For 2,500 years Confucian teachings have influenced the thought and behavior of peoples in many Asian countries like China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. According to the Confucian structure of society, women at every level were to occupy a position lower than men and should be submissive. Following are some famous Confucian sayings on women:
- "A woman's duty is not to control or take charge."
- "Woman's greatest duty is to produce a son."
- " It will be women neither to do wrong nor to do good. Only about the spirits and the food will they have to think."
- "There are three immoral acts: the greatest of these is the failure to produce sons."
- "Women are to be led and to follow others."
- "The woman with no talent is the one who has merit."
How do you feel when reading these sayings? Do you still hold a perception of "Men are breadwinners; women are homemakers”? How do you think of women in Asian countries or Saudi Arabia compared to women from Western countries? Has the role between men and women changed?
Take a look at the two videos on nowadays working women. Hope you will find them interesting and thought-provoking.
Your comments are highly appreciated!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek3Ziu72rNY
By Dan Mccord and Kiana Wai
24 comments:
I do not agree with those very crass comments made above, in addition to not believing that women should be seen as mere homemakers and men as breadwinners. I believe Western women have evolved, and that their Asian and Arabian counterparts could learn a lot from them.
By saying that women have evolved, I am not insinuating that they have swapped roles with men, I am saying that they have progressed rapidly to the point at which they can be seen as both breadwinner and home-maker.
It is nothing new to hear these sayings.Growing up, we have studied how different cultures who highly value this belief. Personally, I do not agree with Confucian teachings on this topic. Men predominantly take leadership roles in most cultures all over the world. However, many Western cultures view women as equal to men, giving them the opportunity to shine. Women from countries where there is a Confucian structure are definitely looked at from a different viewpoint than those from Western societies. This in no way means that either is better. These cultures just have different beliefs. Western cultures used to have similar beliefs. Women were to stay at home, take care of the children, cooking, and cleaning whereas the men would go to work all day to provide for their families. These values have changed greatly over the past fifty years. It's more common these days to have both parents working and splitting duties at home, even though I feel that it's still skewed towards women a bit more. Honestly, I would love to stay at home and be a "homemaker." However, I don't hold the perception that all women must be "homemakers" and all men be "breadwinners." I believe that each person should find their contentment- "to each his own."
I do not like reading quotes like these because I believe women are equal too men. The thing for us to do is not to go ahead and assume that women in Saudi Arabia are looked at as "homemakers" by there men because they are not. I come from a middle eastern back ground and that is not how we look at our women. You have to understand the Islamic Religion in order to understand how women in Islamic countries live. No, I believe that it wont change dramatically, but minor details might change. For example, women can not drive in Saudi, it might change but im not too sure about it.
These sayings are not very uncommon to in the sense that my father is actually from Iran. Most of my family in Iran has many of these same beliefs; however, I lived my whole life in the US and my mother is American so my family is structured very differently. Both my parents work and are in the top of their respective fields in their companies, also at home they split pretty much every duty equally. Knowing how my father was raised and how differently he has raised my sisters and I; I think it shows tremendous growth in the direction the world is moving today in changing these beliefs of “men are breadwinners; women are homemakers”.
Courtney Moradipour
First off, I would like to say that I am more than proud to know that I am no longer a part of a society that has such restrictions on women. As far as the sayings listed above, it's unfortunate for the women that are held under these norms.
My personal opinion about the saying that "men are breadwinners" is that it will forever be a majority because women tend to have other obligations that are more important than progressing in their career. For instance, many women take large amounts of time off from their studies and careers to begin a family. On the other hand, the percentage of women putting familial duties before their career is shrinking. With that being said, I don't think people still agree with the saying that men are the breadwinners, but it is still an overwhelming norm that women tend to put family over profession. The positive thing is, it is no longer by force, but by personal choice.
I have to say that up until my internship I would have believed what Confucian had stated still held true. Surprisingly, during my 6mo stay with the company 75% of the people I worked with were female, with many of them managing important functions within the business. They conducted themselves with professionalism and authority, something that might have surprised some people. I think its great to see women in the workforce and competing for jobs like any other male. As we all know, completion is good for business!
John C
Re John: You are working as an intern in knoxville? A local company?
I do not agree with these teachings, now days women have just as much an opportunity to be "breadwinners" as men. In the past the trend has been for men to work and for women to stay home, however with the recession and struggling economy many families need two incomes and do not have that luxury. Either way women have proven they can be just as capable as men in the work place.
I do not understand why more women in the United States are not concerned with the current influence of Islam. Our president allowed a mosque to be built only feet from ground zero. I am all for freedom of religion but i feel this is a slap in the face. Not only does the Qur'an teach women are inferior to men but it also teaches convert or conquer. I do not see how our country can support this faith which has become a political ideology to control people in eastern cultures.
As the majority have stated, I as well disagree with this. All people, regardless of sex and ethnicity, should have ample and equal opportunities in life. Though to look at it from a society's point of view who is accepting of this, how are we one to judge? When you're born into a culture, it's norms are usually valued the majority. It takes a very opinionated and passionate citizen in life to defy socially accepted standards.
These comments have been made about men and women since the beginning of time. It has always been said that men should be providers while women are caretakers. In ways this still remains in peoples' minds because women still have an expectation to focus on being mothers as soon as they give birth. Many times women end up quitting their jobs or taking much time away to care for their children. However women these days now hold more intense and respected jobs than years ago. Many have even worked their way up to being a company's CEO. Times are very different, but still have some reference to these comments.
