucidation the determinants of dowry. In this paper, they concentrate on a very ordinary socio-economic problem for sub-continent, the difficulty of dowry. From a social planner’s viewpoint, who wants to decrease overall dowry transfers, they reflect on the cause of change in a few important parameter like husband height, wife height, wet land, dry land, years of marriage and years of education for women & men on these decision According to the a variety of studies the dowry incident is survive heavily in rural sub-continent, at the same time research connected to this system is very unusual The aspire of this study is to approximation an equation explanation the determinants of dowry. some interpretation for dowry are illustrious using a simple imaginary structure and the prediction of this model are experienced Using the data provide us for this assignment is tested and consistent so that we will be able to describe our own testable relationships and determinants of dowry. The data will be use in the subsequent sections for additional investigation by estimate the determinants of dowry using several degeneration investigation The study propose that although there are religious and cultural difference the system of dowry in Pakistan appear to be for the similar reason as in India. A imaginary structure was residential that was comprehensive of all the necessary variables by testing during the several regression investigation and the trial findings shows the self-sufficient variable used to test have an contact on dowry by apply several degeneration step-wise technique.

Laura et al (2009) concluded that important amount of wealth have been exchange as part of marriage settlement all through history. Even though a variety of model have been future for interpret these practices, their improvement over time has not been investigate scientifically. In this study they use a Bayesian MCMC phylogenetic proportional advance to modernize the advancement of two forms of wealth transfer at marriage, dowry and bride wealth, for 51 Indo-European cultural groups. Consequences point out that dowry is additional likely to have been the inherited observe and that a lowest of four changes to bride wealth is essential to clarify the experiential allocation of the two state across the cultural groups.

Review of literature explained that a large number of women faced many dowry problems including that psychological, social and economical factors common in our society. This is more serious issue in our Pakistan. I am going to explore a sociological study of women perception towards dowry in urban areas of Tehsil D.G.Khan.

VII MATERIAL AND METHODS:

The main objective of methodology is to explain various tools and techniques apply for data collection, data analysis and interpretation of data related to research problem. According to Nachmias and Nachmias (1992) “the scientific methodology is a system of explicit rules and procedures upon which research is based and against which the claims for knowledge are evaluate”. The aim of present study will be explore the causes of dowry such as social, economical, political, legal, and their impact of dowry at marriage in our society.

The universe of study will be Tehsil D.G.Khan (District Dera Ghazi Khan). A sample of one hundred and fifty females will be selected from five urban councils through simple random sampling technique. Respondents will be interviewed by using a well structured questionnaire. Ten respondents will be pre-tested to check and examine the workability of questionnaire. Data will be analyzed through appropriate statistical technique by using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), and obtained information will be present in form of M.Sc thesis.

VII. LITERATURE CITED:

Attila. A, Erica. F, Maximo. T.2008. Muslim family law, prenuptial agreements and the

Emergence of dowry in Bangladesh, Harvard University.

Arunachalamy.R, Loganz. T.2008.On the Heterogeneity of Dowry Motives. Department of

Economics, The Ohio State University, and National Bureau of Economic Research.

Anderson.S.2004. Should dowries be banned? Department of Economics, University of British

Columbia.

Bloch .F, Rao.V.2001. Terror as a Bargaining Instrument: A Case-Study of Dowry Violence in

Rural India.1-25

Geirbo. H, Imam. N.2006. the Motivations Behind Giving and Taking Dowry. BRAC,Research and evaluation division Dhaka. Bangladesh. Page 1-36

Luciana. S, Sajada. A, Lopita. H, Kobita. C.2004. Does Dowry Improve Life for Brides?

A Test of the Bequest Theory of Dowry in Rural Bangladesh. Population council No.195.

Laura.F, Clare. H, Ruth .M.2009. From bridewealth to dowry? A bayesian estimation of

ancestral states of marriage transfers in indoeuropean groups. Department of anthropology, university college london.1-34

Maristella. B, Aloysius. S. 2002. Why Dowries? Department of Economics, University of

Toronto. Contributed papers 0200,Economic society.Page 1-47

Maristella. B, Aloysius .S.2002. Marriage Markets and Intergenerational Transfers in

Comparative Perspective (Why Dowries?)

Nachmias, C.F. and D. Nachmias. 1992. “Research methods in the social sciences”.

Published by Edwards Arnold. A division of Hodder and Stoughton.London

Rakhshinda, P.2006. Dowry: The most frequently forgotten form of gender violence in Pakistan.

Gender based Violence.

Sarwat ,A, Imtiaz, S; 2009. To estimate an equation explaining the determinants of dowry. Pakistan development review, vol.xii,No.1,48-61.

Siwan. A.2003. Why Dowry Payments Declined with Modernization in Europe but Are Rising in

India. [Journal of Political Economy, 2003, vol. 111, no. 2]. The University of Chicago.

Tonushree, J. 2001. The Economics of Dowry: Causes and Effects of an Indian Tradition, copyright 2001 UAUJE. Htt://www.eco.ilstu/UAUJE.Research monograph series No.28.

Nachmias, C.F. and D. Nachmias. 1992. “Research methods in the social sciences”.

Published by Edwards Arnold. A division of Hodder and Stoughton.London

Student: Asia Rafique

Supervisory Committee:

Mr. Muhammad Ali Tarar Chairman

Miss. Sumaira Bano Member

Mr. Muhammad Ali Member

Forwarded:

_______________

Head of Section,

Social Sciences and Rural Development

College of Agriculture, Dera Ghazi Khan

Security Committee,

____________________ _____________________

Prof.Dr. Shafqat Nawaz Dr. Muhammad Mudassar Maqbool

____________________ ______________________

Mr. Muhammad Shahid Nisar Dr. Fida Hussain

__________________

Principal:

College of Agriculture, Dera Ghazi Khan

Women constitute almost half of the population in the world. But the prevailing masculine ideology made them suffer a lot as they were denied equal opportunities in different parts of the world. The rise of feminist ideas have, however, led to the tremendous improvement of women’s condition through out the world in recent times. India being a developing nation and having huge tussles among its political, religious and administrative organs resulting into blocked development and the worst effect of that we can witness into women condition .They do not have proper chance to learn and grow and access to education has been one of the most pressing demands of women’s rights . Women education in India has also been a major preoccupation of both the government and civil society as educated women can play a very important role in the development of the country.

History of Women Education in India(4,6): Although in the Vedic period women had access to education in India but as the time grew they lost this right to avail education and academic exposure. However, in the British period there was revival of interest in women’s education in India due to Britisher’s strong influence to the core Indian education system. During this period, various socio religious movements led by eminent persons like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar emphasized on women’s education in India. Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Periyar and Baba Saheb Ambedkar were leaders of the lower castes in India who took various initiatives to make education available to the women of India. They also ensured about their participation in the social gatherings and events by introducing them into polity and administration at all levels. However women’s education got a fillip after the country got independence in 1947 and the government has taken various measures to provide education to all Indian women. As a result women’s literacy rate has grown over the three decades and the growth of female literacy has in fact been higher than that of male literacy rate. While in 1971 only 22% of Indian women were literate, by the end of 2001 54.16% female were literate. The growth of female literacy rate is 14.87% as compared to 11.72 % of that of male literacy rate and is on growing path.

Government has taken a step forward by making education compulsory and free to girl child till the age of fourteen. They are getting reservations in public sector exams and private sectors like Banks, Transport Services, Hospitality and Tourism, Healthcare etc. (4. Freedom Struggle By- Bipin Chandra Pal)

Table – The Literacy Rate in India 1901-2011
Percentage of Literates to total population
Year Persons Males Females

1901 5.3 9.8 0.7

1911 5.9 10.6 1.1

1921 7.2 12.2 1.8

1931 9.5 15.6 2.9

1941 16.1 24.9 7.3

1951 16.7 24.9 7.3

1961 24.0 34.4 13.0

1971 29.5 39.5 18.7

1981 36.2 46.9 24.8

1991 52.1 63.9 39.2

2001 65.38 76.0 54.0

2011(Recent data) 74.04 82.14 65.46

The above table shows that there is an improvement in women literacy in India during the years. But when we compare it with male literacy it becomes a concern area. (9. Censusindia.gov.in)

Importance of Women Education in India(7): Women education in India plays a very important role in the overall development of the country. It not only helps in the development of half of the human resources, but in improving the quality of life at home and outside. Educated women not only tend to promote education of their girl children, but also can provide better guidance to all their children. Moreover educated women can also help in the reduction of infant mortality rate and growth of the nation.

Education is a potent tool in the emancipation and empowerment of women. Its true that greatest single factor which can incredibly improve the status of women in any society is education. It is indispensable that education enables women not only to gain more knowledge about the world outside of her shell and home but helps her to get status, positive self esteem, and self confidence. It imparts necessary courage and inner strength to face challenges in life. Apparently it also facilitates them to procure a job and supplement the income of family and achieve social status. Education especially of women has a major impact on health and nutrition as an instrument of developing a sustainable strategy for population control. Moreover educated women can play an equally important role as men in nation building. Thus there is no denying fact that education empowers women. For example the different organs of the United Nations and experts on women’s liberation argue for women’s education as the basic step to attain equality with men. ( 7. Saraswathi Mishra, Status of Indian Women, Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, 2002)

Obstacles : As we have discussed earlier to improve women education and condition in India various initiatives and corrective measures have been done but still a lot is expected to be accomplished.

