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Woman In Today's Society (New!)
( 3 - 21 - 05 )
Ever since the dawn of time, women were
considered "second class" citizens because men have more power and authority, such as making laws, joining military, provider
for a family, and making decisions. According to the author Simone de Beauvoir, who wrote "The Second Sex,"
it tells that "Man enjoys the great advantage of having a god endorse the code he writes...a man exercises
a sovereign authority over women, it is especially fortunate that this authority has been vested in him by the Supreme Being."
(Northrup: 5). Our role as a woman at that time was to stay at home taking care of our children,
being a housekeeper, preparing meals, and do what our husbands tells us to do. It is unfortunate on how our roles in an ancient
society made us weak, incompetent, ridiculed, and inferior.
When an infant is born to this world, society
will label them if it is a boy, the color will be blue, while if it is a girl, it will be pink. It defines and sets an example
early on to children their expected roles in society ( Book report by Splittstoesser: Feminism, Opposing Viewpoints.) Fortunately
in my culture, there is no such thing as labeling an infant blue or pink. The color of white are mostly use, due to a
symbol that the treatment will be equal between a boy and a girl, therefore no one is superior nor inferior.
Taking Woman's Health class, my concept
of feminism had expanded my horizon in to what a women's role in today society. I was brought up by my parents, believing
that a man and a woman have equal rights when it comes to financial, household chores, job, wages, and taking care of the
children. The strange thing about my parents is their roles had switched! My mother, Tita, a former Manager of the National
Waterworks Sewage System in the Philippines, became the provider of my family while my father, Torcuato, a former architech
for the National Public Works and Highways, became a nurturer. The reason was because my mother perceived herself as very
independent woman with a strong will and drive to succeed in life. According to her, she noticed after the marriage, things
started to change, such as my father gives half of his paycheck and the rest was to spend on the cafeteria drinking beer with
his friends. Evidently, my mother would save up money and opened another bank account and use only in case of emergency.
In the year of 1994, my mother lost her
husband. To this great extent, some women in the same situation could lead to their emotions in a downward spiral, meaning
to say that she would not know how to handle both position of becoming a father and a mother both at the same time. Since
today's society, most husbands make more money that his wife. In the workforce, men earns sixty percent more than women (Doris
Klein: Stress Management.) In a time of crisis, men usually makes most of the decisions. But when a husband passed away, the
wife will feel helpless and discombobulated. According to Schaef, "Being a co-dependent meaning a person needs
to rely on others in order to meet their emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual needs" (Northrup:
15)
Here in the United States, my mother held
a stable job as a hairdresser while my father jumped from one job to another, therefore she became the breadwinner of the
family. When he died unexpectedly, my mother didn't panic. Instead, she well known that even though he is gone, she can still
take care of her children financially, emotionally, and take both positions as the role of mother and father. I admired her
strong will to survive, even though there were some obstacles she went through in her life. Giving such a good example
of becoming a good wife and being a provider for her family, I embraced her strong feminism on morals, values, and beliefs.
Before marrying my husband name Tim, I reminded him that in marriage, it will be fifty-fifty: no more, no less because I just
don't want to marry someone in order to serve him. Fortunately, my husband had no opposing viewpoints on my decision. Henceforth,
our marriage is a great success. We do not create our own morals, values, and beliefs as children until we witness and experience
what to base them on, such as teaching children that mom and dad are equal, and how they dress or play whenever they feel
like it, only when it feels comfortable ( Book report by Splittstoesser: Feminism, Opposing Viewpoints. )
How do I feel about the patriarchal society
we live in affects women's health? As a woman, I do believe we carry most of the burden and stress, such as taking care of
the children, being a wife, thriving to hold a higher degree of college education, workplace, and acceptance of the society.
In Woman's Bodies Women's Widom, the author discusses that when our emotions become intense, it will truly affect our psychological
and emotional well being everyday, which will lead to physicall illness ( Northrup: 70 ). Stress is a perception of threat
or expectation of future discomfort that arouses, alerts, or activates us, therefore, women cannot control the situation the
way we want to ( Dori Klein: Stress Management ).
For example, taking care of kids means
telling the mother to have more patience whether she likes it or not. From being an infant to an adolescent, they are curious
about their surroundings, wanting to experience the zest of life, therefore, a mother needs to tolerate her children's behavior.
" Children will also save up their complaints for their mother at the end of the day if she hasn't been around."
( Northrup: 72 ). Can you imagine the stress of being a mother? Working all day and night, making sure that her children are
protected from the fiery eyes of the world. I must say that I admired the strength and endurance. This is also related
to the Second Chakra, which is located in uterus, ovaries, vagina, cervix, large intestine, lower vertebrae, pelvis, appendix,
and bladder ( Northrup: 82 ). "It is how we deal with day-to-day physical aspects of living, with the people
to whome we relate, and with quality of our relationship. It is also related in money and relationships" ( Dori
Klein: Stress Management ).
Two examples of how politics impacts upon
our health as a woman are as follows: Birth Control and Family Leave Bill. In 1921, Margaret Sanger, who became a forerunner
of Planned Parenthood, established the Birth Control League which different kinds of contraceptives were available to women
in order to organize family planning ( Class Handout: Women's Health Movement ). Women in past centuries up until the early
1960"s, procreate as many children as they want to, for the reason was supposed to be our role as a wife: "to go ahead and
multiply." After the sexual revolution in the 70's, there were new forms of Sexual Transmitted Disease that came out
because of our sexual behavior. For example, AIDS, Chlamydia, and Gonorrhea. Because of limited family planning and the Sexual
Transmitted Disease, women are now open-minded and vocal. There are a lot of available alternatives in order for us to regain
our healthy lifestyle, such as a woman who practice abstinence, is the best way to avoid any sexual disease. She can also
set a good example to the society where people will respect her, because of strong system of morals and values. ( Guest speaker
Swegarden: Contraceptives. )
The other political issue that impact our
health as a woman is the Family Leave Bill, which was signed by our former President Clinton, back in 1993. According to this
bill, any women who gave birth to a child or take care of her spouse with a serious health condition will have a medical leave
for five weeks with job protection. " Passages of such legislation as the Family Leave Act forces government
and business institutions to value caring by recognizing the economic cost of love and labor" ( Class handout:
Women's Health Movement ). Women no longer stayed at home, but rather go to work and earn salaries just as men do. Nowdays,
having a one income flowing in the family is not enough to make ends meet because of the prices when it comes to buying a
car, house, groceries, and paying bills are staggeringly expensive.
My ideas of feminism had change dramatically
because reading Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom by Dr. Christiane Notrhrup, M.D. gave me an eye opening to my whole entire
being as a female. Slowly and surely, I learn to lesten to my body's needs emotionally, physically, and mentally. As for my
health, I also gained knowledge about the dangers of smoking, obesity, menstrual period, and nutrition. Therefore, I'm glad
that I can share this information to my family and friends.
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