After reading chapter 12 in Half the Sky, it still surprises me how women are treated in China. I just cannot believe they would kill their daughters just because they are not boys. It breaks my heart reading about that stuff because I could not imagine killing my daughter. Women are very strong and do amazing things. I know there is gender issues all over, including the United States. I just wish it would all stop because women are just as powerful as men are. Yes we cannot do everything a man can do, but it goes both ways men cannot do everything a women can do.
Claudine story was extremely sad. I could not imagine being kiddnaped, raped, watch my sister be murdered, and being pregnant. I was happy to see that she went back for her baby because even for being raped most mothers have an instant love for their children. When I read that her uncle allowed her to live there, but she had to have sex with him for rent. I wanted to scream, why would an uncle do that then kick her out when she is pregnant with your baby. All I have to say about her she is a very strong woman keeping both babies putting them in school when she only makes a dollar. She is an amazing mother.
It's hard for me to believe that acts like this still occur in the world today. Can you possibly imagine killing your own child? Hating yourself because you're a woman? I completely agree with your statement that women can't do all the things men can but men can't do all the things a woman can. I mean don't these men see that without women they wouldn't be here? Women are the ones who carry a life and physically bring the child into the world. These men have wives, children, sisters...how can they view all women as lesser? I suppose it is the desire to have power or control over something or someone. Men in the countries we have researched do have power and domination and it comes with many benefits. I suppose that is why the behavior continues. Thankfully, we learned things are getting better and the times are changing. I hope things will only get better for women around the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Claudine's story is sad, but amazing. I'm so glad to see that even with everything she has gone through, she still has a passionate love for her children, and strives to put them in school. Even with the so little she is making, Claudine is making a huge sacrifice for her children. I feel it would be easy to spend what she is making, on something else, yet she chooses to still put her children in school. I feel like some mother's when making so little would make their children stay home and work or find jobs to also make money, but I'm glad Claudine did not decide to do that. Claudine is a strong women, going through awful tragedies in life yet still being a hard worker.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately most incidents of rape are committed by a familiar person. The victim will normally know their attacker. When most people think about rate they do not image the rapist being some one they know. The number of rapes that are reported are horrific, but their are so many that go undocumented because of embarrassment. All of those women in other countries who have husbands that do not appreciate them is the reason rapes happen. It is a power thing. America's gender inequality stigma that women cannot do all of the things men can do, contributes to the rape statistics. I can't help, but think what better equality will mean. Once the women in Africa started to make money their husbands changed their minds about what a women is capable of. What if that train of thought was woven in to our society? Would we have less incidences of violence against women. I know other countries are not as fortunate as we are, but I do believe that we are forgetting about the women in developed countries. There are still problems we face and I think attention needs to be brought to those. Some of the problems other women in other countries face are the same in America, just not on such a large scale. Women from ever where in every country need to be heard and not forgotten about.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never understood the killing of girl babies in China. It seems so backwards that you almost want to label it as an urban legend. There must be better ways to assist with population control, maybe a child limit on families? I don’t think that the reasoning for this pertains as much to “who is better”; it’s simply that more women make more babies. Claudine’s story was very sad I agree, it’s hard to wrap your mind around some issues that people face. Family is family, not a sex tool for rent, many stories that we have read from Half the Sky seem outrageous. I will say that the book has opened my eyes to not just women’s issues but cultural issues that lead to these problems (in some cases).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you maybe they should put a child limit on how many kids a family could have or maybe send them away somewhere that would like to have them there. Claudine's story is horrible to me. I couldn't imagine being raped, kidnapped, being pregnant and seeing a very important person in my family get murdered and still have the will to live on. I would have quite lost it myself. Someone would have to pay and in the end that never turn out good for neither party.
DeleteI think Emily really summed it up best when she said it's hard to imagine that these things still occur in the world today. I've found myself saying this to myself more than once in the reading of Half the Sky! I think it is so easy to get wrapped up in our own little bubbles and not realize that atrocities like Claudine's are happening every single day, sometimes in our own backyards. What is amazing about her story is how she came out of it all. The strength of the human spirit is an awesome thing. What a spirit Claudine has to have been able to look beyond the shame that these births potentially brought on her and decide to not only keep and care for them on her own, but to make a better life for them by making their education her priority. I think Claudine would make a great poster child for what Women for Women International can do for women like her around the world. There is a lot to be learned from her story and in sharing it, she can empower other women in similiar, dire circumstances to see that there is a way for them to overcome. It's easy for us on the outside looking in to simply say "You can overcome" but coming from someone who has lived it, the message is so much more powerful and resonates more than anything we could ever do or say.
