Q: In class, we learned that globalization has had a profound impact on cultures around the world. The many benefits of globalization are readily visible. However, do we get a holistic picture of the pros and cons, or have the media and academia distorted reality? Gender relations are a good case study for this quandary. Read below, research the matter, and let the class know what you think.Things to ponder…The media and academia would have us believe that women in the West are much better off than they are elsewhere in the world. However, how many women have served as heads of state/government in Western countries? Among the major countries of the West, only Theresa May (United Kingdom), Angela Merkel (Germany), and Jacinda Ardern (New Zealand) hold the elected leadership of their countries, although women hold similar posts in smaller countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Iceland, and so forth. Interestingly, the first female prime minister was Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka), and all the major nations of South Asia have had female leaders: Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan), Indira Gandhi (India), Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma), Sheikh Hasina Wajed (Bangladesh), and Bidhya Devi Bhandari (Nepal). The United States, Canada, France, and other major Western powers have never had female heads of state/government aside from hereditary monarchs. What does this say about the perception that non-Western countries are behind the West in terms of gender equality? That said, in some countries such as India, Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh female infanticide still exists (please make sure to watch the video, “India’s Missing Girls” listed under this week’s videos), yet devotees of the dominant religions in many of these countries worship female deities. Some research has indicated that sex-selective abortion may be much more common in America than is realized, largely because abortion providers do not collect that data. However, American abortion has just as dark a history. Margaret Sanger, the founder of the Birth Control League (the future Planned Parenthood), championed a coercive brand of eugenics. Her eugenics creed is clearly stated in her speech “My Way to Peace” (1932), which called for a vigorous state use of compulsory sterilization and segregation. So again, one must ask if the media and academia are giving us a clear picture of globalization and the merits and demerits of Western influence therein. What are your thoughts on the question, In class, we learned that globalization has had a profound impact on cultures around the world. The many benefits of globalization are readily visible. However, do we get a holistic picture of the pros and cons, or have the media and academia distorted reality? Gender relations are a good case study for this quandary. Read below, research the matter, and let the class know what you think.
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