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The name of the interviewee was Jacinta and her age was 49. Jacinta did not get an opportunity to attend college, although her childhood dream was to study law. Using her high school diploma, she managed to get a job as a housecleaner. However, she did not enjoy the money that she worked for, as she would give the whole amount to her husband. Jacinta had children too. However, she did not personally decide on the number of children to have since contraception use was illegitimate. Despite her brutal relationship with the husband, she did not opt for a court divorce, as early courts could not address such issues.
When it came to property ownership, Jacinta owned nothing in the family. All the property belonged to her husband. Besides, she could not borrow money from her husband. In the event that a married man died, his elder brother would inherit all his property, including the wife.
Compare and Contrast her Life with the Lives of Women Today
During the days of Jacinta, the law did not favor women as it accorded men special rights and privileges. As a result, Jacinta did not enjoy several rights and opportunities including the right to vote, the freedom to keep resources earned the privilege to own assets and borrow money, the freedom to initiate a divorce and retain custody of children, as well as the opportunity to go to college and serve as a jury. As Lorber (2010) states, this situation was typical for all women in the early twenty first century despite their racial groupings, social class, ethnicity, or religion.
Unlike Jacinta, women of today have the right to participate in democratic processes through voting, owning property, attending colleges of their preference, participating in judicial practices, determining how they use their money and being custodians of their children. Moreover, women in the contemporary world have a right to divorce as they determine their own lives. However, there are a few nations where women are still fighting for equal legal positions and political representations. Women in such nations are also fighting for power in order to get a chance of making choices about their marriage and some other procreative issues.
Unlike Jacinta who did not have the right over the number of children that she had and lacked the opportunity to choose a husband of her choice, contemporary women have control over their families’ sizes, as they have access to contraception means. These women also have liberty to be wives to men of their choice despite their financial positions or social class.
According to Jacinta, medical practitioners in the past could not fit women with cervical caps, or diaphragms. Traditionalists feared the broad use of contraception by married women as they thought it would contribute to the demise of the family. Today’s women, however, have greater sexual liberty prior to marriage through legalized contraception and planned paternity subsequent to marriage.
In the past, there was also gender discrimination in the work place and lower payment rates for women’s work compared to their male counterparts in similar positions. This situation still prevails in some developing nations where poor women act as a source of cheap labor force. In addition, these women receive an incomplete set of social benefits.
How do Expectations for Women Compare? In what Ways is Life Easier for Women Today? In what Ways might it be more difficult?
Unlike women in the past, women of today expect to receive equal treatment with men. They believe that they have equal value with their male counterparts and feel free to make decisions that could influence their future. They expect to have equal chances despite their sexual orientation or race, and they regard gender differences as social constructions (Lorber, 1998). They also want to receive equal payment with their male counterparts in similar positions plus equal chances for promotion to higher positions. Contemporary women also desire to receive the same quality of education with their male colleagues. According to Lorber (2010), almost two third of the uneducated people in 2000 were women, but these figures are changing with some groups of women exceeding men in higher education.
In the past, women were basic childcare givers. They stayed at home looking after their children and cooking for their husbands as they worked. However, this situation has recently changed, and especially in the developed world. It is a common fact that in the industrialized nations women do not feel obliged to take care of their families, this is why they hire service staff to do that as they go out and work to supply their families with food, clothing, and shelter.
Lately, life for women has become easier as they can access jobs that were traditionally for men only. For instance, many countries have had heads of states who are women. Several modern firms and institutions also have women leaders. In other words, we can say that there is job diversity for women in the modern world, as they do not face restrictions based on sexual orientation.
The life for today’s women has also improved because women have the power to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies through contraception. On the same note, there most nations have assumed laws that protect women against genital mutilation, rape, beatings and forced prostitution, among other forms of violence. In addition, today’s women can enjoy the right to participate in democratic processes such as voting.
Lorber (2010) reveals that many nations did not accord women the right to vote until the end of World War I. As a result, women’s liberation movements in the first wave of feminism focused on suffrage. It was after getting the suffrage right that women liberations groups started focusing on other rights like owning property, attending colleges of their preference, participating in judicial practices, determining how they use their money and being custodians of their children. These other rights have also enhanced the lives of women, as they do not have to depend on their husbands and fathers for daily provision. This fact makes the lives of single women and widows bearable. Women can also control their bodies and plan to have children independently.
On the other hand, practicing gender equality has made life more difficult due to men’s resistance. When men are paid the same amount of wages women are, most men end up neglecting their family responsibilities of providing for the families and demanding their wives to take up these roles. Consequently, gender equality destroys social order. As Lorber (2010) reveals, our gendered practices create and uphold the gendered social order. Seemingly, gender inequalities arise from the constructions of marriage, families, politics, religions, work, the arts, and other cultural fabrications. Therefore, gender equality is making life more difficult for women, through disorganizing social constructions. In addition, most women in the working class have defied their roles of bringing up and disciplining their children. This has contributed to the rising levels of defiance in the society.
In conclusion, women liberation movements have contributed significantly to changes in the lifestyles of women as well as opportunities and the rights accorded to women. In the past, women could not enjoy opportunities like voting, employment and owning property. It is therefore important for women liberation movements to go on with their campaigns, particularly, in developing societies, whereby women do not obtain these rights.
References
Lorber, J. (2010).Gender inequality: Feminist theories and politics. 4th Ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Lorber, J. (1998).Gender inequality: Feminist theories and politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
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