While I do not agree with those specific teachings, much of the the Confucian Analects have evolved with the times. They are still taught in schools overseas, but countries like China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan generally have no problem with a women being placed in an authority position. I believe that certain aspects of the Confucian teachings have evolved with modern world and some have become outdated.
Lauren, I totally agree with you. Women of today, have found ways to combine their traditional role with coporate responsibilities. It is just unfortunate that people still make such comments.
The first Ghanaian President(Dr. Kwami Nkrumah)ones said "if you educate a man, you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation".
Growing up in a household where my main caretaker was a single mother, I have experienced how powerful a woman can be firsthand. It is clear to me that women are no longer being viewed as the "inferior sex" by the majority of the population. Obviously, there are households and families out in the world that still value having the mother stay at home and raise the kids while the father is out working and providing all of the family's income. This is fine, but I think that most households, especially in the United States, are moving away from this more traditional familial structure into more unique ones, such as households with one parent, two parents of the same sex, or even households where a grandparent or aunt or uncle is the legal guardian. Having seen that a single mom can raise two daughters by herself and provide for them everything they need has definitely encouraged me to make my own life for myself, and not rely on my future husband to do everything for me.
One side of me wants to say that this post is over-used. The United States has greatly improved in it's treatment of women in the past 50 years. Some things are not, and probably never will be, equal as they should be, but we have certainly come a long way.
The other side my argument resorts back to Islamic countries where women are treated more like animals or slaves than individuals. It makes me very sad to hear that women should be the "homemakers" while men should be the "breadwinners". I just wish that societies with this school would realize the fountain of knowledge that they are simply using as a spittoon, when they could be using it for a much greater purpose.
Confucius would have perhaps changed his mind on how women should be viewed. Some Chinese during the Boxer rebellion believed that Confucius would want them to adopt foreign weapons and knowledge to better themselves and surpass them. These thoughts here say that there is ambiguity in the minds of at least the Chinese people.
When I was in Vietnam and Cambodia so many shops were run by women...I honestly can't remember if I saw any men running the shops on the street! I don't agree with those sayings, especially the immorality of women if they cannot produce a son.
Fortunately for women in Western cultures time has evolved and with this women are equipped with more rights and are now in this decade becoming a dominate part of society. Women now are becoming CEOs and holding political positions. Of course I do not agree with the quotes above; however at the same time I understand that other cultures have operated so differently for so much longer than say the US so to read this things is taken with a grain of salt because of where they are coming from. It is becoming more and more common for the women to be the 'breadwinners' and surprisingly more men are the 'homemakers'. I think this is a trend especially in the US that is going to continue to grow. I think it will be a long time if ever before every culture around the world considers women as equal breadwinners.
While the teachings of Confucius do have their merit, I along with everyone else, will disagree with these statements.
I know that in Asian countries and in Saudi Arabia, it is the norm for women to be thought of as inferior to men, but as we see daily in the United States, in western culture this is not the case.
I'm so proud to live in a country where for the most part, women are treated as equals to men. There have been countless examples throughout history that have proved women to be just as strong, if not stronger, than men.
KIana Wai ;), I just completed my internship a few months ago. The distribution center where I was employed is located here in Knoxville. I worked with a few transportation managers that resided in Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and here in the US.
I find it very unfortunate and disheartening that there are still parts of the world that function with this mentality. Women have the ability and power to work equally next to men. By no means do I agree with the quotes above. The only thing I do agree with is the fact that women should be responsible with child baring, simply because I find it somewhat difficult (and scientifically impossible) in any other way. Whether that child be a son or a daughter should not be up for judgment. It is unfortunate that there is sometimes this sort of mentality even in our culture, luckily it is not to the extent of other areas of the world. Like others have said, it is important to know that these are the beliefs of other cultures around the world.
Like many other people have said, while these quotes are incredibly unacceptable, it does not surprise me to hear them. I think it is really hard for our generation to realize how recent it is that women have gained power. My mom always tells me about when she first applied to med-school, they told her she could go as their "token woman" because they needed another women to satisfy the ratio in the class. She refused the offer not wanting to be a target her entire time in medical school and was accepted the next year on the basis of her credentials rather than her gender. Growing up she has always been the "breadmaker" in the family. My father's a great man and has no ego problems with this. While I hate to hear that women are still degraded in some countries, I do believe over time women will find that equality. It takes time for major changes to occur, just like the African-American inequalities. While this is also very recent, it has changed for the better and continues to do so in our country.
I grew up with a stay at home mom. I believe these teachings are changing but still exsist. If you can earn a position in a company threw hard work no matter sex, race etc. You should be paid and treated the same.
i find statements such as these to be unbelievably ignorant. Living in a society where women have proved to be very successful put these Confucian statements to shame and strongly discredit their validity. I find it somewhat disturbing that women are still at a disadvantage in some cultures because of their gender. This is one aspect of our culture that I can be very proud of regardless of my bias.
Anonymous said...
I grew up with a stay at home mom. I believe these teachings are changing but still exsist. If you can earn a position in a company threw hard work no matter sex, race etc. You should be paid and treated the same.
September 19, 2011 12:01 AM
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