Source:  Stearns, P. N., Gosch, S.S., and Grieshaber, E.P. Documents in World History: Volume 2 – The Modern Centuries: From 1500 to the Present. NY: Pearson Education, Inc. 2009.

I.          Activating Prior Knowledge
            The establishment of Indian independence in 1947 led to important legal reforms in gender relations. Voting rights were extended to women in the Constitution of 1950, which also outlawed discrimination by sex. Laws adopted somewhat later provided for divorce by mutual consent, banned polygamy (except among Indian Muslims), and established the right of women to have abortions.
            The new laws benefitted upper-class, well-educated Hindu women who took advantage of increased opportunities for careers in politics, business, and education. However, despite the laws, career women in India were often unable to win acceptance as equals by their male colleagues and associates. Circumstances were far worse for the hundreds of millions of poor women, most of whom lived in India’s 560,000 rural villages. For these women, issues such as access to the most minimal level of education, obtaining adequate nutrition and basic health care (especially relating to childbirth), and opportunities for paid work of any kind remained major concerns.
            In the 1970s, the continuing obstacles Indian women faced led to the emergence of a feminist movement. As their counterparts did in other countries, Indian feminists founded organizations and journals, conducted research on gender issues, lobbied governmental officials, became active in the labor movement, ran for public office, and organized protest demonstrations. The striking achievements in recent decades of women writers, such as Anita Desai, Gita Mehta, and Arundhati Roy, gave literary expression to the new feminist activism.
            Indian feminists have had to face more difficult challenges compared to their counterparts in the West. The tradition of purdah (the physical exclusion of women) continues to be significant in India’s villages. In addition, owing to widespread poverty and the social pressure on families to provide dowries for their daughters, female infanticide in some rural regions is still a serious problem. Finally, there is widespread prejudice in India against widows, a lingering legacy of the once-significant practice of widow-suicide (sati).

II.        Setting A Purpose for Reading
            As you read about the lives of women in India, compare the traditional roles of women to more modern roles in India? How are these ideas being influenced by Western movements such as feminism? How do arranged marriages promote or inhibit the rights of women in India?

III.       Reading the Text (Read, Re-Read, and Read Again)
Excerpt #1 – Manmohini Zutshi Sahgal – Spinning Wheel          
            In March 1922, Gandhiji (Mohandas Gandhi) was arrested and sentenced to six years imprisonment. He was released on January 12, 1924, before the expiration of his term. This earlier noncooperation movement was confined largely to men and was less extensive than the satyagraha movement of 1930-32. Women were expected to participate in processions and attend all Congress meetings, however, so with Mother and my two older sisters, Chandra and Janak, I used to join all such functions. I would like my readers to visualize the restricted life women led, even in a province so progressive as the Punjab. Women hardly ever ventured beyond the four walls of their homes, except to visit relatives or to attend a religious festival. My mother’s aunt always wore a shawl over her sari when she went visiting. I suppose that could be considered as a sort of Hindu burqa [garment that covers the head, face and body of the wearer] although her face was left uncovered. In that atmosphere, for the women to leave their homes and walk in a procession was a big step forward.

***
            The main work of the women, as envisaged by the Congress, was to propogate the use of khadi. Women appealed to other women to discard foreign cloth. A number of songs were composed to bring this point home. Not all families could afford to throw away their clothes and buy a completely new wardrobe, but all the women had a couple of khadi saris, which they wore to all the meetings and processions. It was extremely difficult to forego buying the lovely materials available; in contrast, khadi was coarse and rough and not easily available. Our own textile industry had been completely destroyed by the British. It is said that the Indian muslin was so fine and soft that an entire sari could pass through a ring. All the foreign cloth collected by Congress would be consigned to the flames in a huge bonfire.

***
            I have forgotten the name of that place, but it was a sort of miniature Jallianwala Bagh [the site of the 1919 Amritsar massacre], surrounded by tall houses and having only one entry. As the meeting progressed, the police walked in armed with metal-tipped lathis [long heavy sticks]. They declared the meeting illegal and requested that all women leave. The women understood that the men would be beaten once they left, so they refused to go. The excitement was intense and I was shouting slogans at the top of my voice. Those were the days when the British still remembered their chivalry. The police were not authorized to lathi-charge the men for fear of hitting the women. They tried persuasion and finally permitted the organizers to wind up the meeting and disperse. What a triumphant procession we made, parading through the streets of Lahore, celebrating our victory through nonviolence. Slogans were raised all along the route. I was only eleven years old and my excitement knew no bounds.

