Disciplinary Relationships summative assessment

Women's Roles outside of the home.
How religion, philosophy, and history have changed views over time.

1. Women’s Roles Outside of the Home How Religion, Philosophy and History have changed views over time

2. The roles of women outside the home have been shaped by philosophical reasoning, religious doctrine, and historical circumstances. ✦ In religion, there has been differences on how women should be, with some traditions emphasizing domestic roles and others supporting women’s participation in public life ✦ In philosophy, debates ranged from views of women as naturally confined to domesticity to arguments for equality and freedom. ✦ Historically, women have been involved in extra housework in from house maids, paid workers to professional careers because of dynamic society changes such as industrialization, world wars, and feminism. Altogether, the societies’ point of views concern the diverse and rather tense relations between women and the public sphere.

3. Religion

4. Some interpretations of Christian scriptures emphasize the role of women as caregivers and homemakers, citing verses that highlight submission and domestic duties (e.g., Ephesians 5:22-24). Within the security of the home women were their main role within the conservative denominations. Islam has confined the role of women to family and motherhood women have traded and been leaders like Kadijah the wife of the Prophet. Females in Orthodox Judaism are mostly limited to family chores, but this does not bar them from working especially as teachers or in petty business. Hindu women were considered the pivotal part of family, and the religious philosophies were based on the women’s identification with motherhood and wife-hood. But there has always been Hindu women scholars, rulers, and warriors in Hindu history. In earliest monastic rules in Buddhism women seem to be inferior to men in monastic community but they can practice as nuns. Traditional Views

5. In many Protestant denominations, women are encouraged to go to work and to school. The Catholic Church has liberal wings promoting improvement in the status of women, with girls in leadership position in church, education as well as non-governmental organizations while Protestant also has similar tendencies. A good number of today’s Islamic scholars have supported women to work, and this was based on what the Quran stood for in as much as social justice for women, and their economical autonomy. Though some Islamic nations impose limits on employment of women, many other Islamic countries encourage women employment. Both Reform and Conservative movements for Judaism promote equality of genders calling on women to work and be rabbis, teachers among other things. Hinduism gives the Khatri women variety in observing culturally sanctioned roles for women from a conservative view and women who can educate and work professionally. Over recent years, roles immensely adaptive to women in Buddhism have equally been embraced in the religious and social fraternity. Women in many of these Buddhist nations are now teaching, healing and in some instances leading monasteries. Sikhism is liberal to women and fully supports them to come out, participate in all the activities of the society, education, and even leadership, professional life etc. Sikh teachings believe that woman and man are equal in spirituality as well as in society. Modern Views

6. Religious teachings on women's roles outside the home vary greatly depending on the faith and the context in which it is practiced. While many religious traditions emphasize family and domestic roles for women, there are also historical and modern movements within most faiths that support gender equality, education, and women's participation in public life. The interpretation of these roles often reflects cultural practices as much as religious beliefs.

7. Plato, by modern standards, can be considered fairly liberal regarding the issue of masculine and feminine equality, which was aired in The Republic. He engrossed that women also like men have inborn rational abilities and should be allowed to engage in society and even governance. He even indicated to the women that they should be prepared to ace political duties just like the men with the title ‘guardians of the state’. Mary Wollstonecraft’s work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman published in 1792 that claimed that women should have the same rights as men and engagement in education, work and social life. Here she was quite right in claiming that it was not woman’s nature to stay confined to the home since education and freedom were deprived of her. John Stuart Mill: The gender equality though did receive support from Mill who embraced the rights of women. As not less important, Mill wrote in his work The Subjection of Women (1869) that women should be granted equal political, economic, and social rights as men as women’s subjection was no longer justified. He also dismissed those that considered women appropriate for housekeeping, he insisted that women were powerless because society made them so, not because of their nature. Simone de Beauvoir wrote a book entitled; The Second Sex, which discussed the subjugation of women and their separation from societal roles they were deemed unqualified to play. She said that women had been ‘othered’ and claimed that one could only be free if one rejected gender roles. De Beauvoir stressed that women should be free like men to shape themselves through their praxis and concerned lifestyles including public, intellectual and professional. Equality

8. Aristotle saw that men and women are from their nature differently and thus, assigned different roles in society. He thought women were biologically and mentally weaker than men and so should remain confined to mostly domestic chores. In the writings of Aristotle men were the appropriate candidates for political and philosophical_ACTION _ while the women were supposed to conform to the domestic business and child upbringing. Thomas Aquinas, as an influential philosopher of Christian period added Aristotelianism with Christianity. He stated that, men and women are different, and their roles are that women are meant to stay at home and look after the family. Whilst Aquinas, did recognize that women possessed reason and moral rationality, he saw their position as subservient to men who took up the external and executive positions. Emile has traditional attitude to women in the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He Some of them are was full of propaganda information and believed that their main purpose was to cook and look after the man and the family. According to him, women were libertined to child rearing as men were for public and intellectual life. Like many of his counterpart in the enlightenment period, Immanuel Kant was sexist in his thinking regarding women destiny and due to what he considered as their emotional inclinations, he thought that women did not have the rationality worthy of civil and public sphere as well as being a scholar. He considered women as proper for bringing moral change but within household not for employments or politics. Inequality

9. Philosophy has explored women’s roles both inside and outside the home through various lenses, often reflecting the broader societal and cultural contexts in which different philosophical ideas emerged. Over time, philosophers have examined gender roles, equality, and the ethical and social implications of women’s participation in public and professional life. Feminist philosophy has been instrumental in critiquing and reshaping societal views, encouraging women’s full participation in public, intellectual, and professional life.