THE ROOT CAUSES FOR LOW LITERACY AMONG WOMEN IN INDIA

Women education is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. No single factor or cause can be held responsible for very low literacy rate of women in India. Subsequently it is associated with combination of many factors including social, cultural, economic, educational, demographic, political and administrative and so on. The following are the some of the important factors which could be attributed for the present poor state of affairs of womenfolk in education.

The Lower Enrolment: The lower enrolment of girls in schools is one of the foundational factors which stand as stumbling block for women empowerment in India. Reliable sources indicate that more than 50 % of the Non-Starters (those who have never been to school) are girls. According to the latest statistics, two out of every ten girls in the age group of 6-11 are still not enrolled in schools. (1)

Higher drop-out rate among girls from schools: The incidence and prevalence of drop -outs among girls especially in rural, tribal and slums areas seem to be quite high. According to available sources, occurrence of drop-out and stagnation amongst girls is nearly twice that of boys all over India. (1)

Girl Child as Second Mother: In many families girl children play the role of second mother by shouldering the responsibilities of household work such as looking after the sibling, fetching water, collecting firewood, bringing fodder for cattle, cleaning and cooking etc. In rural India especially in poor families this traditional sex role makes girl child handicapped and conditioned by the attitude of mother and the family and discourages girl child to go school as it becomes secondary and unimportant. Hence girl child is getting deprived of her basic and fundamental right of education and freedom. (8)

Bonded Labor System: This social evil is a quite discouraging phenomena which stand as barrier for girl’s education in rural areas for the underprivileged families of washer men and agricultural labor , scheduled caste and scheduled tribes.

Caste System as a Barrier : Children belonging to low caste families are forced to learn skills and work ways and not encouraged to go to school due to various factors. Strict instruction /threat from high caste communities for their selfish motives of keeping them as domestic servants and child laborers in the farms or factory. We can witness this through the stories of various factories and farm houses in industrial cities of India. Media is also playing a crucial role here in promoting as well as resisting these mishaps. (8)

Bane of Dowry: Dowry system and other social practices act as main causes of the neglect of the girl child and discrimination against girl child including the deprivation of right of education. In many families especially poor and down-trodden think that if their daughters are educated more, they have to accumulate more assets and properties to provide as dowry in large proportion at the time of marriage, so prefer rather to either stop their children with average education and so on but never higher education. This prevails more in underprivileged families and communities. (1)

Child Labour Practice: A large segment of child population in India is engaged in child labour practices. According to UN sources India is the most child labour populous nation in the globe with more than 50 million child labourers indulged in beedi works , carpet making , bricks, mining , quarrying ,glass, bangles, match and fireworks, gem polishing ,handloom works. zari, embroidery ,coir industry, domestic works, construction etc. In most of these industries girl children are preferred for high productivity and low cost. (8)

Poor School Environment for girls: In general the school environment for girls in India is not really interesting and encouraging. The subjects taught in schools are also not related to the environment of girl children. The methods of teaching are mostly out – dated, rigid and uninteresting. There are still hundreds of schools with poor basic amenities such as drinking water, latrine and toilet facilities, improper building, and inadequate number of teachers’ especially female teachers preferable for any parents for safety of their girl children from different types of exploitation and abuse. (7)

Female age at marriage: There is high association of female literacy with female age at marriage. By and large the female age at marriage of 18 ( recently 21 years ) as prescribed by various legislations not at all followed in India .It is very much ignored and neglected by the families of parents with low literacy and illiteracy background. This obnoxious practice discourages female children to continue their schooling and higher education as they enter into family life at the early age which is not advisable from the physical and mental health point of view and also of social development. (7)

Inferiority, subservience and domesticity : The female child in Indian culture especially in rural, tribal and poor families is expected to develop the qualities of inferiority; subservience and domesticity which place sever limitations on her education and development. They are considered to be lesser important for getting knowledge of outside world and exposure to education and liberty. (6)

Poverty as a Barrier: In many poverty stricken families, children especially girls are considered as economic assets as they bring income for livelihood as well to save from economic crises due to death or incapacity of parents (sick/ handicapped/aged).

Ineffective Law Enforcing Machinery: Indian constitution and various legislations pertaining to education to children assure free and compulsory education all children of this nation but unfortunately the enforcement machinery fail to discharge its duties and responsibilities to the satisfaction of the public interest and welfare of women. Due to this wrong implementation of right policies also women of our country is getting severely affected. (5)

Demographic Factors: The high population growth rate, rapid urbanisation, migration etc also attribute immensely for the poor literacy level of women and girls in India. In these frequent transition girl Childs and women are getting neglected, uncared and unheard. (5)

Poor Political Will and Conviction: Government officials, policy makers, politicians etc of our country have neither political will nor conviction for the empowerment of women in general. The only think about their personal benefits and money making ignoring the welfare of the community for whom and by whom they have reached to that position. It is a very sad and disappointing aspect of India’s democracy. (5)

Gender discrimination: It still persists in India .Male are still dominating and commanding the social structure of the nation and lot more needs to be done to improve women’s participation in this regard e.g. women’s education. The gap in the male-female literacy rate is just a simple indicator. While the male literary rate is more than 75% according to the 2001 census, the female literacy rate is just 54.16%.Prevailing prejudices, low enrollment of girl child in the schools, engagements of girl children in domestic works and high drop out rate are major obstacles in the path of making all Indian women educated. (6)

Poor Academia: Another reason for poor quality of women education here is the poor quality of teachers in government schools .Government schools are unable to attract good quality teachers due to inadequate teaching facilities and low salaries. The government currently spends only 3% of its GDP on education which is inadequate and insufficient. To improve the quality of education, the government needs to spend more money from its coffers on education. (4)

Steps to improve their Participation :

A – A significant development in recent years has been the mushrooming of community-based organizations and initiatives at the local level for women. Reports indicates that self-help programs, often in the form of savings and credit or micro credit schemes, have succeeded in changing the lives of poor women, enhancing incomes and generating positive externalities such as increased self-esteem.

“Micro credit is about much more than access to money. It is about women gaining control over the means to make a living. It is about women lifting themselves out of poverty and vulnerability. I is about women achieving economic and political empowerment within their homes, their villages, their countries.” (5)

In this whole paper we have discussed about women condition in India in terms of access to education, opportunity to learn and grow and problems in achieving the same and at last some of the measures to rectify the errors and making things happen.

B-One more initiative taken by the government is the voucher system. Under the voucher system, parents are allowed to choose a school for their children and they get full or partial reimbursement for the expenses from the government. But however, the voucher system has also a draw back because it will further aggravate the problem of poor quality of education in government schools. Such a system will shift resources from government schools to private schools. This will worsen the situation of government schools which are already under-funded. Moreover, if the same amount given as vouchers can be used to build infrastructure in schools then the government can realize economies of scale. (6)

C -The government of India has also felt the need to put in place an appropriate institutional mechanism to look after the Education Rights of Women and thus instituted the formulation of All India Women’s Conference, National Women’s Commission and State Women’s Commission. At the same time government has approved special grants and allowances to NGO’s working for the cause of women upliftment and social mobility. Self Help Groups have also been constituted at Panchayat level to provide a platform for the rural women to discuss issues such as family planning, child marriage, widow remarriage, Sati, domestic violence. Mother Teresa’s Women University has greatly helped in the cause of women empowerment who received Noble Peace Prize for her genuine social work. (6)

D – India is getting a great help from World Bank for the betterment of women education and their empowerment in the country .It has approved funding for Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Programme (APRPRP) thus garnering international support for the upliftment of women. Women’s reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha has gained momentum with Govt. of India promising the reservation of one-third seats in Parliament for the women. (8)

E – One of the recommendations of National Policy on Education (1986) by the Government of India is to promote empowerment of women through the agency of education and it is considered to be a land mark in the approach to women’s education of illiterate. The National Literacy Mission is another positive step towards eradication of illiteracy in the age group of 15-35 years. Women’ education has assumed special significance in the context of India’s planned development, as it is incorporated in every Five-year plans as the major programme for the development of women. Universalization of elementary education, enrolment and retention of girls in the schools, promotion of balwadies and crutches, raising number of schools and colleges of arts , science, and professional for girls , Politechniques, girls hostels, multipurpose institutions and adult education programmes are some of the steps being taken by both central and state governments in India to boost-up women’s education. (5)

F – Since the prevailing situation of poor or less enrolment of girls in schools closes the doors for development and prosperity of future generation of women, concerted efforts must be initiated jointly by the government, parents and civil society to achieve universal enrolment for girls without any compromise. The enrolment can be made even mandatory for every girls by the government in the realm of compulsory education. (5)

G -The Ministry of Education both at Centre and State level should work out strategic steps to stop firmly the ongoing high drop -outs among girls especially in rural, tribal and slums areas with the serious involvement of voluntary organisations in every locality to realize zero drop-out among girls. (7)

H -The poverty stricken families can be identified through proper research and necessary poverty alleviation services be provided to strengthen the income thereby to enable the families to send their children to schools and colleges without much financial difficulties

I -Bonded Child labour and Child labour practice must be abolished with strict administrative measures and the relieved children form bondage should be integratedinto schools with suitable defence social mechanism.