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  Based on your reading of the passage, how did women impact the non-cooperation and non-violent protests against the British in India? How might the events and actions of the women in India from 1900-1950’s impact or alter the lives of women in India since that time?         

Excerpt #2 – “Love and Marriage” from Manushi Magazine
            Feminists, socialists and other radicals often project the system of arranged marriages as one of the key factors leading to women’s oppression in India. This view derives from the West, which recognizes two supposedly polar opposite forms of marriage – “love marriage” versus arranged marriage. “Love marriages” are assumed to be superior because they are supposedly based on romance, understanding, and mutual love – they are said to facilitate compatibility. In “love marriages” the persons concerned are supposed to have married out of idealistic considerations while arranged marriages are assumed to be based on materialistic considerations, where parents and family dominate and deny individual choice to the young people. Consequently, family arranged marriages are believed to be lackluster and loveless. It is assumed that in arranged marriages compatibility rarely exists because the couples are denied the opportunity to discover areas of common interests and base their life together on mutual understanding. Moving away from family arranged marriages towards love marriages is seen as an essential step towards building a better life for women. To it the social reformers add another favourite mantra – dowryless marriages as proof that money and status considerations play no role in determining the choice of one’s life partner. The two together – that is, a dowryless love marriage – [are] projected as the route to a happy married life.
            Does experience bear this out? From what I have seen of them, “love marriages” compel me to conclude that most of them are not based on love and often end up being as big a bore or fiasco as many arranged marriages. Among the numerous cases I know I have found that often there is nothing more than a fleeting sexual attraction which does not last beyond the honeymoon period. And then the marriage is as loveless or even worse than a bad arranged marriage. Nor have I found any evidence that material considerations do not play as important a role in people’s choice when they decide to “fall in love” with someone with a view to matrimony…

***
            Likewise, sons of senior bureaucrats, ambassadors, and top industrialists could have the choicest pick among the beauties and cuties of Miranda House. But a man whose father was a small shopkeeper in Kamla Nagar or a clerk in a government office stood no chance, no matter how bright or decent he might be. I witnessed several instances of my fellow students ditching a man they had been having an affair with for years as soon as someone from a wealthier background appeared on the scene. Often they would not even bother to hide the crassness of their calculations; a friend conveniently “fell out of love” with her boyfriend who owned a motorbike in favour of someone who had a car to take her out on dates.

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  What are the arguments for and against arranged marriages? What are the arguments for and against love-based marriages? Based on the arguments presented, which type of marriage would you prefer? Explain your response.

Excerpt #3 – Self Arranged Marriages
            Critics of the family arranged marriage system in India have rightly focused on how prospective brides are humiliated by being endlessly displayed for approval when marriages are being negotiated by families. The ritual of ladki dikhana [Formal courtship], with the inevitable rejections women (now even men) often undergo before being selected, does indeed make the whole process extremely stressful.
            However, women do not really escape the pressures of displaying and parading themselves in cultures where they are expected to have self arranged marriages. Witness the amount of effort a young woman in western societies has to put in to look attractive enough to hook eligible young men. One gets the feeling they are on constant self display as opposed to the periodic displays in family arranged marriages. Western women have to diet to stay trim since it is not fashionable nowadays to be fat, …, try to get their complexion to glow, if not with real health, at least with a cosmetic blush. They must also learn how to be viewed as “attractive” and seductive to men, how to be a witty conversationalist as well as an ego booster – in short, to become the kind of appendage a man would feel proud to have around him. Needless to say, not all women manage to do all the above, though most drive themselves crazy trying. Western women have to compete hard with each other in order to hook a partner. And once having found him, they have to be alert to prevent other women from snatching him. So fierce is the pressure to keep off other grabbing females that in many cases if a woman is divorced or single she is unlikely to be invited over to a married friend’s house at a gathering of couples lest she try to grab someone else’s husband.

