Firstly with the introduction of contraceptive pills, usually known as the Pill, in less-developed countries, many women are starting to have a say. Traditionally, in most less-developed countries, it is the men who garner popular appeal and it is the men who held the privilege of sexual choice. However, with breakthroughs in technologies, women now have substantial sexual choice and child-bearing agendas. With the exposure to technological wonders such as the Pill, women are slowly moving away from the social constructs of a patriarchal society, especially those severely chauvinistic in less-developed countries. Women now have more flexibility and freedom of choice, leading to a greater increase in human rights awareness and successes.
Also, micro finance is a great leap forward towards the betterment of women's rights and capabilities. Micro finance offers under-privileged women in less-developed countries, often more prudent than men, to kick-start their own businesses and to fulfill their own agendas. By doing so, a woman can now enhance her own employability skills and hence gain education and expertise suiting their own preferences. No more does there have to be a point whereby it's the woman stuck in the kitchen while it's the man who stakes his claim over the sole-ownership of the house. Through the innovation of micro finance, the woman is regarded with greater respect and hence can be seen as equals to the men, diminishing the disparity between men and women and their roles in society.
Re-post from Eunice:
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I agree with Yaksh's point about the invention of the pill due to technology that has helped women a lot. However, I would also like to add on that the article also mentioned that technology now allows parents to determine the sex of their embryo early in a pregnancy and thus having the option of aborting females in countries where the male offspring is of a higher value. In this case, such innovations that technology has brought about is definitely not beneficial to women because the number of live female births is way below the number of live male births. The example given in the article is China, whereby at least 100 million female lives have been lost in the recent decade due to this form of technology.
On the second point of micro finance, agreed. I would just like to add on that the article mentioned the invention of scooters, thereby increasing the opportunities and productivity of women which adds on to the initial point. The scooters provide a safe and reliable way for women to travel for education and work so it acts as an enhancement.