Term Paper on "Asian Women"

Term Paper 8 pages (3565 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Asian Women

South Asia consists of seven separate independent states, having varied socio-economic and ethnic habitations, an array of religious beliefs, enactment of laws, economic and political obligations, everything which influence upon the lives of women in this part of the world. In the midst of this multiplicity, the areas bears a cohesive feature on several points and the women of South Asia also, experience identical circumstances on several issues. Gradually with the passage of time, on several indicators of welfare, South Asian women are found to be currently prosperous compared to what their condition was several decades back- their life span has been constantly going up, more women have achieved education and are in jobs; a lot of them have joined politics at the local administration echelons and there is an heightened appreciation of the urgency to tackle the problem of women particularly, to comprehend gender relations and strive towards justice and empowerment for women. In spite of these enhancements, the overall scenario of women's development has been negatively influenced in this age of modernity throughout the world. (Women and Development in South Asia)

South Asian region is still to this day known as a 'patriarchal zone' where the position of women is lower compared to men in a kin-ordered social organization, possess low position, scanty or no title of property and land and are affected due to lack of recognition of their work for which there is no payment. (Women and Development in South Asia) in South Asia, women are frequently prone to discrimination all through their lives and with scanty or no hope for relief. In their childhood, they are not given adequate food, deprived of education and not treated in hospitals. In their teenage years, several of them are married off without their consent, occasionally led into flesh trade racket and bonded labor. In their roles as wives and mothers, they are treated a shade more than just a helper in farming and child producing machines. (Chinese Cultural Studies: Women in China: Past and the Present)

If they survive longer than their husbands, they are often deprived of their legacy rights, banished and evicted from their homes and compelled to lead a life as paupers on the road. (Chinese Cultural Studies: Women in China: Past and the Present) Socio-cultural customs, founded on ardent patriarchal beliefs widespread in the area, reduce movement of women and stop them from taking the benefit of opportunities to increase their potential. Every realm of gender discrimination are quantifiable, however even within the narrow field of labor markets, socio-cultural impact on education, nourishment, health and political involvement, women in nearly every South Asian nation are subjected to unfair treatment in a modern society. (Face of poverty in S. Asia is a female one)

Nearly 80 million women in South Asia go untraced or killed in the womb or before their first birthday as a result of acute gender discrimination. Bulk of the work performed by women in this area is unheeded and continues to be unrecognized and their financial involvement is just a miniscule of that of men. Imperceptibility of women inside the economy is a global occurrence; however is South Asia its influence is insidious. Female literacy is just a third of the adult literate population in the area. Moreover as a result of discrimination in academic, economic and social realms, women are not allowed to enter in hub of politics. A mere 7.4% of the parliamentarians belonging to the area are women. Moreover, their representation in judicial services is abysmally low at 6% and mere 9% women have their presence in the Civil services. (Face of poverty in S. Asia is a female one)

Women in these regions are incapable to arrive at decision in their favor on a number of problems. They hardly work for a remuneration and possess scanty command over resources. Traveling is not for them and violence is perpetrated on them by the male relatives. (Role of gender in health disparity: The South Asian context) in South Asian nations it is been maintained that women are being murdered for not showing reverence to male relatives by having extramarital sexual affairs, selecting their life partners themselves in defiance of their parents choicer or looking for a breakup in their marriage. (Gender Equality: (http://www.faithnet.org) Throughout South Asia, arranged marriages are customary and at times could be the most humiliating ceremony, which a women passes through. There are two categories which mostly happen: bride wealth wherein the family of the bride in effect hands her over to the party bidding for the maximum wealth, and dowry, wherein the family of the bride shells out steep sums of money to the family of the husband. (Chinese Cultural Studies: Women in China: Past and the Present) a lot of women have bore the brunt of horrible assaults of flinging acid on them due to inadequate dowry. (Role of gender in health disparity: The South Asian context)

Gender discrimination at every phase of the life span of female plays a part in this occurrence. Discrimination against females begins in the womb. Sex of the fetus can be known thanks to ultrasound technology, and selective abortion is widespread in some regions. Killing of infant females also happens. (Role of gender in health disparity: The South Asian context) in a hospital in Mumbai, out of the 8,000 termination of pregnancy carried out following amniocentesis, 7,999 were found to be female fetuses, as per a latest report by the Indian government authorities. Sociologists and government officials began archiving intermittent instances of female infanticide in India roughly 10 years back. The custom of taking the lives of new born girls generally happens in rural areas in India; even though there is no archive of its coverage, an instance cropped up in a review by the Community Services Guild of Madras, a city in the state of Tamil Nadu. Among the 1,250 women interrogated, the survey came to the conclusion that in excess of 50% had taken the lives of female infants. (Chinese Cultural Studies: Women in China: Past and the Present) lot of report of female infanticide abounds, which happens due to the fact that upbringing a female girl child can often be a financial load. The sex ratio in India is 960 females to every 1000 male, and this is due to the fact that boys will be able to give more labor support in an agrarian society and also due to the fact that they are not required to pay dowry in marriage. Women receive criticism, or humiliation, for being the mother of a daughter. (Gender Equality. (http://www.faithnet.org) in India, a young daughter is considered as transitory member of her natural family and depletion on its wealth. The daughter's parents are regarded as caretakers whose primary duty is to hand over a virtuous daughter, together with a considerable amount of dowry, to her husband's family.

According to R. Venkatachalam, director of the Community Services Guild of Madras, "It is believed that raising a girl is akin to watering a neighbor's plant." "Right from birth till death, there are expenses." (Chinese Cultural Studies: Women in China: Past and the Present) He maintains that the dowry is a total drainage of the entire lifetime savings of a family but is indispensable to fix up a suitable marriage and keep up the reputation of the family of the bride. Following the birth of a daughter, the rural female folk "at once begin pondering, 'Are our resources enough to support her throughout her lifetime? And when they think they do not have they kill her," as per Vasanthai, aged 20, the lady who has an 18-month daughter and a lives in the same village where Rani also stays, "You have to do it after two or three daughters. What is the reason for asking more?" (Chinese Cultural Studies: Women in China: Past and the Present)

These activities have been the cause for acutely distorted ratios of females to males in South Asia. While they are children, South Asian girls bear the brunt of "compassionate neglect." Their nutrition is substandard compared to the males of their age, they receive less immunization shots, and taken to a doctor after much delay. Pasha has observed that a girl or a boy within her first and fifth birthday in India or Pakistan possess a 30% to 50% more chance of losing her life compared to a boy. While in the adolescence years, young women encounter fresh challenges to their health. A lot of women give birth to their first child while in adolescence, a condition in which the health risks can go up during pregnancy. Also in case of South Asian women who become mothers during adulthood, antenatal and reproductive health care normally are poor, and child-birth at homes in unhygienic conditions are frequent. To make matters worse, is the reality that women are less probable compared to men to look for or avail them proper health care. (Role of gender in… READ MORE

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