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Gender discrimination in daily life
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Gender discrimination in daily life
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Dhruv Hari
Mr. Keval
ENG2D1
25 May 2015
Fate at Birth
The customary beliefs, social forms and everyday practices of a particular group of individuals can be defined as culture. These practices become a way of life and as a whole, shape the personality of the individuals. If the individual remains isolated, the uniform values appear commonplace. If every member of the group engages in the same behaviour, why would the behaviour be scrutinized? There are cultures that practice bigamy, pagan worship, cannibalism, or human trafficking, and they continue to this day. While they might be frowned upon by Western culture, the practices appears perfectly normal to other cultures. In Patricia McCormick’s novel, Sold, it is acceptable for families
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The oppression of women commonly occurs in Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold. Lakshmi, the protagonist, and many other women are impacted by the cultural beliefs in India. Lakshmi is a thirteen-year- old girl from Nepal who loses everything she knows because of her stepfather’s greed. She lived in a small village with her mother who does housework and takes care of her little brother while her stepfather gambles at the tea shop. Desperate for money, Lakshmi is sold into prostitution by her stepfather with her believing she is going to work as a maid. Lakshmi moves to India and reaches the prostitution house, known as “Happiness House”. There are many women and young girls close to her age at the house who got trapped like Lakshmi. Mumtaz is the head of the Happiness House and the one who paid for the girls, so their debt to her is the price that they got bought for. They earn their money as sex slaves and some girls spend years trying to pay off the debt. Lakshmi does the same for months and realizes that it is a common practice in India and because it is a norm, many women and young girls are affected by this. In “Sold”, the Indian culture discriminates against women when looking at gender roles,
I agree with the quote "A work of literature must provide more than factual accuracy or vivid physical reality... it must tell us more than we already know.". I feel like when reading a book it shouldn't be all about facts or just story lines. A book should should mix things up so it makes us want to read them and not focus on one thing. The Book Sold tells us facts about sex trafficking but it also provides us with something else, how a life of young girl is sold into sex trafficking by her step father so she can help the family with money. The second book "Eleanor and Park" talks about vivid details and also has a story line about relationships.
“In this tribe the exogamic groups look upon each other as prime manipulators of black magic, so that one marries always into an enemy group which remains for life one’s deadly and unappeasable foes”. It is a strictly enforced custom to forbid the sharing of food, as they are so mistrustful that they receive any gift with suspicion, believing it to be poisoned. In this society, nobody works with or shares with one another, “but there was one man of sunny, kindly disposition who liked work and to be helpful…men and women never spoke of him without laughing; he was silly and simple and definitely crazy. Nevertheless, to the ethnologist used to a culture that has, in Christianity, made of his type the model of all virtue, he seemed a pleasant
In Barre Toelken’s essay “Seeing with a Native Eye: How Many Sheep Will It Hold?”, the ways in which one culture perceives another and the criteria used to make judgements are explored. Toelken states “I think I can say something about how differently we see things, envision things, look at things, how dissimilarly different cultures try to process the world of reality” (10-11). In essence, Toelken is alluding to how different cultures will interpret their experiences and rituals according to their own set of beliefs and practices. This complicates situations in which the experiences or rituals are not comparable across cultural lines; someone will always be missing an aspect or a significant purpose if they do not try to “see it as much as possible with the ‘native eye’” (12). In other words, one must immerse themselves in the culture they are analyzing, while not comparing it to their own cultural experiences. One must consider all the cultural implications of that specific culture when wondering why things are done a certain way. Toelken provides
Culture is an important part of anyone's life, religious or not. The women acted out various references to traditional behaviour. For instance the mi...
