Women of the World
This image was taken by me in the summer of 2016 before two friends of mine, the girls within the image went on a mission trip to build a school in rural Nicaragua. They attended this mission trip through our high schools philanthropy group known as Project Equal, hence their shirts contain the Project Equal logo. These two young women beloved that going on this volunteer trip to help uneducated girls would be an impact action that rightfully benefited the children of Nicaragua.
This action in fact, increases the gap between western and third world women. Allowing for western women to see themselves as saviors to the poor third world girl who’s future need to be invested in. The western women travelling to impoverished countries “mobiliz[ing] ideologies of “rescue” while pointing away from addressing causes” (K. Macdonald, 2015).
Through recognizing the application of western standards to third world countries one may infer that it is infact, inappropriate to force standards of western education onto third world girls. Girls who, even if they receive a position of power will be treated inferior to the men they are surrounded by. This is something that many western people do not recognize. Western individuals believe that through the implementation of a capitalist system. By doing so individuals can “avoid contemporary realities which allows for the resonance of ongoing discursive constructions of women and girls in the Third World as perpetually oppressed” (K.MacDonald, 2015).
Allowing themselves to belive that the action of travelling to a third wold country and investing in a girls life makes an impactful difference. In reality the root of the problem is a womens oppression within society. Therefore, even if a women has a high education and a status position within the workplace she will be treated inferiour to her male counterpart. This is a system of patriarchy that is visible within not only third world countries but, also western developed countries.
For exmple women within western courties often also receive ssignificantly less pay comparied to their male counterparts who may even have less of an education then these females.In other words, feminist issues are visible throughout the world and not just in western society. Yet, western individuals believe that to fix third world opression they must implement a capitalist system.
References
Katie MacDonald (2016) Calls for educating girls in the Third World:
futurity, girls and the ‘Third World Woman’, Gender, Place & Culture, 23:1, 1-17, DOI:
10.1080/0966369X.2014.991699