The Quran states: "That man can have nothing but what he strives for" (QS. 53:39). The word ‘man’ used in this verse not only covers the patriarchal nature, but the androgynous nature of humans as a whole. Women were once considered property of men; even if not as property then only as pinch-hit for male labour. The highest rank given to a woman was of one who bore male labours and fed them. No voting rights, no right to run for office, or the right to own property of their own. Male members of the society were allowed to marry as many women as they yearned for while women had to adhere to monogamy just to stop the property from being transferred to someone else’s’ children. Women had to strive a lot to get a pinch of rights. Even today no one places power in a dish to be presented to women. They have, yet, to acquire more apart from basic right of suffrage. They have yet to learn to take power. Women needed to stand up to get proper rights to education. If Malala Yousafzai, at the age of 16, could stand up publicly to proclaim rights to women education without the fear of getting brutalized then why can’t other women? Instead of whining about not getting rights to education why don’t women stand against all the forces stopping them from acquiring education? It’s not about self interest, but about the fate of later generations too. An uneducated woman is not only oblivious of her basic domestic rights, but also about how significant it is for her to take care of her health for her children. It is because of such uneducated women who convey the same message of inequality to their male children that leads to a more oppressive patriarchal society. An educated woman exactly knows how wrong practices like Karo kari (honor killi... ... middle of paper ... ...thus stimulating the same belief of inequality among men. A woman always has to stand up for herself to take power, either through education or through intelligent manipulation. She needs to take power instead of waiting for someone to present it to her in a dish. The world may go against her, even harass her. There are so many spiders to frighten Miss Muffet away, but it’s her own decision either to leave her curds and whey and run away, or to save it for her and her daughter to enjoy. She needs to prioritize which level of harassment she can absorb. It’s time for every woman to answer a question: Is getting disowned by her family or society more harassing or is she alright seeing when her own daughter gets beaten up by her husband… Works Cited In Afghanistan, Women Strive for Education and Equal Rights Critical Insights: The Canterbury Tales
Women’s participation in school or the workplace are negatively affected because of the fear of violence, and many long-term health consequences arise from physical and sexual abuse. Heartbreakingly, a woman in South Africa has a “greater chance of being raped than she has of learning to read” (Tracy 6). In the patriarchal society of China, infants or fetuses face death simply for being born female (Tracy 18). After reading the reported incidences of violence against women, it is nothing but frustrating to hear women not supporting feminism. They do not need feminism because they represent a victory for this movement with the freedom to work alongside men, attend school, and choose their life partners. However, as shown in International Violence Against Women, there are many women and girls begging for a change. This population is the next victory for
Ideas on social and gender hierarchy are evident in this religious text. The Qur’an states that both men and women are spiritually equal and equally rewarded by God. But, as it continues, it goes on to state that, “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because God has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means.” Men and women are said to be “spiritually equal”, yet men are still seen as stronger and women should be “devoutly obedient” to their husbands. Women subordination during the Middle Ages was shaped mostly by local culture, which varied with time and place. In early communities, women had more liberty, but by the mid 700’s, women began to be subordinated, especially elite women. Though the Qur’an guaranteed woman more rights than the Bible, it also subordinates wives to their husbands, and women’s inheritance to
Since the beginning of time, women have been treated as inferiors by men. Due the supposedly weak anatomy their body, they have always been seen as weak and fragile, a description that can’t be farther from the true. Women have been proven to withstand a large amount of pain and have a stronger emotional stability. Just like racism, gender deferment has been less with the progression of time but it’s still a factor that is present in the everyday life of modern society. We can see this in the fields of work like science where it is rare to find a women scientist and how the technological world is mostly ruled by powerful male figures. Women have been oppressed since the beginning of time and have fought for their rights bravely and consistently, women went from not even being able to speak their own thoughts unless their husbands said so and being an incubator for male heirs to being inspirations to many people and fighting for what it’s right. We, as a society, have progressed in that way through the ages, even though, some women are still being oppressed daily on various parts of the world, it is something that we must overcome and we will, because this world is a better place with more smart, educated and outgoing
The idea of equality has been around since the Puritans first came over to the New World. However, their idea of equality was that man is equal to man, not man is equal to woman. Since the age of the Puritans, women’s rights have improved immensely. Through women’s rights movements, American literature and the push of feminism throughout the United States, women are much more equal to men than they were in the early years of American history.
Throughout time, there have been certain influential individuals that have dominated their age and have forever marked that era with their name. Among them are Cleopatra, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, and Nefertiti, with many others. One thing these leaders have in common is their gender: they are all females. In this day and age, it’s a rarity to come across strong, powerful women who have been allowed the opportunity to be powerful. It begs the question, if these women were alive today, would they have the same chance to change the world as they did? However, it’s not only the powerful who feel the sting of sexism, because the misogyny in today’s society affects each and every woman, of every color, age, and shape. The most important lesson to learn for the cultural and societal growth of people is to understand the causes and affects behind anti-feminism. Sexism takes many forms, yet it can be broken down into three main parts: the portrayal of women in media, the oppression of women in society, and the boundaries of women through laws.