J – Appropriate steps should be taken by the educational authorities with the participation of communities in order to bring the girl children to the main stream of education and development at every level including family and community.

K -The female child in every Indian family irrespective of socio-economic status should be moulded to overcome the challenges of inferiority; subservience and domesticity which place sever limitations on her education and development. Every family irrespective its socio-cultural and economic background can take it a challenge to bring up their girl children as dignified human being with empowerment in physical , mental, economic and social dimensions of life. (7)

L – The Midday meal scheme and other educational supportive services like free text books, Note books , Fee uniforms , Free Bicycles, Free bus , scholarships Free bus pass and so on as done in the state of Tamil Nadu can be provided in all states and union territories to lift up the literacy level among girls. (6)

M – As social evils like dowry, child marriage , caste system and other practices deprive rights of education for children belonging to poor and underprivileged families and communities, they should eliminated through well-designed packages of mass awareness programmes and social welfare measures with full support of public, political parties, NGOs and government agencies. (7)

N – The electronic and print media can play significant role in building a good and positive image about girls and women in general in the society by giving no focus for such advertisements and news fetching commercial gain at the cost of depicting women as an object. This would help in changing the society ‘s attitudes towards girls and their roles to treat every girl or woman as human being with self respect and dignity. (7)

O – Government, voluntary sector and philanthropic organisations and individuals should come forward to provide free education for poor girls and provide free hostel facilities for girls studying in schools and colleges in every state of India. This will certainly encourage children of poor families to pursue good and higher education without much impediments. (6)

P – The schools of social work, departments of women studies, Women Universities and other educational institutions in hand with NGOs and social service organisations such as Rotary Clubs , Lions Clubs , women lib organisations associations can work together to improve the educational status of the womenfolk in this country on mutual respect and understanding. (7)

Q – The parents of children belonging to poor, underprivileged families must be specially educated with proper social formula to help them to understand the significance of education for their girl children as foundation for empowerment. (1)

R – Government, NGOs and public should work hand in hand to implement the minimum age at marriage (21and above) Awareness should be created to institutionalise it as a traditional practice cut acrossing castes, religions, community etc. (5)

S – Government officials, policy makers, political parties and others should have adequate political will and conviction to empower women in India without double standard mind

T – The law enforcing machinery should be made really effective with efficient monitoring vigilant system to implement the constitutional and legislative provisions and administrative measures to assure free and compulsory education for all children of this nation without any gender discrimination. (7)

Its true that there is great deal of requirement to uplift women education in India at the grass root level because majority of the female population live in the rural areas .They do not avail the basic things in their life and to get education is still a distant dream for them. However Indian government is coming up with various scheme in their five year plan to make the situation healthy and encouraging for these women. In 1990s, grants from foreign donor agencies enabled the formation of new women-oriented NGOs(3). Self-help groups and NGOs such as Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) have played a major role in women’s rights in India. Many women have emerged as leaders of local movements. For example, Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

Companies like NIIT Ltd. (2) has come up with the project called Affirmative Action where they are taking girls from the down trodden areas and training them about English language, basic computer knowledge and after that helping them to get jobs in Retail, BPO ,Hospitality sectors. In this way the are educating them and by providing jobs women are getting empowered in taking decision, participating in family income and by helping their kids to make the future bright and opportunity oriented. (2 , 3)

There is no doubt about the fact that development of women has always been the central focus of planning since Independence. Empowerment is a major step in this direction but it has to be seen in a relational context. A clear vision is needed to remove the obstacles to the path of women’s emancipation both from the government and women themselves. Efforts should be directed towards all round development of each and every section of Indian women by giving them their due share.

The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millennia. From equal status with men in ancient times through the bad phases of the medieval period, to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers, the history of women in India has been on better track. In modern India, women have acquired high offices in India including that of the President, Prime minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition, etc. The current President of India is a woman. (5)

A review of government’s various programmes for women empowerment such as Swashakti, Swayamsidha, Streeshakti, Balika samrudhi yojana and another two thousand projects reveal that little has been done or achieved through these programmes. The discrepancy in the ideology and practice of the empowerment policy of women in India constitutes its continued social, economic and social backwardness. Women make up 52% of our country’s population. Hence there can be no progress unless their needs and interests are fully met. Empowerment would not hold any meaning unless they are made strong, alert and aware of their equal status in the society. Policies should be framed to bring them into the mainstream of society. It is important to educate the women. The need of the hour is to improve female literacy as education holds the key to development. (2 , 3)

There is no doubt about the fact that development of women has always been the central focus of planning since Independence. Empowerment is a major step in this direction but it has to be seen in a relational context. A clear vision is needed to remove the obstacles to the path of women’s emancipation both from the government and women themselves. Efforts should be directed towards all round development of each and every section of Indian women by giving them their due share.

I believe with the likes of Pratibha Patil, Sonia Gandhi, Indra Nooyi, Chanda Kochar etc. bagging the top jobs, it would not be long when India would be boosting of its Gender Equality Index (GEI) and Gender Development Index (GDI).Lesser will be the social stigma of women exploitation which have haunted it for many years gone by.

Summary:
Empowerment can be defined as the totality of the following or similar capabilities:

Having decision-making power of their own

Having access to information and resources for taking proper decision

Having a range of options from which you can make choices (not just yes/no, either/or.)

Ability to exercise assertiveness collective decision making

Having positive thinking on the ability to make change

Ability to learn skills for improving one’s personal or group power.

Ability to change others’ perceptions by democratic means.

Involving in the growth process and changes that is never ending and self-initiated

Increasing one’s positive self-image and overcoming stigma

Conclusion: From these discussions we can say that the most common explanation of ‘women’s empowerment’ is the ability to exercise full control over one’s actions. The last decades have witnessed some basic changes in the status and role of women in our society. There has been shift in policy approaches from the concept of ‘welfare’ in the seventies to ‘development’ in the eighties and now to ‘growth’ in the nineties and now trumpet of ’empowerment’. This process has been further accelerated with some sections of women becoming increasingly self-conscious of their discrimination in several areas of family and public life. They are also in a position to mobilize themselves on issues that can affect their overall position.

Women rights around the world suffer from many disadvantages such as discrimination, lack of business experience and limited access to financing, the challenges for women may be more severe in Islamic countries where religion, cultural factors and lack of an entrepreneurial environment are additional deterrents. Human Rights Watch said that Saudi Arabian women have been denied the below rights have been denied the Right to Education, Employment, Health, Equality before the Law and Freedom of Movement and Equality in Marriage. The most important is that there are now several female advisors on the Consultative Council. While there are several Saudi women artists, photographers, film-makers, journalists, writers and fashion designers who have achieved positive critical acclaim both at home and abroad. This essay will discuss women rights in Saudi Arabia. It begins discussing Islamic law, then Women rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, then Education.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia declared the Qur’an as the constitution of the country, governed on the basis of Islamic law. Criminal cases are tried under Sharia (Law) courts in the country. These courts exercise authority over the entire population including foreigners (whatever religion they practice). Cases involving small penalties are tried in Shari’a outline courts. More serious crimes are adjudicated in Shari’a courts of common pleas. Courts of appeal handle appeals from Shari’a courts.

A recent study showed that the majority of family-owned businesses in the country are women – a fact that calls for greater involvement by Saudi women in managing business, both directly and indirectly. Many family-owned firms are in the middle of the largest in the country in terms of assets, operation and manpower. There are at least 460 such businesses; moreover, there is mounting pressure among these businesses to allow Saudi women direct involvement in business rather than willing them to keep their money in bank accounts. At present, there are some 20,000 firms owned by Saudi women; these range from ordinary retail businesses to various types of industry http://travel.state.gov. This figure accounts for some five percent of all registered businesses. The number of women registered in local chambers of commerce and industry is on the increase. The Jeddah chamber, for example, has more than 2000 women members out of a total membership of 50,000. In Riyadh, the figure is over 2,400 out of a total of 35,000 members and this represents a fourfold increase in just ten years. Businesswomen registered with the Eastern Province chamber number more than 1,000 out of a total of 14,000. The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce has recently established the “Khadija bint Khuwailid Center” to provide services for businesswomen facilitate business opportunities and provide guidance to support women to run their own business. (The center was named after the Prophet Mohammad’s wife who was the first Muslim businesswoman.) Women account for 55 percent of Saudi graduates but they constitute only 4.8 percent of the work force. At present only 5.5 percent of an estimated 4.7 million Saudi women of working age are employed. With the support of private and public agencies, efforts are being made to establish women-only projects that will employ 70,000 qualified Saudi women. Women in Saudi Arabia are making a growing impact on the economy and For the first time, some 20 women in Saudi Arabia have been allowed to attend a session of the national assembly, which advises the monarchy. The women were allowed to follow debates in the consultative council on Sunday from a balcony overlooking the chamber.

