Globalization: Together We Can Build A Better World
Society begins and ends with globalization. Although globalization can be categorized into different areas from cultural to economic to political, people should also want to give a second look to the matters of globalization that are screaming for a helping hand. Globalization is most commonly used to describe the changes in the world in every aspect. Joanna Swanger author of “Feminist Community Building in Ciudad Juárez: A Local Cultural Alternative to the Structural Violence of Globalization” Speaks of globalization from a feminist viewpoint, while after reading Appiah’s “Moral Disagreement”, it was comprehendible to see that Appiah speaks of globalization from a cultural viewpoint examining the ways that different cultural groups perceive themselves as opposed to others. “Sometimes, familiar values are intertwined with unfamiliar customs and arrangements.” (Appiah 658)
In my opinion, when taking globalization into mind I find cultural rituals are quite incomparable when you have more than one educated definition or personal experience to compare it to. Appiah speaks of globalization from a cultural viewpoint examining the ways that different cultural groups perceive themselves as opposed to others. After reading Swangers’ “Feminist Community Building in Ciudad Juárez: A Local Cultural Alternative to the Structural Violence of Globalization” I was absolutely taken back of how similar relation I had to both of these essays and their authors, especially Swanger. One never really notices how much the “Us vs. Them” concept is used in our day-to-day lives. I grew up in a very strict, very “traditional” Hispanic household. Growing up there were so many things that I was told constantly I could not do because I was a female, or things I was “supposed” to do because I was a female. For example, females were expected to be up before the men in the home, as soon as the woman wakes up they are to begin the house duties, which usually entailed, ironing the clothes for the men cooking their breakfast packing their lunch and doing whatever else the men asked for. Being a woman we were not allowed to speak unless spoken to, we were to stay home and raise the kids while the men or the “breadwinners” made the money and since they made the money, they decided where it all went 80 out of 100 times it went to alcohol. All of this was to prepare them for Marriage (or what I called losing your dignity and self-respect for an abusive marriage because that is always how they ended up). I cannot speak for anyone but myself but I am not a maid and I am more than positive that I have my own brain and am very able to think for myself!! Well naturally, my feminist instincts slapped tradition in the face and made the men in the house do everything for themselves, which my family or my grandmother rather, did NOT appreciate. If I had been raised in Juárez, Mexico I am sure I would have been punished severely. Swanger speaks of Casa Amiga a feminist organization in Juarez that strives to work towards restoring a sense of empowerment and multidimensional humanity through modifying liberalism. They use significant techniques to assist the better welfare of women. The women who turn to this organization for help have undoubtedly been abused not only physically but also emotionally and psychologically as well. Women in Juarez are treated as second-class citizens; they are paid about 3 times less than their male counter parts. “Low wages and running them through the system as objects- instruments of production without regard to their abilities and needs as individual subjects.” So naturally, labor jobs that men would “usually” occupy are given to females who are cheaper to pay thus leading to the “emasculation” of the man and making the woman the “breadwinner” of the home. Which in turn leads to the cycle of violence each woman who is put in this position unfortunately goes through. “Domestic violence