Impact of Female Empowerment on Family Decision-Making: Evolving Roles in Marriage, Education, Employment, and Social Life

We examined factual data on education and work participation of women and attitudinal data on education and nonfamilial role intentions of Iranian female high school students from four ethnically and culturally diverse communities in Iran. These adolescents had been exposed throughout their lives to government policies and legal changes aimed at assuring that behavior and attitudes of young people would reflect true Islamic values pertaining to marriage, childbearing, and household roles. Our comparative analysis of education and career intentions across communities and classes revealed that, despite the conventional wisdom and some speculation by social scientists and journalists, Iranian adolescents born and raised in the first 15 years after the Islamic Revolution demonstrated largely positive attitudes toward educational and marriage roles. Furthermore, unlike in prior cohorts, there were few differences attributable to social class or community of origin. There were indications that attitudes were more traditional in communities with strong tribal social organization, but attitudes in these communities converged toward those of adolescents in more urban communities. Our findings tend to throw into question media images and to some extent some scholarly writings that have suggested the presence of a strong shift toward conservative-traditional roles for women in the Muslim countries. Despite the occasional strong political and religious rhetoric disfavoring women's working roles, it is likely that it is demographic and economic circumstances that deter young women from achieving the education and careers that they favor.

The current study was aimed to analyze the Pakhtun cultural constraints in the way of female higher education. For this purpose, the data was collected through a survey instrument by snowball sampling and selected 384 respondents from Malakand division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS. A Chi-Square test was applied in order to find out the association between independent (Pakhtun culture) and a dependent variable (low female higher education). The results show that there is a high and significant relationship between the low ratio of female higher education and sub-dimensions of Pakhtun culture i.e. early puberty, conservatism, Pardah, home related factors, Son preference, male dominancy, lack of freedom of expression for female, early/child marriage, noninvolvement of female in decision making, spending money of parents but benefits goes to husband family, non-acceptance of co-education, living in hostel of female and cultural interpretation of religion are various risk factors for low female higher education in Pakhtun society. The study recommends that the government should focus on women education, create awareness regarding female education and provide better educational facilities and incentives for women. Besides, more employment opportunities should be created to enhance female higher education.

This research aims to analyze the influence of the patriarchal system in the family on divorce using a legal feminism approach and focusing on the experiences of women who face injustice in husband-wife relationships. Male dominance in decision making and handling household responsibilities often leads to dissatisfaction in marriage. This research uses empirical methods with data collection techniques in the form of interviews with a number of respondents, including Maria, and Mrs. Sri who have experienced divorce and faced related legal challenges. The research results show that patriarchal attitudes shown by husbands, such as dominance in family decisions and non-involvement in household responsibilities, contribute significantly to dissatisfaction in marriage and trigger divorce. Respondents face emotional and financial stress, where they are often the sole provider of the family's needs, while their husbands display an indifferent and irresponsible attitude. During the divorce process, the respondents also experienced difficulties in proving the violence they experienced and in obtaining custody of their children. The patriarchal system in the family has a significant influence on divorce, especially in creating injustice experienced by women. This system reinforces inequality in marital relationships and hinders women from accessing their rights, both during marriage and after divorce.

