Operational Definitions and a Review of Literature Education is considered to be imperative for development. In recent times, girls’ education has been brought into focus. ‘Education of girls’ has been acknowledged as a strong predictor of growth in poorer countries (Sutton, 1998). Quality education provides women with a better stance in society through involving them in income generating activities. It also promotes smaller, healthier and better educated families led by properly educated women who can deal with the upcoming challenges of the new century (Ityavyar, 2005). Tertiary level education engages a very small portion of the total population in developing countries, despite university education manages to guide highly skilled …show more content…
Various cultural practices determine the patterns of power relations and create a hierarchal relationship among the actors within the society. Giddens (2006) defines this hierarchal power relation within the gender structure of the society as the ‘patterns of power relations’ between male and female that are widespread throughout society. Connell (2005) affirms that the main axis of power is the structure that maintains an overall subordination of women and dominance of men-‘Patriarchy’. Patriarchy is being understood as the systematic domination of women and other men by men. Connell locates patriarchy as the foundation of power. Power is functioned through social relations such as authority, violence and ideology in institutions, the state, the military and domestic life (Giddens, 2006). So, patriarchal structure provides the basis of dominant and dominated power relations between men and women in a …show more content…
Traditionally, parents and guardians consider that females should be “married off” at the first sign of puberty. A research also found the median age of first marriage by their socio-cultural background for women aged 20-24 years (Shaikh, 1997). In standard norm, marriage is the central pillar in the social construction of sexuality. Accordingly, it is a fundamental event in a person’s life, upon which terrific social pressures and expectations are attached. Parents consider the arrangement of their daughter’s marriage as their divine and moral duty (Muna, 2005). The requirement is rooted in religion, both in Islam and Hinduism. Marriage is reported to be more compulsory for women than their counterpart considering the issues of economic and physical security in Bangladeshi society. Henceforth, women who are unwilling to get married for whatever reason are regarded as a potential threat to social equilibrium. Marriage puts an end to the puberty for girls providing them with a new identity as women let the age may not be appropriate while standardized
Overtime, these roles lead to the development of patriarchal society. According to Allan G. Johnson’s article on Patriarchy, “a society is patriarchal to the degree that is male-dominated, male-identified, and male-centered ” meaning that it was a system where men were in authority over women which could be considered as a variation within The Takers philosophical supremacy (153). The practice of patriarchy or male dominance benefitted men of all races and class, but in turn, placed women at a disadvantage. With patriarchy, the society became centered on men, which overshadowed women.
In a patriarchal society, this power is not distributed equally among the sexes; the control is primarily given to the male. Rape plays a large role within the patriarchal society because it helps maintain the distribution of power in favor of the male. Essentially, the paramount task of rape is the “subordination and subservience of women to men” (107). The objective of rape has remained constant throughout history and has allowed the
However, today there is growing awareness of how harmful they can be, especially for young women. Arranged marriages lack the element of love and mutual consent, leading to a lack of normalcy for young women. This part of my essay will talk about the dangers of arranged marriages for young women. Firstly, arranged marriages restrict young women’s freedom of choice. In many cases, young women are forced into marriages against their will, often for the sake of financial gain or to maintain social status.
To better understand the cause of intimate violence will help to come up will help come up with a better solution on solving this problem. There are various theories that have come up to explain the main causes of domestic violence, some include; learned helplessness theory, Intergenerational Transmission Theory, Social–Psychological Model and the feminist theory. All of these theories have tried to illustrate the causes of domestic violence. In this paper, I will target my writing on the feminist theory where it emphasizes power and gender inequalities in relationships. The theory focuses on how societal messages that makes it alright for a male to use aggression and violence, and the gender roles that dictate how women and men should act in their relationships
In a patriarchy society where males are the narrators and voices being heard, one is rarely educated on women struggles. In the Western world gender is a construct made to keep one group superior and the other inferior. Gender concerns what it means to be women or men in society. The traditional notion of gender is acknowledged to not be defined the same all over the world. The general concept of gender is challenged
A patriarchy is a system where men dominate, and women are marginalized. The patriarchy can be traced to Aristotle’s writings in Ancient Greece, where he spoke of women as subordinates of men. Aristotle was also dependent on dualism (dividing reality into different spheres). In the case of men and women, men were seen as the rational and women, the emotional. These labels lead to sexist behavior and thus oppression of women, because they were seen as less than men.
