Glad Not A Women Essay, Research Paper

Aren t You Glad You re Not a Woman?

Throughout time, the majority of women have been held as inferior. Today even with our entire equal rights legislation; women are still second-class citizens, looked down upon and are treated very poorly. In Margaret Atwood s, The Handmaid s Tale, the women of Gilead area outrageously oppressed. Woman s rights and privileges are stolen away by the government of Gilead. Woman s only purpose in the new world of Gilead is to produce viable offspring. The Handmaid s Tale seems like an impossible world but the oppression of women happens in today s societies. Many countries with fascinating cultures such as Afghanistan and China deprive a woman s rights, which make being a woman very frightening.

Afghanistan women have their lives stolen from them under the Taliban Islamic militia. This new society imposed a strict Islamic rule, closing girls school, banning women from the workplace and requiring them to dress in full hijab (clothing themselves from head to toe) ( Afghan ). The Taliban has ordered women to wear burqas, a shroud-like veil that leaves only a small slit to see out of. Chiqueba, a 30-year-old employee at a Kabul weaving facility was beaten by the Taliban shortly after her arrival for being improperly dressed. I was traveling on a bus when some Taliban pulled me off and beat me for not wearing a burqa, she said. It cost me 500,000 Afghanis ($33) to buy one. I had to sell a pair of earrings to raise the money ( Afghan ). The main reason for wearing the hijab is modesty, not wishing to receive unnecessary attention from people such as admiration and flattery, envy and/or sexual attraction from other than her husband.

The Taliban has been a fierce intolerant force devoted to Islamic issues. Amputations and executions are standard punishment for criminals. Television has been banned because the Taliban see it as a symbol of Western decadence. School in Kabul is open to girls four through eight. They receive just enough education to enable them to read the Koran, Islam s holy book. The Taliban founder and elusive leader, Maulana Muhammad Umar, is determined to create his own version of Islamic Afghanistan, at any cost ( Afghan ).

The Communist Party vowed to liberate women from the oppressive feudal-patriarchal system that kept their feet bound. But today, Million of rural Chinese women are recruited to toil in the nation s factories making products for Western consumers have not been so fortunate (Medea). Caught in a whirlpool of capitalist exploitation and communist control, they have become the indentured servants of today s sweatshops. Although China has decent wages, hours, health and safety laws, all are routinely ignored by corrupt government officials. The women work 12 hour days, sometimes seven days a week for 25 cent an hour (Medea). Corporal punishment is common and workers are pushed to complete superhuman quotas. In factories, workers endure beatings, insults, arbitrary fines, body searches, forced overtime, restricted us of bathrooms, few or no holiday s and embezzlement of their wages (Medea). Women who try to form independent trade unions or merely stand up for their rights end up fired, beaten, or thrown in jail. These women are in desperate need for work and cannot afford losing a job and are often not free to leave. It s clear that these women are not freely contracted workers but slaves.

The situation is even worse for the tens of thousands of Chinese women who are recruited to work in factories outside of China; from Russia s Siberia to Africa s Maurtitius to the U.S. territory of Saipan. In these situations workers pay exorbitant recruitment fees of up to $10,000 and can spend their entire first year or work paying back those fees. They are also forced to sign what are called shadow contracts depriving them of their basic rights, such as the right to date or engage in political or religious activities. Most U.S. companies are not as cruel as the president of the Ava-Line lapel pin company, who once bragged about owning 250 young Chinese girls form the hills who work 16-hours days, 28-days a month and live 16 to a room (Medea). Many huge companies still exploit these young women. Obviously these women have no rights and are simply indentured slaves. The Chinese culture is corrupted and is in need of a change. They treat their women not as a human being but as lemmings, life long workers.

Many women are still being oppressed. Women are constantly looked down upon. The oppression of women is the result of years of male dominance, which results in loss of their rights. Women in these horrific countries love bitter, frightening lives. Many cultures today are very interesting in how they are constantly oppress thee women of their societies. Women have always been inferior to men. When will these cultures realize that they are living in the past and notice it s the 21st century? Which brings up the question: Do you really want to be a woman loving in these conditions?

Works Cited

Afghan Women Oppressed Under Taliban Rule . Online. 20 Oct. 2000.

http://www.afghan-web.com/woman/opp.html

Medea, Bejamin. 50 Years Later, Chinese Women Still Oppressed . San Francisco

Chronicle. 01 Oct. 1999: A1.

Why Are Women Oppressed In Islamic Countries? . Online. 20 Oct. 2000

http://members.tripod.co.uk/shax2/Islam/Women.html

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