Although matriocality has faded somewhat as a topic in cultural anthropology, interest in the concept has revived in Mediterranean studies. Recent work in the northwest corner of Iberia (north/central Portugal and Spanish Galicia) reveals a highly family structure. This anomalous pattern seems linked in some yet-undefined way with a prevailing on female dominance in this part of the Mediterranean world. Yet in the rest of the Iberian peninsula families do not correlate with female power; in fact, the opposite is true. For example, in southern Spain, matrifocality coexists with male dominance and machismo within an honor-and-shame value system. This paper compares a village in Portugal with one in Andalusia in an attempt to gain insight into this Iberian conundrum.(Matrifocality, gender, family, Iberia, honor and shame) First coined by Smith (1956) to describe black Caribbean families, the term matrifocal has had a checkered career in anthropology. Ethnographers have applied it to a bewildering variety of peoples; the Javanese (Geertz 1961),the Igbo of Nigeria (Uchendu 1965), Portuguese fisherfolk (Br[phi]gger 1992), and urban black Americans (Stack 1974),to name just a few. Like other promiscuous neologisms, the word has undergone numerous semantic vagaries since its inception. Nancy Tanner (1974) tried to provide a workable definition, employing three heuristic criteria. The first of these is that the mother is structurally, culturally, and affectively central to family life. Second, this mother-centrality is legitimate. Finally, the priority emphasis in the society is put upon the mother-child relationship, the conjugal nexus being relegated to secondary importance (see also Gonzalez 1970). Naturally, not everyone favors the word or accepts these criteria. Yanagisako (1977) and Cole (1991:62) prefer women-centered kinship networks because this phrase includes female relations outside the kindred and thus transcends the stereotype of a matriarchy based on the black urban American model. Writing about northern Portugal, Brettell (1986:9) substitutes matri - centric and matri - centrality for similar reasons. Also for Portugal, Willems (1962:70-71) introduces the odd term matripotestal to convey the sense of women being in authority within the family. Playing down the mother-child dyad, he thus adds a political or power connotation - about which more later. One may already see inherent methodological problems in this semantic diversity, not to mention capricious hyphenating. Still, some agreement emerges based on a reading of the literature. To summarize, may be taken to refer, first, to families in which the mother is both structurally and affectively, and second (if only inferentially), to a distribution of authority in which women have a strong position relative to men. In such families, the husband/father has a reduced role, being physically and emotionally distant or entirely absent. Thus matrifocality often appears in association with heavy male emigration, seasonal unemployment, or (male) economic insecurity. It also occurs where there is high incidence of illegitimacy, as in northern Portugal (O'Neill 1987:235). These features are summarized by Cook (1992:156) as low male salience. Because the mother is more available in these families, she is also - by male default if not complicity - more active in family decision - making (Tanner 1974:155). However, this does not mean she is dominant over her husband when he is around. For example, Belmonte (1989:87) calls the Neapolitan slum family mother-centered, father - ruled, a description that works wherever fathers are peripatetic or evanescent but not acquiescent. Matrifocal also has to be distinguished from cognates like matrilineal and matrilocal; it must not be confused with matriarchal as in Bachofen's Das Mutterrecht. Oddly enough, despite the recent growth in mother - entered families, one rarely encounters the term today in anthropology. …

It is not uncommon for doctoral students to experience some sort of intellectual turning point in the course of our studies. At this juncture a light bulb may go off, allowing us to experience an “Aha” moment (Tannen, 1984) with regard to a particular issue. This leads us to re-examine some of our most deeply ingrained beliefs about a particular research area. We stroll down new paths, explore new territories, and find new spaces to ponder our questions. One such exploration began for me in the spring of 2005, while I was enrolled in Interactional Sociolinguistics with Dr. Leslie M. Beebe. This course not only exposed me to a discourse analytic approach that would be foundational to my future dissertation work, but it also provided me with a new and expanded perspective on discourse and gender. Course readings led me to ask new questions and to examine existing debates in language and gender research through various lenses. The course was indeed an intellectual turning point in my life that began when I examined the debate surrounding crossgender (mis)communication, and then came full circle when I discovered an interest in family discourse and the maternal figure—an outgrowth of a Linguistic Anthropology course also taught by Dr. Beebe the following term. Dr. Beebe encouraged me to examine cross-gender (mis)communication with two distinct lenses: cultural difference and male dominance. As my research interests grew to include family discourse, I discovered how the dichotomization of cultural difference and male dominance also presents two distinct lenses for viewing the maternal image in language accommodation practices. While one of these lenses is constructed around traditional patriarchal assumptions, the other views mothers’ accommodation practices from a cultural and socio-educational angle. I will now peer into these lenses to show how the socio-political lens of dominance and patriarchy extends beyond issues of cross-gender (mis)communication to societal perceptions of mothers and their role in language accommodation practices. Both cross-gender (mis)communication and the depiction of the maternal figure in language socialization practices have been viewed from two opposing socio-political viewpoints. With the lens of patriarchy and social inequality, feminist scholars have repeatedly voiced their opposition to a cross-cultural model of gender differences in male-female conversation. Proponents of the difference model (cf. Maltz & Borker, 1982; Tannen, 1986, 1990) applied Gumperz’s (1982) cross-cultural perspective to (mis)communication to explain differences in male-female language use in terms of cross-cultural differences. They argued that the genesis of cross-sex miscommunication is located in early sex-differentiated socialization practices. Sex-segregated peer groups are basically different subcultures in which boys and girls learn genderlects (i.e., different rules for engaging and interpreting conversation). These different speaking styles are then carried into adulthood, and are the basis for male-female communication problems. For opponents of the two-cultures model, a focus solely on stylistic differences means obfuscating (or even denying) the existence of male dominance. Feminists across disciplines have thus criticized such research for ignoring the link between gender speaking styles and male dominance. In language and gender research alone, the theoretical framework of the difference/two cultures model has been

