When we turn the pages of history, women are being described as fragile creatures. This idea leads to the opinion that women cannot possibly perform the same job requirements as men. Men are always the breadwinners of the family while women on the other hand will be staying at home, taking care of household chores and taking care of the welfare of other family members. However, as time passes, this perception seems to be proven wrong. There are more and more successful women appear recently. One of them is Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the 7th and current governor of Malaysian Central Bank. According to official statistics, women represent 36% of the Malaysian workforce. Half of this comprises women working as unpaid, family workers. Statistics have also shown that among working women, married women numbered 2. 1 million people or 58. 1%. These statistics showed that more than half of the women working in our country played two roles, which are either in their homes or in places of work. Chairman Mao once said that, “ Women hold up half of the sky.” According to statistics, there is no difference between the standards and quality of work done by men and women who do the same work. In recent studies women have taken to the forefront in starting their own businesses yet they lag far behind male counterparts in positions of corporate management. So, should women work outside or stay at home doing house chores? Women should work, instead of staying at home.
First of all, growing urbanization and industrialization has necessitated women to work. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, production of consumer goods is centralized into factories. This phenomenon has open up many working opportunities to women, indeed, the world need women to join the work force. Women have made up a large segment of the new factory labour force. If women do not join the work force, imagine what would happen to the world of industrialization? Industries will meet problem of insufficient labours, when this happens, productivity of industries would be lower and it could bring negative effects to the economy of a country. When women join the work force, industries get sufficient labours and productivity will be increased and more trades can be carried out. Indirectly, this does help in the growth of economy. Hence, in this sense, women should work instead of staying at home. Women should contribute themselves in the working force to help in the growing economy.
Secondly, inflation has caught on these days and recession at present is giving a tough time to people who are finding it difficult to meet both ends. . In the olden days, fifty cents can used to buy a large bowl of noodles, a few thousand dollar is more than enough to study in university but now, fifty cents can only used to buy a small cup of drink, a few thousand is only enough for a child’s tuition fee. Many women actually have no choice about whether to work or stay at home full time. Either because of poverty or because they are single parents, or both, women realise that they must work to earn enough money to maintain a decent standard of living and provide good education and medical needs as well as other amenities for their family. This situation will be able to create a happy and healthy living environment to the children of that particular family. Besides that, women can spend their own money to buy things that they have been longing like jewelry, handbags, and etcetera. How could a family survive in the world today with a single income from the man? Women need to work outside instead of staying at home to lead at least tolerably good lives.
Since recent times, women have wrested from men their right to develop careers other than to be merely good wives and mothers. In the past, women were being treated unequally and being oppressed as inferior creatures. In some nations, women even do not have the chance to be educated. Over centuries men have been trained and educating women to consider themselves inferior and to accept their superior position. As a result, not only men are prejudiced against women, but also some women are also prejudiced against themselves as they believe they are inferior and only fit for household chores. However, as time goes on and people are more educated and society is more liberal, public are more aware of basic human right. Women should no longer be considered the inferior sex. They should stand side by side with men and define their role in society, where they can choose to work outside or stay at home and in which they will have more time to develop their own interests. It is a shame in the modern world to confine women to the home and block their way to the full exploitation of their capacity and potential. Men should take an equal share in housework to liberate women from the kitchen. Many men in the modern world today do play their roles as a good husband, helping their wives to do household chores and taking care of children. In case when the wife busy with her job, the husband could help out. The above arguments are therefore justified. Women should work for equality.
Women should go to work because it channelizes their talents and makes best use of their education, especially for those who have diploma or equivalent qualification and experience. There was once when most girls got married at early age within 18 to 20 years old. By these ages, girls would be just finished their studies. The main focus after their marriages was to give birth to children and soon their entire life would be revolved around taking care of her children, husband and the husband’s family. Supposing they can have a bright career, yet the knowledge they gained couldn’t be used in their daily routine and would be forgotten as time goes on. They should go to work and apply all their knowledge to the fullest. In addition, for women who do not continue working after having their first child, the cost of being a stay-at-home mom is terribly high, not only their income is forfeited, but also retirement savings, pension and other benefits. In the meantime, once they leave the workforce, they cannot regain the income or status they had had usually. The Center for Work-Life Policy, a research organization founded by Sylvia Ann Hewlett of Columbia, found that women lose an average of 18 percent of their earning power when they temporarily leave the work force. Statistics shows that, there is no difference between the standards and quality of work done by men and women who do the same work. Women are capable for jobs which men can do as well. For instance, if a man can build his own career, work starting from a small clerk and ending up becoming a boss of a famous company, a woman can succeed as well. A working environment comprises of both genders is able to create healthy competitions among the employees, resulting in an increase of working efficiency. Thus, the rules of promotion will also be changed from gender bias to ability bias. This change will ensure that only those who are qualified can hold certain position, and therefore, increase the productivity of a particular company and in the end, a fruitful profit will be earned in a much simpler and nicer way. Hence, women should work in order to make best use of their knowledge, or else their talents could be wasted.
Next, women could gain self-satisfaction when they are working outside. When women work outside, their social network would be enlarged. They have more chances to meet new people and make new friends. In comparison, if they stay at home being a housewife, they have lesser chance to meet new people. By having a better social life, women can be healthier emotionally. A woman who only stay at home do not have much chances to socialize with others and hence they would be emotionally unbalance. For example, when working women face some hardships, most probably they have a bunch of good friends to share with and to discuss with compare to a housewife. Besides that, working women can gain confidence through their work. When they meet more people, keep on learning new knowledge, they can know themselves better and hence gain more self-confidence. Furthermore, working women are financially independent, they need not to wait for their husband to give them money and they will feel more satisfied when they are spending their self-earned money. Meanwhile, they will realize that earning money is not an easy task and hence, they will help their husband to save money for emergency uses or as an education fund for their children. Women benefit more at work than they do when they stay at home. For instance, if women do not earn any income for their families, housewives have to bear the insults of their husbands; “ You are a burden to me!”, today working women of marital status contribute equally for the family and is treated with due respect. Money earned by the working women and men enters the house, bringing more wealth, luxury, comfort and leisure.
One point in favour of women should working is they should contribute to the society. In the past, women’s place seen to be in the home rather than being part of the workforce. However, in the recent years, this has been undergoing rapid change as women become more educated and are more willing to step into domains traditionally occupied by men. Education has been the key that opened up opportunities for women in the working world. It is no longer surprising to see women holding key positions in large corporations and the world has long acknowledged the contributions of women to society. By holding their own in their careers, women are able to work hand-in-hand with their male counterparts to fuel the economy. As a result, women have become worthy contributors to the economy as producers, taxpayers, and consumers. Even of they are not able to devote their time to economy, women have still provided labour as part-time workers in factories and other industries. In many families, the man’s salary alone is not enough to cover all household expenses such as utility consumption fee, household goods, child care and so on. Thus, the need for extra income arises, and the woman has to work. Even though amount of the time spent working in their jobs may not be substantial, these housewives should still be recognized for their contribution to economy.
