Introduction
Despite major advances in democratic, political, economical, and social aspects of life, male dominance over women is still rampant the world over. The modern feminist movement has not achieved many gains compared to the feminist movements of the 1970s. Laws to guarantee equal opportunities for both men and women have been passed in all democratic nations but still, nothing much has been achieved in bringing down male dominance. Just like her 1970s counterpart, the modern woman has continued to struggle to gain her rightful place in society.
According to Geoff Dench, in his book Transforming Men, patriarchy is “men’s physical, social, political and economic domination over women”. This domination limits women’s opportunities and choices in determining their destiny and their own lives. Over the years, this system has been sustained as it functions to the men’s benefit. Male domination of women is offensive and an attempt by society to eradicate it is laudable.
Main body
In relation to past society, Male domination was generally acceptable. Breadwinning conferred special privileges on men in the family. (Geoff, 1996) The man earned money and that meant that he had the right to control how it is used. This control was extended to other areas of the family as men took authority in decisions makings of all issues. Breadwinning afforded men freedom from various domestic responsibilities and ample time for leisure. In essence, a man’s income guaranteed him privileges and more power within a family.
To balance the equation of money and power, many women pursued an education in the late 1950s and early 1960s to guarantee them better employment which could empower them(Goldberg, 1993) This led to the feminist movement in the early 1970s as women fought to enter in employment and get equal pay as their male counterparts. However, women’s entry into job markets hasn’t changed much. Employment has given them very little increase in family control as men’s privileges and power have been preserved. The largest percentage of women earns a smaller percentage of what men earn doing the same kind of work. Most men earn more than their wives and retain significant power and control based on their better incomes. Even men who earn significantly less than their wives have continued to be branded as the family provider and exercise greater authority in the family. They enjoy great respect and have much power to make decisions and define the terms of the marital contract. This clearly shows that by earning an income, women are not guaranteed that they will be able to exercise greater power in marriages.
Away from family and into jobs, most of the CEO and top companies’ heads and leaders are men. A significant number of women have taken up positions in quite a number of companies, but it is always through a lot of constant struggle with their men counterparts who have nothing much more than biological power. In the history of mankind, throughout the world, men have not had to fight for their place within the society like their women counterpart, and this has contributed to men’s domination over women. (Goldberg, 1993).
In the business world, because of their perceived better control, men take the lion’s share in business dealings. Luckily the recent past has seen the rise of many women who have successfully competed against their male counterparts in the business world. Politically, most of the world leaders are men. Certainly, women are capable of becoming presidents like the few who have made it to the top seats have proved. But due to the fact that men have taken the world leader for so long, many people, including women, do not believe that a woman can become a president.
It has been the tradition of many societies for women to take their husband’s names when they get married. According to Geoff, Women are forced to drop their father’s name when they get married. Likewise; children carry the last name of their father. These traditions tend to give men more power over the family hence more authority and dominance.
In most Arab nations, women are compelled to dress according to the way dictated by their male counterparts, hiding in the name of religion. In many cases, women are supposed to put on clothing that covers their whole body. What is interesting is that there is no one who dictates what men can wear. This shows the extent towards which men are likely to go to have dominance over women. According to Steve Goldberg, in his book, Why Men Rule, the bible, which is widely used in the Christian world, states that “women should be submissive to men”
Goldberg continues “Male dominance brought peace into the homes of men. He served God and his woman served him….” When this is taken in face values, men will always use the bible to gain strength and power over women as they argue that women having power and authority is against the Holy Scripture. (Goldberg, 1993).
Conclusion
It is clear that even with major advancements in all aspects of human life, men have continued to dominate the world socially, economically, and politically. It is high time that women all over the world start believing in their capability and continue to take a firm stand whenever possible to change the society tides that give men more power and authority. It will take small steps at a time as bold women like Hillary Clinton, Democratic candidate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, and other great women figure, refuse to bow down to men domination, and demand for equal share like their men counterparts.
Work Cited
Geoff Dench.Transforming Men: Changing Pattern of Dependency and Dominance in Gender, United States, Transaction publishers. 1996.
Steve Goldberg. Why Men Rule: A theory of Male Dominance, United States, Open Court Publishers. 1993.
Why women must fight so hard to defeat the power of men. 2008. Web.