I gazed at her from afar. Her eyes dreamy, her mind floating in her own world. I watched her fingers dancing triumphantly to different keys. The tranquil and tingling music added to her mystery. There was almost an invisible veil closing around her, separating her from me and the rest of the world. I longed to comprehend the stories she conveyed in the music. I stayed there, never advancing for fear of breaking the perfect image.
Read MoreTurkish women suffer the most from others opinions. Feryal Ozel, a Turkish citizen and a mother of two, has her name next to some scientific prodigies such as Albert Einstein and John Nash on the list of ‘’Big Ideas’’. Moreover, a Turkish citizen, Fatma Kaygısız is a stay at home mother that goes out of the house only to work at the farm. Both women were born in the same geography, they breathe the same air and, one isn’t superior to the other, but what is it that made them go on different paths?
Read MoreImagine this scene, if you will.
You’re in a dirty room, with your mother-in-law and the “doctor”. It’s a dark, and a dreary place, with the smell of blood and sweat in the air. The candle near you is the only light in the room. You are a woman, and you are giving birth to a child. You are in severe pain. Your husband is nowhere to be found. You are afraid.
Read MoreIn my school’s classrooms, it’s not surprising to overhear a table of girls chatting about the cosmetic surgery procedures they want to undergo. What is unusual, though, is to hear a Korean woman declare themselves a “feminist,” whether in a high school classroom or on the busy streets of Seoul. Expressing support for equal treatment and less rigid beauty standards for women in the deeply conservative country, where its education system remains the greatest obstacle to gender equality, is often met with criticism. A popular beauty YouTube star Lina Bae even received death threats when she deviated from her usual makeup tutorials and removed her makeup in a video encouraging women to free themselves from conforming to beauty standards. “An ugly and fat girl like you shouldn’t even be alive,” reads a comment on her video.
Read MoreOne spring day in 2016, in a public bathroom of the bustling Gangnam area, a young woman was stabbed to death by a man she had never met before.
“I did it because women have always ignored me.”
Read MoreKorean Confucianism, Yu-gyo, is a long-standing tradition in Korea; filial piety, one of the three core values, is prized in a family over all other values. The samgangoryun states that there are five relationships that are necessary to ensure social order. Kings over servants, fathers over sons, and husbands over wives, to name a few. These relationships are parallel: wives should treat their husbands as they would kings, and sons and daughters should treat their fathers as their sovereigns. Younger people are meant to concede to the power of the people with more power, as dictated by the samgangoryun.
Read MoreThe interviewer peers at the woman seated across from him and asks, “You’re a woman. Do you want this job? Don’t you want kids later on in life?”
The young interviewee nervously replies, “I do want this job, but I’m also planning on getting married and raising a family.” The interviewer looks unimpressed as he scrutinizes the resume in front of him. This is the same look this young woman received at the last interview where she was rejected.
Read MoreMy first “physical” encounter with feminism took place on one lovely Saturday afternoon while I was rushing to a nearby subway station after a soccer match. In South Korea considered one of the most conservative countries in East Asia, it is rare to see crowds of women gathering on a busy street, all holding large signposts and waving them, overwhelming the noise caused by nearby traffic with their shouts. My initial impression of the sight was appreciation. Living as a teenage girl, I was glad to see my peers gathering to cry out for the gender equality issue without compromising with the gender stereotype that has haunted our community for so long. However, as I approached the demonstrators to show my support, I had to step back as soon as I saw the slogans on their signposts filled with nothing but derogatory words and curses on the opposite sex.
Read More“Honey, can you get me a coffee?” “Mom! Where is my shirt?” “Mom come on! I need you to take me to my academy!” “Mom, what are you cooking tonight?” “Sweetie, you’re almost thirty already – when are you going to have a baby?”
Read MoreIn the paper, I analyses the convoluted mix among religious, traditional, and state ideology that confine women role in contemporary Vietnamese society. Since I am living in Bangladesh for my undergraduate, I will compare the intellectual context about gender issues in the two countries, and suggest a solution to solve the constraint for women in Vietnam.
Read MoreIn this essay, I will state that girls not being accessible to education has caused them to be subjugated after marriage.
Read More“A society that leaves the woman behind is doomed to be left behind.” said Atatürk. He was the founding father of the Turkish Republic and created a democratic nation nearly 100 years ago. Today, participants from Turkey are able to submit essays on a global issue as “Woman Empowerment” with great awareness thanks to him.
Read More“My name is Asiye. And this is my story:
My family and I lived in Ketenli, a village of Rize, a rural area in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. Ketenli is a village with a low literacy rate and where literacy is considered unfamiliar trait for a person. I started my life with a handicap: My father had a verbal agreement to betrothal with the richest man of the village.”
Read MoreEver since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk started influencing history, women became more and more active in society. Women were incented more and more to get the proper education, role models were promoted, a new civil code was created based on the Italian civil code to ensure laws that protect women's' rights.
Read MoreThe past is like an old photo we always look at; it’s a memory and it’s there to remind us how things used to be. The things that have happened in the past surely stay there and are unchangeable, however they shouldn’t affect how things will be in the future.
Read MoreSeeing what my mother went through that day in the car, I promised myself that I
would never leave a woman alone in this situation. Since then, I have become more aware
and sensitive about women’s issues.
Read MoreWomen have proven that they can do more than just parenting long ago but sad to see so it was never enough. They have proven that they can be just as helpful as men for the community. However there are still some groups, supporting the idea of women not being strong enough as men, not to mention it brings up issues connected with gender equality.
Read MoreA nation in mute.
Brightly colored signs. Approaching figures. Bold block letters and hand-drawn images embellish the diverging faces, a patchwork of all different sizes and shapes and colors. As the crowd shifts, it creates a ripple of raised fists, open lips, and faces drawn in tense determination, furrowed brows and iron gazes tilted towards the sky.
Read MoreIn this essay, I will state that girls not being accessible to education has caused them to be subjugated after marriage.
Bangladesh is a patriarchy society where the men do not only dominate but are also considered as the asset and women as the liability of the family.
Read MoreIn the paper, I analyses the convoluted mix among religious, traditional, and state ideology that confine women role in contemporary Vietnamese society. Since I am living in Bangladesh for my undergraduate, I will compare the intellectual context about gender issues in the two countries, and suggest a solution to solve the constraint for women in Vietnam.
Read More