Women Around the World (cultural event)

An interesting lecture entitled “Women Around the World” took place as a part of international education week at California State University, Chico on Friday May 2^nd. Five female CSU exchange students from different countries were invited to this lecture to answer various questions by the lecture’s coordinator and the audience. These female students each shared their personal opinion about different aspects of life and culture in their native countries: China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India and Costa Rica.

The first question asked was for these girls to comment on educational system in their native countries and whether boys and girls study together or separately. The exchange students from China, Japan and Costa Rica agreed that boys and girls in their national countries study separately both in high school and universities. The person from India said that there are separate schools for girls and boys in India. The person from Saudi Arabia stated that students in high school and colleges in her native country study separately according to their gender, though she did mention that in kindergarten the classes for girls and boys are usually mixed.

The second question was to comment on the role of women in the girls’ native countries. Most foreign students agreed that these days both men and women work almost equal amount of time. Students from China and Japan shared commonalties in their cultures in terms of the role of women in the society and agreed that both male and female are provided with somewhat equal opportunity for higher education and work. The person from Costa Rica mentioned that women in a marriage are the ones that are supposed to take care of the children and the house in her native country and if they have to sacrifice their careers for that it is not a big issue. The person from Saudi Arabia claimed that it is up to a husband to provide for the family and he is believed to be the breadwinner of the family. A woman in a marriage in Saudi Arabia can work, but only if she wants to have some extra pocket money or if she is bored at home. The remark made by the person from India which I thought was quite interesting was that about 95 per cent of the married women are housewives in India that simply stay at home, raise children, cook and take care of the house.

The third question for the exchange students that was asked was whether women can actually choose not to get married in their national countries. Most girls agreed that women basically can choose to remain single or live with their boyfriends in Costa Rica, China, Japan. They did all mention though that it is quite a new phenomenon, as their countries are getting more westernized and adopt western values that are not as strict as their national customs in terms of marriage and relationships. The person from India said that the original marital traditions still remain in India and arranged marriages are still practiced there. You have to marry a person from the same caste as you are – meaning that this person have to carry the same last name as you do which is indicative that you both belong to one caste.

The last question asked was what aspects of American lifestyle these students would like to have in their native cultures. The person from Saudi Arabia stated that she would really like for women to be able to get their driver’s license and drive in her native country. She said that women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, but are permitted to only have temporary driver’s license if they want to go somewhere nearby. Actually I was quite surprised to learn that in Saudi Arabia most people have personal drivers and maids in their households that come mainly from countries such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka so there is actually no need for women to drive themselves. The person from India said that she would really like higher education to be more accepted among females as in India mostly men attend universities and get degrees whereas women are not considered to be career orientated and supposed to stay at home and take care of the children. 

I thought the lecture was very interesting as it is always exciting to learn about different cultures and find out more about the lifestyles of people abroad.  It was riveting to listen to the exchange students’ talk about the role of women in their societies and compare it to the status of women in Russia, where I am originally from.  In Russia like in Costa Rica women are undoubtedly perceived as the ones that should take care of the children and the house. Even though most married women work full time they still find time to raise their children, feed the husband and clean the house. My friends in Russia who got recently married always ask me if I cook for my husband and when I say “Occasionally!” they get envious as they are expected to cook on a daily basis for their husbands and take good care of the apartment. That is an image of a good wife. Speaking about relationships, about twenty years ago when my parents were dating it would have been unimaginable for an unmarried couple to live together.  People would strongly disapprove of that as you were not supposed to live with a man until you are married to him. So young couples would date for a year or so (like my parents did) and then get married. Nowadays as Russian people get more westernized the values of the society is changing and you would not be looked down upon if you wanted to first live with your partner for some period of time before getting married.