The Role Of Women In Society Essay Example

Women play an irreplaceable role in the society as men . The United Nations recognizes this fact and that explains why it has a dedicated organization committed to women rights and issues: UN Women. Notwithstanding this, women continue to face serious problems from social, to political, to cultural and economic spheres. This essay uses an American drama ‘The Good Wife’ that airs on CBS to show the various roles that women play in today’s society and the issues that affect them while at it. The first character I am looking at is Alicia Florrick. Alicia is a law graduate but stays at home to take care of her two children. Her husband is a State Attorney. Thirteen years later, her husband becomes involved in a highly publicised sexual scandal. This forces him to resign. The husband is prosecuted for abuse of office and soliciting sex from a prostitute which sends him to prison.
Alicia is now forced to look for a job since she is now the sole bread winner of her family. From this paragraph, we can see two things. One, women are used by men for sex. The prostitute that slept with Alicia’s husband is female. Two, the society expects women to stay at home and look after children while men are supposed to be the ones working. The effect of this, is that women become vulnerable to abuse from men as it is the men who provide financial stability. Further, the few women that are brave enough to look for jobs are seen as home wreckers and irresponsible. It is important to note that Alicia had a law degree that makes her unique. In many parts of the world, especially sub Saharan Africa, girl child education is considered unnecessary and a waste of money. Alicia gets a job at a law firm because of a close connection with a male friend who is a snr partner at the law firm. Her colleagues at work think that she gets the job because of her beauty and charm. The issue of gender relations at work is raised here. The questions that one should ask are; how do women access employment opportunities compared to men? How are they treated at work? Are they given the same rights and opportunities? How is their remuneration compared to men? Alicia has to compete with a male worker called Cary to prove that she is a competent lawyer. She proves herself and the firm chooses to keep her while getting rid of Cary. She therefore proves that women are just as hardworking and able workers as men.
The first character I will review is Alicia Florrick mentioned above. She starts as a naïve woman who is forced to stand by her husband despite being betrayed by him. She looks for a job through an old friend. There are different socially constructed roles and attributes that the society considers appropriate for men and women. Alicia does not agree to be inhibited by her gender status. She becomes the main character in the drama because of her abilities. She shows everyone at work that actually being a woman can be used as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. She is seen to use her compassion and understanding to win clients over while also impressing at court. Therefore, though women are normally seen as emotionally ‘weak’ by men, their innate ability to show love and compassion can be used to great results. In the drama, another important female character is one Dianne Lockhart, who is a named partner at the law firm. She acts as a mentor to Alicia and later helps her to be a partner at the firm. Women are thus seen to be big influences over their fellow women.
Dianne is portrayed as a strong, mature composed and uncompromising character in the drama. She stands against male domination and shows that men and women can be equal. Kalinda Sharma is also another female character who curves out her own niche in the drama. She is an investigator at the law firm. She is an abusive relationship where her husband continuously beats her up. She decides to leave her husband rather that continuing to suffer. The separation is seen is an important milestone in her life because she is able to start a fresh life free of abuse. The fact that she is able to say enough is enough can be used by the women of today to get out of relationships where their true worth is not recognized. At the work place, she is an extremely good investigator and most cases are won because of her contribution. In conclusion, the female characters in The Good Wife are shown to be significant contributors to the plot and their influence more often than not determines the direction of the story line.