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Show Ja Li U u Li rJ " Modernization is primary force in changing roles By Jennifer Harding Asst. Arts Editor of The S'gnpost Half of the population of Western society is composed of women. Throughout time and throughout the world women have experienced apparent lack of equal rights. How have these daughters of time and space rights changed, or have they? The book "Women: Roles and Status in Eight Countries," by Janet Zollinger Giele, states that the overwhelming evidence so far in history and in society shows that women have never been granted equal status with men. "Although anthropologists have found that women are given considerable social recognition and power in some societies, there exists no society in which their publicly recognized power ex cs ban Ar.-yviu, 1.iw III Aristophanes- AtwiKid, Martwet (.":! rr The Handmaid's Tate Autl, Jean M. The Valley of Horses Baum, h. Frank The Wizard of O?. Bellow, Saul Hcrtzog The Bible Revised Standard Version I Bishop, Claire Five Chinese Brothers Blumeydyl:llis Are You There Cod? ft's Me Margaret !:l;:Then-:Apinfla EX'enie Forever Starring Sally I. Freodman as i Supernidgesjjijjjag Brown, Claude Manchiid in the Promised land ; Brown, Dee i'; Bury my Heart at Wounded Kp.ce Burroughs,; Edgar Rice'jj:g:K:'; larzaij Cinderella : i Crane, Stephnn The Red Badge of Courage Chaucer, Geoffrey Canterbury Tales Darwin, Charles On the Origin of the Species Davis, Terry Dickens, Charles Oliver Twist Farley, Walter The Flack Stallion. Faulkner, William The Sound and the Fun' Frank, Anne The Diary of Anne.rank ceeds that of men," said Giele in her book. One question adressed in the book asks why do women under some circumstances enjoy respect, higher status and rewards that indicate equality or near-equality yet why is their position unquestionably inferior to others. The eleventh century women novelists of feudal Japan who created works that are still memorable today or the women in the salons of the Renaisance France who gave considerable shape and character to the cultural life of the nation as well as stimulating important literary America were leaders in fighting for women's rights and the abolition of slavery. Several authors have already given comphrehensive descriptions of the status of women in other countries. One of these au-thors, Rahphael Patai, compiled in Parts of the Cii A'-k Gariim-r. John Cv"Jel. Ginsberg, Allen Collected Poems. 1917-1980Chiding, William fV i."t t!lej Guest, Judith Ordinary People Haley, Alex llTTrt& Malcom.X iiiiHeiterf Joseph;? HmtonrS.E. sigTheChsidergjj : That was Then. This is Kesoy, Ken One Flew Over the pis Cuckoo's NestmX& K1ng,: Stephen; Mii-MMM; mrKrirmBXmA it m Night shift mt 'Salem'? Lot The Shining ,: K: t:: The Stand : Keyes, Daniel Flowers for Algernon : Ibsen, Henrik A Doll's House : Kerr, M E. Dinky Hooker Shoots Smack Klein, Norma Naomi in the Middle Knowlcs, John A Separate Peace Lee, :l larper To Kill a Mockingbird Mailer, Norman Ancient Evenings Marquez, Gabriel Garcia One Hundred Years of THIS BARBED WIRE FENCE visually reports of the status of women in 24 countries. In all in was found that their is a greater shift toward greater equalization of opportuni- N! USA llbap!6F Rushdie, Salman tjiTne:Satahtei Salinger, JX), i;l:Carchetin;th Sendak, Maurice aiii'ln'thc'KitcheB Where the Wild Things Arc j;j;s)RomooandTu!ic Sliverstein, Shel piftAljghTm'foe A ISteinbeclQ johffjlililllllllllllllis Gripes of Wrath jij Of Mice and Men:j::l;g b&yron:Wiuiarh;;i;:;:; ?i;l?The Confessions of Nat Turner Dr. Seuss jj;;:Th'torax :im:f- Swarthout, Glendon ' PI Bless the Beasts and. Children ' sTerkel, Studs v-y Working 'Terry, Wallace : Bloods; An Oral 1 listory of the ; Vietnam War by Black Vctrans Tolkien, J.R.R. : The Hobbit r - Lord of the Rings Txvain, Mark The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Updike, John Rabbit'. Run Vonnegut, Kurt Slaughterhouse Five Walker, Alice The Color Purple Webster's Dictionary Wright, Richard BfadLPoy. Zindeiraul My Darling, My Hamburger The Pijrr.an '1' nil Illustrates human rights violations ties for the two sexes since World War II. "Westernization and modernization are the primary forces loosening traditional restraints on . women. Western women gained j the vote in the first two decades of this century, women in the non-Western world were granted it somewhat later," said Patai. The impact of modernization on sex roles different as they are share a striking historical theme according to the book .The theme of womens status was high at some earlier time, then passed through a period of constriction, before showing improvement in recent times. Under the ancient Egyptian dynasties, hundreds of years before Christ, women's status was high, only to fall and remained low for a period over a thousand years." A section in the book "Human Rights and Development in African," by author Rhoda Howard documents describe a women's rights in English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. "Discussion of women's rights in underdeveloped countries including the seven Africancountries-Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia, is often linked with debate as to whether or not the concern with women's rights or women's liberation is merely a latterday form of Western ideological imperialism," said Howard. She also states that the African women of today is not merely a mcmberof herindigenous primary group, she is also a citizen of a nation-state which has undergone five centuries of change as a result of its incorporation into the capitalist world. "Modernization and colonialism have altered the status of women in Africa to such an extent that perhaps only 'modern' ideologies of women's liberation can provide the intellectual organization necessary in the struggle for equality for women," reported Howard in the book. She says women do not suffer more extreme political disabilities as compared with men in sub-Saharan Africa in the formal, legal sense. The 1980 Ghana constitution MARK RANDALL J HE SIGNPOST which take place worldwide, for example, specifies that a woman can attain Ghanian nationality upon marriage to a Ghanian male, but she would lose it should she divorce; a man on the other hand can attain citizenship through his wife if the marriage is monogamous or has lasted five years, but he does not lose it upon divorce. "Westernization and modernization are the primary forces loosening traditional restraints on women. Western women gained the vote in the first two decades of tliis century. Women in the non-Western world were granted it somewhat later." Author Raphael Patai Once a women is acknowledged to be a citizen of any to the seven sub-Saharan countries, she enjoys equal political rights with men. But not until whe is married can she become a citizen, so the limitations arc obvious. These are only a few illustrations of a womens role in our society. As they suggest women have come a long way and have yet a way to go, but arc coming. 113 HI ill) rUGD .130$ (Mi 3 |