10. As early as ancient and medieval periods there are records that women worked hand in hand with men in farming, weaving, and petty commerce. But their activities were commonly low paid and associated with families’ enterprises or home-based crafts. Craft and guild occupations involved women including those in textile sectors however they performed most of these jobs in supporting capacity compared to men and many were unpaid or remunerated very low. The process of industrialization began, women took up jobs in factories especially in textile, manufacturing and most especially in the food processing industries. Many of these jobs were poorly remunerated, besides being physically demanding. Most women were employed as maids, they were still doing house chores, though in better houses, this was due to growth of economy and women were only allowed to fickle in service or caring roles. As education for women grew during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women entered work in traditional roles as teachers, nurses and clerks. World war I as well as world war II saw many women joining the workforce to do jobs that were left by men. The women took up jobs in industries and ship building and production of munition, yet most were anticipated to be sent home once the world wars were over. After the Second World War, there was much pressure upon women to be homemakers, this was changed in the era of second wave feminism in the 1960’s and 70’s, women had the right to work. The Past

11. The roles of women today are multiple and changing in the social and economic as well as cultural arena, in and out of the home. They hold jobs, and engage in all sectors within society, and their roles are more diverse than those of previous generations. More and more women are being mane for political seats across the globe. New Zealand, for instance, has been led by a female head of state, Finland and Germany having a female head of government. Women are joining parliaments and legislative assemblies across the world than before, but gender equity is still a mirage. Other international organizations like the United Nations, World Health Organization have witnessed increase in the women leadership. This is evident with the presence of women like Angela Merkel a former chancellor to Germany, Jacinda Ardern former prime minister to New Zealand and Ursula von der Leyen the present president of the European commission. Working and raising a family has remained to be an issue of contention for most women especially for mothers. Concerns like childbirth, part-time working, and cheap early childcare are important in enabling women balance their working and family responsibilities. While some policies like parental leave and flexible time working are extant and recognized in some countries more than others. The role responsibilities that are taken by each family member have been expanding and there is=[] recognition of joint family responsibilities. Increasing number of men are attending to family chores and childcare, but women remain primarily assuming “second shift” responsibilities, which include managing the home once they are in employment. Women who work are now depicted on media and other forms of popular cultural production. In the recent past, movies and series and social networks reveal successes of women in different spheres – work, protest, and management. This shifts work help in breaking stereotype perceptions and leads to the presence of women with social and working environments. The Present

12. Women’s roles outside the home will probably depend on other progressive changes which may impact on societal relations socially, economically as well as technologically. With changes in culture, development of policies profession growth, and technology, women’s roles are expected to increase even more. However, issues like equitable employment opportunities, the issue on working women and family responsibilities, and issue on new technologies of work will always be discussed. The female gender disparity in government and making of policies is expected to increase as the gender equality movements spread across the world. Executive: National governments can encourage the inclusion of women in decision-making processes at the political level through legal provisions like the provision of quotas for women in the legislative bodies, so there’s increased women Heads of State and decision makers charting the future of countries. More opportunities will be created for women in the high growth and high wages occupations especially in STEM careers. For technology, finance, engineering and entrepreneurship more women will embrace them to go for it as barriers lift and incentives to girls and women steer up. The emergence of technological and increased flexibility at work due to the COVID19 pandemic are expected to help women at work. Flexible working model that include remote or teleworking could help women balance their working and parental responsibilities better than their male counterparts, this is due to the fact that they will be able to cut on their working hours travelling to work and from work. The fact that women are supposed to be the primary caregivers may likely change even further as more males begin to embrace more family care giving roles. This new culture will eventually bring changes in division of labor within the home with a view to encouraging more women go to develop their careers without necessarily having to compromise on their homes. The Future

13. The female labor force participation can be traced back to the earliest period of human civilization, however, the role, types of jobs that women have held and the status of such work have been dynamic. Traditionally, women worked outside the home but many of these woman’s jobs were casual and unpaid or restricted to certain occupations. Unlike earlier employment, women were restricted to the informal sectors or sectional domestic employment; the Industrial Revolution and the two world wars, and the feminist movement opened up employment opportunities for women. Today women take part in the workforce in all sectors but the paradigms of the injustices that females faced in previous years plus social norms still preach a bad message following women to the workplace. Hopefully in the future roles will not be based of gender, but off who is able to do it better. Some changes have been made, but still some sectors of society hold on to past ideals.