Gender issues in asian traditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gender issues in asian traditions - Essay Example The Confucians viewed the cosmic order as â€Å"life-giving, relational, and harmonious in the interaction of its parts† and this gratitude for life was visible in their worship of the ancestors (Kelleher 137). Even though Confucianism considered family life and marriage as sacred, relationships, for the Confucians, were hierarchical in nature. As Kelleher points out parents, rulers, husbands and older siblings enjoyed higher social positions whereas the positions of children, subjects, wives and younger siblings were inferior(Kelleher 138). Wives needed to remain submissive to their husbands. The role of women was identified with the earth: Confucianism held that â€Å"the position of women in the human order should be lowly and inferior like the earth, and that the proper behaviour for a woman was to be yielding and weak, passive and still like the earth† (Kelleher 140). In the same way, one can also find similar passive and submissive roles attributed to women in Hin duism. As Young suggests, the role of women and their rituals during this period was limited to maintaining ‘social and cosmic order’. Even though the Vedic women’s role was esteemed as wife and mother, she had to remain as a silent partner in the Vedic rituals. The husband’s role was much prominent as he was the patriarchal head of the family. In Confucianism and Hinduism women were subject to certain codes of conduct. The role of women in Confucianism was very often limited to the family whereas the role played by men was viewed in the wider social-political order. Women were subject to three types of obedience in the family structure: â€Å"as a daughter she was subject to her father; as a wife, to her husband; and when older, to her son† (Kelleher 140). Another crippling factor that restricted woman’s active role was her lack of education. While boys had formal education in history and the classics, girls had to remain at

Traditional Marriages vs. Arranged Marriages Essay

Traditional Marriages vs. Arranged Marriages - Essay Example In this type of marriage, the individuals do not value their traditions and can adopt any lifestyle provided they are comfortable with it. On the other hand, in arranged marriages, the individuals do value their traditions of family and social life; hence there is restriction as to whom they should marry. This kind of marriage is very common in Middle East and part of Asia and Africa. It is also very common among the royal families and unification movement. Those practicing arranged marriages are mindful of their family traditions and social values and for this case; they ensure that they get a spouse within their castle. For the case they ensure the marriage partner comes not only from the same caste but from the same sub-castle. Traditional marriage has many options as there are many ways that those marrying might have come across each other. They might have across each other in college, in church or even social gathering and developed a liking in each other thereby developing a relationship leading to marriage. On the other hand, in arranged marriage it has only one option as the parents are the ones in charge of finding a matching partner for their son/daughter. In this case, the parent identify a matching partner for their son/daughter and then approaches the parents for negotiation even before the marrying partners have met. In traditional marriage because it can be done hurriedly, they do not emphasize on finding the most suitable partner hence leading to a high number of divorce rates among the marrying couples. The partners might have met in college, church or even social gathering and developed a liking in each other thereby think they can marry. This might be done in a hurry without investigating the family background of the partner or even the past life, only to realize later on that the relationship can not work. This leads to divorces now and then in the society. On the other hand, in arranged marriages, a lot of emphasis on the matching partner is taken and the family background scrutinized whether it has a good reputation or not. The parent take time before they can finally approve that the partner can marry their son/daughter and then give a go ahead their daughter/son to meet. In these situations, these individuals have so much faith with their parents such that they would not like to disappoint them; hence they ensure the marriage last. The couple respect each other and they always know that their parent have chosen the best partner for them. In traditional marriages, the marrying partners have a variety of people and lifestyle to choose on terms of marriage partners. For this case, they are free to marry from anyone they feel they can cope with. This is unlike in arranged marriage whereby the parent chooses the partner for their son/daughter hence no freedom at all in terms of choosing a partner in terms of likeness of lifestyle. In arranged marriages, the parents have to look at so many factors before they approves that the partner can fit in their family or not. Some of the factors they do consider are the family background, education, social life, age, height and beauty. For this case, t