The Modern Oppressor

As the world becomes more educated and self-reliant, we find ourselves hoping that traditional evils of oppression and violence will diminish equitably. Unfortunately, it seems that nothing could be further from the truth. Rather than eliminating backwards customs and hateful traditions, prosperity and education can often intensify the problems. Some of the world’s most corrupt perpetrators are those who are educated, well off, and enjoy elite standing in their societies. Consequently, it becomes clear that education and money do not equal enlightenment. Education and prosperity seem most often to magnify the attitude of whoever receives them, including attitudes of evil and compulsion. The problem lies, therefore, with the unbalanced provision of education, resultant opportunities, control, and power for only the elite of society. Too often these elite--whether elite refers to simply men, or to a social status-- utilize their biased distribution of power to compel and abuse the oppressed, utilizing modern methods to impose the backwards traditions of the past. Until the marginalized and oppressed of society have equal access to economic and educational opportunities-- in other words, an equal share of power-- ancient evils will continue to find a welcome place, albeit a modern upgrade, in our world.

A variety of modern atrocities demonstrate the inequitable distribution of educational and economic resources between oppressors and the oppressed. One demonstrative example is found on the streets of China, where poor rural women can be found waiting in hopes of acquiring domestic work. Unfortunately, instead of receiving their expected domestic work, these women are frequently picked up or kidnapped and forced into domestic and sexual slavery. This abduction into slavery is the result of blending “an age-old disregard for the rights of women with a modern passion for profit,” often involving perpetrators of relative education and wealth (Faison, 1995). Experts estimate that tens of thousands of women are being sold into slavery in China every year. This tragedy is an excellent example of what happens when you mix intelligent and avaricious perpetrators with desperate, poverty-stricken women. One 20-year-old young woman, named Fu Litong, traveled about 200 miles from her rural village to come to the labor market, and was adamant that she would not return to her village because “life is too hard there\" (Faison). When asked about the risks of being forced into slavery, Fu Litong stated: “I know it's dangerous, but I don't have any other choice\" (Faison). It’s true that only the wealthy and educated have access to money and power, leaving the women, as Fu Litong said, without “any other choice,” but to put their own lives and bodies at risk in hopes of earning a little money. Truly, what other choice do they have? With no work in the villages, they must migrate to the city and seek other forms of employment. If they were educated and trained, they might have other choices-- opportunities to improve their situation and gain control over their lives. Regrettably, the power here lies only in the hands of the perpetrators, who utilize their education to capitalize on the ignorance and vulnerability of rural women. When cupidity is educated, we find there are no limits to its bounds, even the development of despicable perpetrators. Therefore until the victims of society, or in this case the rural women of China, are given comparable education and advantages to morally capitalize on their skills, these modern oppressors will continue in their lucrative business of exploiting and abusing powerless women.

Another telling example of this type of exploitation was found in the United States, where many believe we are far beyond the allowance of such backwards incidents. The Associated Press documented the story of a 30-year-old grad student from Kuwait who enslaved a maid his parents sent to keep house for him and his 21-year-old wife (1994). The student, Mr. Alzanki, forced the woman into being more than a domestic maid, and refused to let her talk on the phone, mail letters, look out the window or step outside. The young woman, Ms. Gedara, added that \"They [told] me if I go out, policemen [would] shoot and kill me. I [believed] it, because I don't know anything\" (Associated Press). Her troubling statement truly clarifies that this was a situation of educated abuser, uneducated victim. If Ms. Gedara had had access to education and to even minimal monetary stability, she would never have been so abused and exploited. But because of her ignorance, particularly in comparison to the education of her oppressor, she was completely victimized, and was unable to do a thing because she “didn’t know anything” (Associated Press). Until there is comparable access to education, control, and power, there will be no redress-- even in the United States-- for women like Ms. Gedara.

Another problematic imbalance occurs when modern technology meets backward societal practices. In rural China, many parents are still steeped in the prejudiced view that sons are innately more valuable than daughters. \"We believe that boys are more important than girls,\" one villager stated, claiming that \"You've got to pass on your heredity, continue the family line, and you need a son to do that” (Kristof, 1993). This attitude becomes even more problematic when introduced to the modern and relatively inexpensive convenience of the ultrasound. This technology makes it easier than ever for parents to physically manifest their preference for sons over daughters by finding out the gender of their fetus, and aborting the child if it is a girl. In this situation, cultural attitudes have lagged behind while technology advances, creating an even more dangerous situation where technological tools are utilized to advance a backwards cultural tradition: a preference for boys. Now, not only do we have a preference for boys and poor treatment of girls (as in the past), but ultrasounds so that we can murder girls before they are ever born, eliminating the problem of female children before it even happens.

As one may suspect, \"the root cause [of sex-selective abortion] is traditional thinking that boys are better than girls, especially in poverty-stricken areas. Those people expect boys to support the family” (Womanstats, 2007). Though parents in this situation are surely not entirely innocent, the true perpetrators of this crime may be another group. The parents’ ignorance is drastically compounded by a group of educated and corrupt government doctors and officials, who can make sizable sums from engaging in sex-selective abortion practices. One 1997 newspaper article quoted a doctor as saying that “as many as 97.5 percent of pregnancies terminated in his hospital were of female fetuses” (US Department of State, 2000). This combination of backward thinking parents and the lucrative business of corrupt doctors and officials becomes absolutely devastating. Experts conclude that in China alone, an estimated 40.1 million women and girls are \"missing\" after being eliminated through prenatal sex selection and infanticide (UNFPA, 2006). Additionally, China’s birth rate is astoundingly unbalanced, demonstrating a shocking rate of female infanticide. In most countries, males slightly outnumber females with between 103 and 107 male births for every 100 female births. But in China there are now 120 male to 100 female births (Bezlova, 2009). Here we see that the parents become victims of their own ignorance, influenced and enabled to become perpetrators by those educated and corrupt doctors who seek to enhance their economic status. We also find that the truest victims, infant and fetus girls, have no power, persuasion, or education to defend themselves with. They are powerless, while perpetrators are both backward-thinking (parents) and educated and rapacious (doctors).

