Role of Women

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Role of Women

Traditionally, women have been considered as the caregivers who were supposed to remain at home and take care of the children. Men on the other hand were taunted as the rightful people who had the mandate to provide and protect their families. In many literary work, most of the writers have always portrayed women from the lenses of caregivers. Women have also gone through many challenges including domestic violence and being viewed as the weaker gender in the society. However, that has changed in the contemporary world. Women have been empowered and they are now taking equal responsibilities as men. Women have been empowered through education and they undertake responsibilities that were traditionally viewed as men’s roles in society. Unlike a few years ago, women no longer stay at home looking after the children. They are now eligible through their qualification to work in professional bodies and most of them are taking leadership roles that were traditionally held by men. In the political sphere, women are now competing for elective seats with their male counterparts. There are also contributing significantly on the development of their countries and most of them are supporting their families. Evidently, there is no longer roles that are specifically reserved for either gender. Notably, women empowerment has also been contributed immensely by the support of the community members and the people in leadership. In many countries, there are legislation that has been specifically passed to ensure that women rights are protected and that they are empowered. Some administrative units have also set aside funds meant to support the girl child and ensure that they access equal opportunities with their male counters. These initiatives have made it possible for women to progress in the society and their contribution is evident in all spheres of life.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet describes some of the challenges that women have gone through in history. Written at the time when women were prohibited from engaging in certain activities, Hamlet through his actions reflects the challenges that women in many parts of the world have painfully endured. Hamlet brings forth the aspect of male chauvinism and the prejudice that women have gone through for many years. Through his obsession for women, Hamlet seeks to expose the challenges that women go through which men do not what to admit despite the fact that it is evident on how they badly treat women. Although Hamlet is obsessed with women, he also ridicules their actions and these women are forced to remain obedient and live in fear. Hamlet’s treatment of women is a reflection of what is happening to many women across the globe. Many women are forced to be obedient to abusive partners because of the fear of getting hurt should they disobey their husbands. In contemporary world, there are still many cases of domestic violence and the people who suffer the most are women. Hamlet represents what some men do in their families. They ridicule and abuse their women with little or no regard that they are equal partners in the relationship. Two women that represents the challenges that women go through in Shakespeare’s Hamlet are Gertrude and Ophelia.

When Gertrude’s husband dies, she is forced to marry Claudius, her husband’s brother in order to protect herself from harm. Gertrude’s is case is a situation that most women go through in contemporary world. Many of these women do not have the capacity to protect themselves and the political is formulated in a way that favors men and condemns women. Ophelia in her workplace is also going through challenges and she has to play along with the wishes of men in court in order to protect her job. Ophelia’s case mirrors most of what goes on in corporates in contemporary world. When are sexually harassed and some asked for sexual favors in exchange of promotions and other work related favors. The society has made it look like women are the weaker gender and men have taken advantage of this notion to deny them their rights. When Gertrude intimates to her son that “Do not forever with thy vailèd lids seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou knowst ’tis common: all that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity” Harlem immediately misinterprets this to mean that Gertrude was not sensitive to the passing of his father and condemns his mother. This is a big challenge especially because the assumption that Hamlet has is that Gertrude took part in killing her husband so that she remain with Claudius. This is a challenge that many women go through in their families.

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the narrator stratifies gender and portrays women as the weaker gender in Igbo community. Women are portrayed has people who did not have much role to play in community other than taking care of the children at home. In the narrative, the protagonist; Okwonko is depicted to a man who was full of fear of failure and this was the case with other men in the Igbo community who considered failure as a sign of weakness. One would be equated to a woman if they fail in life. Okwonko came from a family whose father was considered a failure and this made him hate to be associated with failure which had been associated with women in the community. Anything strong in Igbo was associated with men thus, women were generally considered the weaker gender in that community. Women’s role in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is divided into diverse responsibilities. Igbo society recognizes women as the weaker gender and therefore, they are given lighter responsibilities. One of their primary responsibility is taking care of the children and educating them. As Chinua Achebe notes (67), “Low voices, broken now and again by singing, reached Okwonko from his wives’ huts as each woman and her children told folk stories.” Women in Igbo community are tasked with the responsibility of teaching children the community values and ensuring that they are passed from one generation to another. Still, women are also taunted as the caregivers in the community. They are required to feed the children and take care of their husbands. The role of men in the Igbo community is provide and protect their families. However, women also take part in the agricultural activities as assistance to their men. However, they are given easy tasks that they can manage to execute with ease.

In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, women are portrayed as playing a critical role in the society. Women are depicted as caregivers and mothers whose primary goal is to protect their children. In the narrative, when women experience the terrors of the world, the run back to the pastoral world where they feel protected from the challenges that they may go through. It is evident from the poems that women’s primary role is protection and caregiving.

In conclusion, women play a very critical role in the society. They are taunted as the caregivers and the educators of their children. They pass the right morals from one generation to another and the assist their husbands in executing other responsibilities at home. A few years ago, women were staying at home to take care of the children and this was viewed in some communities as good and respectable act. Men left to went to look for food for their families and they were assured that their children will be safe under the custody of their mother. However, things have changed over the years and women now play critical role in the development of the country. They take part in decision making and some of them have also taken leadership roles. Through education, women have been empowered and they can now take some of the responsibilities that were traditional thought to be done by men. However, it is critical to note that in some places, women still play a bigger role in taking care of their children and educating them on the good morals in the society. Despite the empowerment of women, they still play a critical role in putting their families together and providing care for their children and their husbands.

Work Cited

Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Vol. 5. Princeton University Press, 1994.

Chinua, Achebe. “Things fall apart.” (1958).

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. EP Dutton, 1905.