Introduction
The issue of dominance of men in the society have been experienced since the earliest times. This has led to many debates throughout the world where some believe that men dominate women while others view these two groups as equal. Women in many instances have been discriminated due to the fact that they are under the control of men. This has led to feminism that is a collection of ideologies and movements whose aim is to define, establish, and defend equal economic, social, and economic rights for women. This in fact includes the efforts to establish opportunities that are equal for women in employment and education.
Therefore, these feminist movements led to feminist theory, a theory whose objective is to comprehend the gender inequality nature through examining the lived experience and social roles of women. Actually, it has led to development of theories in various disciplines so that they can respond to the issues such as social construction of gender and sex (Weiner 23). However, a number of earlier feminism forms have actually been criticized for considering only middle class, white, educated perspectives. Therefore, this led to creation of multiculturalists or ethnically specific feminism forms.
Thus, feminist activists actually campaign for the rights of women like in property, contract law, and voting while at the same time promoting bodily autonomy, integrity, and the reproductive rights for the women. In fact, feminist campaigns have transformed the societies especially in the west through achieving equal pay for the women, gender neutrality, and women’s suffrage. Feminists have thus worked hard to protect girls and women from sexual harassment, domestic violence, and sexual assault. In addition, they have advocated for the work place rights which include maternity leave and opposed forms of discrimination against these women.
Therefore, this clearly shows that for a very long time, it has been academically and popularly been assumed that in various cultures women are dominated by men. The discussed feminists movements undoubtedly shows that the assumption of men dominating women have been under attack. As mentioned, the chief objective of these movements has been and continues to be against all forms of discrimination whether social, economic, or political that this gender experiences in the society.
The two books differ in what they are emphasizing. Weiner’s book, “The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea,” is all about feminism. The author as a feminist aims to bring the women into realm of the Trobriand exchange, noting their role in controlling the cosmic knowledge and highlighting their status (Weiner 29). She suggests that women conception as universally subordinate to their men as something that is mistaken in this society. She in fact credits the difference that exists between the previous Trobriand perceptions of the ethnographers and her own women perception in the Trobriand society. Her desire is to take the interests of women very seriously. She suggests that women to be respected more in the Trobriand society than in the European society.
On the other hand, Myerhoff in her book, “Number Our Days,” addresses this issue the disadvantaged group in the Jewish society. These individuals are resilient, sustaining their cultural heritage that is vivid in nature amid loneliness and poverty in the modern America. Showing both bad and good times, everyday realities and celebrations, this book highlights the supportive character of this community while at the same time illuminating lives of these indomitable survivors with honesty and gentleness.
Power differential between women and men are connected to the differences in female and male gender roles. Institutional and structural powers reside in forms of the access to economic, educational, and the political opportunities and resources. In various societies, accesses to the mentioned structural power forms are in fact aspects of the male privilege. For instance, education provides individuals with the power to both gather and process information hence understanding the universe in which they subsist. Women in many nations lack the opportunity to access education and the power that this education affords.
The economies provide individuals with power to support themselves financially. It is evident that the participation of women in the work force, albeit increasing, appears to be limited to only a few occupations (Myerhoff 23). Additionally, the women continue to occupy the lower paying jobs and lower status. Furthermore, women experience greater unemployment rate than men.
In my view I see men dominant in many societies. This is because men in families actively utilize the power that they possess to avoid sharing household labour. Therefore, women are actually relegated the duties of providing domestic labour that is unpaid since the gendered structure of their society prevents them from accessing economic power. This clearly demonstrates that men dominate in almost all the societies.
Moreover, those men who lack the other forms of power may exert their power through violence acts towards their partners as a form of compensation. Those women who do not have interpersonal power and economic power and resources are frequently trapped in relationships that are violent. In fact, intimate or marital violence is a worldwide problem. Furthermore, women cooperativeness and submissiveness nature depicts that they are dominated by men.
Works cited
B. Weiner. The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea. PERSEE, 1990.
Myerhoff, Barbara G. Number Our Days. New York: Dutton, 1978.