There are several Saudi women artists, photographers, filmmakers, journalists, writers and fashion designers who have achieved positive critical acclaim both at home and abroad. Saudi women have contributed a lot to the community and have made the below development. Many brave Saudi women in business, academia and the media are leading the way for reforms within their fields in Saudi Arabia.

In report issued by Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org), Saudi Arabian women have been denied the below rights have been denied the Right to Education, Employment, Health, Equality before the Law, Freedom of Movement and Equality in Marriage. Saudi Arabia is also the only country in the world where women are banned from driving on public roads. Women may drive off-road and in private housing compounds – some of which extend to many square miles. The ban may be lifted soon, although with certain conditions. Although Saudi women make up 70% of those enrolled in universities, for social reasons, women make up just 5% of the workforce in Saudi Arabia, the lowest proportion in the world. The treatment of women has been referred to as “Sex segregation.” Implementation of a government resolution supporting expanded employment opportunities for women met resistance from within the labor ministry, from the religious police, and from the male citizenry.

Although women are legally not allowed to drive cars in Saudi Arabia, women in rural areas and other areas outside cities do drive cars. Many Saudis believe that allowing women the right to drive could lead to Western-style openness and an erosion of traditional values. They must be chauffeured to the airport. Prior to 2008, women were not allowed to enter hotels and furnished apartments without a chaperon (mahram). With a 2008 Royal Decree, however, the only requirement needed to allow women to enter hotels are their national ID cards, and the hotel must inform the nearby police station of their room reservation and length of stay, however this happens with everybody staying in the hotel not just women. Currently, Saudi women are not banned from employments; however they are not allowed to work in a mixed sex workplace. Today, education is mandatory for females and women make up 58% of University students.

The Saudi government has prioritized providing free education to all citizens without any discrimination, making education compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 15. According to the latest UNESCO in the year 2008, Saudi Arabia is moving toward the goal of achieving universal primary education. Outcome indicates that net enrollment in primary education, increase significantly to93.0%in2007(http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/emergencies/emergencies_1748.html). The world’s largest women-only university is being built in Saudi Arabia; with a campus that will cover 8m square meters and accommodate 40,000 students. Due to open in 2010, the Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University, on the outskirts of Riyadh, will offer courses in subjects that Saudi women find difficult to study at universities where gender segregation is enforced. It will have a library, conference centers, 15 academic faculties, laboratories and a 700-bed hospital. There will be services for research into nanotechnology, biosciences and information technology.The government of Saudi Arabia has urged the kingdom’s private sector to play a bigger role in creating jobs for the rising number of women graduates. UNESCO and Saudi government figures show that women make up 58% of the total student population at universities. The Saudi Arabian government provides educational opportunities for females as well as males. However, usually women were deprived of official education. In 1948, the first elementary school for girls was founded in Mecca. During the next decades, girls’ education developed. In recent years the number of schools, colleges, institutions and universities allocated for girls’ education in the Kingdom has increased extremely. However, education in Saudi Arabia is sex-segregated, and educations for girls come under the authority of the General Presidency for Girls’ Education.

In recent years, no sector of Saudi society has been subject to more debates and discussions than the women’s sector and their role in the development process. What is more, issues regarding women’s rights and responsibilities in that development have been equally controversial among both conservatives and progressives in Saudi society. Saudi Arabia has instituted in the last year or so regarding the greater role of women in Saudi society and economy.

Although criticism from Human Rights Watch and other organizations that Saudi Woman have been denied the Right to Education, Employment, Health, Equality before the Law Saudi Women Saudi women are dynamic. They are ready and able to take on challenges that have arisen over the past few decades and are able to get success in several areas of public and social life.

Women hold successful roles as deans of colleges and universities, CEOs of banks and IT experts and also 40 per cent of Saudi medical doctors are female. They hold key decision-making positions in he Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Saudi Council of Engineers, the Saudi Management Society and the Saudi Lawyer’s Association. Almost all government offices at both national and local levels have appointed women to positions of responsibility.

Opting out is a term most commonly understood to describe the decision of married women to voluntarily quit professional careers and remain out of the labor force for a relatively extended period of time during which they are engaged in family care giving, primarily motherhood, to the exclusion of paid employment. Women use a variety of strategies to reconcile work and family responsibilities, including time out of the labor force, opting out, by virtue of the attention given it by the media, has assumed special prominence and a distinct identity. The novelty of opting out is that the women said to be returning home to re-create the traditional family form of male breadwinners are, unlike the stay-at-home mothers of the 1950s, seasoned professionals with considerable career success who are making their decisions in an historical context that affords them a wider range of options than were available to earlier generations of women, even privileged women. Employment, when anticipated at all after marriage, was regarded as short-term and secondary. In the 1970s, educated women made a break with the past and began, in significant numbers, to combine sustained employment with motherhood. Opting out is the ability to exercise this option which is typically open only to women with a male partner whose earnings can offset the loss of their own. (Stone, 2007a)

Some women have resorted to opting out of work because they are not satisfied with their careers. They are not “choosing” to quit but rather are unable to continue, pushed out by the conditions of their jobs rather than pulled home by their children. Highly educated, elite professional women get tired of the demands of work, do not like the effects on their family lives, and opt out of the fast professional tracks of law, business, and journalism to take care of their children. Some of these women are full-time mothers; others work part-time, typically at less demanding jobs. Not all elite professional women are opting out by any means. How much of women’s decision to stay home is a choice, and how much is the result of inflexible and hostile workplaces. Suffice it to say here that the ideology of intensive mothering, combined with the rising demands of workplaces and lack of public support for children’s welfare (e.g., healthcare, daycare, maternity and paternity leave) create severe difficulties for many mothers, privileged and otherwise. (Belkin, 2003, October 26.) Their children are pure, innocent and helpless and need a selfless nurturer who will shelter them from the corrosive outside world, either by providing care herself or ensuring that alternative (although inevitably second-best) care is provided. The mother/child bond is uniquely tight, and lasting, and essential to a child’s healthy psychological development and only a mother (not a father, other family member, or paid caretaker) can provide this care. Mothers are responsible for “nurturing, listening, responding, explaining, negotiating, distracting, and searching for appropriate alternative care,” practices which are “so labor-intensive, so time-consuming, so energy-absorbing” because mothers “understand themselves as largely responsible for the way their children turn out”. Children seem happier, more rested and childlike. They get along better with siblings, and are quite creative in their uses of free time. (Hays, 1996, p. 120) Professionals who had quit their jobs and were stay-at-home mothers -opted out, as conventionally understood -which found that the large majority of these women were highly conflicted about their decision, Further challenging the prevailing explanation that their decision was primarily about motherhood. (Stone, 2007a)

Because of the high cost of living, life becomes expensive thus making women to look for work to support the demands of their families. Middle-class women can’t afford to quit their jobs without scaling back considerably. The families of working class parents are believed to flourish with large amounts of unscheduled time, and adult intervention in their activities is not considered a worthwhile use of anyone’s time. Poor and working-class parents use fewer words with their children, and although children prove quite capable of expressing opinions, adults do not actively cultivate this ability, nor do they cultivate the questioning of authorities and negotiation. Finally, discipline is a matter of rules and sometimes physical force, not reason. As a result, poor and working-class children find themselves disadvantaged vis a vis their middle-class peers, and privilege is passed down. Mothers who work full-time, for instance, often defend this choice as “better for the child in the long-run. Also importantly, mothers are held responsible by others for their children’s well-being, which means that choosing not to adopt tenets of this ideology requires a defense – which is often made in terms of the ideology itself. The accomplishment of natural growth does not, however, mesh as neatly with the procedures and expectations of schools and the workplace as does concerted cultivation, which encourages children to engage in many time management and linguistic practices that institutions expect and reward. (Lareau, 2003) Women do not quit their careers because of a preference to stay home with their children. Some professions might be more or less conducive to women’s persistence suggests that there are lessons to be learned from certain fields that might be usefully applied to others, especially the corporate sector. Although virtually all of the women in the sample were happy to have more time to spend with their children, most still identified with their professions and intended to return to work at some point in the future, although their plans are uncertain. Having a job, especially a fulfilling professional career, is more interesting than housework and child-rearing. Men don’t want housewives, Some men fantasize about having a woman running their home and doing not much more, sure. But nowadays, a lot of men prefer to marry more independent women, and would find the idea of supporting a wife intimidating. Women with children are found to have lower full-time, year-round labor force participation rates overall than male graduates or women without children, but those with advanced degrees showed a strong commitment to their careers by returning to work after only brief absences following childbirth (Stone, 2007a)

I would agree with Ann Crittenden the Author of “The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is still the Least Valued”. This is because she portrays women as the good mother, the wise mother . . . is more important to the community than even the ablest man; her career is more worthy of honor and is more useful to the community than the career of any man, no matter how successful. A mother’s work is not just invisible; it can become a handicap. Raising children may be the most important job in the world, but you can’t put it on a resume. The idea that time spent with one’s child is time wasted is embedded in traditional economic thinking. People who are not formally employed may create human capital, but they themselves are said to suffer a deterioration of the stuff, as if they were so many pieces of equipment left out to rust. Inflexible workplaces guarantee that many women will have to cut back on, if not quit, their employment once they have children. The result is a loss of income that produces a bigger wage gap between mothers and childless women than the wage gap between young men and women. The very definition of a mother is selfless service to another. We don’t owe Mother for her gifts; she owes us. And in return for her bounty, Mother receives no lack of veneration. Crittenden proves homemakers are essential to the economic and political success of our country and its inhabitants. She also emphasizes the contributions of the large number of educated women who have chosen to stay home and raise children.(Crittenden, February 2001)

“Opting out” is a luxury unavailable to most women and only applicable to those with high earnings/savings or wealthy partners; professional women with the option to opt out might take it because they are not given flexible options to stay in their professional jobs and parent; women in all job sectors are more affected by the recession, especially in jobs like finance where a male-dominated environment might lead to high-ranking women being axed because of the perception they aren’t tough enough; women with the ability to pretend they weren’t forced out of their jobs might do so by claiming they chose not to work to stay home and parent–such women are not included in unemployment numbers or given the attendant benefits of unemployment; and the new frontier might be the “flexibility stigma.” The only way to get rid of the “flexibility stigma” is to embrace a culture where professional men and women each take off work in equal measure to care for children or attend to household tasks. Then, we might in a world where there is a “parent stigma” but at least it won’t be borne solely by women. (Leonhard, 2010, August.)

