F. The Struggles of Women for Being Independent
Women experience various problems in their society. The social values tend to eliminate women to have a participation in the society. However, as
social beings who want to participate with the society, they have to struggle gaining their rights. It shows that women demand to have equal roles like men.
Sylvia Walby in her book entitled
Theroizing Patriarchy
describes forms of struggle of women to gain equal roles in family and society.
1. Having Career in Public Sphere
The basic of women‘s problems related gender roles in the society are the women‘s powerlessness to face the male supremacy and the strong
patriarchal system as the social system. To fight it, the woman should be a leader for the family. This is supported by Walby 1990: 82,
since the porpotion of women who are full-time housewives has fallen dramatically over first wave feminism, as the proportion of
women in paid work has increased. It shows a reduction in the time spent on housework. This lead any significant increase in housework
to lead the
family by women.‖ Economical dependence of women to men is one cause of male supremacy
is very strong. After the first-wave, they get a lot of chance to determine their own, including finding a job. Given the opportunity, they can have a
career in public spaces, so that they can be independent to men. By having a career, women are regarded that they can participate in the family. One
of the family participation is that women can be decision-makers for the family.
Women are considered as household care-takers that must stay at home. Taking care of all the men‘s needs is a task that they have to do.
However, after the first-wave, they gain freedom, including the freedom to have career in public sphere. It is supported by Walby 1990: 191,
women had won access to the public sphere and claims to the rights and privileges of citizenship. They could no longer be legally subsumed to
reviews their husband or fathers. The opportunity to participate outside household is an opportunity to replace men‘s roles that are constructed by
society.
2. Expressing Rational Opinions
A women stereotype is that women always use their feelings to face the problems. Expressing rational opinion is a way to eliminate the
stereotype, woman often shows she is capable of practising; she has a
good conscience because she is on the unprivileged side; she feels she is under no obligation to deal gently with the
favoured caste, and her only thought is to defend herself. Walby,1949:187
The problem is that women are not given a chance to prove that they are able to think logically. For that reason, they must prove it. Women‘s
distress affects they must prove to society that they could have the capability to express opinions rationally. As the above quote, women
must express their opinions in order to protect themselves from the discrimination they experienced.
3. Having Bravery to Take Men’s Duties
Kategori