Gender, Trade and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gender, Trade and Religion - Essay ExampleAccording to Drislane and Parkinson, Patriarchy is literally district by the father but generally it refers to a social situation where men are dominant over women in wealth status and in all other aspects (Online Dictionary of the Social Sciences). Since the time of creation women had been assigned the natural role of childbearer, homemaker and pleaser of their husbands every whim. She didnt chose, she was chosen. As in the case of biblical Leah and Rachel who were both given to Jacob in switch over of 14 years of labor. Or in the case of Rebekah, who was given to Isaac in exchange for gold, silver and other jewelries (Genesis 2916-28). For thousands of millenia, the lot of women had been dictated by Patriarchy. When men had discovered that by bartering and trading, gargantuan profits could be amassed, women were either given forth by their fathers in exchange for something dear or they served as courtesans to the foreign traders mostly w ith the knowledge and blessing of the fathers (Whitfield 133 ). To my opinion, this inhumane status of women being either given, bartered or rented by the hour as a result of international trade and contacts by the native populace with foreign merchants, soldiers and other kibitzers is the most interesting and pregnant idea that we can put forward regarding gender relations in history. In the Indian epic poem of Ramayana, 2Sita was given away in marriage to Rama because Rama succeeded in wielding the mighty bow of Siva a possession of Sitas father, King Janaka (Narayan 23). In utter obeisance to paternal pressure, Sita acceded. In The Analects of Confucius, pop of 20 chapters of desiderata that compel the men to follow or avoid, only four sentences pertained to women, two of them were outright shocking to modern civilization. One says The Master said of Kung-ye Chang that he might be wived.Accordingly, he gave him his own daughter to wife and Of Nan Yung.He gave him the daughter o f his own elder brother to wife (Confucius chapter 5). Confucianism then, was the worst because women were not bartered or exchanged but outrightly given away gratis et amore. In the African Igbo tribe in Nigeria where polygamy is being practiced by men, women are not allowed to demand their husbands but they are given away after negotiations by groups representing both sides (Achebe xxx ).Since the subject matter of this paper involves gender relations as a result of international trade which also result to the spread of religion, nothing else illustrates this situation better than the Silk Road of olden days as all 3 elements are interlaced together.We therefore focus on the Silk Road phenomenon.The Silk Road is one of the worlds most important and oldest trade route leading to ancient China. It was do possible because ancient China especially during the Han Dynasty was reputed to be the wealthiest and the most civilized among all nations and it had so many important and useful products to offer to the rest of humanity. most of these are silk, porcelain, jade, lacquer ware, pearls, rubies, diamonds, satin, musk and rhubarb (Wood 9, 13-23).