...Vol. 9, No. 2, (Fall 2013) 09-22 Women Empowerment Through Microcredit: Step Towards Alleviating Feminization of Poverty Sara Wali Qazi* Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) Karachi Dr. Manzoor Isran* SZABIST Karachi Dr. Samina Isran* Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur Dr. Nadeem A. Syed* SZABIST Karachi ABSTRACT Purpose - The study explores and evaluates the women‟s experiences with microcredit facility for the purpose of women empowerment. While there is a mutual understanding and general consensus on closer nexus between women empowerment and microcredit, women are disempowered for variety of reasons such as lacks of financial resources, being a member of patriarchy society, misinterpreted religious concepts about her role and position in the society, and cultural restraints. However, microcredit, globally promoted as a “miracle cure” for the financially weak, especially women who face so many problems accessing microcredit for variety of reason, which have been discussed in detail in this study. Methodology/Sample - This is qualitative study with inductive approach, and interpretive philosophy which allow the existence of multiple subjective perspectives and construction of knowledge. Women who availed microcredit from microfinance institutions (MFIs) were selected for the research study. The data was congregated through in-depth interviews and stopped at saturation level. Through phenomenological analysis, women lived experiences were analyzed. Findings...
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...Joseph Chen Extra Credit: Internship Empowering of Women in the Work Force Not knowing what to expect from this event, I was delighted by the speakers charisma and her take on how to empower yourself in the workplace. Melynnie A. Rizvi brought a more realistic view of the workplace and gaining credibility. Despite being more about a women’s perspective in the workplace she was very insightful when it came to what needed to be done to gain credibility and success. Raised by a single parent, she explained that she had never wanted to rely on another person for her success in life. Graduating in 2009 she went on to work for multiple law firms, the last firm she worked at she made partner but felt that other board members treated her unfairly due to her having a baby. She explained that she and the board member were good friends but the problem was that in corporate America it is still a male dominated workforce and that many men have never faced or have had to deal with a women having a child. What I liked about her was that she was not blaming the person for his behavior, but blaming the world around him. She was very understanding and realistic when it came to this topic. She laid out 7 steps and behaviors that impact credibility. Most of these were related to our communication styles and how we present ourselves in the world. She also explains how men and women communicate differently and their goals of communication are different. Men have a tendency to want to convey...
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...keep females from being really productive members of society (Coleman 13). Entrenched sex prejudice remains a leading feature of life for the majority of the world’s bottom two billion people, helping sustain the gulf between the most deprived and everyone else on the planet (Coleman 13). Narrowing that gulf requires the involvement of the international major organizations. Not simply does the global private sector have more money than some governments organizations, but it can use crucial leverage with its popular labels and by expanding promises of investment and employment. Some organizations already promote initiatives focused on women as part of their corporate programs (Coleman 13). But the really transformative shift - for global businesses and for females internationally – will happen when the organizations recognize that empowering women positively influences their bottom lines (Coleman 13). The Glass Ceiling The impassable obstacles between female employees and the executive suite were reported in the report issued by the Glass Ceiling Commission in 1995 (Johns). The glass ceiling is a concept, which was initially introduced in the 1980s (Johns). In fact, it is a metaphor for the artificial obstacles, which prevent females and minorities from climbing the corporate ladder to...
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...Sexualization of Girls and Women in the United States: A Growing Epidemic Kayla Johnson Chamberlain College of Nursing Sexualization of Girls and Women in the United States: A Growing Epidemic Brittany, a freshman in High School arrives at her home after school and turns on the T.V to watch MTV music videos. She watches the T.V. as half naked girls dance in the background of male singers. She picks up her phone to get on Instagram where she scrolls through images of famous women like Rhianna and Kim Kardashian who post scantily clad images of their bodies. Brittany thinks to herself, “I wish that I looked like these girls, maybe if I looked more like them the boys at school would like me more”. Brittany’s mother gets home from work and puts dinner on the dining room table. Brittany sits down and eats only a portion of her meal because in the back of her mind she is still feeling as though her own body is inadequate, she could probably lose more weight and if only she had bigger boobs and longer legs, maybe then she would feel better about herself. She lies in bed that night and wishes that she had a better body so that she could feel beautiful and happy. If only she knew that thousands of other girls were feeling the same way, maybe she would realize that the issue isn’t her own body- the issue is the cultural emphasis on female sexualization that has become a norm in our society. Unfortunately girls all over the world are struggling with self-confidence related to...