This study examines the role of women in economic and social decision-making within Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh, using both primary and secondary data. This study uses structured questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions with 150 female respondents who were purposively sampled. The importance of the nuclear family for decision-making power is 60% higher among women, and financial independence significantly influences empowerment in the household. However, key decisions about finances and property are still male-dominated. Women take a role in children's education, but not in core religious and high finance affairs where their participation is limited to 48 percent. Despite rising employment rates (61.3%), traditional gender roles still dominate joint and extended households. This study highlights some policy implications including raising awareness on financial literacy, joint ownership of bank accounts and fostering skills-based jobs that enhance women's ability to make decisions.

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of morality in creating religious harmony and tolerance, in addition, the challenges and opportunities faced in the implementation of morality in the context of diversity. This approach focuses on interfaith dialogue that builds bridges of communication and mutual understanding, as well as respect for differences as elements that enrich social life. The methods applied in this study include literature review to explore relevant theories and concepts, as well as interviews with religious leaders and various members of society. Through this interview, it is hoped that a comprehensive perspective can be obtained regarding the application of morals in the practice of religious moderation, including the challenges faced and the successes that have been achieved. The results of the study show that the role of morality not only strengthens religious moderation but also encourages active community involvement in building a harmonious community. By prioritizing mutual respect and understanding, individuals from various religious backgrounds can work together in various aspects of social life. These findings emphasize the importance of moral education in the religious education curriculum as a foundation for sustainable moderation so that future generations are able to face the challenges of diversity with a constructive and inclusive attitude. This research emphasizes that morality plays an important role in religious moderation, encouraging tolerance, social harmony, and inclusive attitudes, so as to create a peaceful and balanced religious life in society.

Female normal school students are a special group of university students with intersecting identities of "teacher trainee" and "female". Studies have found that women face gender dilemmas in their professional studies, career development, and social life. In the face of such dilemmas, feminist ideas have been widely disseminated, but people's feminist identity is still developing. Currently, there is still a research gap for Chinese female normal school students ' gender dilemma and their feminist identity. Therefore, through the literature review method, this study combs through the gender dilemmas of female teacher educators in their professional learning, career acquisition, and career development, delving deeply into their feminist identities and expressions. This study finds that the gender dilemmas of female normal school students stem from the student's lack of individual subjectivity, unequal opportunities in society, the "masculine policy" in school recruitment, the glass elevator effect in career development, and the social expectations of women's roles. Under the guidance of the teacher training program and the influence of women's self-awareness awakening, the feminist identity of female normal school students gradually manifests itself through teaching practice and social life. They are using their efforts to spread gender equality awareness and change the stereotypical image of female teachers.

