Winnie Huie

I can not wait for this trip! The main reason I chose India is because I feel there would not be another opportunity for me to go to India and this was a chance for me to go. I especially would like a culture shock experience because most my life I like to be in a safe corner, right now I am taking a chance with this and I know this would only benefit me. I look forward to getting to know a new culture and broadening my horizon. I can not wait to bring knowledge back to others about a county we seldom about. Even though the trip is only in two days it still dose not feel like I am leaving anytime soon. I know this will change for me when I am at the gate, getting ready to fly.

Since this is a women leadership course, I thought it was fitting to share the Gender Egalitarianism section of my debriefing paper:

Gender Egalitarianism
Gender egalitarianism refers to reducing gender role differences in society. This is low in India’s culture because women are still treated lesser then men. An example is Tharoor’s aunt, Rani-valiamma, who was a young widow:

“she didn’t have much of a life. Deprived of the status that a husband would have given her… Remarriage was out of the question, nor could the family allow her to make her own way in the world; so she returned to the village house she had left as a bride, and tried to lose herself in the routines of my grandmother’s household” (Tharoor, 1997, 89)

This example shows there is heavy dependence on males as a provider and women are helpless because of cultural restraints. The United States also shares this. When a woman is a single, mother or a widow, they are looked down upon because it is perceived they are not able to support themselves. This fully shows the society’s dependence on gender roles and falling back to tradition even though it may not benefit the woman.