Joe Bell And America Summary
Gender inequality and the controversial topic of women’s rights is a widespread global issue in today’s society. Social justice promotes tolerance, freedom, and equality for all people, regardless of race, sex, or national origin. “Gender equality is a shared vision of social justice and human rights”, says UN Women Executive Director. However, today, there are millions of women around the world who still face discrimination on a daily basis. In today’s society, women undergo the most scarcity because they are dominated by men and they do not have the power to fight poverty. Women encounter more barriers in labor markets, and earn lower wages than men do. Vulnerability of women is a factor for that as well, because they have been characterized as property of men. In addition, women are not afforded the same healthcare facilities and protections as men are. Social injustice of women’s discrimination then leads to other problems, such as global poverty. Earl Lovelace, the author of a short story, “Joe Bell and America”, perfectly depicts that message. Joe Bell, the main character, struggles to make money in whatever way
…show more content…
possible, and makes money by gambling. However, his girlfriend Alicia, who works at the snackbar, feels marginalized by Joe because she’s a female, even though she’s the one with the steady job. While Alicia is willing to work, her opportunities to earn a decent wage aren’t the same as Joe’s because she’s a female and he’s a male. “Everything he talk about is big: big mountains and big cars and race horses and heavyweight boxing champions and people in America — everything big. And she look at him from behind the counter and she see his sad craziness and she hear him talk about all this bigness far away, that make her feel too that she would like to go somewhere and be somebody, and just like that, without any words or touching, it begin.”, this quote shows how Alicia was also dreaming of going away and having a better life, but only with Joe. (Lovelace) Sufficient income for women is a significant step towards lowering poverty; however, getting people out of scarcity depends on women’s initiative, opportunity to get education, as well as women having liberty and equal rights in the family and community. Throughout history, women were looked down upon on, and men, being the head of the family, were considered superior to them. Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," depicts women as simple, low-grade citizens, submissive to the men in their household, even their sons. The women have no authority or respect, the fact that they have to call their children "four or five times" before they listen is an example of that. Male figures had more power in the kids’ lives; for instance, one of the kids in the story ignores his mother’s call, however when his father called him, Bobby responded quickly and stood between his father and his oldest brother. Most of the things in town were run by men, including all the lottery officials. Because of the fact that Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves are men in the village, they are given a chance to conduct the lottery. By having this opportunity, men have the opportunity to show people in the community that men are the only ones who are allowed to have the highest positions.The fact that men arrived to the ceremony before women also shows the dominance of the gender. Also, while everyone was socializing, the men spoke of important things, such as, "planting and rain, tractors and taxes”, while women merely gossiped because they had no education or careers. The role men and women are expected to fulfill in The Lottery show a firm division between the genders. Different parts of the world face different levels of severity regarding the issue, such as, women discrimination. Women in Afghanistan were consistently discriminated against and marginalized, which resulted in degradement of economic and social conditions of women in all areas of the country, specifically in areas under Taliban control. Almost 90% of women in Afghanistan experience abuse at home, including sexual harassment. Because of the restriction to access to education, health care facilities, and employment, women had no choice but to live with the abuse that came from their husbands. Lack of health care efficiency and poor health conditions made pregnancy and childbirth extremely unhealthy and threatening for Afghan women. During the Taliban's reign, only about 3% of the girls received some form of primary education.
Oral poetry was the only form of education most of the girls in Afghanistan received. Afghan women wrote landays, which were a form of folk poetry, specifically for illiterate people. “Fearing that she’d be kidnapped or raped by warlords, her father pulled her out of school after the fifth grade”, talking about Rahila Muska, a young poet who was growing up in Taliban. (Landays) In 2010, Rahila set herself on fire in a form of protest for women’s rights after she had been viciously abused by her brothers for writing poetry. Women weren’t permitted to have access to poetry, especially love poetry, it foreshadowed disgrace and one’s discretion. Also, landays are portrayed in forms of songs, though women singers were portrayed as
prostitutes. Men were a dominating figure, and young women couldn’t make any decisions or have a say in anything, even in their love life. Rahila Muska was engaged to her cousin whose father passed away; she was not allowed to marry him, because he couldn’t afford the bride price. “When sisters sit together, they always praise their brothers. When brothers sit together, they sell their sisters to others.” this landay is a perfect example of how hierarchy of gender was structured in Afghanistan. Women praised and respected the men in the family, regardless of the age; meanwhile, men thought of women as property, they sold their family members into other marriages without their consent. Today, complete equality is a difficult perception for us to accept. We live in a society where we don’t see the challenges that women face as much as other parts of the world do, because we’ve progressed and have made advancements over centuries with help of women activists. In the past, there have been distinctive differences between the roles that women and men play. For instance, a very large part of the world’s population had women be responsible for cleaning, cooking, and taking care of children; therefore, they did not have the opportunity to fight shortage of finances. “Educating and investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity, efficiency and economic growth. But economically strengthening women is not only a means by which to spur and sustain inclusive industrial development. It is also a matter of advancing women's human rights” (Unido Director General LI Yong) This quote portrays how educating women not only helps advancing women’s rights, but also improves the economy growth.