Conclusion.

Because it does not conform to the standard conception of a profession, motherhood might seem to have no place in this issue. A woman requires no special expertise, no knowledge, skill or educational degree to become a mother. Furthermore, the work she does as a mother is unpaid, sometimes even unrecognized as work. These two features of motherood – its accessibility to any fertile girl or woman, and the fact that society provides no financial compensation to mothers for their hard work–are often lamented, though towards very different political ends. In fact, motherhood might be considered the very opposite of a profession: a status dependent upon biological, cultural and social factors, not educational ones, and involving labor done without pay or recognized steps to advancement. (article)

In society, females are degraded

and denied the dignity and respect that men receive. For generations (and

especially in under-developed countries) women have been denied access to equal

opportunities, in cases of reading, writing, voting, family decision-making and

career development. This inequality has been facilitated by cultural, religious

and political barriers, and historically, women have been considered as the

weaker sex, incapable of making rational and abstract decisions. Barriers to

opportunities and sexist assumptions have caused women to become slaves within

the male-dominated society. The equality of women vary across countries and

cultures, as an example: in Arab countries, with high levels of Islam, women

are denied access to leadership, management, and political positions, and, in

turn, misrepresenting and denying them from decision-making processes. In

China, the top political positions are choked with males. These traditions

endanger females to male manipulation and control, limiting their

opportunities. This affects women on an individual basis, and on the macro,

societal environment, as they are unable to contribute to their families or

wider circumstances. It is contended that the status of women must change, to

be granted equal opportunities. This assessment will analyze The Handmaid’s

Tale by Margaret Attwood, discussing the socio-political sphere of female

inequality, and its relation to contemporary society.

Overview of Topic

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Attwood presents a dystopian world in

which women are subjected to a variety of horrific treatments. Women are denied

access to reading and writing and allowed only certain hobbies, such as

gardening. They are attached to men, and considered objects for child

production, and expected to be loyal and submissive to their male counterparts,

or ‘masters’, being rebellious is considered a serious crime with serious

repercussions. Women have designated roles, dependent on their age, social

status and ability to have children, placed into roles such as Wives,

Handmaids, Jezebels and Marthas. The book takes place in the Republic of

Gilead, which promotes male chauvinism and female degradation. The society in

religious based, where values placed on the women are on the basis of their

ability to reproduce.

In this novel, the ideas of feminism have been warped. The new,

religious political order dislikes the freedom of females, especially in areas

of sex and contraception. The order believes that sex for pleasure, rather than

reproduction, has led to infertility, and believes women are no longer treated

with respect.

In contemporary society, feminism and female activism have

increased, to afford the rights and privileges of women and remove the

degradation of men. This has given women access to equal opportunities in a

variety of aspects, including employment, healthcare, and education. The

removal of the patriarchal society will benefit the community.

Discussion

In Attwood’s book, the decreased birth rates has presumably come

from social and environmental degradation, the after-effect of dangerous gases.

In a time of fear, and no children, a military coup and presidential killing

led to a new state, that took control on women’s bodies. Divorces were

considered null, and females were unable to have bank accounts, hold jobs,

vote, or read. They were denied their independence, and their social status was

changed to be based on their husband’s monetary value, or their own

reproductive value.

This tale represents the

importance of female independence, and the value that objects and activities

hold to their independence. Including education, rights, property ownership,

contraceptive decision making and child custody.

The right to be educated is one

of the most important aspects of female equality. Education allows them to contribute

to society, and gain independence. According to Wollstonecraft, the degradation

of women stems from the assumption that they are weak, irrational, and incapable

of abstract thought. Education will empower women to make rational and abstract

decisions, changing society to consider women as equal. Education will enable

women to play a critical and dignified role in society, eliminating the

male-dominated stereotype that women are incapable of making important

decisions.

Another way that women will avoid

being degraded in the society is by being well prepared role models who give a

dignified and respectful education to their children and this is attributed to

the fact that women are the main educators and up bringers of most children in

the society as cop0atredto the male counterparts. Women from the primary

educators of young children thus by women having a relevant level of education

on the family matters and the roles they play in the society modeling skills

will give them the best opportunity to offer dignified and respectful service

to the society countering the traditional thinking that women are not good role

models. Biased thought which was based on the fact that women were less

educated and would give falsified information while educating the youngsters.

Based on the past experience women have been neglected when it comes to

education opportunities and that has made men to stereotype women as toys and

objects to be used by men to satisfy the needs of male ego resulting in the

degradation of the value of women in the society for generations. Therefore by

women getting the expected level of education on family matters especially on

upbringing and making correct choices will dignify their inevitable and necessary

contribution to the growth and development of the society as a whole.

In the traditional setting women had been taught from infancy that

beauty is a woman’s sceptre and this has made their minds to shape themselves

to the body imprisoning women from achieving the best of themselves in the

society. They have been made to be rational companions to their husbands who

solely focus on the outward accomplishments limiting their complete

participation and contribution to the society and this ideology has made women

to be degraded based on the stereotypic male performance in the society, thus

educating women to certain levels of understating will boost their dignity and

respect as they will be able to have enough resources that will yield more

contribution of women into societal realms. Women should get the most perfect

education that boosts their understanding strengthening both the body and their

hearts; this will render them independent both ideally and philosophically

hence able to earn respect and dignity from the society as they have the

necessary elements of knowledge that promotes the cementing of the society.

In the Handmaid’s tale women are seen to have a deeper sense of

attachment beyond what men is able to see. For instance Offred when interacting

with Moira and the wife of the commander, talking about her daughter and her

mother she constantly shows the implication that women connect more deeply

rather than just a casual interaction. This illustration brings in the concept

of sensibility in women which I think if well considered will increase the

dignity and respect that is accorded to women in the modern society. This is

simply because women as a whole unit should be able to come together and inform

each other on the best way forward in the society instead of depending so much

on their feelings in making irrational decisions that leads them to being

degraded.

In the novel Handmaid’s tale the wife of the commander reports the

handmaid to the eyes or the police to be punished possibly by death because she

became jealous after finding out the dress that her husband had given to the

handmaid while they visited the secret lounge where jezebels entertained the

state officials. Her decision was made based on her feelings instead of

thinking and such kind of habit results to women being degraded their dignity

especially in the eyes of the society and men. Therefore in order for women to

gain dignity and respect they must corporate as one unit in tackling the issues

that affect them for example in the handmaids tale the wife of the commander

secretly cooperates with the handmaid in making her sleep with the commanders

chauffeur so that both women don’t get expelled to the colonies and sure enough

it worked quiet swell. Hence in the modern society when women act and consult

each other with respect and sense instead of letting their feeling to control

them will be able to be dignified and respected more in the society

(Wollstonecraft, 89).

In addition to that for women to be dignified they should consider

themselves as equal entities when it comes to representation especially in the

political circles where they will be able to contribute to decisions made by

the politicians regarding the society at large. Thus by women ensuring they

attain certain representation in the leadership realms they will be able to be

involved in the decision-making process e.g. on gender rights. Such involvement

will ensure that women get their deserved dignity in the society rather than

being degraded simply because they don’t have a say in everything that greatly

affect them. This is seen in the handmaid’s tale in the Gilead era where women

have no rights to voting and leadership except serving as reproductive objects.

In the modern world women especially in the totalitarian regimes like in Arab

countries degrades women through their leadership and political tactics as they

restrict women in participating in political and leadership making them less of

human beings and more of objects. Therefore by women increasing their

involvement in leadership and political participation they will be able to be

dignified and respected as equal human beings.

Another level in which I think when women attain they will not be

degraded is the issues that regard career and professionalism. Most women in

the past generations have been believed to do best as housewives and servants

of their families. In the handmaids tale women are categorized based on the

services the do in the society e.g. the hand maids, house wives, jezebels and

aunts. Such categorizing of women and stereotyping imply that they can only

perform as subordinates; for example in the novel women are seen as people to

be led by men. The element of women being left behind in career choice and

performance for instance by taking the traditionally so called manly courses

like sciences has made them victims of degradation (Wollstonecraft, 89).

