Writing

Family & relationships

Some people believe in the traditional idea that the woman’s place is in
the home, while others say that idea is outdated and that women
should play an increasingly important role in the workplace of the
future. What is your opinion?

Student: Camila Villagra

The role of women is evolving and society must accept it

The role of women has always been a key one in societies from all
historical ages, even when she was excluded from societal decisions
(such as elections). Back then, she would take care of her family,
cooking and taking care of them, always staying at home. Some people
believe that women should continue on having this stereotypical role,
and that they mustn’t work or have the same rights as men. This role
has been changing for centuries now, and women from all over the
world have begun to express themselves more freely and having
influential positions in our societies, such as being presidents or great
professionals in their jobs. We should be celebrating this great
paradigm shift, instead of making things harder for women who want to
become successful.
In ancient times (and not so ancient times), women usually stayed at
home all day long, taking care of her children, feeding them, and
teaching them basic things in life, such as walking or talking. She had
to wait at home for her husband or for the male members of her family
to return home, and she had to be have dinner or lunch ready for them
always. She couldn’t participate in social life, since women were seen as
inferior to men. Women couldn’t express their ideas or feelings with
anyone, maybe only with other fellow women. Most of these ideas were
sometimes influenced by some Christian or religious ideas, such as the
one that says that “women were created out of men and they were given
the mandate of giving companionship to the men” (Bible). Some of these
ideas didn’t let societies evolve from that mind-set or their beliefs
towards women for a long time, and as a result, lots of societies treated
women as someone who didn’t deserved any kind of right, who only
existed to serve man and their families. Luckily, nowadays people now
this is not true, and some “narrow-minded societies”, like the ones
which exist in Syria and Yemen, are starting to pay more attention
towards women, granting them more rights legally, such as being able
to get their own driving licence.
People should keep in mind that it was just in the last century, 20 th
century, the moment in which women actually started to have some of
the rights that we know today, such as being able to vote and going to
school. In some countries, not being illiterate was a privilege that only
females from rich families could afford, and it was a right that men had
already had for a long time by then. By becoming literate, lots of women
from all over the world could make themselves heard, paid attention to
for the first time in their lives. Lots of women became writers (which
had already existed for a long time in places such as England and the
United States of America) or journalists for example, and could actually
start earning their own money and not depending from their husband
or families’ wealth, which meant a great step for women, since this gave
them a little bit more of freedom. Medical developments also helped this
“feminist movement” too, since the birth-control pills were created in
the 60’s decade, which meant that then women could control their own
sex life without having to consider their husbands’ opinion. However,
lots of obstacles existed for women back then and continue to exist
today. For example, it is known, thanks to some researches that a
“gender gap” continues to exist at workplaces and jobs. There is
evidence that show that women sometimes even work more hours than
men, sometimes even for the same role or job, and they continue to
earn less money than men. This cannot go on happening, offering
women the same salaries are men will help increase female
representation and improve the profitability and diversity of ideas at the
senior levels of the companies, just to mention some advantages.
It would be great that all societies learn to understand and accept that
women can do lots of different things, just as men can. Limiting the
“place” for women only at their homes, is going to result in a great
number of disadvantages for societies. Humans should learn to live in
an egalitarian society, in which no one “punishes” successful or
independent women for becoming “something else” from what was
expected from them for years, such as being mothers and housewives
only. All members of all communities can be able to “give” something
great to the rest of the world, only if people let them be, without judging
them for something as superficial as their gender.