I always view slate articles with suspicion, but I thought this was pretty interesting. The idea is that tv is empowering rural Indian woman. Supposedly, watching tv has led to the same "empowerment" as 5.5 years of education. Are we really that susceptible to the power of tv? I would think these ideas would have been ingrained over a lifetime. Can a few years of watching tv really change a lifetime or education. Also, does it really matter? One of the questions was for what offenses should a wife be beaten. If a woman can't/doesn't leave the man for beating her, then her thinking it was unjust doesn't really seem important.
Posts: 1001 | Registered: Mar 2006
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One of the main problems with BatteredWomen'sSyndrome is that the woman's social circle and/or her husband have convinced her that she "deserves being beaten". In that context, learning of wife-beating's intrinsicly unjust nature through society-as-a-whole showing disapproval via television is a MAJOR breakthrough.
Even in the US, wife-beating being automaticly treated as a crime rather than (often at most) a social faux paux is a relatively recent phenomenum arising from the '60sSocialRevolution. Before then, even the men who were convicted of murdering their wives and girlfriends routinely received less prison time than people convicted of a minor non-violent felony, and quite often received parole after spending only a few days in jail while awaiting trial.
Gotta remember that during the '80s, Reagan's RepublicanParty were still fighting tooth&nail against laws making wife-beating automaticly a crime and laws strengthening penalties for spousal/girlfriend murder. Amazing how many women nowadays believe that the feminists who pushed through such laws are the enemy.
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I heard a story on "The World" today about honor killings by Muslim men of women in their families suspected of flirting with men who are not approved suitors (approved by their fathers and brothers). It made me want to start an underground railroad to rescue women (those who want to be rescued) from those societies. I feel like if your own father, brothers, or uncles would kick you to death for being seen speaking to a man they didn't like, then that's at least as bad as slavery, isn't it? Shouldn't we have a way to save women from situations like that?
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"Honor killing"s are not a part of the Muslim religion nor of Muslim law. Rather they are of far older"religious"traditions sometimes superimposed over Muslim law. Not that this type of revenge is common or desirable. The "punishment" seems to have more to do with a Sunni convert being killed for having converted than for the "honor killing".
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Maybe in our list of priorities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be to provide cable tv. Possibly change their views on woman, could provide educational shows, shows depicting a faithful life without violence.
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Not that Muslim-dominated countries are the only nations which tolerate severe wife/girlfriend abuse, penalize it almost as if it were just a tasteless prank. Lest Americans become self-righteous... ...last year, a Texas jury freed a man who tracked down his ex-wife (or rather long-separated&awaiting-the-final-decree), then obtained a handgun, proceeded to the apartment in which his ex was staying with her new boyfriend, and shot them both while successfully murdering her.
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quote:Amazing how many women nowadays believe that the feminists who pushed through such laws are the enemy.
Yup, it's amazing how it's possible to agree with somebody about one thing, but not everything.
^^ This man speaks the truth.
Also, Western influence especially via television/internet has radically altered Chinese perceptions of women.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: BlackBlade, in what way?
Same old fashioned concepts of you might find in other places. Women are less valuable then men. Women must not question the superior judgement of men. Women don't chose who they ought to marry, it is out of their hands. Even the concept of Yin and Yang assigns negative energy to the feminine and positive energy to the male. Man is the sun, woman is the moon.
All of that is changing slowly but certainly surely. The movie Eat Drink Man Woman was a WONDERFUL Chinese movie in that it took a very traditional Taiwanese family and had the daughters each take very UNTRADITIONAL routes. It's one of the best movies ever released IMO, and the ending was delicious.
I can't reccomend it enough.
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And our tv influenced these ideas in a positive direction? The reason I ask is that I think the depictions of women in American pop culture are pretty problematic, many of them, i.e. girls must be beautiful at all costs, other traits being undervalued, etc.
It's true that things have improved a great deal in the last few decades. For instance, the original Star Trek show was horrifically misogynistic and seemed not to realize it, since they went out of their way to be forward-looking about race and ethnicity. Still, I wouldn't hold up American pop culture as being terribly free of stereotyping or lowest-common-denominator type thinking about gender issues. It sort of shocks me that this is nevertheless so advanced compared to Chinese culture. They're supposed to be civilized, like, with all those millennia of civilization and all. Aren't they?
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: BlackBlade, in what way?
Well, they have a rather obvious Chinese version of Sex and the City, except in...Shanghai I believe. However, while I never quite figured out whether the original was supposed to be serious or satirical, the new one is definitely glorifying that kind of behaviour
Edit to add: But seriously, my SO does go on about how Chinese women are much more superficial, materialistic, brand-aware, starting to get into plastic surgery, and so forth.
This is amplified by the fact that the imbalance in birth ratio (and the disparity between rich and poor) is starting to cause women to become much more choosy and material in selecting partners, to the extreme of becoming mistresses and the more common case of extracting rather large concessions such as the male side of the family having to provide an apartment, a sort of I guess reverse dowry to the female side of the family, etc.
I've heard the theory elsewhere (although I'm not sure where, it would be nice if someone recognized it) that female attitudes in China are starting to reflect the unchecked Western-style capitalism in China. That is, after the CCP reduced the influence of Confucianism, and the fact that the Chinese never big into the concept of "choosing a partner based on whether they are a good person/love rather than monetary assets" the women have gone heavily into controlling their bodies as a coveted resource. They are starting to recognize that in the heavily competitive job market in China, that sexuality is one way to get ahead.
I'm not sure how much I buy into that last paragraph, but I think there is an element of truth to it.
* Caveat: what I'm describing is much more true in urban China, in rural China the situation is different
I'm sure there are good things to Western culture (re: feminism, I'll make sure to ask) but I've generally heard more negative things.
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Tatiana: Obviously our pop culture is not perfect. But its LOADS better in many ways then some of the traditional ideas they hold on to. Women are starting to get jobs, and break glass ceilings. Couples are dating, falling in love, and telling their parents their blessing is desired but their permission is not required.
Obviously there are problems that could replace many if not more then the problems that are being fixed. The greatest good IMO that foreign media is doing for the Chinese is that it's teaching them to think for themselves and that the government is not the source of all that is true.
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