For many years, men have always been dominant over women in various societies. They are always praised for their accomplishments or any achievements they make. In most cases, we ignore or fail to acknowledge the fact that women also play a huge role in the society and they ought to be appreciated. For the longest period, women in many cultures stay at home and take care of their children and husbands. Therefore, women are the backbone of the home, and they keep the society from falling apart and ultimately keep it functional. It is clear that without women, men would not be able to take care of their homes and have their accomplishments at the same time.
Every culture has their perception of how a woman should be treated and should behave. It is evident that women from various societies have helped preserve the culture and prevented it from falling apart and crumbling. Many fictional stories in most of the societies are based on the great warriors and their achievements. They, however, fail to recognize the contribution of a woman in such stories.
Many societies have started to recognize the importance of the woman and their various contributions. For millennia, various women have left their mark in history and influenced critical and different areas in life. However, only in the past century has their contributions began to be documented fully in the historical books. Also, the changes in the women’s status in modern times such as the right to choose a career, right to vote has also influenced women’s contribution to the creation of culture in western society.
The study of changes in the American culture enables us to understand the various changes that have occurred in a woman from being a housewife to an independent and professional person. Therefore, this will help us identify the woman’s contribution and influence in culture in the western society which is the main aim of this paper. There will also be an analysis of how western culture has shaped the lives of women.
The superiority of the men has undermined women’s work for many years. For instance, traditionally women authors were not considered to be as important as the male counterparts. In most western countries, the women writers would focus on the families and their experiences. Their work would also rank below the men writers in their particular countries. The women authors in this women depict a frustrated housewife who had a lot of psychological sufferings. This led to the women in these societies to be perceived culturally as housewives with no other role.
These novels played a significant role in showcasing the role of the woman in various cultures. For instance, in the western culture, women were denied existence apart from having a husband and children. Various publications portray the woman to be suffering and for being silenced by patriarchy. They also play a huge role in interpreting the woman’s response to patriarchal domination. Silence is a sign of oppression as highlighted in these novels as the women are fighting hard to break the silence and show their abilities and strengths.
Another key figure that has influenced culture is music. There is no doubt that music has a significant impact on human beings. It can be easily traced in all aspects of civilization, and it is significant in the popular culture. It is also a form of business and it changes as the technology changes. The rights of women have progressed over the years mostly because of the feminist movements. These movements have made great changes in the lives of women. They are now seen to be equal with the men because of the actions. It is also important to note that these movements fight for everything that affects the women. A conflict has mostly risen between music and women because of how the female gender is characterized in these music videos. In most cases, the woman is half naked. These images are what define the women, and they are now culturally viewed as sexual beings or seductress.
One of the women entertainers that contributed to the creation of culture is Madonna in the 1980’s.Her style in music, fashion had a significant impact on women’s independence and the society as well. When she released her first single in 1983, she shocked everyone as she was extremely different from other performers during that period. Madonna broke the fashion barriers and made her style mainstream. Her style was daring, edgy and demanded a response from her fans. Consequently, her style inspired many other people in the fashion world but mostly it impacted on her followers and fans (Beccia, 2016).
She always updated her style, and this is what made many admire her style. She also had the influence of attracting attention to a particular trend and increasing its popularity. One of the trends that gained popularity during her period was wearing an earring on one ear. Many young people emulated this trend during this period, and many hung on to it for a long time. Young women admired her because of making fashion statements and experimenting with different looks.
Madonna’s dance moves were also very provocative adding to her dressing which was controversial despite the fact that it was imitated and appreciated by many young women.She did not care what others thought of her. She was confident and acted headstrong about her style. Her attributes and style contributed to the creation of a culture of glamor and style among other women celebrities in the western society.
Mary Wollstonecraft is the author of the book a vindication of the rights of women.She attributes importance of women in her era as they were perceived to be feeble. Her narrative is mainly based on fighting for the rights of women. Women during her time did not have access to an education. Culturally, the man was the only one who could make decisions as the woman was not capable of exerting reason or making decisions (Chen, 2007).
Education, however, would bring about the emancipation of the woman. Education would not only enable the woman to make important decisions but also to educate the young individuals in the society. Women were also perceived to be ignorant and weak (Wollstonecraft, 2010). However, Wollstonecraft emphasizes that an education would change this and women will be capable even of making decisions, voting and even get similar jobs to those of men.
