essay #2 second draft

Alysha Guzman

English 1A

Knapp

Dear women of the internet

For much of written history women have been branded the weaker and less valued gender. Though much of that has changed in the last century most women around the world are still see as second to men. In places such as the United States the inequality against women is much less accepted and while there are still many inequalities towards women it is much more difficult for the average person to publicly hold the opinion that women are second to men and not have public backlash. In places such as India and China however discrimination is very public and generally widely accepted and movements towards greater gender equality have not been so accepted. But around the world the movement for women’s rights is still growing and that movement has grown faster and gone further than ever with a new tool, the internet. With help of the online world women can see information that would have never otherwise been available to them, they can do more, the can learn more, and above all else women can spread their thoughts and ideas like never before and that is how the internet is empowering women.

When people tend to think of the internet they tend to think of people wasting time facebook or buying things on Amazon. They don’t seem like grand and wonderful things anymore since a great deal of people have become accustomed to the internet. It has become part of modern life and while most American people will admit that difficult to go a day without using the internet, people tend to forget how powerful the online world can be. I for one honestly use the internet more for fun than for actual work, though I am capable of using my time online to better myself I’ll generally do something entertaining like watching a movie.  It can be had to realize that for most our cultures history the traditional gender roles of women haven’t changed much. Women in most cultures have been expected to take care of everything domestic including her family, her home, and any chore her society or husband required her to do. Most women in a patriarchal society had very little access to basic knowledge to the world outside of their communities. If a women wanted access to knowledge of any kind her only sources where her local religious leaders, her social group and her husband. In the United Sates the women’s rights movement has made it much easier for women to get an education and thus move towards a career. Still many women who were house wives didn’t have the same opportunities; but with the help of the internet women, like stay at home moms, who would have otherwise had limited time to socialize outside their home can now socialize and shop in the comfort of their own homes.        

While these changes seem like small benefits to the lives of women it can be noticed that how places such as India have been greatly affected by the internet making tremendance differences in the lives of ordinary women. In an article written by BBC news the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) has helped fund internet cafes and kiosks, a small open-fronted hut shop, employing women. By employing women to open these shops the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) encourages education among women, giving jobs to women with diplomas. Because of the internet it now possible for women to find people on the internet that they would have otherwise had a great difficulty talking to such as friends and family and in some cases even doctors. According to the BBC article “women over 60 queue up to be linked via video-conferencing technology to an eye specialist thousands of miles away.” Many of these women have a difficult time leaving their villages with the only mode of transportation a neighbor’s car or bike and in some cases their only choice to see a doctor outside of their village is to walk. In these rural parts of the world the internet is often the only way women can interact with the outside world. Because of the internet they can get more information about their health faster than ever.

Violence and abuse towards women is a worldwide issue. It as a problem that can only be helped by giving victims support, resources, and educating the general public.; however it is also important to view all the factors that allows abuse and violence towards women. “40-70% of all female murder victims are killed by an intimate partner” (Prevalence of Domestic Violence).Violence is an age old problem that has existed long before the internet ever existed however as we enter this new technological age originations and individuals who have been trying to fix this problem are finding a new ways to use the online world to help change the lives of abuse victims. The Pixel Project and Hollaback are examples of organizations using the internet as a new tactic to stop the violence against women. Using blogs and forms to communicate with a wide audience around the world the Pixel Project is working in several countries to change the way the public views violence of women. Their mission is to include as many people as they can to work towards their goal of making social and cultural changes that discourage people from not speaking up and taking action against abuse. In an article by Paromita Pain a writer for The Wall Street Journal, she speaks of how the internet helps women fight back against attackers by allowing them to share their stories and even post pictures of their attackers.

Though the new age of technology and innovation has been helping women around the world nevertheless women continue to be deeply affected by old gender roles and expectations. In the west it was once the norm to for women to marry young and to try to gain or maintain social statues with marriage. But now our society seems to value marriages that are formed when both the bride and groom feel ready. Many of the women in China however are being pressured to marry they reach a certain age due to old cultural traditions. Sarah Keenlyside, a documentary director and producer found that due to the recent success of well educated women many Chinese men feel intimidated of marrying an independent woman. Keenlyside states that “China’s women and their new-found confidence has incited a backlash from men, the government and even their own families. The popular Chinese label shengnu (leftover women), regularly perpetuated in state-controlled media and on internet message boards, refers to women who are smart, successful and moneyed but still not married by the age of 28.” Keenlyside also points out that the idea of being single is not well received by much of China’s mass media however the young women of China are speaking out by telling their country that unlike their female relatives before them they do not men to take care of them. Chinese women also realize that many curtain laws in their country favorer men and view marriage as a big risk. Usually when people buy homes in China a house belongs to the person who took out the loan for the mortgage no matter who invested more in the house. Because it is traditional for Chinese parents to help their son with a mortgage women can often lose their homes in a divorce. Such things are motivating Chinese women towards buying their own things for financial security, understanding that marriage can be short lived. Recently a young woman names Long Si Yu and some of her friends made a music video and put it online with the message of they don’t need the money and cars of men because they have their own. The video was met with some back lash with many men posting one line statements such as “I say women in the old days were better.” Never the less many Chinese women are not deterred from continuing to have careers even if it means waiting later in life for a relationship.

There are times when the internet is a necessary work tool that innovated the economy and there are other times when the internet is just a place to goof off and waste time. There is no doubt that the internet has solved the problem of cheap communication and has opened up a door to new possibilities but will never solve all of humanities problems. It is nothing more than a new tool created by a person for others to use in a thousand new ways. Even though this instant availability of information does not seem like much more than a fun toy for many of us we have to remember that the internet has changed the lives of millions and will continue to do so. But it is much more important to realize that the internet is giving us each an opportunity to better our lives and those of the unfortunate and improvised.  It as an opportunity with risk and hurtles but it’s one that women need to continue to share and explore.