“Society decides a woman’s value based on whether she has children or is married.” (Jennifer Aniston)
Discuss this in a contemporary context.
Our attitudes towards values of men and women are shaped in many ways – they are shaped by our upbringing, and the social norms and values in the society we grow up in. Being a woman or a man differs in different societies across history – there are traditional men-led societies where women’s primary roles are being spouses and mothers, and there are matriarchal societies where women are in charge of the economics of their households, while men devote themselves to domestic tasks. The Aka tribe in Congo is an example of a matriarchal society where the women hunt while the men cook and look after their children. In this essay I am going to discuss about the impact of societies in shaping a woman’s value from both historical and contemporary contexts.
In history, women were often portrayed in gender-stereotypical roles such as wives, mothers and daughters. However, although most societies were patriarchal, with men as the dominant figures in the traditional family structure, and women running the household, (devoting themselves to motherhood and being spouses) women also played an important role in the economy of their households. Women were engaged in agriculture and trades, which gave them a level of equality alongside men and their husbands.
The Industrial Revolution in the 18th century paved way for new technological innovations and the creation of new industries such as textiles, iron and coal. As these industries boomed more labour was needed, and many historians argued this has reduced the status of women and confined them more to their domestic roles. There was now a division of labour with men and husbands taking paid labour jobs outside home, while many women were reduced to unpaid household work of cooking, cleaning and childcare. De Beauvoir (1949: 132) stated that the Industrial Revolution gave women an escape from their homes but were paid very little for their work. Alice Clark in her book ‘Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century’ (1992) wrote that when women had jobs, they were confined to jobs of domestic existence, such as tailors, kitchen helpers and servants. However, Tilly and Scott (1987) emphasized the continued rising status of women in three stages – women producing much of the needs of the households the pre-industrial era, the ‘family wage economy’ during the early years of industrialization where the entire household depended on the collective wages of its family members, and the modern stage of ‘family consumer economy’, where the family is the site of consumption and women are employed in large numbers in retail and service industries to support the rising standards of consumption.
Despite the raised status of women though, it was still unusual for married women to work due to the societal expectations of them to get married, have children and stay at home. Because most women relied on their husbands financially, many of them could not leave their husbands and had to endure unhappy marriages. It was only towards the end of 19th century that laws were passed so women could not be forced to live with a man if they did not want to, but since being a divorcee is largely shunned by society, many women chose to stay. Even the term ‘spinster’ still had a social stigma to it – that a woman was not good enough to get a husband.
Technological and economic changes especially towards the end of 20th century modernized societies, and as societies became advanced, more laws and acts regarding women’s rights with regards to work, family, pay, reproduction, property ownership and education were passed by governments giving women the same rights as their male counterparts. As more women enrolled in educational institutions and allowed to enter into professions such as medicine, law and civil service, women no longer have to economically depend on men.
When men were drafted in the military during the periods of both world wars in the 20th century, there were a severe shortage of labour in a range of industries. This, and for the sake of survival of their families as well, was the reason why many women were drafted to the labour market to participate in the war efforts and undertake work that had been traditionally restricted to men. Large numbers of women were incorporated into the public sector and served in the military as nurses and support personnel. After the Second World War, women lost their jobs to the returning soldiers and had to return to their routine jobs and domestic roles as wives and mothers. Married women were released from service sooner to ensure their homes were ready when their husbands returned from the war. Industrialized societies aimed to re-establish domesticity as women’s primary education and there was a new emphasis on companionship marriage and the nuclear family (a family group consisting of two parents and their children, one or more) as a foundation of the new welfare state. Marriage was more popular than ever before – in her book titled ‘Speaking as a Woman’ (1953: 67), Phyllis Whitman stated: ‘A happy marriage may be seen, but not as a holy state or something to which a few may luckily attain, but rather as the best course, the simplest, and the easiest way of life for us all.’ Social reforms were implemented and family allowances were introduced which meant to subsidize families by supporting women in their ‘capacity as wife and mother’ (Pugh 1990: 158). Sue Bruley in her book ‘Women in Britain since 1900’ (1999: 118) argued that these social reforms ‘was flawed by a fundamentally conservative view of women’.
These marriage ideals were further reinforced to women by the popular media – films, radio and women’s magazines – where women trying to combine work and marriage are positively discouraged. Through fiction and real-life stories, women’s magazines and television programmes promoted the ideal of women’s domesticity and dependence, encouraging the return of the female labour force to the kitchen and nursery (Ferguson 1983: 21).
In the 1960s the low percentage of working women were largely limited to service jobs such as teachers, nurses or clerks, paid lower salaries than their male counterparts and denied career advancement opportunities as they were often assumed to get married, became pregnant and quit their jobs. Betty Friedan in her book ‘The Feminine Mystique’ (1963) told of the frustration and despair of a new generation of college-educated housewives who felt trapped and unfulfilled. She accepted that housewives were content to serve their families but she also called on women to seek fulfilment in work outside their homes.
When effective and safe methods of birth control became available (such as the Pill), it opened the door for women to pursue professional careers. Women could then complete years of studies and training, and launch their careers without being interrupted by pregnancy. Women are now able to family-plan and decide when and whether to have kids or not. With women spending more time in educational institutions and advancing careers, giving them more career and economic opportunities, marriage ages of women started to rise. Even with wider opportunities for romance, marriage and children, to remain single has increasingly become a choice to young women as it started to lose its social stigma. A woman may choose not to marry for socio-economic conditions, to focus on her career, a desire for an independent life or an unwillingness to make compromises expected in a marriage.
Today many social restrictions for women have disappeared – women are no longer tied to the home and domestic tasks or held back in their careers. Women are individuals who make choices about how to live, including to leave behind the traditional social roles associated with being a male or female. In conclusion, our cultural attitudes towards women have a huge impact on how women are viewed and view themselves – and on public attitudes to women. It is important for boys and girls to be treated as equals since childhood – to be raised and educated as equals to erase the gender-stereotyping made by the society.