Developing Countries: Half the Sky Meets Feminist Theory (Essay Sample)

Your name Your Professor’s name Paper Date Half the Sky Meets Feminist Theory. Kristof and Wu Dunn’s “Half the Sky” and Kempadoo’s “Slavery or Work?” are extensively read and well acknowledged books that unquestionably influence the practice and strategy in people’s lives. Knowledgeably composed of narratives of women’s struggle and dilemma mostly in developing countries, the authors integrate policy and systematic research to support a powerful  argument, that the women oppression is an under-recognized and overwhelming discrimination connected to slavery that demands a political and moral movement which is principled and focused to bring slavery to an end, (Kristof and Wu Dunn, 15), concentrating on the development of work paying greater attention to femininity.  They discuss on the practical ways to create this movement and effect the change that is vital. The most important ways in which the oppression of women plays out are clearly outlined, through rape, insufficient maternal health care, sex slavery, as well as lack of education. Along with a pestilence of soul-sickening tribulations, very effective and useful solutions that can maintain the lives of girls and women are proposed, giving a fervent call to arms against the repression of women, our era’s most persistent human right’s infringement. Throughout the books, the authors tell how these women are ill-treated in different ways like being raped, beaten and even dragged to sex if they defy the men who bought them, as well as how difficult it is for those women who contact AIDS from forced sex work to go back to their families because of obsession and embarrassment. Just as forced prostitution is indicative of a general attitude toward women as being less than and fair game to be treated basically as chattels and objects, Half the Sky reveals how combating this attitude itself is a strong step towards empowering women and giving men a serious awakening call, (Kristof and Wu Dunn, 26).  Criminals, in some societies in the developing countries frequently use rape as a weapon to commit their crimes and are protected in the knowledge that the sufferer will not report the assault to the authorities because of shame and this may ultimately result in the victim’s suicide, in some other cultures, a man is permitted to rape a woman he wants to marry to force her to submit to him. In many times, the states as well as families have fail to spend in healthcare and education for women, resulting to women being underfed and even dead at a very young age from preventable diseases and also fully dependent and controlled by male relatives, instead of having been educated hence bringing out great economic assets of the family and the country, (32). However, despite the fact that some of the traditions are very dangerous to women’s health and oppressive like female genital mutilation they are deep-seated in a culture strongly supported by women themselves. To clearly bring out the argument, the authors use a great combination of statistics and horrific stories of individuals that have been subjected to this kind of suppression. This is simply because the use of individual stories is more effective in promoting action. The individuals might have more confidence as well as impact when giving their stories, (Kristof and Wu Dunn, 68). A woman who may come up to give her story on the experience she has gone through as a woman from childhood to adulthood, from how she was abandoned by her parents and later sold into marriage by a neighbor and how she found herself a virtual prisoner, to how she was rescued by a western missionary in a nearby village, is likely to create a greater impact as compared to the statistical or scientific data collected from some library. Through the use of these stories, we are able to see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing the women’s potential. Many people around the world have helped doing just and we can as well do our part. The female half of the world population is the most unexploited economic resource, due to the lack of setting free the female potential. A good example is that of the china which has gradually prospered precisely because of the emancipation of women after which they brought them into the formal economy. It’s the greatest strategy and thing to do in fighting poverty by unleashing and the process globally.    The practical ways to effect change and aid women is sometimes on a shakier ground simply because of the sincerity about the complexity of the problems those who try to fight the repression of women face in places where it’s deeply embedded. Kristof and Wu Dunn clearly portray their own efforts to buy prostitutes out of slavery and how complicated it is to reinstate these women to normal living. They look at how the Netherlands’ corroboration of prostitution compares as an anti-trafficking system with the sex service purchases criminalization in Sweden. They clearly point out how campaign against some cultures like female circumcision has been slowed down through the use of such terminologies like female genital mutilation by the activists which seems to turn the people they sought to help away, (98). All this happens due to the insufficiencies of laws and those supposed to implement them. However, this question of legality hysterics the anti-slavery similarity less well because in earlier years slavery was legal and the abolitionists greatly focused on arguing that it should become illegal. The trade then stopped once slavery was declared illegal, whereby forced sexual slavery as well as rape were actually illegal according to law. The problem therefore comes from the corruption and unresponsiveness of the authorities as well as the silence of victims in fear of embarrassment, (Kristof and Wu Dunn, 152). Similarly, the denial of proper medical care and schooling habitually reflects the unawareness of the families’ earning potential of a well educated healthy woman. We all know that when human beings are beaten, endangered with or subjected to violence, they are suffering serious and real tribulations, tribulations that are satisfactory to stimulate a response by the criminal law. Nevertheless, we have repeatedly had of feminist abolitionists unwisely aligning themselves with reactionary or traditional forces. In such cases you will find that some of the feminist abolitionists falsify coalition with those who would more usually be analyzed as enemies of feminism and other social progressive actions. Feminist abolitionists have sold out to those who have an interest in sustaining the very sorts of structural inequalities we oppose, (Kempadoo, 61). According to Kristof and Wu Dunn, the solution to the problem would involve an all round support of individuals, (203), having in mind the presence of the conventional and dishonest authorities as well as the involvement of outsiders in the process of imposing change in places they don’t fully understand, am sure supporting the victims in all means will be very important and encouraging. A good example would be a case where woman may actually be gang raped and instead of being shy and ashamed, she ...