English Linguistic Texts II

Third topic

Women & Society

The term society is really wide and even controversial, therefore, society

involves many varied aspects. Religion, modern life, culture and stereotypes are some

of them.

Stereotypes, for instance, are never exact but are always known by everybody.

Talking about British people, they have always been considered as cold, reticent, distant

and with a peculiar sense of humour, that is, the so called English humour. However,

Latin character is on the other way round: open, talkative and naughty. Those are just

suppositions and generalizations, but in fact, all over the world make and believe

stereotypes that now are very difficult to change. In other words, problems between

societies become form ancient times, it has always happened. What is more, people

tends to refuse different cultures. Different priorities, different beliefs and different

ways of thinking:

Sport activities, both in the United Kingdom and Spain are highly important.

Those are two similar countries, but simple differences can be aolso observed. In British

and Spaniard education sports are included as one of the main subjects for school

children. However, the distribution is different in the two countries: on the one hand,

Spanish schools have sports like soccer, basketball or gymnastics; on the other hand, in

British schools the common sports are rugby, hockey, tennis cricket and even

swimming. This is a clear example of differences in priority.

Another difference is the consideration that British and Spaniards have about

home and going out. British people consider home the chief place for family and

individual entertainment. However, Spaniards prefer going out and be with friends;

home is for Christmas and birthdays.

To sum up, those very simple differences can eassily show how two cultures

defer. Imagine other two countries in problematic areas like Jerusalem and Jordania; or

what is more, two different countries like Russia and China. That is why wars exist and,

by the way, why there are problems all over the world. Even a problem in a country is

seen in different ways depending on the zone. One of this problems, directly related to

racism and discrimination, is the role of women in society.

Generally speaking, females are created weak and emotional, while males are

strong, wise and brave. The female has to depend on the male (father, brother, husband

or even son). The extension of his responsibilities increases his rights at the expense of

hers. However, the Constitution says:

“All people are equal... in public rights and duties before the law without

distinction as to sex, origin, language or religion.”

But women are not happy with that; in some countries women are required to

wear veils, and men can marry up to four wives at a time and the wife, according to

religion instructions has to obey her husband. In these countries women call for a

minimun marriage age of 16, equal rights, the vote and the right to be elected, the

abolition of bridewealth and the legalization of abortion rights. In kuwait, for instance,

the Constitution claims that every kuwaiti has the right to work, but according to the

tradition, tha woman who intends to work outside the home must ask permission.

Indeed, they must search for jobs where the sexes are segregated like teachers or

administrators in girls public schools.

Females in Kuwaiti society suffer from the same problem encountered by

females all over the world: the problem of sex discrimination. Sexual harassment knows

no national, religious or ethnic barriers. However, this discrimination differs from one

society to another.

Some men regard all women as being sexually available in societies where

pornography and the exploitation of women as sexual objects are commonplace. For

millions of women, sexual harassment is an unpleasnt and unavoidable part of their

working lives. And sexual harassment include leering, ridicule and embarrasing

remarks. Women feel that the secretary belongs to the boss, like a well-worn leather

chair, so it clearly shows how does some women feel.

In spite of this, there are many countries where things are changing and where

women are increasing. After years of struggle women are finally beginning to dominate

in a man´s world. Over the course of seven generations, there have been dramatic social,

legal and cultural advances made by women all over the world, and those are more than

simple changes in lifestyle. Some glass ceilings are being broken, women have gained

enough economic power to influence entire markets. Now the superwoman, or the 3M

woman -marriage, motherhood and mortgage- is entirely indicative of that feminine

ability to coordinate and master a variety of roles and survive to tell about it.

This happy face has mede that for some women seem impossible to imagine a

time when women were not allowed to own property, to vote, were not recognized

legally, and were denied entrance into both academic and professional institutions. Now

women have what they want and many of them are fighting to achieve the same in other

countries where women are suffering like their mothers and grandmothers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

-Lawrence, D.H. Women in Love. Penguin Plays, 1987.

-Turner, G. British cultural studies. An introduction. Routhledge, London, 1992.

-Newspaper and magazine articles from The Guardian, Time Magazine, Ms. and Diario Marca.

-Internet pages: Google.com, Women&society.com and Buffalouniversity.com

-Films: The color purple and Not without my daughter