Cultural Aspect of Woman's Oppression and Liberation

Culture is considered a way of life consisting of education, religion, morals, attitudes, myths and the arts. These components oppress women in various ways.

RELIGION. Eastern religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam prevalent in Asian countries are seen to have a pervasive influence on the people in our countries and incline people to rationalize their oppressive conditions in terms of God’s will, karma, etc.

Most religions in the world originally recognised, to at least some degree, the equality of women. Later the institutionalisation of religion gave women an inferior status. In popular Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism, women are not allowed to participate in certain religious ceremonies due to the myth of “uncleanliness”. But the irony of the situation is that though women are debarred from taking part in such religious rites and are hardly represented in religious decision making bodies, it is they who participate more keenly and actively in religious activities.

EDUCATION. Access to education for women is not seen in the case of Pakistan and Bangladesh, due to lack of awareness of the need to be educated. In some Asian countries where women have more opportunities of getting an education, the fields open to them are limited to ‘feminine’ vocations. And still in many countries, daughters are at the bottom in priority of the family when considering the education of the children.

CUSTOMS, MYTHS, ATTITUDES. Men are given a traditionally dominant status in Asian countries and thus the role of a woman is traditionally restricted to her family- a woman as a minor is subject to her father, as a wife to her husband, and as a widow to the son. She is expected to be primarily a home-maker, to attend to domestic chores and be engaged in child-bearing and -caring. Furthermore, a woman is believed to be complete only when she is married, has children and have at least one son to keep the

family name going. Thus women who are not married and married women without children have a stigma attached to them.

A large amount of myths and fallacies surround women and this leads to people’s - both men and women- regarding women as inferior beings. Some of these myths are that women are low in intelligence, psychologically weak, emotionally unbalanced and physically fragile. But these are differences which are not inherent but created by society.

The prevalence of purdah in Pakistan, the dowry system and arranged marriage in Asian sub-continent are further factors that oppress women in the region. Thus all these customs, values lead to a few women participating in activities outside the home, especially in the labour force, in non-formal organisations.

ETHICS AND MORALS. A code of conduct for women is generally accepted in society, namely, that of lady-like behaviour. A woman is expected to be extremely polite, feminine, delicate, innocent, shy and timid. At marriage, she is expected to be a virgin.

Mass media in the capitalist order has reinforced traditional prejudice and attitudes often portraying an image of women that is degrading and humiliating, as playthings or sex-objects.

WOMEN’S EMANCIPATION. The emancipation of women from the above cultural conditions will need the involvement of women in activities outside their homes, i.e. women will have to participate in the socio-economic and political systems of our Asian countries. By participating in the socially productive endeavours and by not restricting themselves to traditional feminine jobs, women would be able to break down the myth that they are less capable than men in terms of mental and physical capabilities. This participation would also lead to women being no longer considered as liabilities but as assets which in turn should lead to breaking down the preference for sons, the decrease of the dowry system. Another consequence would be the change in the attitude towards ‘lady-like’ behaviour from women. This shows that involvement in socially productive activities could lead to the changing of cultural values, attitudes, customs, mores, etc.

Thus, measures are needed to be evolved which would

enable women to be economically and socially productive. Some of such measures could be:

1) Provision of a relevant education to equip women with the basic knowledge, skills, attitudes and in this regard, systems of formal (especially vocational skills) and non-formal (especially political education) education will be necessary.

2) The consideration of women child-bearing function as a contribution to society. This should be reflected in the provision of special leave, maternity leave, facilities for baby care and mother care, etc.

3) Provision of a comprehensive range of supportive services which will reduce the burden in household chores and childcare.