Women around the world

Katherine Punteney, the international student advisor, organized a discussion on “Women around the World” in Chico State last week. She invited five female students who came from different countries to talk about how women stand in their societies. There were Shuting form China, Motoko from Japan, Khulood from Saudi Arabia, Vanita from India, and Susana from Costa Rica. They discussed different issues various from education to marriage.

First of all, each of them talked about how gender divided in the education system. Vanita and Susana said that boys and girls are separated in elementary schools and high schools. They can choose either mixed or separated in universities. In Costa Rica, it tends to be more male studying engineering in universities. In Saudi Arabia, boys and girls are separated for all schools. Khulood covered her head with scarf in schools. Yet, she said it is not mandatory; she just likes it. The schools in China and Japan are similar to US because of the Western influences. In addition, Shuting mentioned that since the one-child policy in China, the government permits family to have only one child in the city. They may have two children in the countryside. It does not matter the child is boy or girl if the family only has one child; they encourage education. However, if they have more than one child and they only can afford paying one child’s education, they prefer giving the boy a chance for education. Vanita mentioned that a village girl is more difficult to get education than a city girl. She is the only one girl who studies master degree in her village.

On the other hand, Susana stated that girls are not forced to be married. But it is hard to not get married. It is because people surrounded give pressure and feels strange if a girl does not get married at a certain age. Vanita said they may have arranged marriage and they usually get married at 23 or 24. Moreover, Motoko said that girls in Japan usually quit their current job after they are married in order to take care of their family. After their children grew up, they can get a part-time job. In Costa Rica, the government provides child care benefits to women who continue to work after she has married. Besides, girls usually are more success in work that boys in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, Khulood said that it is easier for girls to marry a boy in a higher class level. If a boy is going to get married with a girl from a higher class level, it may not be acceptable by his family and the society. Besides, it is also hard to marry with a person with different nationality. Usually, parents hope their children to marry with a certain class which has a good education and financial status.

After attending this discussion about women around the world, I know how women’s life differs in different countries. It is interesting to know the environment of other women where they grew up as a female. It is not surprised that women in China and Japan are treated similar to women in US. I am glad to hear women from India and Saudi Arabia about their life in their own countries.