Seeds of Change essays

Seeds of Change essays People are afraid of change. If something is new or foreign or simply different, we tend to be fearful of it. We have seen this reaction throughout history, ranging from communism to anti-Semitism; this reaction can also take form in men who fear that treating women as equals will totally change the face of our patriarchal society. These men do not want women to become educated or join the work force, and they will use almost any means necessary to keep women in their place and maintain their own role as boss, as shown in James Overfields Sources of Twentieth Century Global History, through the writings of Egyptian feminist Bahithat al-Badiya, American feminist Anna Howard Shaw, and Chinese feminist Qiu Jin. These sources reveal the perspectives of feminists around the world, showing their response to the oppressed and stifled role of women in society, and their initiatives to bring change and equality to women everywhere. A Lecture in the Club of the Umma Party, written in 1909 by Bahithat al-Badiya, shows her response to the many hardships that Egyptian women experienced in their everyday lives. This piece is a lecture given to the Umma Party, written in very logical and formulated arguments. For example, she states that men are hypocritical, and then goes on to provide evidence through many specific instances. Her speech is also very practical and pragmatic, containing eight concrete methods for bringing change to the inequality of womens daily lives. The speaker wrote this piece to give women hope, and assure them that they are not alone in their struggles against oppression from male society. A reason that al-Badiya highlights for certain men oppressing women and prohibiting them from becoming educated and joining the work force is that these men fear losing their jobs, and therefore their superiority, to the women. Society believes that when [wom...