Gender roles can change drastically from culture to culture. The United States has drifted from the tight confines of traditional roles to more contemporary roles, while some cultures are more strict than the USA ever was. In this task I will be exploring the gender roles within Asian and African cultures.
In Asian cultures, the men are highly valued within the family while the women are expected to server their husbands. An interesting bit though, is that the elders, regardless of sex, are also placed in authority. Their culture respe
cts the wisdom that comes with age, and seeks the guidance of their elders. Society views the actions of an individual as a reflection on the entire family unit. For this reason, the men are taught to be stoic, aggressive, and distant. Any signs of emotion and weakness reflect poorly on the family, so it's up to them to maintain that image. Men are also the main providers for their family, while their wives care for the home and children. Woman show more emotion than the men, but they tend to shame their children, rather than nurture them. Asian families place a high emphasis on honor and family accomplishments.
In many African tribes, the women are viewed as the equals of men, yet they still have very different responsibilities from them. The women are responsible for caring for
the children and tending to the house and fields. It is also their duty to care for the sick and elderly. This can be quite time consuming, because they have very limited access to health care. Even though they view themselves as equals, the men typically dominate in their culture. They do the hunting, and typically deal with matters of business. Men also dominate in the bedroom; their culture places less emphasis on romantic relationships, and more on reproductive reasons.
These cultures are alike and different from our own American culture in many ways. Fortunately for us, American woman have a great deal of privileges in comparison to these other cultures. These foreign gender roles have remained the same for thousands of years, so it seems unlikely that they will change anytime soon. However, the same thing was said about America at one point, so let's wait and see how they develop.
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Sex education is a normal and awkward part of a high schooler's curriculum. The state feels that it's important to educate the teens on "the birds and the bees", yet they are being taught generally unhelpful information. The majority of American schools teach an abstinence only sex education program. This is because "states agreeing to teach abstinence can receive annual allocations of $78,526 to $4.9 million over...five years" (rethinking schools). Schools that teach abstinence only programs tend to contort the information presented, so that sex seems like a dangerous thing. Teens learn inaccurate information, which will hurt them not only as a sexually active teen, but as an adult as well. These scare t
actics attempt to frighten teens into shutting off their hormones, which simply will not work. "It's not realistic to assume all teens are going to remain abstinent...and withholding information will not make them abstinent" (rethinking schools).
Another popular method (and my personal favorite) is a comprehensive sex education. Many European countries typically "outperform the US dramatically in measures of teen sexual health. Each of these countries offers comprehensive, non-judgmental sex education in their schools and supplementary social programs to provide sexual health services to youth" (studentpulse). However, blindly adopting the European's sex education will not solve the United States' health issues. It is important that “health promotion planners...identify theory- and evidence-based methods that have proven, or are likely to, be effective in changing behavior, and they...translate these methods into educational strategies and materials that fit target populations” (studentpulse). To better understand the issues with the United States' current program, I will be taking a deeper look into the sex education programs in Sweden and the United States.
Swedish school children are taught a comprehensive sex education. This covers a broad range of topic to help their youth enjoy safe sex and a secure body image: contraceptives, abortions, relationships, development, and gender. "The country shares the same common belief that high quality information and comprehensive sexuality education can equip young people with the attitudes, knowledge and skills they need to make informed choices now and in the future; enhance their independence and self-esteem; and help them to experience their sexuality and relationships as positive and pleasurable" (gupea). According to a national survey, 31% of boys 47% of girls have engaged in sexual intercourse by the age of 16. However, among that age group, only 2.25% of teens have had an abortion. Health clinics encourage all teens to practice birth control through the pill and a condom. The best way to stop unwanted pregnancy is through prevention. All in all, the Swedish government believes "that adolescents need guidance more than any other stage because the adolescent stage is so vulnerable and filled with secrets" (gupea).
The United States continues to have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and abortions in the developed world. A survey reveals that 48% of males and 46% of females have participated in sexual intercourse, with a whopping rate of 36% of unwanted pregnancy ending in abortion. Ten percent of teens report being the victim of sexual assault at some point in their life, and the majority of these encounters go unreported. In 2012, there were over 1.7 million cases of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia reported in the USA. Clearly teens are missing some vital information to prevent these issues.
Sources Used:
http://www.coedu.usf.edu/zalaquett/mcdp/Asian%20handout.htm
http://www.our-africa.org/women
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db44.htm
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/sex/sexmain.shtml
http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/40/3/wake-up-and-smell-the-condoms-an-analysis-of-sex-education-programs-in-the-united-states-the-netherlands-sweden-australia-france-and-germany.html
https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/17923/1/gupea_2077_17923_1.pdf
http://kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/sexual-health-of-adolescents-and-young-adults-in-the-united-states/
Images Used (Top to Bottom):
http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2005/african-women-battle-equality
http://blog.chinalovematch.net/blog/article/A-nontraditional-Chinese-woman
http://www.preventionjustice.org/no-glove-no-love-d-c-officers-reform-controversial-policy-on-condoms-as-contraband/