Various groups went through oppression for several years in the past and even in the twenty-first century. The oppression has been due to a different kind of discriminations that include gender, age, religion, and race. People in the various countries have gone through different kind of discrimination or oppression that has made their lives difficult. The oppressed group that the essay will discuss is women and how they undergo oppression in different places. For the past years, women have always been treated differently in most societies. They have been made to feel low about themselves, not allowed to do certain things or go to certain places. The oppression of globally has in many ways joined women in different ways like organizations that fight for women`s rights, freedom, and equality (Coppock, pg12). Women are fighting for a common reason to be equal to the male counterparts.
The essay is going to discuss the women”s oppression in the world about cat cradle`s term granfalloon. According to the story, granfalloon is used to represent a group of people who have been made to believe that they have a connection due to some shared experiences that they have. Oppression of women for the past centuries has made women to develop a connection or belief that they are connected because of some of the things they have gone through in their communities. They have created groups that support and empower them based on the experiences they have had. For an instant, women have been discriminated just because of their gender making many opportunities limited for them. The society has treated them in a way that makes them feel like second-class citizens in their homes and countries.
In the past centuries, communities did not allow women to do certain things like study, vote or lead. They were made to live like men servants who had no opinion at any level in any conversation. Women lived to serve and obey whatever the people in their lives wished for. Some of the mistreatment they went through led to the unity of women that we have today where all women have to stand up for themselves and fight discrimination and oppression (Narayan, pg 23). The struggle for freedom and equality began in the past with the women fighting for their right and liberty for voting, education and owning properties. The unity led to the achievement of the freedom the modern women have and enjoy today. Although freedom and women`s rights have been obtained and are protected by the law, women still go through discrimination in different ways in the world.
There are religions like Muslim that still treat women as the second-class citizens of their countries. The Muslim faith has till today oppressed women in their community with limited freedom and rights. In most Muslim countries, even the law undermines women freedom and rights. They have no rights to education like the one woman in other parts of the world enjoy (Mahmood, pg 16). The fight for female discrimination is still an ongoing issue irrespective of the many laws that have been created to protect them. They are still viewed only to fit in certain jobs and not others. They are expected just to be wives, mothers and stay at home taking care of the family in the African and Muslim communities. Such society perspectives have made women feel weak and vulnerable with little self-confidence that they cannot fight for their rights. They think that it is okay to be looked down upon.
The discrimination of women in the society that is still experienced till today has bonded the women together, creating a particular connection and beliefs like you have to protect and fight for your fellow woman. Women have to collaborate to bring the equality they require from men who have worked well for the past years creating many changes on how they are viewed and treated in their communities. There are numerous organizations founded to support the girl child education in the countries where women are still denied access to education, or there are struggles of the women”s freedom (Ramazonoglu, pg 33). The women`s fight has been found relevant by some male counterparts who have as well joined the women in their battle for freedom. They have given their support and push for their rights and respect in the community.
The men that have joined in the fight for women`s oppression have also developed same belief as them that they have always been the men`s victims with no place of their own in the society and that it is time to make one for themselves. They have helped in the fight for their education and employment rights and freedom. They have felt their need, the connection mentioned in granfalloon, which is required for such groups leading them to join in the fight. Things have changed for women to a better place in the modern 21st century; however, the women still feel that there is more to be accomplished regarding their equality to men that has not been attained yet. The girl child still has a long way to go, and they should not be left unsupported in the community. They require motivation from the older women who already know and understand how hard it is to become successful in a dominant male power in society. Where the men still think that other professional opportunities are not good for women, therefore, should not be granted to them.
Other than the Muslim Communities, women in the African continent have as well gone through hostile treatments even in a modern society where education has changed many people`s perspectives of women. Women in the African American communities still as well face some oppression from the community or racial discrimination from the white people. They endure discrimination at the workplace and other institutions like schools and hospitals. Hence, they have formed groups to help protect each other and other women that they feel have endured same circumstances as they. They ensure that they feel protected and not alone in their situation encouraging them to keep fighting for their freedom (Whitely, pg 6). They try to reach out to as many abused women as they can to create awareness for their groups and how they can help them come out of their oppression.
The women discrimination and oppression are a serious matter that needed to be handled at any capacity. The fight for females’ liberty of women had to be attained because women are also humans who need freedom to make their choices and be treated same as the male humans. Most of the granfalloon groups are those people that think that they have a connection, although it is always baseless association. However, in the fight for the women”s oppression, the groups had good reasons to be formed to save and change the women lives. But in the process of all that came other groups that took the matter out of hand and became too demanding and obsessed with the idea that they could do anything to fight those who thought differently from them. They made it too personal, that it as lost it”s meaning since they formed many enemies. They regard themselves as the real feminists who believe that anyone saying anything contrary to what they feel or believe in is an enemy.
Conclusion
A conflict of interest is in two feminist groups that are the Western Feminism and Third World Feminism. The feminism of the West has fought for the freedom and equality of women in the United States for years that has not only helped in the U.S but also in other countries. However, the third world feminism agrees in attaining the women”s freedom, but argues that the western feminism has not put into consideration the diversity in cultural and religious beliefs of all women globally. The third world feminism group ensures that women get their rights and freedom, but still maintain some of their cultural and religious beliefs (Narayan, pg 28). The difference comes in because the western media still portray women in a certain way as objects of sexual attraction with specifically white looks whereas the third world feminism wants the women to have respect for their sexuality and the way media depict the women can be a negative influence on young women in the third world. The western feminism group can, therefore, be considered to be a granfalloon in a certain way since they have not taken into consideration the women”s diversity that includes race, culture, religion and lifestyle. They have only focused on women freedom and rights in all aspects.
Work Cited
Coppock, Vicki, Deena Haydon, and Ingrid Richter. The illusions of post-feminism: New women, old myths. Routledge, 2014.
Mahmood, Saba. Politics of piety: The Islamic revival and the feminist subject. Princeton University Press, 2011.
Narayan, Uma. Dislocating cultures: Identities, traditions, and third world feminism. Routledge, 2013.
Ramazanoglu, Caroline. Feminism and the Contradictions of Oppression. Routledge, 2012.
Whiteley, Sheila. Women and popular music: Sexuality, identity and subjectivity. Routledge, 2013.
