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Gender roles in the middle east
Strength and weakness of cultural influence on behaviour
Strength and weakness of cultural influence on behaviour
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Ellen Moore (A): Living and Working in Bahrain
1. What would you advise Ellen to do and why? What should be her objectives? Are there objectives and actions consistent with what you would do if you were in her situation?
Even though Bahrain tended to be more progressive than many Middle Eastern countries in its attitude toward women, there were still many inequalities between genders. The current situation is that Ellen’s general manager asked her to change her mind about accepting the Account controlling position because of discriminatory practices in Bahrain. The manager, who is an uncertain avoidance type, stated that Ellen would have troubles traveling alone and clients would not accept her in the future. Ellen’s main objectives were to prove that she not only learned and adapted to the new customs but she also fought back for the local women to have some basic equal rights as men and gained the acceptance from her colleagues and supervisors.
After all her efforts to make people better understand the power of women and to gain more respect and trust from both male and female colleagues, she should not give up by accepting the position because her general manager dominated her decision. She, who is low uncertain avoidance type, already gave him some reasonable evidence that there were some successful businesswomen who did it before and she believed she was at lower risk of danger than her Western male counterparts in the event of hostility.
In this situation, Ellen had four alternatives: 1. Take the Customer Service Position 2. Fight Back 3. Stay in the Business Planning and Development department and 4. Leave the company. I recommend that Ellen choose choice number 3: stay in the same position until another opportunity comes up while she keeps looking for a new job. She, however, should not fight back (choice 2) because the Bahrain‘s culture was save face and collectivism. The general manager’s superior, the Senior Vice President of EU, ME and Africa might not change the local manager’s decision because 1) it might cross the line of authority in the organization and 2) the VP of the region who had a limited knowledge of the region would generally rely on local management’s decision. Moreover, the Bahrain society still had an issue of inequality of gender and nationality. It was a low possibility that Ellen would win this case again...
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... women wants to keep their position as the previous customs, maybe not under anyone‘s pressure like my original thought 2. a perception of women ‘s laborforce in the labor market.
The Bahrainis had a tension between traditional and modern beliefs, values and lifestyles towards women. It was not just only by men but also by women who were afraid to alter views they understand and with which they have been brought up all their lives as this example: one of the women in the office changed the way of dressing after getting married although her husband did not request.
Woman can wear a variety of outfits but can work on their husband, father or brothers permitted them and some male mangers, like Fahad, still believed that women were only capable of fulfilling secretarial and coffee serving functions.
Being the hub of Middle East financial and trade in this globalization, the country need to change and allow women as useful resources to help the males working and improving the country. The country will continuous change and get into the point that previous generation ready to adapt to new way of life and the new generation still respect the old customs and traditions.
At the age of ten, most children are dependent on their parents for everything in their lives needing a great deal of attention and care. However, Ellen, the main character and protagonist of the novel Ellen Foster, exemplifies a substantial amount of independence and mature, rational thought as a ten-year-old girl. The recent death of her mother sends her on a quest for the ideal family, or anywhere her father, who had shown apathy to both she and her fragile mother, was not. Kaye Gibbons’ use of simple diction, unmarked dialogue, and a unique story structure in her first novel, Ellen Foster, allows the reader to explore the emotions and thoughts of this heroic, ten-year-old girl modeled after Gibbons’ own experiences as a young girl.
The majority of families were once considered perfect. The father went to work everyday, while the mother stayed at home and cared for her two children, “Henry” and “Sue”. The children never fought and the parents were involved in all the community events. Our society has grown to accept that there is no such thing as a perfect family. Eleven-year-old Ellen from the book Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons, grows up in a household where her father is an abusive alcoholic and her mother is too sick to complete everyday tasks. By using her positive assets, and learning from her negative assets, Ellen was able to overcome a lot of challenges throughout the book.
Ellen Gates Starr, who was born in Illinois in 1859, enrolled in Rockford Female Seminary. Here, she met what would be a long-time friend, Jane Addams. Together, they founded a mansion in the city of Chicago. After fixing it up, the Hull House was formed. This became the first settlement house in Chicago and in the United States, officially opening in 1889. This mansion was surrounded by the slums of Chicago. They felt no need to move it to another part of the city, but where it would feel more welcoming to the female immigrants and their children. The reason for opening the mansion was to give women a place to stay. Starr felt that the slums obviously weren't sufficient enough.
In the story Ellen Foster, Ellen was a great example of a dynamic character. Ellen had a very tough life. Ellen’s life was like a rollercoaster going up and down dramatically not knowing what was going to happen next. Ellen was a racist child at the beginning but changes her opinion after going through many challenges throughout the story.