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...play written by Ntozake Shange at the peak of the black feminist movement, in 1975. It is a collection of poems that tell the story of seven women of color and how their lives interconnect. The play deal with deep subject matter such as rape, abortions, domestic abuse, and faith, as is delves into the lives of these women. The play ends as all of the women come together with an empowering scene about the strength in womanhood. How do struggles, specifically ones imposed on women such as rape and domestic abuse, create strength and empowerment that would have never been attained without enduring such life experiences? In For Colored Girls, all of the women find strength in each other and faith in order to overcome their individual struggles and find strength to continue on with life. They become stronger individuals that they once were and that strong power that they now posses is from believe in themselves and their ability to persevere. In the 2009 film, Precious, a young girl lives through torment as she grows up in section 8 housing with an abusive mother and father, but when she decides that she has had enough she breaks free to try to obtain the life she has always dreamed of. Precious can be understood within the context of Ntozake Shange's play For Colored Girls because Precious endures many similar life experiences as the women of For Colored Girls. Precious is a sixteen year old girl who lives with her mother and father in section 8 housing, she goes to high school...
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...what failing. As men the power we should be aware of is feminine power over us. Any man who loves a woman is under her power; in most cases he is not aware of it. In this art work which was done by Picasso, I see the power of women over men. As men we think we stronger than women. We can do lot things that women cannot do. In fact, they have the power to make us do what they want us to do. Demoiselle is oil on canvas painting done by Picasso. In this art work, I see Picasso painting five ladies. The painting is for young ladies. Picasso painted the ladies in cubic form which was the modern way to pain at that time. By looking at the painting, you see that all the figures inside have almost the same face but different size of the body. In my opinion, the women body is what put pressure on the man. Most of strippers in clubs have a nice, beautiful body; men are attracted to the body more that the soul. If the woman has a nice body, she more likely to have the man does what she wants in order for him to have a piece of the cake. In the painting, Picasso had drawn the women body parts in different ways. This indicates the different parts of the body that man likes in general. Some man likes the legs, others like the boobs. At the end, the women body is what allowing her to control man. One element that attracted me the most is why Picasso painted all the figures with eyes looking straight at the person who’s looking at the painting. These shows how confident the woman...
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...Women will always find themselves chasing an elusive identity and dream unless they embrace who God made them to be according to the Bible. Women must come to accept their femininity. God has made them different purposefully. Physically, they are different, being generally weaker and crafted to bear and nurse children, and they have different emotional needs as well. Peter exhorts husbands to treat their wives in an understanding way because they are different, being women, and men need to understand this (1 Peter 3:7). Women must come to define womanhood based not on the culture or even what well-meaning Christians might assert but on the Word of God. The Bible says that a woman does well if she bears children (Psalm 128), and it doesn’t condemn a woman as inferior if she remains unmarried, does not have children, or cannot have children (Matthew 19:12). The Bible says that women should be workers at home (Titus 2:5), but it also allows for them to do profitable business ventures (Proverbs 31:16). The Biblical ideal is for men to provide for their families and for women to stay at home to raise the children. Unfortunately, this will not always work out perfectly, and both men and women need to be willing to adapt and be flexible and understanding. If it is possible for a mother to be with her children and raise them, then there is no Biblical reason to excuse her from not doing so. Though a stay at home mother might feel at times like she is...
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...example, women of the 19th century were primarily expected to marry and serve their husbands’ wishes, not receive an education, go out with friends, or find new forms of amusement. Instead, women were required to be at home and loyally obey their husbands. But how long can one go without exploring the inner intricacies of oneself? In her critical essay “Laugh of the Medusa”, Hélène Cixous looks upon the woman who “allows herself to be threatened by the big dick” (347) with contempt and scorn. Still, this intimidation that men have instilled in women is not easily overcome. Colette (1873-1954) and Jean Stubbs (1926- ) expose the risks that come with the discovery of a woman’s true desires in their short stories, “The Secret Woman” and “Cousin Lewis”. When the false woman is revealed, she suffers and is tormented by ridicule or shame even more than when she was in hiding. Cixous wants women to stand out and be who they are by embracing their bodies and being proud of their femininity. Women need to stop being reduced to “the servant of the militant male, his shadow” (338). “Laugh of the Medusa”, is a proclamation to women writers to “write about women and bring women to writing” (334) and to stop hating themselves and hating other women for being women- celebrate each other’s femininity and set free the body! Cixous wants women to make the world fear them though their identity and femininity; not fear the world because they are insignificant servants of the male. Women should not...
