Module 4: CHANGING ROLES OF WOMEN

Learning Objectives:
After successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

1. Recognize the social, cultural and changing roles of women.

2. Examine how the roles of women change.

3. Evaluate the different roles of women family and society.

Learning Content:

A. Social and Cultural Expectations and Changing Role of Women

B. How women’s role in society change?

C. Women’s Multiple Roles

D. Role of Women in the Family and Society

Learning Discussion:

The Changing Role of Women

The role of women in public life and in the social context has changed in the last few decades.
From the role of a bread maker it has changed to bread winner in many cases. Business and cultural
environments have exerted a great influence on these roles. Social changes have made the role
different. In the context of today’s environment, they play different roles from business entrepreneurs
to Corporate Executives to policy makers. But still there are cultural pressures on the ideal role to be
played by them in society. There are still cultures which consider women not suitable for taking up
employment and their roles are restricted to home making. In the current global environment this
expectation is making difficult for them to choose their career and education. This article would try and
trace the roles played by women as entrepreneurs and social emancipation to play a larger role in
society. This is very much influenced by local cultures and beliefs, in spite of globalization of businesses.
There are expectations and responsibilities associated with such winds of change.

Source:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327366584_Social_and_Cultural_Expectations_and_Changin
g_Role_of_Women

How women’s role in society has changed?

5 ways women’s roles have changed in the society

Traditionally, women were considered to be full-time homemakers. Their responsibilities were to take
care of their children and family. They didn’t have any role in the household earning. Over the years, the
roles of women have changed. Here we are going to discuss it.

1. Child-bearing role
Women now bear less number of children than they used to before. Most families now have one or two
children. They even give birth to a child at a more matured age. Women now have children even
without marriage.

2. Education

More women are now getting literate and they are also pursuing higher education. This is creating an
opportunity for them to work. They are also playing role in family decision making.

3. Outside activities

Women are no longer staying home full-time. They are going to the market for doing grocery shopping,
paying bills and doing all the works that only men used to do before. They are getting more involved in
the outside works.

4. Workplace

Women have entered the workplace. They also earn for their family just like men. However, the
percentage of women in the workplace is still less than that of men as women have to take the major
household responsibilities. The percentage of the part-time job is more in case of women. Women are
still often seen in the caring or teaching sector. But now more women are entering the male-dominated
sectors like politics, the legal system, etc. As well. More women are occupying senior management
positions.

5. Fighting for rights

Women now have a voice, unlike before. Families are no more male-dominated. Like men, women also
make major life decisions. Women have stood against dowry and domestic violence. Even in the
workplace, they fight against sexual abuse and equality. Child marriage is being stopped in many
communities.

Men now play a role in child raising and household activities just like women. Both men and women
now share their responsibilities both home and outside. Women now stand against any discrimination
and torture. There have been lots of gender-issue related movements and many social organizations
now fight for women’s rights. Women are now getting power even in rural areas. In many countries now
women are the head of the state. Education has made women independent and they are no longer
dependent on men to lead their lives.

Business laws have changed to allow more women in the workplace and giving them a comfortable
environment to work in. Women can now stand tall like men and get equal opportunities in everything.

Source:
http://bamboccioni-alla-riscossa.org/5-ways-womens-roles-have-changed-in-the-society/

Women’s multiple roles

The involvement of women in the economic workforce and public life has not been reciprocated by a
shift among men into domestic work and reproductive life. As a result, women assume multiple
responsibilities as daughters, wives, mothers, workers and members of society.

As a daughter, a woman is traditionally responsible for taking care of her parents. As a wife, she is
expected to serve her husband, preparing food, clothing and other personal needs. As a mother, she has
to take care of the children and their needs, including education.

As a worker, she has to be professional, disciplined and a good employee. And as a member of society,
she is expected to participate in community activities and volunteer work, both within her community
and through social organisations.

Source: https://theconversation.com/the-secret-to-a-happy-marriage-flexible-roles-101275
Role of Women in the Family and Society

Women are the pioneers of nation. Indian culture attaches great importance to women, comprising half
of world’s population. According to a report of secretary general of United Nations, women constitute
50% of human resources, the greatest human resource next only to man having great potentiality.

Women are the key to sustainable development and quality of life in the family. The varieties of role the
women assume in the family are those of wife, leader, administrator, manager of family income and last
but not the least important the mother.

1. As a wife:

Woman is man’s helpmate, partner and comrade. She sacrifices her personal pleasure and ambitions,
sets standard of morality, relieves stress and strain, tension of husband, maintains peace and order in
the household. Thereby she creates necessary environment for her male partner to think more about
the economic upliftment of family. She is the source of inspiration to man for high endeavor and worth
achievements in life.

She stands by him in all the crises as well as she shares with him all successes and attainments. She is
the person to whom he turns for love, sympathy, understanding, comfort and recognition. She is the
symbol of purity, faithfulness and submission and devotion to her husband.
 2. As an Administrator and Leader of the Household:

A well-ordered disciplined household is essential to normal family life. The woman in the family assumes
this function. She is the chief executive of an enterprise. She assigns duties among family members
according to their interest and abilities and provides resources in-term of equipment and materials to
accomplish the job.

She plays a key role in the preparation and serving of meals, selection and care of clothing, laundering,
furnishing and maintenance of the house. As an administrator, she organizes various social functions in
the family for social development. She also acts as a director of recreation. She plans various
recreational activities to meet the needs of young and old members of the family.