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  What are some of the issues that women must deal with in self arranged marriages? Had you thought about these issues when reading excerpt #2? Would it alter your response to the questions after excerpt #2?

Excerpt #4 – Family Pressures
            My impression is that it takes much more than two people to make a good marriage. Overebearing parents on either side can indeed make married life difficult for a young cocuple and often women have to put up with a great deal of maltreatment at the hands of their in-laws. But more solidly enduring and happy marriages are almost always those where the families on both sides genuinely join together to celebrate their coming together and invest a lot of effort and emotion in making the marriage work. Very few people have the emotional and other resources required to make a happy marriage all on their own. Two people locked up with each other in a nuclear family having to meet with varied expectations inevitably generate too much heat and soon tend to suffocate each other. The proximity of other family members takes a lot of the load off. They can act as a glue, especially during times of crisis. In cultures where marriage is considered an internal affair of the couple with no responsibility taken by families on either side for the continuation and well being of the marriage, breakdown in marriages is more frequent.
            There is also a negative side. In communities where families consider it their responsibility to prevent divorce as far as possible women do very often get to be victims of vicious pressures against breaking out of abusive marriages. Among several communities in India a divorced woman is viewed with contempt and parents often force their daughters to keep their marriages going no matter what the cost. Consequently, many end up committing suicide or getting murdered because they are unable to walk out of abusive marriages. Many more have to learn to live a life of humiliation and even suffer routine beatings and other forms of torture. However, in such cultures, divorced men get to be viewed with some suspicion and are somewhat stigmatised…
            In family arranged marriages, few parents are interested in marrying their young daughter  to a divorced man, unless he is willing to marry a woman from a much poorer family (so that the family escapes having to pay dowry) or marry a divorced woman or widow. In India, relatively few men resort to divorce even when they are unhappy in marriage. The stigma attached to divorce for men, if not as great form women, is at least substantial enough to get them to try somewhat to control themselves. They know that they cannot get away with having a series of divorces, as they do in the West, and yet find a young, beautiful bride 30 years their junior.

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  In India, how might the family impact a marriage? How does Indian culture perceive divorce? Is it acceptable or unacceptable? Explain your response.

Excerpt #5 – Safety Measures for Women
            The outcome of marriage depends on how realistic the calculations have been. For instance, a family may arrange the marriage of their daughter with a man settled in the USA in the hope of providing better life opportunities to the daughter. But if they have not been responsible enough to inquire carefully into the family, personal and professional history of the man, they could end up seriously jeopardizing their daughter’s well being. He may have boasted of being a computer scientist but could turn out to be a low paid cab driver or a guard in New York. He could be living with or married to an American woman and take the Indian wife to be no more than a domestic servant or a camouflage to please his parents. He could in addition be a drunkard given to violent bouts of temper. His being so far away from India would isolate the young wife from all sources of support and thus make her far more vulnerable than if she were married in the same city as her parents.

***
          The factors that decide the fate of women in marriage are:
·         Whether the woman has independent means of survival. If she is absolutely dependent on her husband’s goodwill for survival, she is more likely to have to lead a submissive life than if she is economically self sufficient.
·         Whether or not her husband is willing and equipped to take on the responsibility that goes with having a family.
·         Whether or not a woman’s in-laws welcome her coming into the family and how eager they are to make it work.
·         How well the two families get along with and respect each other.
·         Whether or not there are social restraints through family and community control on men’s behavior. In societies where men can get away with beating wives or abandoning them in favour of younger women, women tend to live in insecurity. However, in communities where a man who treats his wife badly is looked down upon and finds it harder to find another wife  because of social stigma, men are more likely to behave with a measure of responsibility.
·         The ready availability of other women even after a man is known to have maltreated his wife tilts the balance against women. If men can easily find younger women as they grow older while women cannot as readily find marriage partners when they are older or divorced, the balance will inevitably tilt in favour of men irrespective of whether marriages in that culture are self arranged or parent arranged.
         Whether or not her parents are willing to support her emotionally and financially if she is facing an abusive marriage. Most important of all is whether her parents are willing to give her the share due to her in their property and in the parental home. In communities where parents’ expectation concerning a daughter is that only her arthi (funeral pyre) should come out of her husband’s house, family pressure can prove really disastrous.
     Undoubtedly, there are numerous situations whereby family elders do take an altogether unreasonable position; defiance of their tyranny then becomes inevitable, even desirable. Parents can often go wrong in their judgments. Parents must take into account their children’s best interests and preferences if they are to play a positive role.         

