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Welcome to our website, Man and Woman: The Age-old Struggle.
You are either a male or female. Consider this. Have you ever wondered why females in India take in 10,000 less calories than males? Why is it that in Japan, only 9% of the lower parliament positions are held by women? Do you know that in Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to drive or vote? Female Genital Mutilation still occurs in areas of South Africa. While women suffer, male do as well. Do you know that some victims of rape are males? It is obvious that men and women still struggle today to achieve a balance in their co-existence.
Since the dawn of human civilisation, equality has remained an ideal that we strive to work towards but never attain. Communities are divided by class differences, race differences and most fundamentally gender differences. Being male or female is something we regard as a prominent part of our identity, an essence within us that we cannot escape. However, this essence is not for us alone. Men and women co-exist as one human race yet at the same time men and women exist in separate spheres as the male and female race. How do we achieve a balance?
Solutions come in the form of different orders and systems entrenched in different societies, resulting in men and women having different roles, responsibilities and social standings. Men and women have taken turns to assert their identities and validate their importance in different societies, yet at the same time the human race cannot do without either.
So, why is it that men and women, the union making up the basic unit of communities, have not been able to co-exist peacefully? Is modern civilisation truly egalitarian? Are the roles of men and women predetermined by biological differences or does social conditioning play a larger role? Our team has dug into the deepest corners and has peeled off the different layers of our human existence to strive to answer these questions.
Our site is divided mainly into four main categories. Firstly we will study Female Oppression that occurs in different societies, ranging from tacit male dominance in religion and philosophies to the brutal male oppression, for instance Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) that is still carried out in some communities. Some case studies we have included in this category would be China, India and Pakistan.
Secondly, we examine Developed Countries, countries that champion liberalism and equality and will question the truth of equality between the sexes in such a society as we know it today. We will also delve into the various aspects of modern life and see how men and women fare there.
In contrast, the third category Non-patriarchal Societies aims to study communities that are not dominated by males, ranging from Neolithic civilisations that place emphasis on Goddess worship to minority matrilineal tribes which are able to survive till today. Although anthropologists have agreed largely that there has been no concrete evidence of matriarchies (societies with power placed in the mother), we will still present information on societies which may be female-centred. Our team strives to unearth evidence pointing to more of such civilisations and contrast it to the patriarchy we experience in the world today. Also, we will examine societies that have achieved gender equality, for instance Sparta.
Our fourth category examines Gender Stereotypes that have been given to men and women respectively since birth. We will look at the social expectations of male and female behaviour and psyche as well as whether these are biologically predetermined or socially constructed. In particular, we will examine the stereotypes placed on males and females using symbols of daily life and in the media.
In addition, our site has included a special case study of the roles and responsibilities of men and women In Times of War, a period of chaos and misery that amplifies the differences between men and women.
Also, we have a section on the site that is called People's Voices. This section serves to bring in public opinion and primary research we can use to further explore the topic. Therefore, we have included a survey and interviews. An interesting aspect of this section is the fact that we have chosen and studied five featured individuals and examined what they have to say as well. Those featured are those who have contributed immensely to the changing mindsets of societies and have created milestones in the history of the age-old struggle.
In conclusion, we hope that you as a male or female have learnt much about your identity through our site while you as an individual have enriched your knowledge of the human existence and is now inspired to make a difference to end the age-old struggle of the sexes.