Ladies, it is about time to forget about where to bargain for the best toilet-roll deal in town and instead, consider speaking up for yourself, as outrageously enough, the OWC is now convicting you guilty for your husband’s infidelity. Most women – feminists in particular – were incensed by the ideology of the OWC, that the recipe to a blissful marriage is a cheery man at home, which can be realized if women served their spouses like “first –class prostitutes”. Nevertheless, from what perspective is the OWC viewing this issue and why has it stir such uproar among those who are against it?
As its title explicitly implies, the Obedient Wives Club (OWC) advocates for a happier family and ultimately, a better society which is believed to be attainable providing that women were to implement their wifely duties of not merely taking good care of the family, but more importantly, to make their husbands happy in the bedroom. In their argument, according to Azizan (2011), despite the many efforts committed by the authorities, insidious societal ills like rape, incest, domestic violence, prostitution and sex-trafficking are still prevalent. In the OWC’s perspective, it is believed that “men will not be committing these crimes if they are sexually satisfied at home” (Azizan, 2011, ¶ 9). Thus, women are urged to be compliant towards their husbands in order to avert marital and even social problems.
As for the controversial likening of women to prostitutes, the OWC defended their viewpoint that it was purely metaphorical. The OWC believes that “a man married to woman who is as good as or better than a prostitute in bed has no reason to stray” (Ahmad, 2011, ¶ 5), somehow what distinguishes a prostitute from a wife is such that the latter pr...
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...gs.reuters.com/faithworld/2011/06/05/malaysias-obedient-wives-club-angers-womens-rights-groups/
AP News (2011). Singapore Opposes Malaysia’s Obedient Wives Club. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from the World Wide Web: http://asiancorrespondent.com/57662/singapore-opposes-malaysias-obedient-wives-club/
Azizan, H. (2011). A happy man, a happy home. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from the World Wide Web: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/12/nation/8886422&sec=nation
Azizan, H. (2011). Is sex the only happy factor in marriage? Retrieved February 11, 2012 from the World Wide Web: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nation&file=/2011/6/12/nation/8886643
Looi, S, & Zolkepli, F. (2011). Perak Mufti Supports Obedient Wives Club. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from the World Wide Web: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/7/nation/8851110&sec=nation
Endicott, Kirk., Endicott, Karen 2008. The Headman was a Women. The Gender Egalitarian Batek of Malaysia. Retrieved from https://www.coursehero.com/textbooks/218028-The-Headman-Was-Woman
All the way through Migdim's incident with arranged marriages, we can understand the old customs that has to do with marriage. It is obvious that, although women were believed to be obedient, they were capable to effectively convince men. Yet, today there seems to be a sign toward polygamous marriages that are eventu...
Legislative bodies enacted laws restricting the employment of married women. Labor, government, and the mass media all joined in a campaign urging females to refrain from taking jobs. And the overwhelming majority of average citizens--including women--showed little interest in modifying the existing distribution of sexual roles. (Chafe 135)
"Why are Women Leaving Marriage in Droves?" Marriage. Copyright: 1998. Cyberwoman (30 Jan 1999) http://www.cyberparent.com/women/marriage1.htm
Deen, Thalif. "Adultery Laws Unfairly Target Woman, U.N.Says." 9, 2014 . Inter Press Service Document. 10 April 2014
Law, B.Murray. "Do 'super masculine' husbands make for unhappy wives?." 9 Oct. 2004. American Psychological Association Online. APA Monitor on Psychology. Online. http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct04/husbands.html. (16 Nov. 2005)
Mahin, Michael J. The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper: "An Intertextual Comparison of the "Conventional" Connotations of Marriage and Propriety." Domestic Goddesses (1999). Web. 29 June 2015.
In the area of religion the “emphasis of religious based subordination suggested that, for a woman to be virtuous and serve God, she must follow the lead of her husband […] this gave men the impression that they had a God given right to control their wives, even if this mean through the use of physical correction” (Nolte 1). Due to the fact that religion is claimed to be an important Victorian ideal, men believe that for women to lead a virtuous life, she must follow the wishes of her husband. Even if these wishes allow her to be beat.
The degradation of the married woman in the Victorian era existed not only in that she was stripped of all her legal rights but also that no obligations were placed in her realm. Upon marriage, Victorian brides relinquished all rights to property and personal wealth to their husbands. Women were, under the law, “legally incompetent and irresponsible.” A married woman was entitled to no legal recourse in any matter, unless it was sponsored and endorsed by her husband. Helpless in the eyes of civil authority, the married woman was in the same category with “criminals, lunatics, and minors” (Vicinus 7). Eighteenth-century, English jurist, William Blackstone curtly described her legal status, “in law a husband and wife are one person, and the husband is that person” (Jones 402).
