Women's Roles Now and What They Were in the Past in Uzbekistan

"Women's roles now and what they were in the past"

Women's roles are not the same in different cultures. Most important is that women

in my country, Uzbekistan, where the population of Muslim people were from 50 % up to 70 %, made the big progress in eighty years. From that time women started to become more free in education, marriage, and fashion than they used to be eighty years ago.

The education has also changed since the 1910s. In the 1910s girls had separate schools from boys, and they could only get education in middle-schools not going anywhere further in level of study. A lot of girls couldn't attend the schools at all. In the history books says that each class had about five to ten girls, half of the girls stayed at home with their family or grandparents. Now we have a lot of schools and they are not separated. Today all Muslim girls and boys go to same schools together with all other students. They also can go farther in level of study. A lot of Muslim girls and women go to university after High School and earning degrees and becoming scientists, writers, musicians, teachers and simply excellent mothers. It is a really big change for women. I think I know why they did this changes, its because they wanted to be more educated and be equal to men.

Marriage has also changed a lot. Eighty years ago women had to stay at home and do the house work. A woman couldn't see any men except her father or brother until she get married. She also could not see her husband before the marriage ceremony. Woman was very quiet and obedient to her husband, she couldn't participate in man's conversation, and she had to do what the husband says. Her father and mother did all choices about marriage. The girl or bride could not have any choices and could not do anything about it. Also eighty years ago girls used to get married when they were ten or thirteen years old, its it because that time in there was no limit of getting married in early ages. Nowadays, almost all women have their choices about marriage. Now they are getting married at age seventeen and up, because now in my country governments made a new law -" That women can get married only after seventeen years old, not early then that". Today women can get married two or more times. They also can stay in men's company and have conversation. Women did really big progress to be more independent and have almost same rights with men.

The difference in fashion has also changed. In early the 1910s before the revolution, Muslim women had to wear a long heavy dress that covers all body. Only the eyes, hands and feet were not covered. It was not their will to wear that, it is the tradition. Now you still can see some women wearing those traditional dresses, but only on holidays. But you just take a look at the fashion and style they have now. Now in my country you can see only modern Muslim women walking on the streets wearing new fashionable dresses or pants that were made in Europe, and showing all beauty of women. Also these days they don't have to cover their heads like they did before. I think they did a big step towards the fashion. Eighty years ago you could not even think that women would be more open in fashion then they used to be. I think the women in my country saw how the women of other cultures were dressed and tried to look like them and look better in new fashion. It is really understandable that every woman likes to look beautiful on the public.

Muslim women in my country took really big steps in education, marriage and fashion. I think they spent a lot of time changing all the old roles to new roles (education, marriage, fashion ). They have to be really proud of what they did in eighty years.