OPPRESSION OF WOMEN
In different societies, women have been treated as inferior beings when compared to their male counterparts. This is reflected in how they are perceived, how they are treated, and the responsibilities that they are provided. Although much has changed in the 21st century, with calls of equality, history portrays women as having been oppressed in the past. In most cases, women had accepted their position in the society as house-wives whose role was to take care of their husband and children. In societies that allowed women to work, these women accepted that they could only hold manual labor positions i.e. jobs that men felt would be degrading to them, if they were seen working in such jobs i.e. sewing in a factory company, and in other societies religion seemed to be unfavorable towards women i.e. various religious practices that are carried out in Islam such as women being dictated to wear hijabs that cover their whole bodies.
However, despite these forms of oppression that women over the years have seemed to be exposed to, there are women who emerged from such struggles by simply refusing to accept their traditional positions. These women felt that their lives could be much better if they do more, and they defied the odds that had been placed before them to emerge as historical pillars for women. In this essay, it focuses on four women who had a remarkable impact in terms of liberation of women from an oppressive natured society. Through their different works, they were able to influence the society to facilitate the equality rights, and ‘abolish the traditional position of women.’ These women are: Vera Brittania, Vijaya Pandit, Emma Mashinini, and Leila Ahmed. These women provided various contributions that led to the empowerment of women.In most countries, women were not allowed to participate in combat, and therefore they could not be enlisted as soldiers. During World War I, Britannia wanted to enlist in the war in order to serve her country in a honorable manner. However, she could not enlist herself because she was a woman. She instead convinced her brother to sign up for the war, so that he could be a hero and be honored by his country. His brother, fiancé and two other Vera’s male friends signed up for the army and were deployed to go and fight for Britain.
During the war, a lot of propaganda was spread for motivational purposes to the soldiers. Women were depicted as being vulnerable and gentle in nature. This meant that they would be victims’ of the enemy’s barbaric acts if the soldiers were not resilient enough to win the war. The soldiers will have no home to go back to, once the war was over. As it has been stated, for the youth’s that grew up during Vera’s time war was regarded as something heroic. However, her view changed only three weeks into the war, when she saw the adverse effects of war. She was working as a …