The female gender role in society has created a torturous fate for those who have failed in their role as a woman, whether as a mother, a daughter, or a wife. The restrictive nature of the role that society imposes on women causes extreme repercussions for those women who cannot fulfill their purpose as designated by society. These repercussions can be as common as being reprimanded or as severe as being berated or beaten by a husband or father. The role that women were given by society entails being a submissive homemaker who dotes on her husband and many children. The wife keeps the home impeccably neat, tends to the children and ensures their education and well-being, and acts obsequiously to do everything possible to please her husband. She must be cheerful and sweet and pretty, like a dainty little doll. The perfect woman in the eyes of society is exactly like a doll: she always smiles, always looks her best and has no feelings or opinions that she can truly call her own. She responds only to the demands of her husband and does not act or speak out of turn. A woman who speaks her mind or challenges the word of any man, especially her husband, is undesirable because she is not the obedient little doll that men cherish. Women who do not conform to the rules that society has set for them are downgraded to the only feature that differentiates them from men; their sex. Society’s women do not speak or think of sex unless their husband requires it of them. But when a woman fails to be the doll that a man desires, she is worth nothing more than a cheap sex object and she is disposed of by society.
A lady is an object, one which men attempt to dominate. A man craves to get a hold of this being beneath his command, and forever have her at his disposal. In her piece “Size Six: The Western Women’s Harem,” published in 2002, Fatema Mernissi illustrates how Eastern and Western women are subjugated by the control of men. Mernissi argues that though she may have derived from a society where a woman has to cover her face, a Western woman has to face daily atrocities far worse then ones an Eastern woman will encounter. Moreover, Mernissi’s core dogma in “Size 6: The Western Women's Harem” is that Western women are not more fortunate than women raised into harems in other societies. Additionally, she asserts that though women in the Western world are given liberties, they coincide with the unattainable ideals of what is aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, to strengthen her argument towards her wavering audience, Mernissi’s main approach in her paper is to get the reader to relate with her issue by means of an emotional appeal, while also utilizing both the ethical and logical appeal to support her thesis.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator and her husband John can be seen as strong representations of the effects society’s stereotypical gender roles as the dominant male and submissive female have within a marriage. Because John’s wife takes on the role as the submissive female, John essentially controlled all aspects of his wife’s life, resulting in the failure of the couple to properly communicate and understand each other. The story is intended to revolve around late 19th century America, however it still occurs today. Most marriages still follow the traditional gender stereotypes, potentially resulting in a majority of couples to uphold an unhealthy relationship or file for divorce. By comparing the “The yellow wallpaper” with the article “Eroticizing Inequality in the United States: The Consequences and Determinants of Traditional Gender Role Adherence in Intimate Relationships”, the similarities between the 19th century and 21st century marriage injustice can further be examined. If more couples were able to separate the power between the male and female, America would have less unhappy marriages and divorces.
Since prostitution has been around there have been labels and stigmas behind the workers, their morals and the job itself. Leaving these men and women to be rejected rights, health care, insurance, etc. Weitzer observes, “[i]nstead of viewing themselves as ‘prostituted,’ they may embrace more neutral work identities, such as ‘working women’ or ‘sex workers’ […] These workers are invisible in the discourse of the anti-prostitution crusade precisely because their accounts clash with abolitionist goals.” Weitzer is hinting at the fact that these women and men see themselves as workers too, deserving of workers rights and protection, just as you and I would expect. But they are declined help and benefits because of the stigma following their line of work, based on societal values.
In the article “Sexual Violence is a Crime, Sometimes”, the author is Maya Mikdashi who is well known for writing about gender and sectarian issues occurring in Lebanon. The author addresses a very touching and interesting topic, sexual violence, which should be everyone’s because anyone, no matter what is his or her gender, could be subjected to sexual violence. Marital rape has been a very prevalent issue in Lebanon, and the civil law exempts the husband who attempts marital rape. Although marriage grants both partners rights to each other’s bodies, this doesn’t mean that the man has the right to sexually abuse his wife without being punished.
Society’s gender infrastructure has changed since the 1920’s and the nineteen amendment that allowed women the right to vote. Or so we thought, many of the gender expectations that were engraved into our early society still remain intact today. Women for many people still mean an immaterial, negligible, and frivolous part of our society. However, whatever the meaning of the word women one has, the same picture is always painted; that of a housewife, mother, and daughter. Women are expected to fallow the structural identity of living under her husband 's submissions. Threatening the social norm of what is accepted to be a woman in society can put in jeopardy the personal reputation of a woman, such treating her as a whore. But, what happens