Reflective Journal 3: Reflect on the changing roles of women. You may choose to consider how the changing roles of women in society made an impact on you by drawing examples from China, the United States and/or Singapore.
The roles of women have been changing. I believe that the roles of women have changed in many aspects; hence one factor is not enough to evaluate the changes. Therefore, I will use economic and social factors to explain the changing roles of women. I understand that the roles of women have definitely changed over the past decades; hence I will be investigating the extent of which their roles have changed.
My first point is on how the roles of women have changed in the economic sphere. In the past, women were seen as caretakers of the family. This all changed with the onset of the Second World War, when most of the men in the population had to fight the war and unfortunately lost their lives. This resulted in women being recruited as workers in factories and other professions, thus they had played a vital role in the rebuilding of the economy and country during the post-war period. From this, it can be seen that the role of women then had taken a leap forward as they had played the crucial part in the economy. Today, it is undeniable that women have proven that they are not at all inferior to men anymore, which can be seen from how some women hold high-ranking positions in global corporations. I would like to use the examples of Miss Olivia Lum and Cher Wang, who are the founders of Hyflux and HTC respectively, which are multi-national corporations. Both being in the Forbes List of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, they are genuine examples of how women today have gained a better economic standing. Also, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, 46% of women in the US held managerial positions in 2002, a huge leap from 18% in 1972. However, in my opinion, though I agree that women have become more involved in the economic sphere, I would like to note that these examples I have cited are only the rarities in society, as most of these top positions are still headed by men. This is mainly due to the presence of biases against women, mainly biological, such as their inability to work as a result of pregnancy. Hence, inequality between men and women still exists, but this margin is gradually narrowed.
Next, I will be talking about the change in the roles of women in the social aspect, which covers the political and family factors. In the political sphere, the role of women has definitely changed. In the past, women were not allowed to vote but this changed in the late 19th century when they were given the rights for voting. Furthermore, there is increased involvement of women in politics. The example of Hillary Clinton’s participation in the recent 2008 U.S. Presidential Elections shows that women are gaining greater political power and control from the past. In terms of family standing, in the past, women were mostly associated with housework and taking care of children at home. Today, some women have become the breadwinner of the family and have a greater say in making family decisions. My family is an example. My grandmother and mother have played completely different roles in the family. The grandmother used to tell me that in the past, women and girls of her time had little opportunities; instead they were expected to handle household chores and take care of the family. I myself had been taken care of mostly by my grandmother. However, my mother’s case was totally different. My mother works full-time and also contributes to almost 50% of the family income. The time she spent taking care of the family is comparatively much lesser then the time spent by my grandmother. Thus, the difference between them, women from different generations, had illuminated the fact that the roles of women have changed over the years.
I feel that the changing roles of women have changed my views about women and their capabilities as well as made me gain more respect for them. The achievements of women, mainly economic and political, have proven to me that women indeed have the necessary qualities to head political offices and large corporations, despite their biological differences, and men are not the only ones with the ability anymore. I also feel that though the role of women has changed, they should still be given the freedom to choose what they want to do, be it a housewife, politician or employee in a corporation, whichever pleases them the most.
To conclude, though the roles of women have changed in society, it is still not significant enough as the men are still the dominant gender in most aspects of society such as the economic sphere. However, I feel optimistic about the progressing roles of women and I am hopeful that in future the influence and power of women would become much greater.
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