Women’s Escape into Misery Women’s need for male support and their husband’s constant degradation of them was a recurring theme in the book House on Mango Street. Many of Esperanza’s stories were about women’s dreams of marrying, the perfect husband and having the perfect family and home. Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva are women who gave me the impression of [damsel’s in distress].CLICHÉ, it’s ok though. It’s relevant They wished for a man to sweep them of their feet and rescue them from their present misery. These characters are inspiring and strong but they are unable to escape the repression of the surrounding environment. *Cisneros presents a rigid world in which they lived in, and left them no other hope but to get married. Esperanza, however, is a very tough girl who knows what she wants. She will keep dreaming and striving until she gets it. She says, "I am too strong for her [Mango Street] to keep me here" (110). Esperanza learned from all of these women that she was not going to be tied down. She said, "I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain" (88). **Especially after seeing that Sally was suffering so much. Sally’s father is making her want to leave home by beating her. Sally "said her mother rubs lard on the places were it hurts" (93). There is not enough lard in the world to be able to cure the pain within Sally’s heart. Sally, "met a marshmallow salesman at a school bazaar" (101). Pretty soon " sally got married, she has her house now, her pillowcases and her plates" (101). Her marriage seems to free her from her father, but in reality she has now stepped into a world of misery. This was supposed to help her heal; " she says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape." (101). Unlike the other women Sally has no escape, no poetry, not even papaya coconut juice, not to mention, " he does not let her look out the window" (102). That is why "she sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission."(102). Rafaela’s situation also involves imprisonment in her own home. Cisneros introduced us to Rafaela, a young beautiful girl whose expectations from marriage were to obtain a sweet home to live in. Instead...
In the book Sold by Patricia McCormick shares the story of Lakshmi who at the age of 13 is sold by her step father and is forced into the a life of prostitution. She is born and raised in a simple village community, her only trouble in life is her step father. Lakshmi will soon come to learn there is a whole world outside of her village and it is not as pure as she once believed. Lakshmi is starved and beaten until she finally comes to terms with her new fate. She tells stories of what happened to her while locked away, what she learns from the other girls, and what could happen to her if she angers Mumtaz. Lakshmi does not understand what is happening only they are happening to her. The experiences Lakshmi goes through can relate to everyones’ personal experiences in life.
The author faces both gender and religious oppression in her home. At first, the author seems like she was a young and immature child, getting an occasional whipping every so often, that she is “used to.” This was partly due to the fact that the author did not act like what a girl should. The author states that she was
Symbolism is a poetic and literary element that interacts with readers and engages their feelings and emotions. In Sold, thirteen-year-old Nepali girl, Lakshmi, is forced to take a job to help support her family. Involuntarily, she ends up in prostitution via the Happiness House; this sex trafficking battle forces Lakshmi to envision her future and possibility of never returning home. The very first vignette of the novel speaks of a tin roof that her family desperately needs, especially for monsoon season. At the brothel, Lakshmi works to pay off her debt to the head mistress, Mumtaz, but cannot seem to get any sort of financial gain in her time there. Both the tin roof and the debt symbolize unforeseen and improbable ambitions, yet she finds the power within herself to believe. How does Lakshmi believe in herself despite her unfathomable living conditions and occupation?
Imagine having your parents sell you into prostitution and you don't realize it until it's too late. How would you feel? Sold by Patricia McCormick is novel about a girl, Lakshmi, who lives in the mountains of Nepal and is forced to leave her home due to a monsoon. After the disaster, her home, crops and livelihood and family is left alone and in need of help. In order to get this help, Lakshmi is sold off. However, Lakshmi does not notice that she is sold off until she is abused and treated like an animal by Mumtaz in the happiness house. A thought of betrayal sweeps over her, and because of the depression, she has no hope for life and cannot stay positive. Throughout this book, there are many people who have helped Lakshmi gain hope and positivity,
The themes in the story “The Wedding Gift” are freedom, the right to choose, women power and much more. All of these themes fall into one category, which is one of the major theme in this text, “self realization”. When Kezia is told to marry an old, rich man, by the Barley’s for their own business benefit. Kezia expresses her feelings by telling Mr. Mears “My body doesn’t belong to anyone, expect for me”. This story showcases, how women were portrayed back then and even right now in some countries such as China, Afghanistan, India etc. I recently read an article, where a young girl named Priya Khan, committed a suicide in India due to a forced marriage to an old man enough to be her grandfather. Since, her family was not able to provide for her. Towards, the
In the text, “The American Cultural Configuration” the authors express the desire of anthropologists to study their own culture despite the difficulty that one faces attempting to subjectively analyze their own society. Holmes and Holmes (2002), use the adage “not being able to see the forest through the trees” (p. 5) to refer to how hard it is for someone to study something they have largely taken for granted. Holmes' article focuses predominately on paradoxes within our own culture, many of which we don't notice. In a paradox, two contradictory statements can appear to be true at the same time. This essay looks at two paradoxes commonly found in everyday life: the individual versus the family and religion.