ReplyDeleteYes it is sad and it makes me sick to think that these things really are happening to women everyday all around the world. I makes it even worse (if that is possible) when the victims are abused by family members. I can't even wrap my head around the things that drive these predacious beings to torture people like Claudine. I believe their driving force is fear, I think the predators are cowards and do not know how to cope with being in fear and out of control of their own life and they take it out on others, unfortunately their prey are usually women. I do not think people are born bad, actually I think all people are born good. I am a firm believer that all infants are born with a "blank slate" and their choices and behaviors as an adult are the product of all that they collected while growing up, that is why education is so important in these regions. More people need to be educated, especially in gender equality so they lead a life that is a positive example for the younger generation. Despite all of the gut wrenching challenges in this chapter there is plenty of positive such as Claudine's undying optimism and mighty willpower; she is an amazing human-being.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Claudine's story is very terrible and saddening. Having been raped, and watching your own sister killed probably wondering everyday of the rest of your life why you made it out alive. First of all, I can't imagine living a life like she has had. She gave birth to her own baby by herself in a parking lot.. take some time and let that sink in for a moment. I still can't even possibly imagine how that would be like. Also, it is amazing that she is putting both of her children into school even though it means that they struggle daily to eat and get by as a family of 3. It really takes a lot and says a lot about the Americans that donate to people like Claudine, I only hope to one day be able to give 10% of my salary to people who need it more than me, because changing someone's life like that would mean the world to me. Just hearing these stories really touch your heart and it's impossible to not want to do anything about it. This is how I think people will really make a difference in places where this stuff happens, donations and education.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Melissa. Claudine's story was heart wrenching, but it was remarkable to see her persevere at such a young age. I can only imagine that there are very few girls that would take on the responsibility of raising two children at such a young age and with barely any money. The fact that she was willing to do whatever it took to get them educated, sacrificing every day to do so, is an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, reading these tragic stories shed light on a new perspective for me. Reading about how much these women will go through to make a better life for themselves and their children makes me think about the times when I complain about little things that aren't important. When I've made it through a chapter, I like to take time to reflect and think about how I can help someone else on top of how I can improve myself (attitude and actions).
I have heard of the practice of people in China killing their daughters prior to this chapter, but I was not aware of why and thought maybe it was just a myth. After reading this chapter, I am just as shocked that they slaughter their daughters because they are born female as much as I was shocked to find out trafficking was still around. I am curious as to what is the main cause in china for their country to be in this awful cycle of thinking that females lives are less worthy then a males. You would think that it would be common sense to know that a female can only birth a child, thus females are needed to get more males and maybe that they would consider them a little more beneficial around to have. My mind set cannot even imagine the fear that a pregnant women probably has when not knowing if they are having a female or male, and that nurses do not tell them because it is common for pregnant Chinese women to induce a miscarriage knowing that they will have a girl. I wonder what kind of things could be done to change this horrible misconception that they have and how the united states avoided this route that China took, what did the United States do differently?
ReplyDeleteAlthough all these stories are hard to read, they are extremely enjoyable to read because of the perseverance these women show in such horrible conditions." Each story in the book has made me think What would I do in that situation?" It's always easy to say you would fight back, or demand a education if it's being withheld from you. However, till your in that situation it's just to hard to tell what you would do.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that some Chinese parents kill their daughters because they are girls, but the more reliable story in China is parents would like to have a second child if their first child is a girl. According to the Chinese one-child policy, a couple can only have one child. However, some people pay the government to have a second child. I actually like people to do that. First, they are not going to kill their daughters. Second, they are rich, so they will provide good education to both kids.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Shuolin offered some perspective on the one-child policy. We have to keep cultural beliefs in mind and also understand that this book offers one general perspective, when society as a whole has differing viewpoints. It is wonderful to hear that China is actually making great progress in improving the status of women. While males may be desired for continuing the family bloodline, females are going to become equally as important as an imbalance in the population increases. Women play an equally important role in continuing the bloodlines of each male.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how someone could kill a human being just because it is the "wrong gender" that they wanted. She was a very strong woman and it takes a lot do do what she did. I also agree with you one the fact she had to have sex with her uncle. I cannot understand why an uncle would want to do to that with a relative. I agree with you when you said that it goes both ways for gender equality. Men can do certain things when women cannot, but women can do other things that men cannot.
