Are the Concepts of “women” and “gender” Defined in the Same Way?
Are the concepts of “women” and “gender” defined in the same way?
There are a lot of woman leaders today, for example, the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, the Secretary of State of the United States, Hillary Clinton, and the President of Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to name just a few. These are big breakthroughs of women, who several centuries ago could not even step out of the house without being accompanied by male relatives. Indeed, womens activism had proven their worth. In this research paper, I am going to talk about the activism of women in the United States and China.
‘Gender is a culturally defined concept. “Men” and “Women” are branches of “Gender”. For people in society, the gender “men” were people that displaced ‘masculinity such as confidence and bravery. They were the voices and heads of the families. The gender ‘women were defined as those that displaced ‘femininity such as timidness , docility, subservience. ‘Women were not supposed to be much educated since their main responsibilities were staying at home and bearing children and not be involved in public business, such as politics, as it was not culturally acceptable that they should talk in public and being viewed by men. Also, they were not as knowledgeable as the men. In the western world, women were associated with Eve, the fallen women. Plato regarded that although a woman could do anything a man could, she would not do it as well. Hesiod in his story described Pandora as a woman who could not resist temptation, and thus opened up the box which contained evil and thus made the world un-peaceful. All these concepts depicted women as not as capable as the men, as being easily tempted, and lack of intellect.
The long-held Confucianism in China did not make Chinese womens life any better. Confucianism was so popular and so deep-rooted, that it was regarded as a religion. Under Confucianism, widows who remarried were greatly despised because it was considered a shame that they served two husbands. Furthermore, women and men were not allowed to sit together; they must cover their faces when they went out; unless told to retire to her own apartment, a woman did not do so, and if she had an errand to do, she must get permission from her parents-in-law”. Women were treated as property rather than as humans. Confucius, like the ancient Greek philosophers, considered that women should not be educated because men should be the ones to get education. Womens feet were bounded since they were young to lessen their movement, and made them stay at homes, as what women should do. In China, the only way to be bureaucrats was to pass the national examination, which excluded women as the test could only be taken by men.
How are the concepts