Women Empowerment: Issues and Challenges in Global South - Essay Sample

Introduction

The role of women in society has realized a significant transition over the years. Feminism oriented movements and projects have been implemented to achieve a balance in the power and empowerment of women in diverse societies across the world. However, countries in the global south report slow and limited integration of women in the political, cultural, and economic programs. As cited by Zakaria, women empowerment is a major concern in countries in the global south with post-colonial feminism efforts directed towards enhancing the participation of women in education, health, technical programming, and the establishment of gender equality in the society. Gender inequality and women empowerment to significant levels should be vital on the global women empowerment programs' priority list. However, according to Zakaria, the involvement of women in education, politics, economic development, and technical programs is limited merger practices such as chicken and rabbit rearing. These projects aim to solve short-term financial problems but fail to deliver women from cultural and political bondage. Some cultures rank women in a low profile and therefore are entitled to low profile duties in the society. Practices such as female genital modification was a significant concern in some African countries and impacted on health issues resulting from the practices. The concerns of post-colonial feminism range from short term and long-term empowerment of women. However, limited efforts are visualized in the long-term projects which integrate education, economics, and gender equality in society.

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The most important factor in women empowerment is the integration of cultural practices, human rights, economic independence, and the development of women from non-western countries. The issue of culture is rooted in many indigenous feminist organizations. Some indigenous feminist organizations struggle to address the critical concerns on the ground, such as unhealthy practices that disregard the human rights aspect of women's welfare. Practices such as FGM cited among the Maasai of Tanzania and Kenya violate necessary human rights provisions. They, therefore, change the agenda of feminist organizations from health to a human rights issue. The question of power in women empowerment is equally affected by the cultural practices which are aligned with individual rights and development concerns. Social customs and norms reduce the role of women in decision making. For instance, the Maasai community's customs provide for a patriarchal family structure, limiting the participation of women in basic decision making. Indigenous communities struggle from establishing authority and eliminating the dominant political and economic structures as well as identifying women in the complex political and economic structures such as neoliberalism and capitalism. What should be done to attain optimum women empowerment? Economic stability, education, and advocacy for individual rights can impact long term women empowerment. The existing cultural, political, and economic structures curtail the recognition of women's role in society. What factors influence individual women's rights advocacy?

Gender inequality is a crucial agenda on global feminist movements. Cultural and religious practices provide the basis of gender treatment. Hodgson (156) identifies that as much as women may advocate for gender equality, the culture for the Tanzania and Maasai men bestows men with control and inheritance of property, education, and health services. In this case, gender equality can be based not only on men and women sharing roles but also on the complementarity of genders. The limitations of the gender roles are related to religious beliefs with Muslim women corresponding to the religious role allocation. AbuLughod (788) questions if Muslim women need saving. The element of saving by western feminist organizations reinforces the element of superiority and arrogance against Muslim women's religious expectations. In this case, the cultural and religious practices align women with particular roles in society. Feminist organizations need to work against the political and social structures to empower women, a factor that receives limited backing from the indigenous women. Feminist scholars present women empowerment as an issue that digs into individual rights, human rights aspects, political and economic empowerment of women. However, it is legitimate that Western feminist organizations, non-western women are used to covering stories of women empowerment programs across the world. Still, the actual status of women empowerment is based on short term projects such as chicken rearing, rabbit rearing, and sewing machines. How do sewing machines and chicken provide for individual rights, political stability, and cultural emancipation? (Zakaria). The cultural and religious practices are the foundation of women empowerment and, therefore, are critical factors of consideration by feminist organizations advocating for gender equality and women participation in global affairs.

International development can influence the indigenous feminist groups, such as MWEDO, to independent focus on the human rights aspects of the cultural practices. Besides, the political and economic stability of women is important in attaining women empowerment. The international feminist organizations use Maasai women's images as part of their influence in international women empowerment program. However, the real challenges of women on the ground are not addressed. Addressing the need for education, health services, food, and economic status provides women with a better chance to survive. In this case, women can develop independently without direct dictation from the interaction’s development organizations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the process of women empowerment has realized transformations over the decades. However, the limitations of the feminist movements are cited in the post-colonial feminist colonialism, which paints women as individuals who deserve to be rescued. Women empowerment need to integrate cultural and religious practices. The concern of Muslim women, along with Maasai women, present the different aspects of women empowerment efforts. Therefore, the overall impact of women empowerment should be on long-term solutions derived from education, healthcare, and economic stability, but not short-term financial solutions.

Works Cited

AbuLughod, Lila. "Do Muslim women really need saving? Anthropological reflections on cultural relativism and its others." American anthropologist 104.3 (2002): 783-790.

Hodgson, Dorothy L. "“These Are Not Our Priorities”: Maasai Women, Human Rights, and the Problem ofCulture." Gender and Culture at the Limit of Rights (2011): 138.

Zakaria, Rafia. "The myth of women’s empowerment." The New York Times 5 (2017): A23.