This means that men are the authoritative figure both at the family unit and in society. The patriarchy system although slowly
Patriarchy is the typical system in a society where the male holds the most power over a female. Multiple civilizations have been this way for centuries. There are many aspects that caused this division between the two genders. The causes in the development of patriarchy from the Paleolithic Eras to the Neolithic Eras are the creation of civilizations, home environments ,and agriculture. Each one of these causes lead to one another because they have a “chain reaction.”
In Pula Webster’s ‘Matriarchy: A vision of power’ (in R. R. Reiter, ed., Toward an Anthropology of Women, 1975) described the relationship between power, gender and social structure with the description of five feminist authors. She described with the evaluation that, the social power is the main form of the social exclusion of women. She described that in matrilineal Iroquois the male member of the clan also held the power, in some cases that was more than the female leader of the clan or female member of the family. She said that in matriarchal society, the woman has the status only, but the power rests on the hand of the male. She described the methodology of the appreciation, that patriarchy was a result of the logical culmination of the
The part and role in which women played in their society significantly varies throughout the world, depending on the place and region. However, they all share a common similarity in which men are the most dominant in every aspect of society, therefore, men are perceived to have more authority and power than women. In the comparison of ancient civilizations and modern times, it is significant how the rights and roles of women have positively changed, giving women more chances and opportunities in society, therefore, influencing and impacting society in many beneficial ways as well as, nowadays, women and men are finally seen as
Even girls who do enroll in school may have irregular attendance due to other demands on them, and the fact that their education may not be prioritized. Girls are more likely to repeat years, to drop out early and to fail key subjects, and in most countries girls are less likely to complete the transition to secondary schooling. Inequality in society inevitably has an impact on the provision and content of education. Hence, the need to examine and address the
Each society possesses distinctive culture that varies from each other, yet has commonalities, as well. Patriarchy long has been one of such common features, and is still so in many states. It is the male, especially fathers, rule, while the opposite gender is expected to be submissive (Sultana, 2010). Over time, the level of patriarchy has mitigated, especially following the women feminist movements, exclusively in the West, and the situation of gender equality has improved (Evelyn and Adedayo, 2014). It is essential to convey these western ideas everywhere, as they are most humanist and just, so far.
Plenty of students in the United States dread going to school and would much rather use this time to play video games, watch TV, or even sleep. But in third world countries, children, especially girls, do not have the opportunity to receive an education. These girls would exchange anything in order to attend school and have an opportunity to be independent, educated, and equal to their male counterparts. Governments need to implement policies that guarantee girls education in order to promote gender equality, boost their economy, and prevent child marriage. Research has shown that educating girls will not only benefit each individual girl, but also their community and country as a whole.
There has been progress, today, more girls and women are literate than ever before, and in a third of developing countries, there are more girls in school than boys. Women now make up over 40 percent of the global labour force. In some areas, however, progress toward gender equality has been limited—even in developed countries. Girls and women who are poor, live in remote areas, are disabled, or belong to minority groups continue to lag behind. Too many girls and women are still dying in childhood and in the reproductive ages.
According to the famous sociologists Sylvia Walby, patriarchy is “a system of social structure and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women”. Women’s exploitation is an age old cultural phenomenon of Indian society. The system of patriarchy finds its validity and sanction in our religious beliefs, whether it is Hindu, Muslim or any other religion. For instance, as per ancient Hindu law giver Manu, “Women are supposed to be in the custody of their father when they are children, they must be under the custody of their husband when married and under the custody of her son in old age or as widows.