Reflective Journal 3

Reflective Journal 3: Reflect on the changing roles of women. You may choose to consider how the changing roles of women in society made an impact on you by drawing on examples from China, the United States and/or Singapore.

The roles of women have definitely changed over the years. Be it in China, United States or even Singapore, the role of women has changed. The changing roles of women can be seen from a few aspects, but mainly through economic aspect and also social aspect.

Firstly, let us look at the changing roles of women in the economic sphere. In the past, women do not play hold important positions in the economic world. They are mostly confined to work as factory workers and being domestic helpers. Their job opportunities are limited and not as important as the ones men have, including positions like managers etc. However, the situation has changed. Women are starting to take on jobs in the business world, becoming managers and even setting up their own business. They are getting more job opportunities then before. It is also common to see women earning around the same income as men nowadays. One example of women holding important positions would be American Sheryl Kara Sandberg, who served as Facebook’s COO and second in command. She has helped Facebook grow and also helped monetize them. She also served as chief of staff for the U.S Treasury Department under President Bill Clinton and also managed Google's online global sales and operations as a vice president. In my opinion, this change of roles is due to the progress in education opportunities for women, which would lead me to my next point on social changes.

The role of women has also definitely changed in society. Let us first look at the changes of the role of women in terms of education levels. In the past, education of women or girls are often overlooked as parents prefer to send their sons to educate them as girls are seen as caregivers of the family and they tend to stay at home to look after the family whereas sons are seen as the main breadwinners of the family and are sent for education to get a better job opportunity. However, nowadays, it is not uncommon to see more girls to be sitting in the same classroom with boys listening to lectures and lessons given by teachers. Women nowadays are getting more and more opportunities to pursue education. Apart from education, role of women has also changed in terms of family roles. In the past, women are seen as the caregiver of the household. They tend to the wellbeing of each family member, cooking meals for them and washing their dirty clothing, while the man of the family would go out and earn an income for the family. Furthermore, women in the past do not have much say in making decisions in the household, with the male figure in the household taking up the responsibility. However, women now have a greater say in how things go in the family. They keep track of household expenses and earnings, and they also play a bigger part in decision making in the household. I feel that this is also because of women taking up jobs and earning an income for the family. I feel that women in the past do not feel that they have the rights to make decisions as it was the man who earns the money to keep the family going. Whereas the women now are earning an income too and hence, I feel that by earning an income like the man of the family, they have the right to take part in decision making. One prime example to this changing family role would obviously be my family. My mother works as a manager at a phone company and she also makes decisions in the family. In fact, I feel that she makes most of the decisions in the family and furthermore, she seems to have a better grasp of handling the cheque books in the family than my father.

In conclusion, I feel that the roles of women have changed from the past. Although these changing roles suggest that gender equality between men and women are slowly being achieved, however, I feel that gender equality has not been achieved in all three societies brought up. Women are still being stereotyped as the weaker gender and discriminations against women are still ever present in the three societies. Even though the role of women has changed, I feel that the mindsets of people still have not changed much. Furthermore, I feel that laws protecting women against discriminations, such as quotas, are actually instilling in people the perception that women are still the weaker gender, whereby they need more protection. Hence, I feel that even though the role of women has indeed changed from the past, gender equality cannot be reached unless women themselves strive to change the mindsets of others. Only by showing that they have the ability to do something, then would people start changing their mindset.

(811 words)