ReplyDeleteYes. Claudine story was sad but inspiring at the same time. It is sad to know that as humans we go through very sad things. The inspiring part of it is the way we push through the situations we are forced to deal with and come out being stronger than we were going in. I must say Claudine story is sad and very heart breaking because of the things she have seen and been through with her sister, picturing her and her sisters body rotting are sad, but it is inspiring to know that she pushed through it and giving her children the ability to gain education.
ReplyDeleteThe readings about China were not as surprising to me because that's what I did my regional issues paper on but it is still a scary thought. The fact that it's so agreed upon in that culture makes you think there is probably not much that can be done to help. How can you limit the number of children in someone else's family or even the gender of the children.
ReplyDeleteClaudine's story was extremely sad and encouraging to me as well. There is not just an instant love when a baby is born but a love that starts when a woman is pregnant. I understand it's a tough decision to make to keep a baby that isn't planned or wanted but for Claudine to keep both babies and raise them as well as she did shows how strong she was even after being through everything she had been through. Her uncle disgusts me in the fact that 1. he made her have sex for rent when she didn't have anywhere to stay and 2. kicked her out when she was pregnant with HIS baby! As bad as it sounds, if he didn't want that baby, he should have first done things to prevent it and second, make her possibly get rid of it. I do not believe in abortion but in his situation it seems like he would have done something for Claudine to not have to go through all of the suffering and the baby to not have to live a life of knowing where they came from...
I still do not understand how some people think that women are anything less than men..
One thing that I found the most surprising about Claudine's story was that she didn't know that she was pregnant. It really shocked me that she was so unaware as to what the signs of pregnancy were, and the fact that she thought that a kiss on the cheek would be the thing that actually got her pregnant. It also made me sad that she had been through so much, she had been raped and had her childhood taken away, but she had never even been kissed on the cheek. Yet, despite all of this, she works very hard to provide a better life for her two children, the children that she had when she was only a baby herself and whom were both results of sad circumstances.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite aspects of this chapter is how strong the women were and that no matter how horrible they were treated, they didn't give up and they kept surviving. In particular when Claudine was going to abandon her baby and chose not to, I can't imagine how difficult that would be for her. She had been kidnapped, tortured, raped, and now gave birth to a baby who's father she hated. It made perfect sense for someone in her position to abandon that baby but she decided to keep it because she felt that innate mothering spirit to do so. It was amazing to read how she continued to persevere and provide a better life for not just herself but her children as well. A common theme I see in this book is how selfless women are and how they care not just for themselves but for their families too. They don't want to just improve their own lives but also of the people they love which I think impacts the communities as a whole.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I loved when you said, "I just wish it would all stop because women are just as powerful as men are. Yes we cannot do everything a man can do, but it goes both ways men cannot do everything a women can do." I completely agree that women are just as powerful as men. What stoke out the most to me is when you said that there are things that women can do that men can't do. It drives me crazy when I hear people say things like "That's a mans job, a women can't do that." There are a lot of things that women can do that men can't do either. It definitely goes both ways. That's why men and women need to learn to have more respect for one another. I was also very sad but moved after I read Claudine's story. She went through A LOT of hardships through out her life but in the end, she never gave up. She is a powerful women.
ReplyDeleteI cant not imagine going through 85% of the things we have read in this book. The amount of injustice is unbelievable and just shows how much we don't know. Claudias story for example, she was put through so much, being kidnapped, raped and ended up having a child because of it. she did the right thing though, by keeping the child. stuff like this happens far too often, even in America, heck even in Michigan. I have seen stories and watched shows where this type of thing has happened. I feel though in the end, the person who was affected is more positive than negative. there was this women who had been kidnapped for aboutttt ten years and ended up having two children I believe, and during the interview she said she didn't hate the man who did this to her. but that also makes you wonder was that because of the huge affect he had on her, the mind games and psychological damaged, or had she really forgiven him? You can never know for sure, but to be able to move on with your life, women are very strong.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is very disturbing that they're still killing of girls in China because they're not boys. I believe that people should be treated equally and should have the chance to prove worth they're worth not just thrown away. I think the story about Claudine is very sad too because I couldn't imagine having to go through what she had to go through. Men have many good qualities to them but so do women we should learn to share life better then are qualities would be notice by each other.
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