Feminism and Women's Life

I cannot help but thinking whether the Feminism movement did any good for women's life. What was Feminism movement really up to?

In early 60's Betty Friedan published her "Feminine Mystique" in which she revealed the suffering of women:-the suffocation of the women of her time, the narrow servitude of their roles as mothers and housewives. This book evoked the longing for women for more than just being at home.

While women’s legal and social status have significantly improved - women are enjoying much better human rights and gender equality today- working mothers however continue to face greater challenges compared with older women whose main roles as recognized culturally and socially were childbearing, child caring and homemaking.

Since 1990, dual–career couples constituted more than 45 per cent of all married couples in Singapore and from 1980-1990, the number of dual-career couples also doubled. Today, it is estimated to constitute more than 60 per cent working mothers of all females workforce. Working mothers have become important players in Singapore workforce. (Lee, Campbell and Chia 1999).

However, this increase in women’s participation in workforce did not bring realistic gender equality. There are only less than 3 per cent of women in high level executive management positions with majority jobs for women are still dominantly employed in production, and clerical work, making them more vulnerable to economic fluctuation and retrenchment, low pay and little chance for advancement.The gap of wages between women and men at the same level of jobs remains consistently at 15 to 30 per cent levels, while working mothers even face more job discrimination and pressure.

Studies showed working mothers experience incongruency between their self-concept and behaviour and their perceptions of the expectations others have of them (Glibert 1979, Terborg, 1985). A great concern of conflicts voiced out from these studies between work and family life. Aryee 1992 found a positive relation between parental commitment and homemaking commitment with work-family conflict. High demand from two worlds has caused many working mothers great stress resulting in low productivity and poor performances in their work and home duties, in turn furthering social and family problems.

Traditional values for women to be mother, childcare giver and household worker still predominates. The modern economy however, has led the political leadership to encourage more women, especially well-educated ones to participate in the workforce. The value of gender equality however is not realized in the work place or the expectation of shared household duties. The sex stereotypes are still prevalent in our society. All these lead the Singapore women into the existing and persistent situation of conflicts.

Unlike olden days when woman had no choice but accept a “one role” gender player, today’s women do have their choices to be full-time mothers or working mothers. The choice however is proving to be a very hard one indeed. Many full-time mothers’ choice is out of love and concern for family and children; and they regard “full-time motherhood” as a “calling”. They are thus willing to sacrifice career and self-ego satisfaction to fulfil a “higher priority in life”. Many of them are also willing to forgo high living standards and simplify their lives accordingly as such, considering it an investment so as to reap in future years to come, strong family ties and better welfare for their children

“These choices reflect the priorities and form a major response on the part of these modern women to the dilemma of balancing perceived opportunities and limitations”, said A/P Lana Khong in her study on mothers’ role in children studies impact. P127 “Faced with juggling real concerns for their children’s well-being in the educational contest, meeting cultural expectations for keeping family values intact, as well as being called upon to actively contribute to national GDP, most women will rarely be able to fulfil every one of these requirements equally successfully.”

Working mothers, on the other hand, are mostly driven by self-fulfilment or financial necessities, and often harbour deep guilt towards their families in their hearts. Coleman 1990 suggested, “As working mothers occupy most of their time in the purposive or corporate structure and away from the family, the intensity of the child-adult relationship diminishes. This process takes away from the child some of the psychic investment to their jobs.”

Women in Western countries have the similar difficulties when facing motherhood choice. While one–role ideology that restricts their social roles to the home, Western women have realized the hardships involved in the two-role ideology – the incorporation of a job or career to the role of sole homemaker (Quah, 1999). Bernard, 1972, had suggested the shared-role ideology, however, based on Singapore’s traditional values for women, there is no indication that such an ideology will be well accepted.

In conclusion, we are inevitable subject to influence of any social movement, but its social consequence will only be visible after a certain time, sometimes it could take almost two or three generations to show. Whether did Feminism did any good to women as a whole? Do you have your idea?