Wollstonecraft’s position in fighting for the rights of women is to ensure that men and women are treated fairly and equally. This can only be achieved by providing equal education opportunities to both genders. Indeed, Wollstonecraft’s fight did not go unnoticed, and after the 18th century, women in the western society were able to acquire education. This then created the culture of the west that women have as much right as the men to get an education.
Martha Graham is one of the most influential dancers of all time and one of the women that also contributed to creating culture. She did not fear to mix her dance with politics. Many of her works had an influence on the modern history and culture. She relied more on expression to tell her stories (Foulkes, 2002). Most of her performances included translation of stories of various famous women such as Joan of Arc and Emily Dickinson.
She also gained fame and attention among other artists such as Aaron Copeland. Some of her earliest pieces such as lamentation and immigrant showed that she did not create art just for art’s sake but instead wanted to bring out a lesson and a particular meaning to it. Her performances are also known to be critiquing some social practices during her era. One of the stories that Graham can be associated with is when she was invited to Germany to perform during the Olympics, but she denied the offer. Instead, she opted to work on one of her stories which is famously known as Chronicles. This piece mainly focused on condemning intolerance. She also began working with dancers from other cultures during this period. She is mostly remembered for multicultural dance. This explains the western interest in other cultures and their artistic traditions.
Creativity is associated with success and some of the trends that are exciting. It is attributed to be positive in the society as it brings in a lot of innovation and changes in various sectors. However, it is believed that society has a great impact on women’s creativity.
Most of the creativity of the women is attributed to their culture. For instance, the author of the vindication of women’s rights, Mary Wollstonecraft, her book is based on how women are viewed culturally. Thus, the society shapes her mindset and influences her to the extent of her writing a book about it. Culture is linked to knowledge and values that the society has imparted to us.
Culture-based creativity is based on people’s abilities to think imaginatively (Dubina & Carayannis, 2016). It has the capability to break the normal way of thinking and allow the development of a new product or idea. To have culture-based creativity, technical skills, personal abilities and a supportive society is required. Society can affect this kind of creativity in women by not educating them. Therefore, they are not able to enhance their personal abilities and skills.
Race and ethnicity affect the type of music a musician composes or performs and also what the author writes about (DiMaggio & Ostrower, 1992). For instance, an African-American woman who has experienced slave trade or racism is more likely to write a book based on these experiences. For a Woman of another race, writing about a similar topic may not be as easy because she has not experienced such kind of life. This also applies to the musicians and performers. The musicians are likely to compose a song about their ethnicity that is something she can familiarize with. Even in art, the painting always has a story that tries to pass a particular message to the audience. Similarly, the ethnical background or race influences the artwork.
Gender roles also influence the creativity of the women. These roles are defined in the early stages of childhood. Children are influenced and required to act in a particular manner during childhood. Even in advertisements, certain toys are portrayed to belong to the boys while others such as dolls to the girls. In the same way, certain careers are perceived to be masculine, and society forbids women to be in such careers.
Societal influence is a major factor in the way men and women behave into adulthood. It is, however, important to note that some of these gender roles portrayed a particular image especially to the women. Women during the past were viewed as caretakers and to be motherly but with the various changes in our society this picture is slowly fading away. The roles have changed with time as women can now get an education just like the man, have a career and even indulge in politics. These practices might be acceptable today because of modern feminism, but they were highly disregarded in the past.
In conclusion, women are important in our societies, and they should be respected. Most importantly they have influenced and created some aspects of the culture through various key figures such as music, books, and dances.
References
Beccia, C. (2016). Fashion Rebels: Style Icons Who Changed the World Through Fashion. New York : Aladdin ; Hillsboro, Orgeon : Beyond Words.
Chen, T. Y. (2007). Reason and Femininity in the Age of the Enlightenment. University of California, Berkeley.
DiMaggio, P., & Ostrower, F. (1992). Race, Ethnicity, and Participation in the Arts. Washington, D.C. : Seven Locks Press,.
Dubina, I. N., & Carayannis, E. G. (2016). Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Across Cultures: Theory New York : Springer.
Foulkes, J. L. (2002). Modern Bodies: Dance and American Modernism from Martha Graham to Alvin Ailey. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press.
Wollstonecraft, M. (2010). Vindication of the rights of Woman:With Strictures of Political and Moral Subjects. Auckland, N.Z.] : Floating Press.