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...PROFESSIONS FOR WOMEN by Virginia Woolf “Professions for Women” is an abbreviated version of the speech Virginia Woolf delivered before a branch of the National Society for Women’s Service on January 21, 1931; it was published posthumously in The Death of the Moth and Other Essays. On the day before the speech, she wrote in her diary: “I have this moment, while having my bath, conceived an entire new book—a sequel to a Room of One’s Own—about the sexual life of women: to be called Professions for Women perhaps—Lord how exciting!” More than a year and a half later, on October 11, 1932, Virginia Woolf began to write her new book: “THE PARGITERS: An Essay based upon a paper read to the London/National Society for women’s service.” “The Pargiters” evolved into The Years and was published in 1937. The book that eventually did become the sequel to A Room of One’s Own was Three Guineas (1938), and its first working title was “Professions for Women.” The essay printed here concentrates on that Victorian phantom known as the Angel in the House (borrowed from Coventry Patmore’s poem celebrating domestic bliss)—that selfless, sacrificial woman in the nineteenth century whose sole purpose in life was to soothe, to flatter, and to comfort the male half of the world’s population. “Killing the Angel in the House,” wrote Virginia Woolf, “was part of the occupation of a woman writer.” That has proved to be a prophetic statement, for today, not only in the domain of letters, but in the entire...
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...further from what it seems. Henrik Ibsen, the writer of Hedda Gabler, seems to not be telling us the personal story of the woman Hedda Tesman, but showing us the faults of society for that time period in terms of the roles of women. “The Trapped Woman”, is a term I will use to describe the role of “The Woman” in the late 19th Century. Henrik Ibsen appears to be showing us through Hedda’s life that no matter the apparent strength or background of a woman during the 19th century, they are still trapped in a way which forbids them to be who they truly are. Hedda Tesman, as described early on in the play, due to her background and personality, should in no way be anything but in complete control over her life. As stated by Aunt Julle, “General Gabler’s daughter. What a life she had in the general’s day!” (Ibsen). This statement in the beginning of the play almost immediately foreshadows her unhappy life in her current state. Due to the roles of women for that time period, she is just the representation of all women in her situation at the time. Women in the 19th century had very minimal rights. When a woman becomes married, the rights of woman are immediately given to their spouse, which in Hedda’s case is Jürgen Tesman. One can make the assumption that for women in the 19th century, marriage is actually closely related so slavery, in that the woman is owned by the man, in every way possibly (Buckner). Hedda’s character shows us of a woman seemingly aware of these truths, and...
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...Andrew Herrick ENGL1304 Rolater Fall 2014 The Beauty Within “How to Love” is a song and music video by Lil Wayne. The video depicts the life choices of one woman, the causes and effects of these choices, and ultimately, how they impact her life. “How to Love” centers around the issue of low self-esteem that many young women face, due to sexism and a lack of love for their personalities versus their bodies. This video serves as a message of awareness, to both men and women, about how deeply harmful sexist abuse can be. “How to Love” begins in a hospital operating room, where a young woman is waiting to undergo an abortion. The opening scene sets the serious tone for the video and serves as foreshadowing for later on, during her daughter’s portrayal of life. The young woman has a swift change of heart and flees the hospital in tears. This is the first example of a choice being made that greatly impacts one’s life. Her daughter is now an infant and sits crying in a baby carrier while watching her mother and father entangled in a physically and verbally abusive ordeal; which clearly shows sexism in the form of domestic violence. The video progresses and the infant is now a young girl who is visiting her father at a prison; which clearly shows the audience that he is not a good man. Fast-forward again, and the audience is presented with the young girl as a pre-teen, being molested by one of her mother’s lovers. This scene and the lyrics, “you can’t have a man look at you...
