Feminism: a simple perspective

Feminism. Like it or not, the movement has caught attention from many, males and females. In an engaging conversation with a friend, in a short period of time though, he mentioned the impactful word. Perhaps I shall speak out my opinion about the topic that has been debated since the movement started in the nineteenth century. I will not discuss feminism in the political field as personally I agree with the feminists that women should be given equal rights as men are in this field. Women should be given the rights to vote, to represent the people in the parliament and to fill in the positions in the political area to the extent that they are able to manage.

What I would like to share my opinion about is that feminism that simply defines men and women are equal in all aspects. First question to ask is: are they really equal? If so, is being a woman then a misfortune? I believe that men and women have their own roles in the society and the ideal world that these so-called feminists desire may not be an ideal one should it be realised.

If those feminists demand total equality for both genders, would they be able to fulfill their most basic needs, say housing? Physically men and women are indeed different. Why do men have strong-built bodies and are more muscular than women? To protect women, of course! And not to abuse them. Yet some so-called feminist proclaim that the world will be much better with fewer men. Women, being more gentle, are thus more suitable to be entitled for more delicate tasks. Again, what is wrong with doing such housework (cleaning, washing, caring for children etc) that makes some women feel downgraded is really a question whose answer I am really curious about. I know of so many full-time housewives and my mother is one of them. I reckon these women are fantastic as their jobs, though undervalued by modern societies, may not be that easy.

Emotionally, men and women are not the same either. At certain situations, women tend to response with their feelings whilst men are more logical in their actions. Note that this statement is understood by many and hey, you (men and women) cannot get away with your innate characteristics! The fact that women use their feelings more than they do logic is very useful in one of their "prescribed" jobs: caring for children. That is why under most countries' laws, children below a certain age are left to the care of their mothers upon the divorce of their parents, unless special circumstances occur.

The trend in modern societies is that these feminism-inspired women think that their life is all about success, careers and achievements. Those who are single choose not to marry or even start relationships with men thinking that they could live without them. Those who are married sometimes choose their careers rather than their families. What about this scenario: A married couple, both working full time, leaves their 3-year old son to the care of a maid. For me, this is ridiculous. This, as I have observed since I came to Singapore, is the trend in an average middle-class family. How can a maid replace the role of a mother? A maid might let her employee's children do as they wish because they are her employee's children. No wonder that some time ago I read an article in the newspaper about how dependant children are now - they even get their maid to flush the toilet!

What do you think? Share your opinions about feminism in the comment section. I want to hear from you. Do you think men and women should be equated in all aspects? I certainly think not.

Socialization - a summary

In the article "Socialization", the author, O'Neil discusses how children are socialized by their environment in a process called enculturation. As a child is born with barely any culture at all, his/her parents play an important role in shaping his/her behavior, attitudes and values - "personality", as defined by the author - towards certain matters. Subsequently, after a child has grown up and become a parent, he/she will socialize his/her children the same way he/she was socialized. The inheritance of a particular socializing method is observable in the form of a similar pattern within a group in the society.

As members of a particular group are agreeable with the views and norms they share, one who does not conform to these is seen as rebellious or even "mentally ill" (O'Neil, 2006, para 3). In a big-scale society, where different groups exist, O'Neil also points out that members of the existing groups are more tolerant among each other as they have been socialized in, what I would like to call it, a "multi- environment", be it multicultural, multireligious, multiracial and so on.

O'Neil goes further in analyzing the standardization of childhood socialization. This process is usually called education and can be done both formally and informally. In formal education, the government of a nation plays a critical role in standardizing the education system in order to prepare today's generation to face the challenge that may be faced in the future. For instance, the government may want to train as many human resources to prepare highly-qualified labors which can foster the country's economic development. Informal education, on the other hand, is not acquired at a formal institution, rather it can actually be anything outside the school, such as how a mother tells her daughter to behave in a ladylike manner whereas a son may be asked to do otherwise.

Also, a particular culture may view the traditions, attitudes and values of other cultures as inappropriate or even strange. Thus, there is no right or wrong in the process of a childhood socialization. My opinion about this is that we should be open to the diversity of cultures to minimize cultural shocks we may encounter at some point in time of our life, as an old Indonesian saying says, "Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung" (literally means wherever the earth is stepped on, there the sky is burdened; idiomatically means we should be able to adapt to the customs and traditions of the place we live in).

Reference:
O’Neil, D. (2006). Socialization. Retrieved October 10, 2006, from http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_1.htm