Education is an essential factor of economic growth and a fundamental right of every person. No country can attain sustainable economic growth without substantial investment in education. Education improves technical capabilities of exploring new ideas and innovations. It improves the quality of life and leads to collective benefits to individuals and societies. In this study, we investigate the impact of female education on the economic growth of Pakistan by adopting the methodology of the simple Ordinary Least Squares regression with time spanning from 1990 to 2016. OLS regression results show that 1% increase in female education, female labour force participation, education expenditure and fertility rate causes 96% increase in GDP of Pakistan. Female education has a significant and positive impact on economic growth. Female education has a positive relationship with female labour force participation rate. The female labour force is dramatically increasing the economic growth. The policy recommendation is that government should allocate more of its budget on education and make efforts for improvement of the quality of education at different levels. The fertility rate has a negative relationship with female education and economic growth. Female education can reduce fertility rate and play a magnificent role in economic growth of Pakistan.

The present study analyzes the evolution of the divorces in Romania over the period 1992-2023, aiming to investigate the social, economic, and cultural factors that have shaped family behaviors and decisions regarding the dissolution of marriages. Using an approach based on official statistical data, the research explores significant differences between urban and rural areas, identifying divergent and convergent trends regarding divorce rates, influenced by modernization, urbanization, and economic crises. The study also examines the impact of economic migration and access to education on family behavior, highlighting how these elements have contributed to structural changes in marriages and divorces in different regions of the country. The analysis focuses on factors such as the age group of spouses, marriage duration, number of minor children, and the geographical structure of divorces, providing a deep understanding of the social dynamics and changes related to the stability of marital relationships. Another important aspect of the research is the evolution of the woman's role in marriage, influenced by increased economic independence and changes in the social perception of marriage. Additionally, regional disparities are discussed, varying depending on cultural traditions, urbanization level, and the economic development of counties, as well as common challenges faced by families in different areas of Romania. The study emphasizes the complexity of divorces, offering a comprehensive perspective on current and future trends, as well as the factors that influence marriage and divorce decisions, within a constantly changing social and economic context. The research conclusions will contribute to a deeper understanding of this dynamic phenomenon, as well as to the formulation of public policies better adapted to the contemporary realities of Romanian society.

This paper compares and contrasts the notion of divorce among the Muslims during the medieval period and contemporary times. In this paper some sociological insights and clarifications have been offered. For the medieval period the nature of divorce has been examined in the context of the Arab societies. For the contemporary period the data have been collected from rural and urban areas of the Kashmir valley. In this paper an attempt has been made to examine the nature of divorce particularly from women’s point of view and a feminist perspective. The understanding of the societies in medieval and contemporary period and the interpretation offered, suggested that even during the earlier times the Muslim women have not expected their subjugation in the male dominated or patriarchal society. Our understanding of Muslim women highlights the facts that they were able to develop cretin mechanisms which continuously challenged the male dominance. However, in the case of Kashmir valley the Muslim women have challenged the patriarchal system in their own way. Their education and limited new job opportunities have in fact led towards their empowerment. In the case of Medieval Arab societies, especially in the case of the Mamluk societies the women had a sufficient economic base to get divorce, but in the case of Muslim women in Kashmir they have to fallback upon their parental families for the support. It is concluded that the study of medieval Mamluk societies of Arab countries have helped us in the understanding of the problems of divorce among the women of Kashmir. Some interpretations to understand the problems of divorce for the women from the feminist perspectives have also been offered here. The presentation of case-studies also explains the in-depth understanding of the divorced women over there.

