Cultural differences play a large role in how femenism is spreading. The (practically) widespread idea of women is that they should be in the home and stick to domestic tasks and raise the kids and be the perfect housewife. America took the first steps in spreading the ideals of feminism around but other countries have not had it so easy. There's a good example right over the border. Latin American women still have to fight to make their voices heard particularly the indigenous women. North Americans don't have it too easy, but the females of Latin America have never really had a voice until recently.
One of the other classes I'm taking this semester is dedicated to Latin American women writers. What I am learning between these two classes is making me realize that women all over the globe have the right to have a say and make their own decisions regarding how they live out their life. Even as we say we are so liberal, we are still afraid of breaking out of the molds that society has set for us. This is a widespread cultural thing, not just limited to North Americans. Our cultures play a very important role in how we form our identity as femenists and how we struggle to break out of the social norms. We are stuck in a consistent struggle to break out of the norms society has set for us. So how DO we go about merging our identities as femenists while breaking free from what we know? I don't believe that there is any single answer to that question. Individually we have to find an answer that we feel comfortable with when it comes to respecting our cultural and societal values while also keeping in mind that ultimately we want equality for all across all cultures.
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I think that American women often take for granted how far we've come in terms of being recognized along side of men. Our generation and those shortly before or after us, especially, because we haven't had to deal with the issues nearly as much as generations older than us did. We grew up way after women's suffrage, and although we've learned about it in our classes, it's really not the same thing as experiencing it. It's probably safe to say that a lot of young women in our country fail to recognize how truly lucky we are as women to be able to do half of the things that we can do, and your example of what's going on in Latin America proves that point perfectly.
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ReplyDeleteAs Amanda said, I do think that women in the U.S. have come far, but we cannot forget about women of other cultures. I think that all women should be able to follow their goals and dreams without feeling the pressure of having to fulfill a particular cultural stereotype. It is completely fine if a women decides to be a mother and housewife, if that fulfills her, but if having a career and being single and independent makes her happy, then that should be okay too. I do not think that cultural traditions should be tied up in gender roles.
ReplyDeleteEven in the United States, we still have barriors we need to break down. Unfortunately, there are many that believe we've done everything we can and that equality is not an issue anymore. Many women in the rest of the world do not have the freedoms we have grown up with. One example I thought of was women in the Middle East. I think it is our duty, as women, to help women in these countries stand up for their rights.
ReplyDeleteGreat points about the international context! I think it is easy to generalize about "women" when in fact there are cultural differences around the world and among groups in the US. Do you think women in Latin America might be free/fulfilled in ways that we aren't? Would they define feminism and empowerment differently than we do? I'm interested to hear more about your class and the writers you're discussing.
ReplyDeleteI think we as American women can tend to take for granted the freedoms we have in comparison to other cultures. There are women suffering and dying because they're women meanwhile we fight for things like wage equality among the sexes in this country. I feel like it's hard to navigate through this issue. We grew up with freedoms that women in other cultures don't even dream of hoping for. Many women believe we have a long way to go in this country as far as gender equality but looking at how women are treated in Middle Eastern countries - now that's a long way to go. Many women in other countries don't even believe they're entitled to their own individual rights let alone have the resources to stand up for them.
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