IV.       Personal Reflection
1.      Choose one of the following and write a response.

·         Write an article offering American perspectives on marriage. What advice would you give to young men and women looking to get married?

·         Which type of marriage best provides for gender equality: self arranged marriages or family arranged marriages? What are the pros and cons of self arranged marriages and family arranged marriages? Which type would you most recommend and why?

V.        Peer Reflection
1.      Read one classmate’s response to the above questions and comment on their responses. (Do you agree or disagree? Why? Are there any problems with their analysis and logic? If so, what is the problem?)

 
Source:  World of 7 Billion, http://www.worldof7billion.org/teacher_resources

I.          Activating Prior Knowledge
            Imagine what it would be life if you were not allowed to go to school because of your gender. This is a reality for girls in many parts of the world, where, because of social, cultural, and economic factors, women do not have the same choices and opportunities that men have. Of the world’s one billion poorest people, over 60% are women and girls. Of the nearly one billion adults who cannot read, almost 70% are female.
            The cycle of discrimination against women in developing countries begins with the treatment of girls. Many societies do not allow girls to go to school, and therefore girls have few opportunities for employment and economic freedom. In these cultures the main function of women is to have children and tend to household duties, so it is common for girls to marry and have children at an early age. In many of these cultures boys are preferred because they are the ones who will someday work and support their parents in old age. Daughters, on the other hand, are often viewed as economic burdens. When they marry, they move away to wait on husbands and husbands’ families. Since female children are not as valued by the society, they often receive less food, medicine, and education. In this way the cycle of discrimination continues.
            Breaking this complex cycle and raising the status of women begins with making education equally available for girls and boys around the world. Studies show that women who can read have healthier children. They also tend to delay marriage and childbearing because they have other options like college and employment. There is a strong link between education and fertility; the more education women have, the more likely they are to have small families.
            Women in different parts of the world face different struggles. In less developed countries women and girls are struggling for access to education, health care, and employment outside the home. In the United States and other developed countries, women have attained a much higher status and more opportunities in recent decades. Even so, women still struggle to earn an equal wage as men for equal work and to be well represented by lawmakers. These struggles are similar because they are about increasing the options available to women. In recent years, people have begun to realize that discrimination against women has a negative impact on individuals, communities, societies, and the environment.
            It would seem that because girls and women make up 50% of the world’s population that they would be in a position to influence and improve human well-being. However, the needs, the work, and the voices of women around the world are often ignored. The key to a healthy planet includes social equality. Promoting the health, economic, and educational status of the world’s women will guarantee a better quality of life for all.

II.        Setting A Purpose for Reading
            As you read the following article and visit the assigned web links, compare the role of women in America to those of women in different cultures around the world. How are their lives similar and different? Why are there differences? How would you define or describe the “role(s)” that women should/could play in society? Be able to give evidence to support your response.

III.       Reading the Text (Read, Re-Read, and Read Again)
     As Nyambura lowered her pail into the sun-dapple stream from which she fetche her family’s water each morning, she heard a pure, high voice singing the old song about the maize flowers blooming all over Kenya. It was Wanjiku; the voice was unmistakable – and much missed in class now that her parents had pulled her out of school to help her mother at home after the birth of her latest brother. Nyambura didn’t quite understand why they had done that; her own mother had just as much work as Wanjiku’s. And it made her uncomfortable that she was still in school when Wanjiku wasn’t. She set her pail down and ran up the path to greet her former classmate; she didn’t want Wanjiku to feel that they weren’t close friends just because they no longer saw each other daily.

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  Compare Nyambura’s life to Wanjiku’s live. Predict the reasons why Wanjiku was removed from school.
      