Therefore by women taking charge of their profession by choosing

classy careers like medicine and law they will be able to earn themselves

dignity and respect just as men do because their misrepresentation in the manly

careers has made them to be viewed as a weaker sex incapable of being accorded

dignity and respect. In the handmaid’s tale women are seen to be used as

objects for the fulfillment of men’s needs like sexual and reproductive

benefits. The handmaids are basically used to give birth to children for the

commanders and the elites in the Gilead society. In the modern society women

have been degraded because they are not economically and financially independent

thus often get married to depend on men for provision of basic needs and this

habit has made them to be degraded as dependable. Thus by women using education

and their careers to attain financial freedom will reduce their dependency on

men in the society which will in turn earn them dignity and respect as they

don’t depend men to sustain their lives hence they can make personal decisions

regarding the best choices for their lives. In Gilead era women were the

subjects of men and had no right to any profession for instance the

televangelist whose career in the pre-Gilead era made her a dignified woman the

society was striped off making her to be handmaid who was regularly controlled

by the males as she was made dependent. Without a respectable career and

independence women become less dignified and render them as a weaker sex in the

society (Atwood, 123).

For women to be dignified and respected in the society they should

be able to be involved in the making of family decisions. This include issues

of child birth, property ownership, rights to divorce, child care, access to

contraceptives and family panning methods, abortion issues and the issues of

polygamy. In handmaid’s tale women were owned by men making them their property

e.g. Offred was owned by Fred and she was responsible for keeping birth to

children for Fred and they didn’t contribute to such decision, also the monthly

sex ritual was purely man’s decision and Offred distasted it as it violated her

natural rights and degraded both her and the wife of Fred. In the modern

society women especially those unaware of their natural regarding family

decisions have been forced to polygamy, having many children and even denied

justice regarding decision making on family rights and equality. Such has made

them to be degraded in the society and therefore by women attaining certain

level of understanding of their rights on family decisions they will be able to

be accorded more dignity and respect by the society especially the men because

they can use the legal means to get justice anytime their dignity has been

suppressed unfairly. The more women get involved in the making of family

decision the more dignity they will be able to acquire.Overview of Topic

Contrary to the modern world, In Handmaid tale by Margaret Attwood its clear that in her dystopian world women are subjected to horrific treatments at all level of the society in that women are not allowed to read any of writing like magazines and tabloids, think, play mind games like scrabble, create things of their own abilities like gardening. Instead they are denied opportunities that would otherwise liberate them from the men’s enslavery hence becoming vulnerable to be used as property and objects my men. In addition to that women are not supposed to be talking or even act in a rebellious way towards men instead they are expected by the society to be loyal and submissive to the men domino in the state. In the novel women have the chief role of concentrating in ensuring that they achieve their designated roles based on their levels of castes eh as wives, hand maids, Jezebels and Martha’s. All the happenings experienced in the republic of Gilead are attributed to a pervasive, physical as well as social degradation in the pre-Gilead era that made men to change the societal and political policies to degrade women dignity and promote male chauvinism in the state. All the treatment accorded to women in the Gilead era are supposedly intended to show the value of women and increase their dignity in the society after it was heavily degraded in the pre-Gilead era. In the Gilead era women have their values charged based on their abilities to use sex for reproduction purpose rather than for leisure.

In the modern world there has been an increased attention towards feminism and other female activism that had seen women accorded much rights and privileges which made them to be degraded in the society my men. This is mainly attributed to the increased levels of radical feminism that has depicted men as the cause of most of women’s problems and suffering yet in reality women have increasing degraded as a result of the after math of the intensifying feminism in the pre-Gilead society. Out of the attention given to women affairs they have been enable to easily access contraceptives, abortion services and use of sex for pleasure leading to reduced population in the state. According to the Gilead generation such feminism had led to women being used by women as sex objects and property and therefore the new state was targeting at offering women with their lost dignity and respect.

In the modern society women activism and feminism has increased and spread its effects to the more conservative and traditional societies empowering women to know their natural rights making them to carry out a revolution against the past injustices against them in the society. This has seen women access equal opportunities in alls aspects of life and more informed generation of women who sufficiently contribute to the growth and development of the society initially dominated by degrading men.

Discussion

In handmaid’s tale the result of decreased birth rates was presumably because of social and environmental degradation during the pre-Gilead era which led to coup that formed new state that took control of women bodies and used them chiefly for reproduction purposes. In attaining their goals the state denied women privileges of voting, reading, holding property and anything else that would make them independent and empowered thus promoting the men’s ability to undermine their dignity. Therefore in the modern society it’s clear that women have to attain some level of various things in order to be dignified in the society. Some of these thing that women need to attain I order not to be degraded include being, educated, aware of their rights, regarding both state and family issues like birth, abortion, property ownership, child custody and decision making processes in issues that affects them.

For a woman to be respected and dignified in the modern society one of the things that women should attain is their rights to be educated rationally thus giving them an opportunity of making a full contribution to societies they come from. According to Wollstonecraft women have been degraded by their societies simply because they have been assumed that they are weak beings who are not able to make rational or even abstract thought about the society. Therefore for them to be seen as equal beings who can contribute to the development of the society just as the way men do, they should attain certain level of education that will serve to empower them to make rational and abstract decisions that will steer their societies ahead thus making them to be respected and dignified as human beings. Therefore by women getting the appropriate education and training they will be able to play a critical and dignified role in the society which helps in eliminating the male stereotypic thinking that women are incapable of making societal decisions. When women get educated they are capable of thinking and acting as men contrary to the traditional assumption and hence success in the society resulting from educated women will help to reverse the biased thinking thus giving them a deserved dignity and respect from all quarters of the society.

Another way that women will avoid being degraded in the society is by being well prepared role models who give a dignified and respectful education to their children and this is attributed to the fact that women are the main educators and up bringers of most children in the society as cop0atredto the male counterparts. Women from the primary educators of young children thus by women having a relevant level of education on the family matters and the roles they play in the society modeling skills will give them the best opportunity to offer dignified and respectful service to the society countering the traditional thinking that women are not good role models. Biased thought which was based on the fact that women were less educated and would give falsified information while educating the youngsters. Based on the past experience women have been neglected when it comes to education opportunities and that has made men to stereotype women as toys and objects to be used by men to satisfy the needs of male ego resulting in the degradation of the value of women in the society for generations. Therefore by women getting the expected level of education on family matters especially on upbringing and making correct choices will dignify their inevitable and necessary contribution to the growth and development of the society as a whole.

In the traditional setting women had been taught from infancy that beauty is a woman’s sceptre and this has made their minds to shape themselves to the body imprisoning women from achieving the best of themselves in the society. They have been made to be rational companions to their husbands who solely focus on the outward accomplishments limiting their complete participation and contribution to the society and this ideology has made women to be degraded based on the stereotypic male performance in the society, thus educating women to certain levels of understating will boost their dignity and respect as they will be able to have enough resources that will yield more contribution of women into societal realms. Women should get the most perfect education that boosts their understanding strengthening both the body and their hearts; this will render them independent both ideally and philosophically hence able to earn respect and dignity from the society as they have the necessary elements of knowledge that promotes the cementing of the society.

In the Handmaid’s tale women are seen to have a deeper sense of attachment beyond what men is able to see. For instance Offred when interacting with Moira and the wife of the commander, talking about her daughter and her mother she constantly shows the implication that women connect more deeply rather than just a casual interaction. This illustration brings in the concept of sensibility in women which I think if well considered will increase the dignity and respect that is accorded to women in the modern society. This is simply because women as a whole unit should be able to come together and inform each other on the best way forward in the society instead of depending so much on their feelings in making irrational decisions that leads them to being degraded.

In the novel Handmaid’s tale the wife of the commander reports the handmaid to the eyes or the police to be punished possibly by death because she became jealous after finding out the dress that her husband had given to the handmaid while they visited the secret lounge where jezebels entertained the state officials. Her decision was made based on her feelings instead of thinking and such kind of habit results to women being degraded their dignity especially in the eyes of the society and men. Therefore in order for women to gain dignity and respect they must corporate as one unit in tackling the issues that affect them for example in the handmaids tale the wife of the commander secretly cooperates with the handmaid in making her sleep with the commanders chauffeur so that both women don’t get expelled to the colonies and sure enough it worked quiet swell. Hence in the modern society when women act and consult each other with respect and sense instead of letting their feeling to control them will be able to be dignified and respected more in the society (Wollstonecraft, 89).

In addition to that for women to be dignified they should consider themselves as equal entities when it comes to representation especially in the political circles where they will be able to contribute to decisions made by the politicians regarding the society at large. Thus by women ensuring they attain certain representation in the leadership realms they will be able to be involved in the decision-making process e.g. on gender rights. Such involvement will ensure that women get their deserved dignity in the society rather than being degraded simply because they don’t have a say in everything that greatly affect them. This is seen in the handmaid’s tale in the Gilead era where women have no rights to voting and leadership except serving as reproductive objects. In the modern world women especially in the totalitarian regimes like in Arab countries degrades women through their leadership and political tactics as they restrict women in participating in political and leadership making them less of human beings and more of objects. Therefore by women increasing their involvement in leadership and political participation they will be able to be dignified and respected as equal human beings.

