Bondage of Ignorance: The Impact of Literacy on Women’s Empowerment
LITERACY IS POWER, DO YOU AGREE? Imagine you are incapable of answering this simple question because you are unable to read. Literacy is more than just the ability to read and write; literacy competence skills include the capacity to speak, listen, and cogitate. Acquisition of these skills is essential for one to communicate effectively and interact effectually in the world today. Literacy is the pathway to freedom and equality; literacy is key to unlocking the strongholds of oppression. Frederick Douglass once wrote, "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Although women in the United States fare better than those in developing nations and Middle Eastern …show more content…
See Table 1. Literacy and education are fundamental to moving out of poverty. In the article, ‘They didn’t tell me anything’: Women’s Literacies and Resistance in Rural Mexico, draws from ethnographic case studies, the article explores the issue of women’s access to education and literacy, by examining the experiences of four women in rural Mexico. The common theme in these personal stories is one of rigid gender roles in traditional Mexican society; this value system stifles the ways in which they interpret their experiences and make choices (or have choices made for them) about their involvement with formal education. Young women commonly hear the question, ‘Para que quieres educarte si de nada te va a servir cuando te cases?’, “Why do you want to educate yourself if it won’t be any use to you when you get married?” (Meyers, 2010). The case studies presented in the article, make it clear that increasing women’s life choices is not as simple as increasing access to formal education, equally important is that women must be able to critique and resist the aspects of social institutions and the culture that has historically oppressed them. We cannot underestimate the impact of historical, as well as, economic developments that affect women’s experiences of oppression. Educating women has an efficacious effect; on the woman herself and her children. Research provides strong evidence that an educated labor force is one of the key factors in promoting a country's development. Conversely, lack of literacy skills and inadequate education is one of the most important factors contributing to continued and persistent
LITERACY IS POWER, DO YOU AGREE? Imagine you are incapable of answering this simple question because you are unable to read. Literacy is more than just the ability to read and write; literacy competence skills include the capacity to speak, listen, and cogitate. Acquisition of these skills is essential for one to communicate effectively and interact effectually in the world today. Literacy is the pathway to freedom and equality; literacy is key to unlocking the strongholds of oppression. Frederick Douglass once wrote, "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Although women in the United States fare better than those in developing nations and Middle Eastern …show more content…
See Table 1. Literacy and education are fundamental to moving out of poverty. In the article, ‘They didn’t tell me anything’: Women’s Literacies and Resistance in Rural Mexico, draws from ethnographic case studies, the article explores the issue of women’s access to education and literacy, by examining the experiences of four women in rural Mexico. The common theme in these personal stories is one of rigid gender roles in traditional Mexican society; this value system stifles the ways in which they interpret their experiences and make choices (or have choices made for them) about their involvement with formal education. Young women commonly hear the question, ‘Para que quieres educarte si de nada te va a servir cuando te cases?’, “Why do you want to educate yourself if it won’t be any use to you when you get married?” (Meyers, 2010). The case studies presented in the article, make it clear that increasing women’s life choices is not as simple as increasing access to formal education, equally important is that women must be able to critique and resist the aspects of social institutions and the culture that has historically oppressed them. We cannot underestimate the impact of historical, as well as, economic developments that affect women’s experiences of oppression. Educating women has an efficacious effect; on the woman herself and her children. Research provides strong evidence that an educated labor force is one of the key factors in promoting a country's development. Conversely, lack of literacy skills and inadequate education is one of the most important factors contributing to continued and persistent