     “We got a new goat to go with my new brother,” said Wanjiku as Nuambura took her hand.
     “Which one is more troubling?” asked Nyambura, smiling.
     “It’s hard to tell. The goat, I guess. Yesterday it ate the sleeve of my red blouse.”
     They laughed together and, at the stream’s edge, kicked off their sandals to cool their feet in the water.
     “It’s my little sister who’s exciting,” said Wanjiku. “She’s beginning to talk. She still stumbles when she walks, but she chatters away. Just like me at her age, Mamma says.”
     Nyambura wondered if Wanjiku’s baby sister would ever go to school. She tried to remember the proverb her mother had learned at the dressmaking centre where she had also learned to read a few years before. All the eight-year-old girl could recall, though, was that when she had asked if she should stay at home like Wanjiku, to help with the younger children and the other household chores, her mother had pulled her ears gently and said, “Not you, honeypot. With that head of yours, you’re going to write the kind of books that taught me how to read.”

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  Why would Nyambura’s mother refuse to let her stay home and help with the household chores? How does Nyambura’s mother differ from Wanjiku’s mother? In your opinion, which mother is “right?” Why?
      
            “And your father thinks the same,” his voice had boomed suddenly in the doorway, “so don’t go asking him such foolish things.” He had entered the house, smiling, and threatened to tickle her to death if she raised the question again. That had closed the matter – for her at least. The problem thought Nyambura, as she looked at her friend’s rippled reflection in the water, was that Wanjiku’s head was just as good as hers, different, but just as good. One of the reasons she missed Wanjiku so much in class was that her friend’s answers to their teacher’s questions often set off new thoughts in her own head. Had each made the other’s head better?

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  How does the father’s attitude about school reflect possible changes in African culture?

            And now Wanjiku was asking just the question Nyambura had been dreading: “What’s going on at school?”
            “We’re learning division.” she replied. “It’s easy,” she added, remembering how good Wanjiku had been at math. “I could teach it to you if you like.” Suddenly she realized that she’d said something wrong. “Of course it’s easy,” Wanjiku retorted. “Just the opposite of the times tables we were doing when I left. If five times two is ten, then two goes into ten five times.” She stood up and filled her pail. “You know,” she said, “I bet I can get my older brother to teach me everything he’s learned in school. I don’t really need to go myself.”
            Nyambura wondered, but she said nothing. That brother wasn’t very interested in school – and he never seemed to have time for anyone but his friends. Then her mother’s proverb came back to her: “Educate a boy and you educate one person; educate a girl and you educate a nation.”

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  Explain the proverb “Educate a boy and you educate one person; educate a girl and you educate a nation.”

            Go to the following links and watch the photo stories.

Haitza  - 15 years old – Country: Nicaragua

http://www.unicef.org/dil/haitza/haitza5_content.html

Josiane – 14 years old – Country: Central African Republic

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/dil_josiane_content.html
          
IV.       Personal Reflection
1.      What is meant by the proverb “Educate a boy and you educate one person; educate a girl and you educate a nation.” Do you agree with the proverb? Why or why not?
2.      Describe Nyambura’s future life. Describe Wanjiku’s future life.
3.      Select two of the items below and analyze Haitza’s and Josiane’s lives?
     a.      How are the family structures different for Haitza and Josiane?
     b.      Do they have similar standards of living? Why or why not? Give evidence to support your response.
     c.       What are the similarities and differences in their daily schedules?
     d.      What are the similarities and differences in their school experiences?
     e.       What do you think will determine these girls’ futures?
     f.       Do you have similar responsibilities around your home to those of Haitza and Josiane? If so, do you spend the same amount of time on these responsibilities? If you did, would it be more challenging for you to
4.      Identify three reasons why societies would deny girls an education. Select one and evaluate that reason as well as give your opinion on that reason. (Is it a valid reason? Why or why not?)

V.        Peer Reflection
1.      Read one classmate’s response to question 3 and comment on their responses. (Do you agree or disagree? Why? Are there any problems with their analysis and logic? If so, what is the problem?)

 
Source:  Stearns, P. N., Gosch, S.S., and Grieshaber, E.P. Documents in World History: Volume 2 – The Modern Centuries: From 1500 to the Present. NY: Pearson Education, Inc. 2009.


