Feminism
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
This is a picture, taken from Temasek Junior College's track, of the all-female touch rugby team partaking in a game of touch rugby. And globalization had a part to play in it.
Once, females were not allowed to participate in competitive sport at all. In the Ancient Olympic Games, women were forbidden to take part in the games. Even when the Olympic Games were revived in 1896, even the founder himself, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, did not agree with women's participation in the Games. However, all these have changed.
Today, there are more competitive sports open to women for participation than ever before. So too, have the opportunities for participation in competitive sports in educational institutes for girls greatly increased, as demonstrated in the picture above. This is true almost all over the world.
The status of women has risen significantly, elevating the woman from being only a domestic homemaker to that of near or equal that of men. This is especially so in the Americas and most parts of Europe. However, it is only so in some parts in Asia. Nevertheless, the picture above is representative of the phenomenon of globalization. The means through which globalization has employed in this case, is mainly that through media. All forms of media have played a huge part in the globalization of values, be they print or visual media.
Without globalization, there would not have been the advent of Western social attributes in Asian countries, such as Singapore.
How so? Well, it is known that most Western countries are ahead of most Asian countries in terms of liberal views and openness. Western countries have mostly accepted women's importance in society, and are increasingly giving opportunities, which were once only available to men, to women too. However, without globalization, this social phenomenon would not have traveled to countries in Asia, and the transformation from a typical conservative Asian society that believes in the domestic role of the woman to a more liberal society that accepts gender equality, would not have happened as rapidly.
- Marc, the Economics 'Expert'