Every culture has its own unique values, beliefs and norms. Culture defines the identity and interests of a society. Understanding other’s culture is crucial in preparing ourselves for the global experience in the twenty-first century. As the world is becoming more connected to each other, interaction between cultures is unavoidable. I consider myself lucky to live in one of the most diverse cities in the world where I get chance to interact with people of different cultures. In this paper, I will discuss my findings about Family Structure in a Mexican culture, and Dating and Marriage in an African / Gabonese culture. Having a chance to understand various cultures, I realized that beliefs and practices tend to vary from culture to culture.
A theme that I quickly noticed was innocence. Lakshmi was told that she was going to the city to work as a maid, but while her step-father sold her, she thought, “I don’t understand at all. A great deal of money has just been paid for work I have not done yet” (McCormick 55). Even while Uncle Husband told her to lie and while she watched a girl get humiliated for disobeying, Lakshmi did not know the amount of danger she was in until she stood at Happiness House in her uncomfortable, new dress and was adulterated by a stranger (McCormick 102). McCormick strengthened the novel with symbols, and a recurring one was books. Dispersed in the pages were different books that came to represent different things to Lakshmi as she grew and developed. Initially, Lakshmi hated Harish, the son of a Happiness House worker, because he had his own storybook (McCormick 151). Every day, Lakshmi would steal the book and “pretend she was in school again with Gita and her soft, moonfaced teacher” (McCormick 155). The storybook went from a source of jealousy, to a loved memory, to the bond between the beautiful friendship of Harish and Lakshmi as he taught her to read the American stories inside. Another book was Lakshmi’s notebook that recorded her debt and earnings. She was convinced that her calculations would be enough to prove she had earned her way home. In this way, the forbidden notebook came to symbolize her
Innocence ripped away and replaced by premature struggling through life is what outlines Sold by Patricia McCormick. This historical fiction novel follows the story of Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old girl living in Nepal. Desperately poor, Lakshmi can only enjoy simple pleasures, such as raising her speckled goat named Tali, and having her mother Ama brush and braid her hair. When the violent Himalayan rains tear away all that remains of their cucumber crops, Lakshmi’s maimed stepfather says she must take up a job, for he cannot get work. Lakshmi is introduced to the charming Bajai Sita who promises her a job as a maid in a wealthy area of India. Excited and full of hope to help her family, Lakshmi endures the long trek to India where her journey ends at the “Happiness House.” Soon she learns the frightening truth: she has been sold into prostitution. She is betrayed, broken, and yet still manages to come through her ordeal with her soul intact. Sold depicts a story meant to teach and inspire, making the novel a piece that is highly important for all to see and read.
Women’s oppression is not just unique to our history alone. Different civilizations around the world have portrayed women despicably. In Japan during world war two, teenage girls were rounded up into sex camps. “An estimated one hundred thousand to four hundred thousand girls were forced to do sexual favors for Japanese soldiers, some of the girls were as young as 11 years old. They serviced up to 50 Japanese soldiers a day, while enduring beatings, starvation, sterilization and abortions. Even today, over half the 27 million people enslaved are woman in underground sex brothels.” [Robinson]