Another level in which I think when women attain they will not be degraded is the issues that regard career and professionalism. Most women in the past generations have been believed to do best as housewives and servants of their families. In the handmaids tale women are categorized based on the services the do in the society e.g. the hand maids, house wives, jezebels and aunts. Such categorizing of women and stereotyping imply that they can only perform as subordinates; for example in the novel women are seen as people to be led by men. The element of women being left behind in career choice and performance for instance by taking the traditionally so called manly courses like sciences has made them victims of degradation (Wollstonecraft, 89).

Therefore by women taking charge of their profession by choosing classy careers like medicine and law they will be able to earn themselves dignity and respect just as men do because their misrepresentation in the manly careers has made them to be viewed as a weaker sex incapable of being accorded dignity and respect. In the handmaid’s tale women are seen to be used as objects for the fulfillment of men’s needs like sexual and reproductive benefits. The handmaids are basically used to give birth to children for the commanders and the elites in the Gilead society. In the modern society women have been degraded because they are not economically and financially independent thus often get married to depend on men for provision of basic needs and this habit has made them to be degraded as dependable. Thus by women using education and their careers to attain financial freedom will reduce their dependency on men in the society which will in turn earn them dignity and respect as they don’t depend men to sustain their lives hence they can make personal decisions regarding the best choices for their lives. In Gilead era women were the subjects of men and had no right to any profession for instance the televangelist whose career in the pre-Gilead era made her a dignified woman the society was striped off making her to be handmaid who was regularly controlled by the males as she was made dependent. Without a respectable career and independence women become less dignified and render them as a weaker sex in the society (Atwood, 123).

For women to be dignified and respected in the society they should be able to be involved in the making of family decisions. This include issues of child birth, property ownership, rights to divorce, child care, access to contraceptives and family panning methods, abortion issues and the issues of polygamy. In handmaid’s tale women were owned by men making them their property e.g. Offred was owned by Fred and she was responsible for keeping birth to children for Fred and they didn’t contribute to such decision, also the monthly sex ritual was purely man’s decision and Offred distasted it as it violated her natural rights and degraded both her and the wife of Fred. In the modern society women especially those unaware of their natural regarding family decisions have been forced to polygamy, having many children and even denied justice regarding decision making on family rights and equality. Such has made them to be degraded in the society and therefore by women attaining certain level of understanding of their rights on family decisions they will be able to be accorded more dignity and respect by the society especially the men because they can use the legal means to get justice anytime their dignity has been suppressed unfairly. The more women get involved in the making of family decision the more dignity they will be able to acquire.

When managing diversity is said, we may think of ethnicity, origin of race, and may be gender or other factors; however, diversity meanings are much broader than that. Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (Esty, et al., 1995). Diversity at workplace has taken wide range of consideration, discussion, and implemented rules. Here, I’m going to tackle specifically the issues of women at work place. Women on their path of struggle to maintain equality have gone through hurdle ways as well they have created milestones. ( Marquez. J ,2008) As of today, we commemorate Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run for US. vice president on a major party ticket. She passed away on (26/March/2011). She was a symbol of women successes. The pursuant of equal opportunity requires hard work at different levels; by understanding of women needs, legislatures, reformations of out dated rules, and redefining social norms if we take UK as an example we will find women still suffering from unequal pay and, increasingly(Traynor, I. 2010),

Women’s workforce in historical perspective

Historically, Britain’s women have been deprived of equal opportunities at workplace. Even though, the picture of gender equality at workplace seems to be complicated, but for many factors women have to have equal access to work, pay, promotion, and for other incentives. (Hudson. P, 2008 ) In the past women rights have been belittled for the argument of their limited role in public life at large. Women main responsibilities could hardly be seen outside of their traditional family chores. In addition to that factor, there are other cultural and social factors that hindered women from achieving higher standards at workplace.( Goffinet.F, 2009)

In 1842, the parliament passed a law to ban women from working in mines and factories for long hours. However as people argue that the Victorian era was a time of change, women were restricted to specific jobs such as nursing and midwifery however, this era saw the rise of Florence Nightingale , who eased the way for women to pursue the career of nursing and to be more confident and effective in the society. Worman D. 2005),

The domestic service of all kinds had the major interest of female employments (close to 50% in specific areas such as the capital: London), then the textile and the clothing sector has ranked almost in second rank. Also, they were having a good participation degree in metal wares, pottery and in other simple jobs like laundry work, cleaning, confectionery, brewing and retailing, without forgetting that they were largely concentrated in particular industries based in the regions of the country. For example, the cotton and woollen industries of south Lancashire and west Yorkshire. ( BBC ,2011)

After the Victorian era, in the period between 1930-1950 women were having a prominent role in the textiles, pottery and clothing sectors. In addition to that, women provided cheap and adaptive workforce. Result in, many new technologies began to adapted with the idea of contracting with the opposite sex workforce rather than relying solely on male workforce.

In fact, because they were novices working in new sectors, they were all trying proving themselves in the face of skeptics and opponents through providing their hard effort which led to achieve high level of productivity. Unfortunately, employers were occupying a large part of opponents and skeptics and they had many justifications that help them to avoid hiring women, like degree of absenteeism, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth and other personal problems holidays as well.

However, the number of those opponents and skeptics has decreased and women started to hold more respectable in the workplace society after that significant increasing in the number of women graduating high school, this was in the period between 1950s and late 1970s. ( BBC ,2011)

The beginning of the evolution

The first World War could be considered to be the turning point in the history of women`s struggle in the workplace. During the war, millions of men were recruited to fight abroad and this has created a considerable gap in the job market. The state felt that there was a need to fill this gap and women were the perfect solution.( Fitzgerald. M ,2010)

Recruiting agencies and the media played a major role in facilitating this approach by the government of that time. Women also proved that they were competent at the work place and managed to work under intense condition and contribute to the overall growth of the country. However after the war ended, women were quite liberalized from the Victorian era stereotype of women, they had more confidence and they managed to prove their skeptics and opponents wrong and made it clear that once they are out an working , it will be difficult for them to go back. (Traynor. I, 2010),

Ten years after the first World War, the Representation of People Act was passed by the parliament in 1928, which gave full rights to women, including the right to vote and work etc. this was a result of several campaigns led by women rights activists over the years like Millicent Fawcett and Emmiline Pankhurst of the UK women`s suffragettes movement. They managed to succeed in giving women their full rights by public demonstration, propaganda and violent protests, however by the passing of this law women became more liberalized, but they still face the different kinds of discrimination in the work place until this day.( Fitzgerald M 2010),

After the Second World War and towards the end of 1970s, the world witnessed an incredible change. The number of women’s workforce increased due to more awareness and the proportion of educated women became higher, which made the participation of women in the work place the basics for the family and society and even economies.( BBC news 2006),

In today’s life, women are seen as successful figures on all walks of life. Women are politicians, nurses, scientists, and the list goes on. There is no valid argument which could be legitimate on putting women on a degraded position. Women have achieved high standards in contributing to the wellbeing of humankind. United Nations Charters have granted equality for women at workplace. Discrimination against women has been out lawed in many civil societies But the claim that women still face gender discrimination is valid. There is a still subtle discrimination women face at workplace. This includes sexual, racial and religious discrimination. The number of cases of sexual harassment has doubled in the recent years, with more women leaving their jobs after reporting incidence of sexual harassment or due to pregnancy and maternity leave.( BBC, 2006)

Because of their biological nature, women deserve to have special considerations. Women go through different changes, pregnancy, parenting, and menopause. Within those times, women physical and emotional capacities are deterred. They all should be granted fair consideration during maternity and family based duties. There are mounting concerns regarding women of color at workplace. At society at large women of color, immigrants as an example, are struggling to achieve as others)) Sexual harassment against women at workplace is an imminent threat It is estimated that in UK 50% of women in employment are, or have been, subject to sexual harassment of some form or other ( Hudson P. 2009).

Sexual Harassment

According to the Equal Opportunities Commission EOC, half of women in the workplace have complained of some form of sexual harassment.

The sexual harassment in the workplace is receiving increasing attention recently, particularly when participation rate of women in the labour force is rising.

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNDFW) defines sexual harassment as “unwelcome or unwanted verbal, non-verbal, physical or visual conduct based on sex or of a sexual nature; the acceptance or rejection of which affects an individual’s employment”. There are many types of sexual harassment; the most famous are;.(Susan .M, 2009)

– Serial Harassment: In this case, harassers plan their approaches very carefully, and then attack in private.

– Stalking: the harasser follows the victim home to his/her home to threaten them and gain control

– Power-player: if the harasser has more power than the victim they will ask for a sexual favour if the

victim does not cooperate then they will be pressurized

– Situational Harassment: Some harassers that maybe in a stressful situation think that sex will eliminate their frame of mind.

