Communication
People have always been arguing about the role of a woman in a society. This issue has been the topic for the discussions in every stage of the development of the humanity. Scientists and poets, politicians and artists, researchers and philosophers, people of different origin and nationality have been talking about a woman. Today is the time of technological progress, inventions and innovations and all these facts influence significantly the situation in the society.
Modern woman is independent in all the spheres of life, while only several decades and centuries ago it was impossible to imagine a woman doing what she wants without the permission of other people, e.g. her parents or husband. The woman of today has absolute freedom to choose her way of life; however, this rule works not for everyone. Nevertheless, the still remain a sharp difference between women from different countries of different age and social status, their lives cannot be compared and called free.
With the course of time with the emancipation of women and the development of feminist movement they became more powerful in the social life. The women of today are trying to be strong and equal to men. They do not allow humiliating and disrespectful attitude, while striving to achieve more than they already have. Modern women always want more and they cannot stand any framework, they want freedom and independence for all their actions. At the same time psychological and social traditions provide women with such functions as care, education of children, assistance and inspiration, support for her husband. In general, a woman has to fill in everything that men do not possess.
While discussing the hands-on-research projects it is possible to say that the women portrayed there convey absolutely different and sometimes opposite senses and ideas. With the course of globalization the national boundaries and national identity are becoming obliterated. People are travelling and migrating in the search of a better life and women are not an exception. In this case the term of female migration occurs (Hochschild, 2016). Today there are even more women who change their location than men. Nevertheless, not every woman achieves success in the new place. Modern society is still stuck in prejudice and suspicion to those who are different (in age, gender, race, social status, etc.) and it causes many difficulties that women have to face. The gendered globalization is a serious issue that today concerns both men and women and causes various difficulties on the way of the world progress as it complicates people’s success in many spheres of life.
Despite the growing female migration, there is only one way women go: from poor countries to rich ones. It is caused by the fact that there are more career and life prospects in the countries of the First World than of the Third World (higher salary, more job opportunities, better living conditions, etc.). Unfortunately, in the reality it usually happens so, that women, who move from poor south to wealthy north cannot find an appropriate job. They become domestic workers for rich families and their life conditions are usually far from what they expect. The feminization of labor makes women the key figures in the world labor market, though they do not have the same rights and opportunities as men do.
The examples of the projects show how varied are the lives of women, depending on their nationality, social status, etc. The pictures depicting white women are almost always the story of success, while Hispanic and black women are depicted fighting for their right or suffering from injustice of different kinds. Women from north are successful in their careers; they are active participants of the social life. They can implement all their ideas and achieve all their goals, being good wives and kind mothers. The pictures show women who won Oscars, wear beautiful designer clothes, while south women are usually shown doing the cleaning and other housework. These women are not as attractive as it is common in the northern societies and they almost always look sad and tired from hard physical labor.
At the same time, the issue is not only about the origin of women. In the modern world there still remains gender inequality, or gender domination. Even though, women have more freedom than they did some time ago, they still face discrimination, especially in their professional life. A woman is perceived as a beautiful object that could increase the sales of a product, so the image of women is highly sexualized in the advertisement. The symbolic violence is becoming more and more widely spread, especially according to women. They are perceived as sexual objects, with no feelings and needs, but to satisfy the demands of the man’s society. Magazine covers, fashion photos, advertising, all these use image of women to increase the number of spending that men make.
It seems like the role of a woman is still uncertain in the time of globalization. J.J. Rousseau described women as a person who is educated, but not more than her husband; a companion, who is influenced by the emotions and who remains at home. Today’s description of a woman is totally different: she may be even more educated than her husband, she even may be the main breadwinner in a family, and some women are more rational than men, moreover, most of them definitely do not stay at home today. As we see, women have much more rights and freedoms than they did some time ago, but they are still not equal to men who have gender domination.
Nevertheless, women are playing significant role in the modern society. They are striving for their rights and they are trying to participate in every possible sphere of their lives. It is possible to assume that women are facilitating the progress. They are taking responsible positions in politics, there are moving the global economy forward by creating new successful business projects and participating in marketing campaigns, they are fighting for their rights to make their decisions in marital issues, etc.
A woman is not a poor shadow of a man now, she is a total opposition. Her role is as important as man’s. Being less strong physically than men, she is usually stronger psychologically. At the same time, being rather more powerful than some time ago, women live not an easier life. Moreover, they have to combine many aspects to be successful: they have to be flourishing in their business, they have to be thoughtful and caring moms for their children, spending all their free time with them and they have to be beautiful and loving wives for their husbands, to inspire and support them. At the same time they still have to continue their fight for their rights and watch carefully to be respected by others.
Women are so different, they live in different countries, they speak different languages, they were brought up in various families and they have different traditions and principles in their lives, they achieve different goals and have different opinions, but they all they have the common thing that unites them despite all the differences they have. Women all over the world want to be respected and loved, they need their work (no matter in business or in their family) be appreciated and paid accordingly. They want to be treated equally and they want to live a deserving life, being able to realize all their ideas and aspirations, in happiness and love. All their efforts and strives are aimed not at proving their leadership in this world but only at reaching the life conditions they actually deserve.
List of concepts:
Female migration
Gendered globalization
Gender domination
Symbolic violence
Feminization of labor