3. As a Manager of Family Income:

Woman acts as the humble manager of the family income. It is her responsibility to secure maximum
return from everyday spent. She always prefers to prepare a surplus budget instead of a deficit budget.
She is very calculating loss and gain while spending money. She distributes judiciously the income on
different heads such as necessities, comforts and luxuries. The woman in the family also contributes to
the family income through her own earning within or outside the home. She has positive contribution to
the family income by the work. She herself performs in the home and uses waste products for
productive purposes.
 4. As a Mother:

The whole burden of child bearing and greater part of child rearing task are carried out by the woman in
the family. She is primarily responsible for the child’s habit of self-control, orderliness, industriousness,
theft or honesty. Her contacts with the child during the most formative period of his development sets
up his behaviour pattern. She is thus responsible for the maintenance of utmost discipline in the family.

She is the first teacher of the child. She transmits social heritage to the child. It is from mother that the
child learns the laws of the race, the manner of men, moral code and ideals. The mother, because of her
intimate and sustained contact with the child, she is able to discover and nurture child’s special traits
aptitudes and attitudes which subsequently play a key role in the shaping of his personality.

As a mother she is the family health officer. She is very much concerned about the physical wellbeing of
every member of the family, the helpless infant, the sickly child, the adolescent youth, senescent parent.
She organizes the home and its activities in such a way so that each member of the family has proper
food, adequate sleep and sufficient recreation. She made the home a place of quite comfortable and
appropriate setting for the children through her talent. Besides, she cultivates taste in interior design
and arrangement, so that the home becomes an inviting, restful and cheerful place.

The mother is the central personality of the home and the family circle. All the members turn to her for
sympathy, understanding and recognition. Woman devotes her time, labour and thought for the welfare
of the members of the family. For the unity of interacting personalities, man provides the temple
woman provides the ceremonies and the atmosphere.

The woman performs the role of wife, partner, organizer, administrator, director, re-creator, disburser,
economist, mother, disciplinarian, teacher, health officer, artist and queen in the family at the same
time. Apart from it, woman plays a key role in the socio-economic development of the society.
Modern education and modern economic life use to compel woman more and more to leave the narrow
sphere of the family circle and work side by side for the enrichment of society. She can be member of
any women’s organisation and can launch various programmes like literacy programme such as adult
education, education for disadvantaged girls etc.

The purpose of introducing such literacy programme is to raise the society as education enables women
to respond to opportunities, to challenge their traditional roles and to change their life circumstances.
Education is the most important instrument for human resource development.

Women are the key to sustainable development and quality of life. So they should be members of
community center or club to disseminate knowledge about handicraft, cottage industries, food
preservation and low cost nutritious diet to people belonging low socio economic status for their
economic upliftment. They should act as leaders of the society to raise voice against women violence,
exploitation in household as well as in work place, dowry prohibition superstition and other social
atrocities.

They should be member of religious institution to deliver spiritual speech to adolescent boys and girls in
order to eliminate juvenile delinquency problem from the society. In addition, they have pivotal role in
pre and post marital counselling for adolescent girl regarding sexual transmitted disease. AIDS and other
infectious diseases. They are supposed to create awareness about Human rights, women and child
rights, credit facility of bank, different immunization programmes to low socio economic status people
of the society.

Moreover, it is the women who have sustained the growth of society and molded the future of nations.
In the emerging complex social scenario, women have a vital role to play in different sectors. They can
no longer be considered as mere harbingers of peace but are emerging as the source of power and
symbol of progress.
Source:https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/family/role-of-women-in-the-family-and-society/47638

Module 4: CHANGING ROLES OF WOMEN

ACTIVITY SHEET

General Instruction: Read carefully and follow all the instructions below.

A. Reflection Paper. Click the link below and read the article entitled “Women’s Rights in the
Philippines in an Era of Authoritarianism” published on June 16, 2020|Volume13 |Issue38
written by Alison Brysk and Jesilyn Faust. Write your reflection paper in a clean sheet of paper
(short bond paper). Write legibly.

https://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/june-2020/women-s-rights-philippines-era-authoritarianism
(Women’s Rights in the Philippines in an Era of Authoritarianism)

B. CAN’T Say NO to my MOM for a WHOLE DAY Challenge*

In recognizing the effort, love and care of our mother, mom, mudra, ina, inay, nanay and or what term
we affectionately call our mother. Make a video presentation about this challenge. Make sure to explain
to your mom/nanay/mother that you need to accomplished all of the task assign to you in just ONE DAY.
Don’t forget to introduce your mom/nanay/mother in the video presentation. (Full name, nickname,
how she sees you as her daughter/son?).

IMPORTANT NOTE: If your mom/nanay/inay/mudra can’t able to give you the challenge, you can choose
whomever you think played a major role in your life as a person. And sent it by MESSENGER.

Your video presentation/vlog will be judged by the following criteria indicated below.

CRETERION DESCRIPTION

Content (10%)  Clarity of topic

 Technical Content

Creativity (10%)  Originality

How well the video communicates the message

(10%)  Audio quality

 Image quality
Setting the expected time (10%)  The length of the video does not exceed five (5) minutes.

Submission within the specified time

(10%)  The final submission is made on time.

*modify the title if your mom/nanay/inay can’t do the challenge