– Great Gallant: Usually, it comes as a verbal harassment. It focuses on personal appearances. (Susan .M 2009)

The UNIFEM 2006 report states that between 40 and 50 percent of women in the European Union have reported some form of sexual harassment or unacceptable sexual behaviour in the workplace (included verbal, physical or sexual). All forms of sexual harassment is covered by the Sex discrimination Act 1975 which protects women from discrimination on the grounds of sex or marriage , under the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations also, it makes it a criminal offence for a person to pursue a course of conduct (including speech) that amounts to harassment of another as was this case

“I was forced to quit my job because of constant harassment from my boss,” says Reena (name changed), a young woman working for an international organization. Reena decided to quit her stable job after her employer started sexually harassing her. “He touched me unnecessarily, asked me to accompany him to dinners and made me feel uncomfortable,” she complains. This is the plight of many women who join the workforce, not only in one place but the world over.( Khushbu .A 2010)

Mothers and other colours discrimination

Job discrimination against mothers resembles other forms of race and gender discrimination in that mothers experience different employment terms than other workers and many must endure workplace comments and behaviors that are openly hostile and unwelcoming. Even without words, Sarah Clarke (real name withheld) got her employer’s message loud and clear. Working in the male-dominated field of finance, Clarke recalls, “When I went on maternity leave, I said I wanted to work from home [during my leave]aˆ¦[but] they wouldn’t allow me to call into meetings. And when I came back to work, I didn’t have a desk.” Kimberly. T,2008)

A review carried out by the Equal opportunities Commission suggested that women with young children face more discrimination in the workplace than disabled people or those from ethnic minorities. A partnered mother with a child aged under 11 is 45% less likely to be in work than a partnered man. The review also showed 7% of working women were either dismissed, made redundant or left their jobs due to pregnancy discrimination (Dyer ,C. 2008)

Also A survey of 122 recruitment agencies that revealed more than 70% of them had been asked by clients to avoid hiring pregnant women or those of childbearing age

According to the EOC study, most of the women working in the retail and consumer services sectors were likely to have been dismissed or made redundant due to pregnancy-related discrimination. Others areas where women are more likely to have experienced discrimination include management and sales sectors ( Francoise, G, 2009)

Women who had been working for their employer for less than a year when pregnant; and women working in establishments with fewer than 10 staff were also have been victims of discrimination . As was in the case of Ms Jones made redundant by an engineering company while on her maternity leave and she made a claim for sex discrimination.( Laurie, S.2011)

There was also some indication that women who were treated badly during pregnancy were less likely to return to work. However, according to the study, only a small percentage of those who experienced discrimination took any steps to resolve it. The law in this section has long been established on the ground of pregnancy women it is less favourable treatment on the form of sex discrimination. (BBC, 2007)

Nevertheless, in 2005, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 was (Amendment) to make this protection clear and to confirms that discrimination will arise if a woman suffers less favourable treatment either on her pregnancy or because she wants to exercise her right. the Case law has established that an employer who refused a woman on her time off work or return from maternity leave is probably to be in break of law and the provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act1975.( Laurie S.2011)

It was the perception in the 60’s and early 70’s that there were believed to be in industry, men’s jobs and women jobs. This was old fashioned and it failed to take account of the ability of both sexes and was discriminatory. The Act sought to prevent this happening. There were many examples of cases where employers would say “women can’t do this particular job because it is too strenuous or too difficult etc”.( Angla .S 2010).

Section 47C of the Employment Rights Act 1996 also protects a woman from suffering a detriment on the grounds of her pregnancy. This can be , resign Insensitive remarks Unfair selection for redundancy.( Hudson P. 2009).

On the other hand, other colour women have the same problem. Trevor Philips in the Equalities Review (2007) says that in the United Kingdom 30% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are less likely to be in work than white women of similar ages and qualification and this could be related to racial and religious discrimination in the workplace. Whereas , there are legislations in the work place to ensure the fair treatment of employees regardless of their religion or race . These are created by EU recommendation and adopted by the UK government this Regulations cover all religions and beliefs .Race Relations Act 1976. Also the UK legislations state that the racial hatred against a group of persons in UK defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic origins by the Public Order Act 1986 Section (BBC,2007)

The Race Relations Act 1976 applies to discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, nationality and ethnic and national origins. It applies in Great Britain but not in Northern Ireland. Religious discrimination is not explicitly covered in Britain but separate legislation covers this in Northern Ireland. “Ethnic origin”, however, has been interpreted broadly to cover groups with a common or presumed common identity such as Jews or Sikhs. There are important exceptions to the legislation which, for example, allow discrimination on grounds of nationality to preserve immigration controls. Both direct and indirect discrimination are covered by the legislation which applies to all stages of employment: arrangements made for deciding who is offered a job. (Eurofound 2009 )

Is governed by section 21 of the Public Order Act 1986 which states that it will be an offence for a person to publish any material which is abusive or insulting. (University of Bradford 2009)
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000This places public authorities under a general duty to promote race equality of opportunity, reduce unlawful discrimination and good relations between people of different racial groups

Discrimination against women can have a devastating effect on the economy as it results in a big loss of talent and capable individuals, who are able to contribute to the overall economy of the country by paying taxes etc. The Inequalities report the shows that the unemployment of women costs the country about ?28bn a year compared to the under-employment of disabled people about ?9bn. This shows how significant is discrimination against women along with its other form can contribute to the stagnation of the economy.(BBC,2007)

Women’s workforce: at the present time

Because of globalization, mass immigration and the digital age, women have been relocated in different places. They face workplace environment with additional challenge to ensure that they require additional consideration. Workplace should be able to understand and satisfy women needs based on their different cultures, religions, and other beliefs Worman D. 2005),

It is true that women are now entering the workforce in equal numbers of men, but they haven’t compared enough and still now there are many outstanding issues such as: gender discrimination, Pay gap, mother’s discrimination, other color women and Sexual stalking/harassment.

Women at the present time still are faced with numerous difficulties. According to many changing factors in the workplace, women have to adapt new strategy to face the change happened to them in the case of inequality. (Fassinger. R,2008)

Other challenges: Religion & Culture

The world is rapidly changing. This constitutes that workplace should be a healthy place for women to be gender biased free environment. New trends among women have created new challenges. Women alone cannot fight centuries old of inherited discrimination. Government, employers, and employees should enforce laws at workplace to safeguard women rights and liberties. Civil societies should rise up to the rights of women at workplace. Since the backbone of the family is the woman, we all should contribute to safer, equal opportunity at workplace.( Daniels 2008),

It is widely believed that the religion and culture is one of the main threats to women’s work, and this point of view must be respected because it is supported by contemporary and strong evidences could not be denied, for example in south Asian communities in the UK, most women find it difficult to pursue careers that somehow contradicts the belief or the culture of their own community. For example, south Asian women will find it hard to work in the army or the police, because culturally it seen as a male job and few women choose to pursue it as a career. Women will be faced with much scepticism from their families and within their communities. Some people will also argue that their religion and beliefs prohibits women from working in specific settings or not being able to work at all. In the case of Islam, the holy Quran states that women have the right to work and seek knowledge side by side with men; it also shows evidence of women who were able to work and pursue careers and succeeds. However religious leaders argue and their interpretations differ, the more fundamentalists will have a more strict view in regarding the rights of women to work. But the mainstream scholars will have an opposite view and supported by strong evidence.( Hudson P. 2009),

6. Supporters of the Issue:

There are a many international organisations that support women’s rights around the world and seek to achieve the most basic rights of women in workplace, home and community as whole.

perhaps the most prominent example of this is the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) which has many achievements in the defence of the rights of women in throughout the world, in Egypt for instance, because Egyptian women sometimes found themselves in the face of gender discrimination or sexual harassment in the workplace or violence at home; so the organisation provided special treatment for them, they can bring their complaint to the National Women’s Complaints Office and There is a network of good lawyers, trained by UNIFEM on women’s human rights. ( UN Women 2010)

Conclusion:

Throughout history, women fought for their rights in the workplace. In the past, they were denied their simple rights including their right to work and believed that their ultimate place to be at home taking care of the family. In the later ages, there was turning points,, which enabled women to break the shell and surpass their limitations and achieve their presence in the workplace. As I stated earlier, the first world War and the representation of people`s act was the main reason behind the liberalisation of women. After the second world war , women started to achieve more and became more effective within the societies as people became more aware of women`s right.

all previous evidence tell us that the women in the current era enjoy of wider range of personal freedom, and it has become normal to see women ascend the top positions in the most sensitive and important areas in all around the world, Even in areas that are not considered a democracy, we find that there are a notable development in women situation whether in work or society as a whole, despite being a bit slow for advanced countries.

This does not mean the end of challenges that women face, there are still many outstanding issues that need to cooperation of everyone to solve them, whether by increasing the pressure on decision-makers in the world to issue the appropriate decisions to reduce the rate of these problems, and also by awareness of the unconscious peoples to develop their way of thinking and make them think in a positive way.

In fact, women still have a long way to enhance their situation in workplace more and more, therefore, clearly change doesn’t happen overnight but it needs hard work from all parties; governments, peoples, social institutions, media institutions and private organisations.

The world dynamics are changing at uncatchable speed. Thus, it remains more urgent the focus we need to direct to all new difficulties and mainly discrimination, which should have no place in our work place.