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Oscar De Jesus
Professor Ditch
Eng 114A
25 September 2014
Women And Oppression
In American media, the use of gender as a tool for an organization has brought
upon an oppressed lifestyle for the population of women. Today, women have argued for
their rightful positions in society and many individuals have advocated for these
movements. According to Judith Lorbers, Night to His Day: The Social Construction of
Gender and Ruth Hubbards Rethinking Womens Biology, the articles argue that the
gender roles of women have radically changed in religious, cultural, and educational
traditions. There is a common theme on gender roles between the two authors introduced:
women are being oppressed and it is affecting their roles in society.
The bias on women their potential has crippled their opportunities of excelling in
several fields like religion, culture, and education. The texts by Lorber and Hubbard
provide examples of these phenomena in different situations. They argue that there are
guidelines in which women must abide by or else they are considered outcasts. In a
segment of Lorbers article, she states societies vary in the extent of inequality...
(Lorber 22). So we can infer that the problem varies between societies as well. In this
case, the women are receiving the lack of equality and are being stripped of their rights.
Religion is independent and completely supported by a population of believers or
followers. We might be more familiarized with Christianity or Catholicism in the
California Coast, but what about foreign lands? Obviously, culture varies within different

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regions of the world. That is a certain region of the world may possess more than just a
couple of cultures each with their own unique roles for women. For example, Muslim
religion requires women to wear specific outfits such as the veil. The middle-east
advocates women to cover their face as well, which is an insult to their degree of social
freedom. According to Joy Morny, womens sexuality and bodily self-expression
reinforce assumptions about the veils abnegation of sexual desire (Morny). Morny
argues that the veil is an attack on womens rights through religious standards. This issue
dives even further into social conduct in the middle east areas.
A couple years back in Afghanistan, a new trend began to flood the villages but
was exclusively intended to be for men. It was completely alien to young boys and girls
but there was an issue pertaining to what men and women were allowed to do in public.
Shocking enough, prior to this event, women are frowned upon if they perform the same
activities that men do. This is because women are believed to be the weaker half of the
population. In a film, Skateistan, the new idea that women and men can participate in
unison is filmed and recorded for historical reason (Skatistan). The female children in this
film are primary examples of women that are attempting to integrate themselves into
cultural norms. These pioneers will set many examples that other cultures will begin to
follow. Nevertheless, Afghan women were able to associate themselves with the new
sport and break the barriers that oppressed them under the afghan tradition. It leads to
another issue about a womans social freedom.
During the mid-late nineteenth century, the Chinese tradition took an extreme and
enforced the ideal of beauty, for women, to coexist with foot binding; the arching or
bending of the foot. Foot binding is a gruesome procedure where a woman must wear a

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unique, stiff shoe that will shape the way her foot will grow out. It was required for most
women because Chinese culture praised this process to be a part of beautification.
Consequently, the insane procedure brought nothing but juxtaposed toes and
severely damaged feet to young children and women. By the 12th century, the practice
was widespread and more severe: feet were bound so tightly that women were unable to
dance and had difficulty walking (Cummings). This cultural belief engenders the roles for
Chinese women and dictates an unimaginable future without any hope of refusing to fall
under traditional values. In other cultures, we can observe the same trend in a milder
form; however, it is still coercing women under an oppressive lifestyle.
Growing up in a Hispanic household, I grew onto the idea of family as a fixed
set of roles for each family member to possess. Surprisingly enough, Mexican culture has
forced women to possess a specific and demeaning role: household wife. Naturally, the
lifestyle of Hispanic women appears to be predetermined from the early moments of their
childhood since the trend has lived on for so long. Adding to that, young Hispanic
women are traditionally raised in the footsteps of their mother, so the exposure is a subtle
enforcement of their expectations. A significant example could even come from our very
own households. Lorber and Hubbard powerful argument exposes a shocking truth: the
oppressive lifestyle lives right under our noses.
My mother used to tell me about her friends in Mexico that were forced to marry
at a young age rather than being allowed the opportunity of attending school like my
mother. Unfortunately, for my mother, she was able to experience an education without
the comfort of being with her friends. Even worse, my mothers friends were forced to
marry against their own will. People believe marriage at a young age to be a trend of the

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past, but in currently the practice continues to live on in Mexican tradition. On the other
hand, it hasnt been until recently that the Hispanic heritage is integrating education into
long-term goals. In the educational field, we can investigate the American fallacy of
stereotypes for women.
During the mid 1900s, a large majority of women were unable to even attend
school because men were supposed to be the only academic population in America. Ruth
Hubbards article stated that scientist believed that a womans brain is too small (46).
How outrageous this seemed to the early advocates for womens rights. Soon enough
there grew a breakthrough for the female population but oppression still crept upon their
success. Women such as Betty Friedan used their advanced literary influence to suggest
that women are no different from men. She also implies that women can attain and apply
the same academic knowledge that men acquire. Many other activists began to trend on
and set examples by pursuing an education rather than living up to the stereotypical
housewife.
After gaining educational rights, women were urged to pursue jobs that were unrelated to
hard labor such as Nursing or being Desk Clerk. Recently, while taking the bus to school,
I noticed something shocking from the corner of my eye: a female truck driver. She even
wore a hat, with bright colors, openly while her companion, a male, sat in the passenger
seat. This is a bit odd considering the rarity of females in the truck driving community let
alone the fact that she was in control of the monster-sized eighteen-wheeler. While the
female truck driver population in the U.S. has become more celebrated through active
promotion, truck driving remains dominated by men with female drivers representing
around 5 per cent of the total U.S. truck-driving workforce (Naysmith and Rubincam).

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Both authors have noted the growing trend in foreign countries. It wasnt long until some
women began to pursue careers that society would never imagine a woman participating
in. Many of these trends began to build stereotypes that affected the roles of women in
the near future.
Lorber and Hubbards articles argue that womens roles in religion, culture, and
education have radically been changed over the course of history. Collectively, the ideal
lifestyle for women is almost predetermined because of gender norms. A girl will most
likely break away from them but society might reinforce them back into some stereotype.
So, amongst the three categories, there is a significant distinction between men
and women, and, as a result, men receive special treatment while women receive the
short end of the stick.

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Works Cited

Cummings, Steven R., Ling Xu, and Katie Stone. "Consequences Of Foot Binding
Among Older Women In Beijing, China." American Journal Of Public Health.
(1997): 1677-1679. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Nov. 2014.
Hubbard, Ruth. Rethinking Womens Biology. Composing Gender. (2004) : 45-52.
Print.
Joy, Morny. "Women's Rights And Religions: A Contemporary Review." Journal Of
Feminist Studies In Religion (Indiana University Press) 29.1 (2013): 52-68.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Nov. 2014
Lorber, Judith. Night To His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing
Gender (2004) : 19-30. Print.
Naysmith, Scott, and Clara Rubincam. "Women In The Driver's Seat: An Exploratory
Study Of Perceptions And Experiences Of Female Truck Drivers And Their
Employers In South Africa." Journal Of Southern African Studies 38.3 (2012):
579-599. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
Skateistan. Dir. Kai Sehr. Perf. Mirwais Ahmas, Maysam Faraj, Asheesh Bhalla.
2011. Documentary