possible, and makes money by gambling. However, his girlfriend Alicia, who works at the snackbar, feels marginalized by Joe because she’s a female, even though she’s the one with the steady job. While Alicia is willing to work, her opportunities to earn a decent wage aren’t the same as Joe’s because she’s a female and he’s a male. “Everything he talk about is big: big mountains and big cars and race horses and heavyweight boxing champions and people in America — everything big. And she look at him from behind the counter and she see his sad craziness and she hear him talk about all this bigness far away, that make her feel too that she would like to go somewhere and be somebody, and just like that, without any words or touching, it begin.”, this quote shows how Alicia was also dreaming of going away and having a better life, but only with Joe. (Lovelace) Sufficient income for women is a significant step towards lowering poverty; however, getting people out of scarcity depends on women’s initiative, opportunity to get education, as well as women having liberty and equal rights in the family and community. Throughout history, women were looked down upon on, and men, being the head of the family, were considered superior to them. Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," depicts women as simple, low-grade citizens, submissive to the men in their household, even their sons. The women have no authority or respect, the fact that they have to call their children "four or five times" before they listen is an example of that. Male figures had more power in the kids’ lives; for instance, one of the kids in the story ignores his mother’s call, however when his father called him, Bobby responded quickly and stood between his father and his oldest brother. Most of the things in town were run by men, including all the lottery officials. Because of the fact that Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves are men in the village, they are given a chance to conduct the lottery. By having this opportunity, men have the opportunity to show people in the community that men are the only ones who are allowed to have the highest positions.The fact that men arrived to the ceremony before women also shows the dominance of the gender. Also, while everyone was socializing, the men spoke of important things, such as, "planting and rain, tractors and taxes”, while women merely gossiped because they had no education or careers. The role men and women are expected to fulfill in The Lottery show a firm division between the genders. Different parts of the world face different levels of severity regarding the issue, such as, women discrimination. Women in Afghanistan were consistently discriminated against and marginalized, which resulted in degradement of economic and social conditions of women in all areas of the country, specifically in areas under Taliban control. Almost 90% of women in Afghanistan experience abuse at home, including sexual harassment. Because of the restriction to access to education, health care facilities, and employment, women had no choice but to live with the abuse that came from their husbands. Lack of health care efficiency and poor health conditions made pregnancy and childbirth extremely unhealthy and threatening for Afghan women. During the Taliban's reign, only about 3% of the girls received some form of primary education.
Oral poetry was the only form of education most of the girls in Afghanistan received. Afghan women wrote landays, which were a form of folk poetry, specifically for illiterate people. “Fearing that she’d be kidnapped or raped by warlords, her father pulled her out of school after the fifth grade”, talking about Rahila Muska, a young poet who was growing up in Taliban. (Landays) In 2010, Rahila set herself on fire in a form of protest for women’s rights after she had been viciously abused by her brothers for writing poetry. Women weren’t permitted to have access to poetry, especially love poetry, it foreshadowed disgrace and one’s discretion. Also, landays are portrayed in forms of songs, though women singers were portrayed as
prostitutes. Men were a dominating figure, and young women couldn’t make any decisions or have a say in anything, even in their love life. Rahila Muska was engaged to her cousin whose father passed away; she was not allowed to marry him, because he couldn’t afford the bride price. “When sisters sit together, they always praise their brothers. When brothers sit together, they sell their sisters to others.” this landay is a perfect example of how hierarchy of gender was structured in Afghanistan. Women praised and respected the men in the family, regardless of the age; meanwhile, men thought of women as property, they sold their family members into other marriages without their consent. Today, complete equality is a difficult perception for us to accept. We live in a society where we don’t see the challenges that women face as much as other parts of the world do, because we’ve progressed and have made advancements over centuries with help of women activists. In the past, there have been distinctive differences between the roles that women and men play. For instance, a very large part of the world’s population had women be responsible for cleaning, cooking, and taking care of children; therefore, they did not have the opportunity to fight shortage of finances. “Educating and investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity, efficiency and economic growth. But economically strengthening women is not only a means by which to spur and sustain inclusive industrial development. It is also a matter of advancing women's human rights” (Unido Director General LI Yong) This quote portrays how educating women not only helps advancing women’s rights, but also improves the economy growth.