Studies have shown that in countries with a strong societal preference for a son and where girls face substantial discrimination and higher mortality risks than boys, “post-primary education enables women to reject gender-biased norms or find alternative opportunities, roles, and support structures” (Grown). When the victims of oppression are educated, a much more positive outcome results. In the previously discussed situations, rural citizens, particularly women, are marginalized and less educated. But these victims can become powerhouses for good when they receive equitable access to education. Female secondary education is associated with high age at marriage, low fertility and mortality, good maternal care, and reduced vulnerability to HIV/AIDS (Grown). It is clear that egalitarian education and access to economic opportunity must be distributed to all in every society in order for victims to have a voice. Rather than being helplessly oppressed, they can rise up and defend their rights and work for equal treatment and opportunities.

There are, thankfully, some good examples of where a balance of power among different societal groups has aided in the promotion of healthy, forward-thinking practices and decisions. One New York Times article discussed a horrifically drawn-out situation in Africa where a young woman was nearly forced into having her genitals mutilated in a traditionally accepted practice. There are many players in this story, demonstrating several sides of the power struggle: oppressors with power, oppressed with power, and victims without power. One hope inducing moment in the story was when the young girl’s father, Mr. Kassindja, defended his daughter’s desire to remain uncircumcised. Interestingly, his decision was respected because ''He was a rich man, so the family couldn't tell him anything,” demonstrating the importance and power of monetary control (Dugger, 1996). The father was able to see past fallen tradition and culture, and the reason he was able to successfully walk away from it was because he had money. It’s not always true, but in many cases being wealthy or educated can either help the forward-thinking (like Mr. Kassindja), or perpetuate the issue when it is in the wrong hands (Miss Kassindja’s male elders). Who has the education? Who has the money? The answers make a huge difference in who will ultimately win out in the battle against sexism, slavery, female circumcision, and other similar issues.

Later in the story, after the father passed away, family members attempted to force circumcision on Miss Kassindja. With the aid of her mother and sister, and to the horror of her male elders, she ran away to avoid the destructive rite. One of the women in her family who had been circumcised against her will, expressed a wish that she could have run away like Miss Kassindja. When asked about whether she would allow her young daughter to be circumcised, she lamented: ''I have to do what my husband says. It is not for women to give an order. I feel what happened to my body. I remember my suffering, but I cannot prevent it for my daughter'' (Dugger, 1996). Here it is apparent that although she had forward-thinking and spositive intentions, she could do nothing because she had no weight, no power. With no money or education to help her legitimize her wishes, she remained powerless next to her money-wielding husband. Even if she had acted, she would have been treated like Mrs. Kassindja who, when she helped her daughter escape circumcision and gave her funds to run away, was ostracized and maltreated by her family. Her brother, the patriarch, stated of her: “She acted as though the child were hers. She and the child made the laws,” concluding that what she did caused him great pain (Dugger 1996). This is an undeniable demonstration of unequal power and access to resources-- although Mrs. Kassindja labored and gave birth to her daughter, raised her and fed her, it was unfathomable that she acted “as though the child were hers” (Dugger). She had no power, no influence even over the child of her womb. This kind of power negligence significantly perpetuates the oppression of women and children, making it impossible for them to progress in the wake of their power-wielding oppressors.

Education does not necessarily lead to enlightenment, just as power and money do not necessarily institute democracy and equality. Our world is full of opportunities for learning and empowerment, but until now the majority of their benefactors have been an unbalanced proportion of elite perpetrators and men. Oppressors only become more potent and vindictive as they gain educate and wealth, and sharing their opportunities with their oppressed counterparts its truly one of the only solutions. Oppressed peoples, particularly women and girls, must have access to those same opportunities if we are ever to achieve a balance of power and equality. Only then will our world be a safe haven, a welcoming home to all genders and peoples.

References
Associated Press. 1994. Student found guilty of enslaving a maid. New York Times, 23 March.

Bezlova, Antoaneta. 2009. China: Chinese Question Government’s One-Child Policy. IPS news. Accessed November 29, 2009 at http://womanstats.org/.

Dugger, Celia W. 1996. A refugee’s body is intact but her family is torn. New York Times, 11 September.

Faison, Seth. 1995. Women as chattel: In China, slavery rises. New York Times, 6 September.

Grown, Caren, Greeta Roa Gupta, Rohini Pande. Taking action to improve women’s health through gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Kristof, Nicholas D. 1993. (The Chosen Sex) Chinese peasants using ultrasound to have sons. New York Times, 21 July.

UNFPA. 2006. UNFPA, State of the World Population 2006: A Passage to Hope; Women and International Migration. Accessed November 29, 2009 at http://womanstats.org/.

US Department of State. 2000. \"Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Accessed November 29, 2009 at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/.

Womanstats. 2007. China to Act on Gender Imbalance, BBC News, 25 August 2007. Accessed November 29, 2009.