Women: A Cultural Phenomenon

A deep dive into women from around the world and how their lives compare to women in the United States.

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Video presentation of my Tumblr Commonplace Book Project.

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Video presentation on my Tumblr Commonplace Book project.

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Women's rights in the Islamic world | DW | 27.09.2017

Women will soon be allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, but what about other fundamental rights? We take a look at the lamentable state of wome

So much of this course focused on how Islamic women are treated around the world. This article discusses the male guardianship system, lack of women voting and running for office, headscarves and forced marriages in Islamic countries.

Although Islamic women face discrimination in their own countries, this article also made me reflect on how they are discriminated in the United States. Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Islams have been viewed in a more negative light than they were before.

It stresses me out reading about how much the Islamic countries have no faith in their women. They are constantly viewed as less than and I could not imagine being a woman of Islamic faith in a world like today.

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Marital rape is still legal in India. A court decision could change that

Women's groups have petitioned the Delhi High Court to close a legal loophole and criminalize marital rape. A decision is expected soon. Men

This article discusses a story about a woman who could not file rape charges against her husband for threatening to rape her because marital rape isn't illegal in India. Statistics show that about 30% of Indian women aged 18-49 reported having experienced spousal violence. The average Indian woman is 17 times more likely to face spousal sexual violence than anyone else.

These statistics make me sick. Just because a husband might be "closer" to his wife than a stranger or a friend, it does not believe he is not capable of taking advantage of her. This makes me believe that if a man is crazy enough, he would marry a woman just to rape her legally to avoid repercussions.

I think having this law is only detrimental to everyone involved. It doesn't make the women safe and it teaches the men nothing.

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The women's suffrage movement paved the way for not only American women, but the rest of the world to vote. Except for the Vatican City, women in every country and territory in the world have the right to vote. However, some regions still prevent women from voting because of harassment at the polls or pressure from their husbands. Some of these countries include Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, etc.

The right to vote is one of the most important and basic fundamental rights that we are privileged to have. It makes me so mad that some people don't vote because they feel like it "doesn't count" or that the polling locations are too dangerous for women to attend.

I hope to see developments in the never-ending women's movement in this list of countries because every person should have the right to vote in all free and fair elections.

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Chinese women were already discriminated in the workplace. A three-child policy might make things worse

When Janice Zhang went job hunting in March, at every interview the 33-year-old was asked the same question: Was she married yet?

In China, women struggle to obtain a job if they're married for fears that she will become pregnant at any moment and not be able to go to work. With China's new three-child policy, this makes it even harder for women to join the workforce.

If women take maternity leave, they are required to be paid a monthly salary. However, if the salary exceeds the maximum allowance amount payable by the government, the women must fill in the rest of that gap.

I think this law is insanely discriminatory and makes motherhood look more like a burden than an opportunity. In comparison to the United States, women here are at least lucky enough to obtain a job, even if they have unequal pay. In China, their opportunities are more limited.

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In this CNN video about what it's like to be a woman in Turkey, President Erdogan doesn't believe men and women are equal due to their nature. Four out of ten women are subjected to physical violence from partners, less than 30% of women have jobs and they are five times more likely to be illiterate than men.

I can understand what the president means about having an unequal nature. For example, men are more likely to be physically stronger than women. However, women are not inferior when it comes to mental capabilities.

I decided to read about Turkey because of the novel we read in class, "The Three Daughters of Eve." I could see how the protagonist, Peri, plays a role in the average female Turkish lifestyle in relation to Professor Azur. With Azur taking advantage of Peri's attention, this could result into the statistic of partner violence, whether it be physical or not.

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Guatemala increases punishment for abortions and bans same-sex marriage

Congress passes law targeting LGBTQ+ community, while women now face up to 10 years in prison for terminating pregnancies

Another country that practices poor treatment of women is Guatemala. The country's congress has increased prison sentences for up to ten years with a maximum of three for women who have abortions. The abortions are only legal when the life of the mother is at risk. The congress who voted on this law also consists of mainly men who don't face the issue of abortion themselves.

This reminds me of the controversial issue of abortion in the United States. Most of our congress and the people making this decision are men. However, women don't have to face a prison sentence for having an abortion.

Depending on how laws in the United States move forward, the country could either make abortions more prominent or adopt practices like Guatemala. A lot of the issue of abortion is so situational, but I believe that if the United States adopts a prison sentence for those who have an abortion, the country will suffer dramatically.

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Saudi Arabia: 10 Reasons Why Women Flee

Rahaf Mohammed, the Saudi woman who managed to successfully flee her allegedly abusive family, has shed new light on the countless women tra

One country I decided to read about was how women are treated in Saudi Arabia. Under their male guardianship system, a man controls a woman's life from her birth until her death. Each woman has a male guardian, such a father, husband or brother, who makes her critical life decisions.

I believe this system would definitely lead to an increase in sexual abuse, domestic violence and maybe even incest towards women. These Saudi women are forced to be seen as an object rather than a person and I think the system is disgusting.

This article lists ten reasons why women should flee the country and the system, highlighting how the lack of independence leads to an unsafe and miserable lifestyle. One of the main issues is that a man can divorce his wife, but the woman cannot divorce her husband. Following that, if the man divorces his wife, the guardianship would have to change, but it is an extremely difficult process. Being a woman in Saudi Arabia seems like a never-ending battle of no freedom and abuse.

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Aside from the issues of women from around the world, women are a huge contributing factor to the economy in third-world countries. Some of the economic resources for women include the right to control their own time, their income and access to participation in existing markets.

One statistic I found very interesting was that due to gender inequality, countries are losing $160 trillion in wealth because of differences in lifetime earnings between men and women. Essentially, if women are given higher salaries, the more money they are able to spend on their families and communities. This results in a greater economic improvement in countries like Senegal, Sub-Saharan Africa and Liberia.

It seems like a pretty easy concept to follow. It's the lack of education on this topic that's getting in the way for third-world countries.

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9 Key Issues Affecting Girls and Women Around the World

This list of 9 key issues affecting girls and women shows some of the problems women and girls deal with worldwide.

I saw a few of my classmates post this article on the class Tumblr page and thought it related perfectly to the topic I chose. I like how this article was written from a male perspective as a simplified breakdown of the largest issues women face around the world.

The nine key issues listed in this article are access to education, employment opportunities, reproductive health and rights, maternal health, gender-based violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, water and sanitation and gender equality.

Although these issues remain in most countries around the world, I think the ones American women face the most are employment opportunities with equal pay, the decision of abortions with reproductive rights and gender-based violence. As an American woman, I don't see the issue of child marriage or female genital mutilation being as common in my country in comparison to others. The numbers in this article are startling and make you realize how gender equality is a worldwide issue and not just a country-by-country issue.

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The worst places in the world to be a woman

A new survey cites not just violence, but a lack of access to resources as some of the greatest threats to women

To focus on how women around the world are treated, this is a list of the top five worst countries in the world to be a female. The survey was conducted by gender experts on five continents on their overall danger to women, health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural/religious factors, lack of resources and trafficking.

The top five worst places to live consist of Afghanistan, Congo, Pakistan, India and Somalia. In Afghanistan, one in 11 women have a chance of dying in childbirth, 87% of women are illiterate and about 80% of girls are forced into marriage. In the following countries, there's high rates of rape, killings in honor of their families, prostitution, unsafe pregnancies, etc.

The reasons behind why these countries are so dangerous is shocking. I could not imagine what it is like to live in these countries as a woman, especially if I had children and if one or more was a daughter. American women are so privileged to live in a country that doesn't practice immoral killings of women and access to proper resources before, during and after pregnancy.