Although men are definitely crucial to fixing the problem, “the young [women] are prominent in most revolutions” (Evans 165-166). It is very important for women to stand up for equality through their actions not just their words. That means pushing back on the expectations some men put on them and proving they are just as independent and capable as men. It is equally important for men to be advocates for gender equality because change will not happen if we do not keep our minds open. Women can protect as many times as they wish but if men do not acknowledge their actions, equality is impossible to achieve. It is difficult to understand why people discriminate based on gender because we’re all the same, we’re all human, gender does not define who you are or what you are capable of doing. Once every man comes to that realization, we will all be equal and there will be no gender roles or standards. In Emma Watson’s HeForShe campaign speech at the United Nations, she explains the importance of involving men in the movement because “gender equality is [their] issue too” (Watson). She believes if men do not have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women will not feel compelled to be submissive in compliance. Many problems related to gender inequality impacting women specifically are caused by the social standards placed on men so involving men in the movement is unquestionably important, as Watson emphasizes in her entire
Today, women share the same equal rights and opportunities as men; nevertheless, that has not invariably been the case. Before the Jazz Age era, gender discrimination between men and women in society was considerably popular. Women were seen as inferior to men. Their jobs were to care for the home, children, and other domesticated duties while men were able to work, get an education, and become doctors or lawyers. Many women like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells, Sojourner Truth, Zora Hurston, to mention a few, seen the unfairness in women's rights and fought for equal rights for women through different movements, efforts, protests, and even marches to abolish women’s rights. As a consequence, women now pursue not only higher education and higher paid jobs/ businesses, but their rights. One of the world’s most controversial issues among churches of today is the role of a woman. Many people are confused about the duty of a woman and how she is supposed to serve God because of history. History taught us to never deny someone of gender, race, or even diversity since he or she has human rights. However, this issue should not be viewed as men versus women because this is not a political issue; instead, it should be viewed as the structural of a church. Women should not be priests, pastors, or even rabbis for God condone women for being priests, pastors, and rabbis as well as proscribed.
Laura Bassett, a reporter from the Huffington Post, explains that in today’s society women are paid 77 cents for every dollar that a man earns, resulting in women being paid an average of $37,800 a year compared to men who are paid an average of $49,400 per year in 2012 (Women Still Earned 77 Cents On Men's Dollar In 2012: Report). Also, when a man and a woman apply for the same job, the man will almost always be chosen. This has resulted in the amount of full-time working males increasing by 1 million within a years time, and the number for full-time working women remained nearly the same. To this day, females are not treated equally to males even though almost a century has gone by from 1920 when women gained their deserved suffrage rights and other rights of equivalent importance. Both men and women are standing up to spread the awareness of the meager changes to women’s rights throughout the years. One way to raise awareness is to write a book, and many books have been made about the lack of equality rights for women. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character Lily witnesses several equality rights between men and woman in the way that females are treated by males, which has become a major social issue in today’s society.
Writer, political activist, and feminist Malala Yousafzai once said, “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen, can change the world.” Education is not a luxury, but rather a basis for survival; sadly, thirty-one million females ages five through eleven are not in a primary school and seventeen million of these females are expected to never enroll in school (Education). Malala Yousafzai fought, and is currently still fighting for education rights for women and children (Van). Malala Yousafzai defied a law which she determined unjust and was prepared to pay the ultimate price: her life. Due to Yousafzai’s personal beliefs, she choose to participate in civil disobedience by protesting the ban on education. Malala Yousafzai was successful in her actions through the use of peaceful protest. Yousafzai committed an act of civil disobedience in the eyes of the Taliban. Civil disobedience is defined as peace protest that violates a law intentionally (Suber).In addition to
“I am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai is a beautiful and hard breaking book at the same time. This book is an autobiography that describes the author childhood and her support on the right for girls to have an education. Through this autobiography, Malala describes the restrictions that are imposed on females in her country. There are many that believe that woman of Pakistan should not be educated in the other hands there are a few that oppose this idea. Malala’s support on education for girls almost cost her life, since she was shot by the Taliban. From a multicultural perspective Malala’s story touches on topics such; culture shock, discrimination within your own culture, oppression, religion, family and woman’s right. Despite the opposition
Malala Yousafzai give a speech at the United Nations. The terrorist attack make her strong person although she is young. She did not give a speech for revenge, however, she finds that talking about the importance of receiving education for all people at the time of shot. Further, Malala has a pure heart so she can’t hate Taliban. She has learned to be peaceful to all people from Muhammad-the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. And that what the religions asks people to be. She also talked about the importance of receiving education, and how educated people are stronger than uneducated people. That is the cause why Taliban against education. Malala pointed that peace and education are related to each other. Moreover, she presented that women and girls should be encouraged to receive education therefore they are the most individuals who suffering from inequality to be educated.
In the Koran women are repeatedly regarded as inferiors to men. Women are given less rights and privileges in contrast to men. Women are seen as objects to own and control, and not as equals.
Awareness springs activism. When one properly learns of a situation that must be alleviated they can now act to reduce the problem. Courses and organizations on women’s and gender issues are most helpful in spreading awareness throughout the land. As more people become educated on the subject, there is a good chance that a percentage of those people will take action.
All people deserve the right of education equality no matter gender, race or financial income. According to the daily star, by 2015 only seventy percent of countries will have achieved equality between the sexes in primary education and fifty six percent will have achieved equality in lower secondary education. Education equality is one of the main problems in school systems.
In conclusion, the Qur’an state that both men and women are equal in the eyes of “Allah,” their God. However, people have little understanding, are indifferent to Islam, and draw their own conclusions concerning the rights of women in Islam. Many of us have not made the effort to understand the Muslim culture and Islam’s view of women and their rights. However, we need to realize that in Islam, the first priority for a woman is as a wife and mother, as a woman is precious in the eyes of Allah, yet a woman has rights in Islam.