Reflective Journal (II)

1. Reflect on the changing role of women in society. Draw on

examples from China, the United States and Singapore in your

reflections.

Women, no they are not simply just those residing over at the other

side of the overhead bridge. Who are they? What are they? It appears that to

answer these questions, it all depends on how and when we are looking at

women as a whole. Therefore, I will be looking into the changing role of

women in society, past and present, in the States, PRC and right here at

home.

In a lot of traditional beliefs, the woman’s role in life is to stay at

home and be a dutiful wife, always on stand-by to serve the household while

the man heads off to work as the breadwinner of the family. In short, the

woman takes on a supposedly more passive role as compared to the

“superior” men. Although the fact is that managing the household back at

home is not as easy as it seems, women (from the beginning) have always

been perceived by society as the “weaker race”. Therefore, in the past, be it

in America, China or Singapore, women have stuck faithfully to their “pre-

destined” roles as housewives, whether it is their choice or not.

Let us take an example from historical China, when a woman marries

into another family, she is naturally expected to quit her job and devote full-

time to being a dutiful wife and “domestic helper”, to put it blatantly. If the

wife does object to resigning, she will most likely be condemned by her

parent-in-laws, relatives, friends, and maybe even her beloved. In the past,

this would be regarded as her just deserts for going against convention that

has existed for as long as civilization did. None would show sympathy for

such an undutiful wife, and family would just regard her as a shame to the

family name, even to the extent of disowning her. Life for women in the past

has most definitely been bitter and sorrowful, having restricted roles and

freedom in their entire lives.

Yet, look at the world we live in today. The role of women has most

definitely changed for the better, has it not? No longer that much bound by

those outdated beliefs of the past, women are now given more freedom to do

whatever they want to do, not necessarily having to be a full-time household

manager. If we take a look at the article by Shellie Terry in Tutorial 4,

through the 21 American female personalities that she highlighted, we are

able to then infer that there is a significant change in the role of women
today. The spectrum of roles is now ever so wide, from politicians

(represented by Hillary Clinton) to sportswomen (Williams Sisters), and

from businesswomen (Ivanka Trump) to public personalities (Oprah

Winfrey), the sky is no limit for the women of today.

Back to local context, in my opinion, the role of women has indeed

changed, as far as I can see from my own perspective. There was once on a

documentary where I have heard certain people mentioning about the role of

women as mere procreators to ensure that our kind remains on the face of

this earth. And other than that, they are but a subset the human race that is

weaker and inferior, relative to men. Of course, that harsh and overtly biased

viewpoint no longer stands in today’s context.

Let me now link the changing role of women in society to an issue of

utmost importance in Singapore: Low birth rates. Yes, we do understand that

reasons include the higher standards of living, but have we forgotten about

the “procreators” themselves and their pivotal roles in this ageing population

crisis we are currently facing? Look at women now: confident, capable,

classy, climbing up the ladder of success. A happy and harmonious family is

no longer necessarily on the top of most Singaporean women’s list of

priorities in life. Being well-educated and offered equal opportunities those

of men, any rational “well-equipped” female would not let go of the chance
to prove their worth and make breakthroughs in their lives. Settle down and

start a family? Guess that will have to come after a successful career.

Despite the fact that Singapore is a state dominated by the Chinese

majority, traditional beliefs of women are no longer that evident here.

Today, if a newly-wed wife were to insist on working at her office, no one

would have the “right” to demand that she resign and devoted herself to

running the family or bear offspring. To my knowledge, witnessing and

hearing of real-life cases from relatives, any obsolete parent-in-law crazy

enough to still treat the new wife harshly would only result in the wife

leaving the family, and the son hating his parents for chasing away his one

true love. Seriously.

In conclusion, gone are the days when women are subservient and

inferior to us men, now are the days when there is progress in gender

equality, and the role of women metamorphosing from that of a “baby-cum-

housework-machine” to that of a winner in life.