Globally, over 500,000 females die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth each year, and of these, over 99% of deaths occur in developing countries such as Uganda. Utilisation of modern and professional care during delivery is important in lowering maternal mortality. This paper sets out to investigate the factors associated with the utilisation of modern and professional childbirth care so as to inform policy makers on the pertinent factors that need to be influenced by policy. A nationally representative Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) (2006) was used. Sampling was done in two stages. In the first stage 321 clusters were selected from a list of clusters sampled in the 2005/06 Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS), 17 clusters from the 2002 Census frame from Karamoja, and 30 internally displaced camps (IDPs). In the second stage, the households in each cluster were selected as per the UNHS listing. In addition an additional 20 households were randomly selected in each cluster. Questionnaires were used during data collection. During the analysis, a maximum likelihood probit technique was employed. Prior to this, a bivariate approach was used to generate average percentages of mothers using the childbirth care services by background characteristics. It is found that maternal education is the strongest predictor, especially at post-secondary level (highest marginal effect of 33% and P<0.01), associated with the utilisation of childbirth care. Whereas partner's education at all levels is important, maternal education is observed to exert a much stronger association. Other factors significantly associated with the utilisation of professional childbirth care include community infrastructure, occupation, location, and regional differences, wealth status, religion, and age cohorts. These findings suggest that whereas all levels of education are important, the effects of post-secondary education are more pronounced. Therefore, efforts to improve professional childbirth care utilisation need to focus on female education beyond secondary level. In addition, measures are needed to improve agricultural productivity which might improve earnings and childbirth care utilisation. Government should also undertake to improve community infrastructure across all regions and locations. Both government and donors can ensure universal access to professional childbirth care irrespective of the ability to pay.

Language plays an important role in constructing identities in a society. The Punjabi Language is a member of the modern Indo-Aryan family of languages. It has a very rich culture, especially in the rural areas of Punjab. Punjabi language has a strong connection with the culture and its norms. Punjabi society is a patriarchal society in which, male members who bear the decision-making authority, head the families. Women are usually not included in making decisions and are considered socially and economically dependent on men. Women consider themselves insecure, incomplete, ineffective and inefficient without males. Therefore, the male dominance becomes one of the significant predictor of the male discrimination against women. Power relations are maintained through the use of Punjabi proverbs. The female gender endures gender discrimination and low self-esteem. Male dominance is also exercised through the use of proverbs. The current research aims to expose the male dominance and the negative connotations attached with the identity of female gender in the Punjabi society. Female gender will get awareness of their identities constructed through the use of language in the proverbs. The qualitative research method has been employed to research randomly selected 20 Punjabi proverbs. It employs critical discourse analysis as its theoretical framework. Norman Fairclough’ 3D model has been used to do textual analysis. The proverbs have been taken from the famous book “Punjabi Akhaan”. The proverbs have been analyzed on the literal, contextual, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic levels. They have also been dissected on the micro, meso and macro levels to analyze them from the different perspectives. The frequency of the use of Punjabi proverbs has also been observed. After the research, it has been concluded that male dominance in the Punjabi language causes gender discrimination and false representation of female identities. The kind of images constructed in the Punjabi proverbial language truly labels the female gender permanently with the negative connotations. It hinders their progress as well as their status. All the females of Punjabi culture will be benefitted with the current research. It will enable them to understand the kind of male dominance and gender discrimination in the Punjabi language. As a result they will be able to understand the authenticity and the true value attached to these proverbs.

Emerging adulthood, in numerous individual biographies, also in the case of disabled people, is the time of permanent need for self-actualisation and time of verifying one’s subjective vision of “being an adult,” i.e. being responsible for one’s own decisions, pursuing professional and economic independence. Due to developmental acceleration, sociological shift in terms of undertaken roles and realized developmental tasks as well as their moratoriumlinked delays, it is also the time conducive to educational activity. This psychological time of a young person, its course and specificity depend, to a large extent, on numerous (micro-, mezo- and macro-) conditions of family life and social life in today’s world which is more competitive and less predictable than it used to be for generation of the late 1990s. All of these factors contribute to the fact that maturing to adulthood seems to be a state which is harder to achieve nowadays. It is displayed in the form of delaying the moment of taking up a job or other important decisions in family and relationship contexts.The study aims to present the selected aspects of daily life of disabled young adults, described in the context of developmental tasks of this period and considering the perspective of investment in relationships, development of one’s own resources, pursuing education and entering the job market which are all, from a temporal perspective, a chance of complementing one’s own identity.

