Summary: A World Full Of Women

In chapter 5 of A World Full of Women Martha Ward and Monica Edelstein state, “In the FTZ (Free Trade Zones), women enter into new realms of power. They are subjected to new hierarchies, physical and sexual violence, forms of surveillance, and attacks on their reputations. They also find new avenues of freedom and independence,” (Ward & Edelstein, 109). In today’s world we recognize the importance of having economic, religious/ceremonial, political, material, and ideology power. Some cultures offer women positions that hold power while others restrict women. Recognizing women and giving them their right and opportunity to gain power can lead to the empowerment and success of societies and the world as a whole. The Asante community in Ghana do not deny women economic and political positions. They practice duolocal residency, the husband and the wife live separately and have separate income. Women are able to be financially independent from their husbands. Even though they are restricted on the amount of farmland they are allowed to have, the Asante women have become traders to start gaining more wealth and freedom. “Trading continues to be a source of power for the Asante women. In the Kusami Central Market, the main regional market in West Africa, …show more content…
The Isthmus Zapotec’s life consisted of men conducting community affairs while the women were in charge of ceremonial events. The women formed a sisterhood amongst each other. “…Women shared a strong sense of solidarity in a society where women did not enter spaces delineated as male and vice versa,” (Ward & Edelstein, 116). The women protected each other’s honor and defended each other against sexual violence. The women sponsored ceremonies to worship saints and their religious views. The oldest women organized the materials and labor needed for life cycle events. Women were able to establish themselves as powerful individuals in these