I.          Activating Prior Knowledge
            Many African women found new roles as they moved to cities and gained education. Even rural women had new power when their men left to take urban jobs; willy-nilly, they had to run their families and often support themselves. Thus, African family bonds, which once gave women security while holding them subordinate, loosened rapidly. The passages come from a series of interviews done by a Western anthropologist with women in Kenya, including one group organized in a cooperative to try to compensate for new uncertainties about family ties and support for men. Cultural change, including some expressions striking for their resemblance to modern Western movements such as feminism, is clearly a major factor in contemporary Africa. 

II.        Setting A Purpose for Reading
            As you read about the lives of women in Africa, compare the traditional gender roles to more modern gender roles in Africa? How are these ideas being influenced by Western movements such as feminism?

III.       Reading the Text (Read, Re-Read, and Read Again)
            Igbo women were clearly unlike European women…In their system, male attributes and male status referred to the biologically male sex – man – as female attributes and female status referred to the biologically female sex – woman.
***
            The flexibility of Igbo gender construction meant that gender was separate from biological sex. Daughters could become sons and consequently male. Daughters and women in general could be husbands to wives and consequently males in relation to their wives, etc…
            An insight into this remarkable gender system is crucial to the understanding and appreciation of the political status of women had in traditional Igbo societies and the political choices open to them…
            It can, therefore, be claimed that the Igbo language, in comparison with English for example, has not build up rigid associations between certain adjectives or attributes and gender subjects, nor certain objects and gender possessive pronouns. The genderless word mmadu, humankind, applies to both sexes. There is no usage, as there is in English, of the word ‘man’ to represent both sexes, neither is there the cumbersome option of saying ‘he or she’, ‘his or her,’ ‘him or her.’ In Igbo, O stands for he, she and even it, a stands for the impersonal one, and nya for the imperative, let him or her.
            The two examples of situations in which women played roles ideally or normally occupied by men – what I have called male roles – in indigenous Nnobi society … were as ‘male daughters’ and female husbands’; in either role, women acted as family head. The Igbo word for family head is the genderless expression di-bu-no. The genderless di is a prefix word which means specialist in, or expert at, or master of something. Therefore, di-bu-no means one in a master relationship to a family and household, and a person, woman or man, in this position is simply referred to as di-bu-no. In indigenous Nnobi society and culture, there was one head or master of a family at a time, and ‘male daughters’ and ‘female husbands’ were called b y the same term, which translated into English would be ‘master.’ Some women were therefore masters to other people, both men and women.

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  Based on your reading of the passage, what is meant by the statement “The flexibility of Igbo gender construction meant that gender was separate from biological sex. Daughters could become sons and consequently male. Daughters and women in general could be husbands to wives and consequently males in relation to their wives, etc…”
            
Overwhelming evidence shows that women in Nnobi and in Igboland in general were neither more comfortable nor more advantaged from an economic point of view under colonialism. They had lost their grip on the control of liquid cash; men had invaded the general market, and women were becoming helpless in their personal relations with husbands. But, most important of all, pro-female institutions were being eroded both by the church (Christianity) and the colonial administration…
… 
[W]omen’s centrality in the production and sale of palm-oil and kernels in traditional Nnobi society gave them a considerable advantage over their husbands. The introduction of pioneer oil mills mechanized the whole process of extracting the palm-oil and cracking the kernels. This, of course, meant a much higher oil yield which necessitated bulk buying by the agents of the mills and the channeling of most of the village’s palm fruit to the mills. The main centre of production was therefore shifted from the family to the mills. At the same time, wives lost the near monopoly they enjoyed in the traditional method of production and the independent income they derived from it…Instead of wives selling the palm-oil and keeping some of the profits, husbands now sold direct to the oil mills or their agents, and collected the money.

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  How did economic growth and imperialism impact the role of women in Nnobi society?
         
IV.       Personal Reflection
1.      What are the challenges that face women in Africa, based on what you have read?
2.      In your opinion, should the United States of America do away with terms that reference gender such as pronouns “he, she, him, and her” and adopt gender neutral references as opposed to referring to “workmen” or “housewives”? Explain your answer.

