Nearly all ancient cultures were patriarchal in nature and power was concentrated among men while women remained subordinate. Women oppression became a characteristic of most patriarchal societies due to the misuse of power. Cruel cultural beliefs such as female genital mutilation, wife battering, rape and forced marriages were part of some of the cultures mainly Africans. The role of women was reduced to giving birth and working on farms to provide for the family, women were denied access to education and leadership positions. The aim of the paper is to explain the impact of culture on gender equality.
The United States has come a long way as far as women rights are concerned. (Burnette, 2015) conducted a research into the struggles that indigenous women in the United States had to go through in the face of a hostile culture. Indigenous women in the United States underwent massive oppression during the traumatic eras of colonization, civil war, racism, and slavery. According to (Burnette, 2015) indigenous women are defined as women from the minority societies who faced forced eviction, genocide and land loss among other injustices. Women in those eras experienced violence, rape, slavery and even death. Their historical painful experiences have largely contributed to the development of women rights activism mainly due to the resilience of women who experienced such traumas.
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According to (Burnette, 2015), the indigenous women of Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians who are currently located in East Central part of Mississippi is an example of a group of women who underwent through sex slavery during the colonial times. The Choctaw Indians community was matrilineal based on strong religious and cultural beliefs which were opposed to the European colonizer's culture. This led to the establishment of treaties aimed at eradicating the matrilineal social and cultural structure and replacing it with a patriarchal system. This society resisted the colonial atrocities and retained ownership of their homeland and culture.
European women also faced oppression. (Burnette, 2015). The European culture was patriarchal and women were considered subordinate and husband’s property. Religion also supported male dominance with examples of Catholic Church and famous religious leaders such as St. Augustine and Martin Luther. Some culture based laws were also adopted into the common law against women in breach of the cultural order. Due to the Christian beliefs in male dominance, European colonizers could not trade with indigenous women leading to the banning of women’s engagement in trade and travel activities. Intermarriages between indigenous communities and European colonizers were also used as means of establishing the patriarchal social system in which the women had no say. Bribes were used to seduce women from the matrilineal societies into making treaties in favor of the patriarchal European society. Serious offenses against women such as rape were treated as trivial offenses.
In conclusion, despite the hostile oppression, many of the women who survived the hostility have continued to play significant roles towards the realization of women rights and cultural freedom. Although major strides have been made towards attaining a gender equality, cultural beliefs still contribute towards few cases of violence against women such as wife battering, rape and female genital mutilation among some African communities. The fact that women have risen to occupy senior leadership position shows great achievement towards gender equality. Research, however, shows that some male feel threatened and are not likely to elect women into high leadership positions.
References
Burnette, C. E. (2014). Indigenous Women’s Resilience and Resistance to Historical Oppression. Affilia , 30 (2), 253-258.