Reviewed by: Among Stone Giants: The Life of Katherine Routledge and Her Remarkable Expedition to Easter Island Joan A. Wozniak Among Stone Giants: The Life of Katherine Routledge and Her Remarkable Expedition to Easter Island, by Jo Anne Van Tilburg. New York: Scriber, 2003. 351 pp. 1 map, 44 photographs, footnotes, bibliography, $27.00. ISBN 0-7432-4480-X. Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is a lone volcanic island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Because of its isolation (the closest landmass, Pitcairn Island, present population [End Page 416] 55, lies 1100 km to the west) and the presence of hundreds of massive anthropomorphic images ("giants" made of tuff or basalt), Rapa Nui has been veiled in an air of mystery since its rediscovery by Europeans in 1722. For the past three centuries people around the world have speculated whence these images and their makers came and how they got there. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries few Euro American ships stopped at the island, except to exploit the islanders. Even those explorers making scientific voyages to study Pacific cultures recorded only token observations of the native culture on Rapa Nui. It was not until the early twentieth century that a scientific study of Rapa Nui culture was undertaken. This ethnographic and archaeological investigation was led by an English woman named Katherine Scoresby Routledge. In 1919, following her work on Rapa Nui, Routledge wrote a book for a non-technical audience titled The Mystery of Easter Island: A Story of an Expedition (London: Hazell, Watson & Viney). In her book Routledge related tribal land divisions, oral traditions, and myths of the island as told to her by informants, several of whom had lived prior to the establishment of a permanent foreign presence—the missionaries. She also described the stone images (moai), the platforms on which they were placed (ahu), and other archaeological remains of Rapa Nui. Circumstances within Katherine's life in England following the publication of The Mystery of Easter Island prevented her from publishing a scientific manuscript on her research. Furthermore, many of Routledge's notes and photos disappeared shortly before her death in 1935 and were thought lost. Jo Anne van Tilburg, the author of Among Stone Giants: The Life of Katherine Routledge and Her Remarkable Expedition to Easter Island, has spent many years tracking down Katherine's scientific notes and interviewing surviving members of Katherine's family. Many of us who have worked on Rapa Nui and have been aware that van Tilburg had acquired access to Routledge's notes have been anxiously awaiting the publication of a sequel to Routledge's 1919 ethnography—maybe a more scientific treatise of her studies. Among Stone Giants is not that book. Instead, van Tilburg uses Katherine's recently discovered diaries and notes, and the interviews with Katherine's family to develop a biographical sketch of a Victorian woman and aspiring anthropologist who relished documenting world views of cultures in faraway lands. Van Tilburg skillfully portrays Katherine, her extended family, English colleagues, and Victorian society in general. Van Tilburg also relates Katherine's reactions to, and interactions with the people whose lives and culture, myths and dreams she put to pen. Van Tilburg is an archaeologist who has worked on Rapa Nui for more than twenty years and heads the Easter Island Statue Project. In Among Stone Giants she proves to be most capable of analyzing both Katherine herself as well as Katherine's notes on Rapa Nui culture. The first few chapters of Among Stone Giants introduce the reader to Katherine Pease, who was born into a Quaker family and grew up in a stultifying Victorian England. Van Tilburg delves into the background of the Quaker faith and Victorian England to preface how the internal conflicts within English society influenced Katherine. For example, Katherine grew up during the period when Victorian women were considered to be the property of men, but Quakers believed in the innate equality of women and men. Quakers practiced tolerance and respect for different opinions with the ultimate spiritual authority residing in one's own conscience. Katherine's character, her social life, her perception of spirituality and mysticism, and her view of women's role in marriage...