Kaye Gibbons, the author of the novel Ellen Foster, believes that a quote from the Emerson’s “Self Reliance” is connected with Ellen’s struggle to survive and find her way in the world. The first line of this quote says, “Cast the bantling on the rocks” is related to Ellen herself. A bantling is an abandoned child. Ellen is a bantling even though she was not abandoned, she was deprived of a normal childhood. Her life as a child was extremely hard, physically and emotionally. She never had a mother or father take care of her through her entire youth. You could say that her childhood was “cast on the rocks”. The last line reads, “Power and speed be hands and feet”. This reminds me of how Ellen ran from her problems at home and stayed away from her house as much as possible. The line also represents strength and Ellen was a strong person. She dealt with losing a mother, father and grandmother within one year. She never even had a good relationship with her father or grandmother. The short inscription to “Self Reliance” is almost a short summary of Ellen’s character. In it, a child without parents is raised by someone that is a lot different than she is. After Ellen’s mother died, she is unwillingly left with her alcoholic father who mistreats her. Ellen spent a lot of time at her friend, Starletta’s house and at the house of her grandmother. Life with her grandmother was no better than life with her father. She did not want to be in either situation. After living with her grandmother, Ellen’s struggle to find a suitable, comforting home comes to an end. For the second time in her life, a family member has died right next to her, basically in her arms. Ellen is able to overcome this, even as a
Throughout most of recorded history, women generally have endured significantly fewer career opportunities and choices, and even less legal rights, than that of men. The “weaker sex,” women were long considered naturally, both physically and mentally, inferior to men. Delicate and feeble minded, women were unable to perform any task that required muscular or intellectual development. This idea of women being inherently weaker, coupled with their natural biological role of the child bearer, resulted in the stereotype that “a woman’s place is in the home.” Therefore, wife and mother were the major social roles and significant professions assigned to women, and were the ways in which women identified and expressed themselves. However, women’s history has also seen many instances in which these ideas were challenged-where women (and some men) fought for, and to a large degree accomplished, a re-evaluation of traditional views of their role in society.
...cceptance of women to expect their rights as equals, women are starting to make improvements within the corporate setting. Women are making strides, through the formal use of mentoring programs and the willingness of younger males on the executive boards and in managerial positions to accept a woman as equal partners in the success of a business (p.19). Younger males in the board room, who have fast tracked to the top and are likeminded to the equality of women, the greater the likelihood of success for women (p. 19). Women, who are persistent, educated, intelligent and hungry will find their way to the top of the corporate ladder. The not to distance future may give rise to increased equal access, inequitable time frames for women.
World Bank (2004), Gender and Development in the Middle East and North Africa : Women in the Public Sphere (WashingtonDC : World Bank), Chapter 3.
Center stage in Kaye Gibbons’ inspiring bildungsroman, Ellen Foster, is the spunky heroine Ellen Foster. At the start of the novel, Ellen is a fiery nine-year old girl. Her whole life, especially the three years depicted in Ellen Foster, Ellen is exposed to death, neglect, hunger and emotional and physical abuse. Despite the atrocities surrounding her, Ellen asks for nothing more than to find a “new mama” to love her. She avoids facing the harsh reality of strangers and her own family’s cruelty towards her by using different forms of escapism. Thrice Ellen is exposed to death (Gibbons 27). Each time, Ellen has a conversation with a magician to cope with the trauma (Gibbons 22-145). Many times Ellen’s actions and words cause it to be difficult to tell that she is still a child. However, in order to distract herself, Ellen will play meaningful games (Gibbons 26). These games become a fulcrum for Ellen’s inner child to express itself. Frequently, Ellen will lapse into a daydream (Gibbons 67). Usually, these daydreams are meant to protect herself from the harsh reality around her. Ellen Foster’s unique use of escapism resounds as the theme of Kaye Gibbon’s Ellen Foster.
Gregory, Raymond F. Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming Barriers to Gender Equality. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Seeking equality and the same chances for both genders is a must, to attain equal opportunities. Gender discrimination was a main factor, in the past females was known to only be plain housewives and that they don’t have the eq...
The Women of the Middle East have played substantial roles for their corresponding countries since the advent of colonialism in the region. Middle Eastern women have worked in all types of fields including medicine, education, agriculture, government, private sector, and even defense. They have kept roofs over their family’s heads while their husbands were away in wars, or even in foreign countries to work in jobs that they could not find in their own countries. The roles of women in the countries of Yemen and Oman are no exception, but while they still find ways to contribute to their country, they care constantly stereotyped, discriminated, and ridiculed by men who are known and unknown to them. This paper will discuss the individual contributions of the women living in Yemen and Oman, and will discuss in further state laws and cultural norms that are affecting the women living in these countries today.
Marianne Moore was an all-time good writer. She had many difficulties but she overcame them.
Throughout the history of mankind, the rank of women has been extremely pivotal in the development of the humans. At present, the progress of the nation is determined by the high positions of the women in the society in terms of the employment and the work. It is said that without the contribution of the women in the political, business, social, economic and national activities, the growth of the country will stagnate. In the past, the women were more accustomed to working in homes and taking care of children, etc. but now they are stepping into the outside world due to advances in education for women and increasing awareness.