V.        Peer Reflection
1.      Read one classmate’s response to the above questions and comment on their responses. (Do you agree or disagree? Why? Are there any problems with their analysis and logic? If so, what is the problem?)

 
Source:  Stearns, P. N., Gosch, S.S., and Grieshaber, E.P. Documents in World History: Volume 2 – The Modern Centuries: From 1500 to the Present. NY: Pearson Education, Inc. 2009.

I.          Activating Prior Knowledge
            Many African women found new roles as they moved to cities and gained education. Even rural women had new power when their men left to take urban jobs; willy-nilly, they had to run their families and often support themselves. Thus, African family bonds, which once gave women security while holding them subordinate, loosened rapidly. The passages come from a series of interviews done by a Western anthropologist with women in Kenya, including one group organized in a cooperative to try to compensate for new uncertainties about family ties and support for men. Cultural change, including some expressions striking for their resemblance to modern Western movements such as feminism, is clearly a major factor in contemporary Africa. 

II.        Setting A Purpose for Reading
            As you read about the lives of women in Africa, compare and contrast their lives to those of women in the United States and major cities in Europe. How do traditional roles of women conflict and support the changes that are taking place for women across the globe?

III.       Reading the Text (Read, Re-Read, and Read Again)

            What we need in this village is teachers to teach women handicrafts and sewing and agricultural skills. We have organized a women’s group. I am one of the leaders. We are saving up for a building to meet in. All women are trying to earn money, and we want to have a building for our meetings. It will be called the “adult education building” – with rooms for handicrafts, literacy, and other things.
         We also want our children to be educated – so we can have good leaders to keep our country good. I think now it is best to have only four children – so you can take care of them.
            It is better to educate a girl than a boy, although one should educate both. Girls are better. They help a lot. See this house? My daughters built it for me. If you don’t have any daughters, who will build for you? The boys will marry and take care of their wives – that’s all. They don’t care about mothers. For example, if my son gets married, the daughter-in-law will say, “Let’s take our mothers to live with us.” The son will say, “No, we will just have our own family and do our own things.” So you are left alone. What do you do? ...
            My mother has eleven children. She is my father’s only wife. She works in the fields and grows the food we eat. She plants cabbage, spinach, and corn. She works very hard, but with so many children it is difficult to get enough food or money. All of my sisters and brothers go to school. One is already a teacher, and that is why I am trying to learn a profession. If I can get enough schooling, I can serve the country and my own family. I can also manage to have a life for myself. That is why I came to this school. We have a big family, and I have to help.

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  Why do African women value education? What do they see as the benefits of education? Why do they think it is more important to educate girls than boys?
         
     My life is very different from my mother’s. She just stayed in the family until she married. Life is much more difficult now because everybody is dependent on money. Long ago, money was unheard of. No one needed money. But now you can’t even get food without cash. Times are very difficult. That is why the towns are creating day-care centers – so women can work and have their own lives. I have to work, for without it I will not have enough money for today’s life.

     These are the problems I face and try to think about. How shall I manage to pick up this life so that I can live a better one? You know, we people of Kenya like to serve our parents when they are still alive – to help the family. But first, women have to get an education. Then if you get a large family and don’t know how to feed it – if you don’t have enough money for food – you can find work and get some cash. That’s what I will teach my children: “Get an education first.”

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     Women feel very hurt because they think their men don’t recognize them as human beings. They are unhappy because of this inequality. I am lucky; my husband is good. He never took another wife. We are still together…My wish would be that men and women could live as two equal people.

Stop! Can you answer the following questions based on what you read? If not, then go back and re-read.  How is life different for a Kenyan woman today from in the past? What has made the difference? Is this a good or bad thing? Why or why not?
         
IV.       Personal Reflection
1.      Why do Kenyan women feel compelled to get an education?
2.      How does the lives of women in the past compare to the future for women in Kenya?

V.        Peer Reflection
1.      Read one classmate’s response to the above questions and comment on their responses. (Do you agree or disagree? Why? Are there any problems with their analysis and logic? If so, what is the problem?)