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...Ciara Pepper 05 Nov. 15 English 101 Eilene Myers The Monkey Garden Aging promotes the loss of childhood and innocence. Little girls go from skinned knees and imaginary friends, to running around in their pantyhose and hanging out with their boyfriends. In Sandra Cisneros', "The Monkey Garden", she addresses the emotions that occur during this drastic transition through the view of herself as a little girl. Esperanza tries her best to avoid what is renegade against the normal expectations of women. Esperanza's overwhelmed tone reveals her fear and doggedness to adversity when Sally's game defiles the garden's innocence/purity, exposing Esperanza to the realization that she cannot remain a kid forever. Esperanza's syntax reveals that innocence is irrevocable. Reminiscing of the Monkey Garden,...
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...Kristen Ngan is the name. The type of girl who is very adventurous, creative, “kikay”, loves collecting girly things, fashion and colors! I can say that every object in my plate, symbolizes me or my personality. The “Pink Shoe” and the “Pearl Bracelet” represents Fashion. I've always had a 'Passion For Fashion’. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been reading fashion and beauty magazines. I was always wondering how women could bring out the best in themselves. In fashion, my biggest inspirations are definitely Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Gabrielle Chanel. They show the difference between a woman and a lady. In my free time I like to read fashion magazines, fashion and beauty blogs. I love to surf the internet to look up all sorts of fashion online shops. Not just to see what’s new, but to get inspired as well. Being involved into “fashion” is really a big thing for me. Because in that way i help myself increase my self-esteem. My interest in fashion started at a young age. I enjoyed spending my days alone playing with my Barbies. I repurposed their clothes with a stapler and tape and gave them haircuts to match their look. The “Green Ribbon” represents how girly I am. The “Red Nail Polish”. When I became a teenager, like I said, I love colors! and so I’ve been very addicted to nail polish. Its just I’m so plain, without them. And I really take good care of my nails. Also, believed in the saying “Nails Are Like Jewels, Don't Use Them Like Tools”. The “MAC...
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...woman’s hero in her time because she was all about women having equality. She spent five years researching a book dealing with what she called the “problem with no name”. This excerpt gives a general view on how she felt as a woman who took a back seat to her own life to become the “American House Wife”. She discuss how women would try to make themselves believe that being the good wife was what you had to be and living behind the shadows of a man was acceptable. In this document Friedan wants people to know exactly what occurred during the feminist movement. How women's rights came to a reality, how women believed there was only one role to have which is a typical housewife that has a husband to overpower her. Not being able to vote, or have any rights as an equal to men. This means father not mother, children of both sexes needed to learn, recognize and respect the abilities and functions of each sex. No matter what, the men were in charge. Next, Friedan discussed how women where brought up believing when they grow up, they are to marry and have children. Going to college is what is a woman had to do, but graduating wasn’t required. Being well educated is shown to be unfeminine. Men didn't enjoy a woman knowing information they knew. Men wanted women uneducated, men were supposed to be the only one educated in the household. The role of women was to find a husband to support the family that they would raise. Many women dropped out of college or never went in the first...
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...Top companies of India that use diversity as one of their strengths: 1. Infosys The diversity team at Infosys focuses on propagating and promoting diversity and inclusivity among employees through ACTION which stands for: * Audit inclusivity and diversity levels * Create change agents * Train the managers * Initiate and implement alternate work models * Organize and assist affinity groups * Network with external bodies to benchmark practices Infosys Women Inclusivity Network (IWIN) promotes a gender-sensitive work environment. IWIN recognizes the unique aspirations and needs of women. It provides avenues for vocational, personal and psychological counsel to enable professional and personal development. Infosys won the first NASSCOM-India Today corporate award for excellence in gender inclusivity in 2007. Infosys actively seeks to hire and train persons with disabilities. In 2006 and 2007,Infosys BPO received the Helen Keller award for the best employer from the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP).Infosys announced an intake of 300 graduates from universities in the US in 2006 and about 25 from universities in the UK in 2007 as part of itscommitment to create a diversified workforce. The new employees will develop their engineering skills at Infosys Development Centers across India for six months before returning to Infosys offices in the US. 2. Google India Diversity is an essential component of the culture...
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