Intro- Sociology perspective

An association is a group of people organized for a particular purpose or a

limited number of purposes. To constitute an association there must be,
firstly, a group of people; secondly, these people must be organized one,
i.e., there must be certain rules for their conduct in the groups, and thirdly,
they must have a common purpose of a specific nature to pursue. Thus,
family, church, trade union, music club all are the instances of association.

Ginsberg writes, “An association is a group of social beings related to one

another by the fact that they possess or have instituted in common an
organization with a view to securing specific end or specific ends:”

G. D. H. Cole says, “By an association I mean any group of persons pursuing

a common purpose by a course of corporative action extending beyond a
single act and for this purpose agreeing together upon certain methods of
procedure, and laying down, in however, rudimentary a form, rule for
common action.”

 Participation means that people are closely involved in the economic, social
and cultural and political processes that affect their lives. People may in
some cases have complete and direct control over these processes in other
cases the control may be partial or indirect. People have constant access to
decision making and power.

Participation in this sense is an essential element of human development. It

generally refers to people's involvement in particular projects or programs.
But today participation means an overall development strategy focusing on
the central role that people should play in all spheres of life. Human
development involves widening their choice and greater participation enables
people to gain for themselves access to a much broader range of
opportunities.
People can participate as individuals or groups. As individuals in a
democracy they may participate as voters or political activists or in the
market as entrepreneurs or workers. Often they participate more and more
effectively through group action as members of a community organization or
a trade union or a political party.

Relating both terms, association and participation using the perspective of

sociology means a group of organized people that are closely involved in a
particular community or even a program. Participation and association is
greatly related because both terms connect to the nature of human which is
to be involve in a particular community or an organization.

Problem – Patriarchal Society / women oppression

Before going to the issue, let us first identify what is Patriarchy.

Patriarchy literally means "the rule of the father". Patriarchy is a social
system in which males hold primary power and predominate in roles of
political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property.
Some patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and
title are inherited by the male lineage.

Patriarchy is associated with a set of ideas, a patriarchal ideology that acts

to explain and justify this dominance and attributes it to inherent natural
differences between men and women. Sociologists tend to see patriarchy as
a social product and not as an outcome of innate differences between the
sexes and they focus attention on the way that gender roles in a society
affect power differentials between men and women.
According to feminist theorists, patriarchy has been a primary cause of
women oppression. Women must gain control over reproduction in order to
be free from oppression. Feminist historian Gerda Lerner believes that male
control over women's sexuality and reproductive functions is a fundamental
cause and result of patriarchy.

In our present lives there are still plenty of women who are oppressed
and are treated as less of a person compared to males. One particular
example is the decision making in the household. Women’s opinion in the
household is greatly neglected because society has already instill in our
minds that male of the father should always make the decision because he is
the head of the family. We grew up in a society where women are seen to be
as an assistant at home and the male to be working for the family. This has
cause great oppression to women.

Women are equal to men; this idea should also be implanted in our
society. We should not treat women as inferior to men.

Women can also participate in organization and can become great

leaders. Women are naturally born to become part of a community and
society. It is in the nature of a women to participate and interact with other
people. Women’s opinion and idea should not be neglected and should be
recognized. The idea that men should lead the family should be abolished
and should be changed. We should start thinking that women are also
capable of leading the family and the household.

Women’s oppression is not only seen locally but also nationally.

Majority of the leaders of our country are men because unconsciously, we
carry the idea of patriarchy.

Reflection
 According to Nadia T. Hasan, a fourth-year counseling psychology
student at the University of Akron and APAGS chair-elect “To me, feminism
empowers women to achieve their goals, whatever they may be. It's a
positive force in their lives.”

In my own opinion and point of view, men and women’s association

and participation should be treated equal. If men can participate and lead an
organization, then women can do it also. God created men and women
equal, so we should also treat them equally.

Association and participation of a person should not be based on

gender. Whether a person is male or female, a person should have freedom
to participate and be involve not just a home but within the community. An
individual’s idea should be recognized and respected whether a person is
male or female. Women’s participation should be equal to men’s
participation.

Both gender should have equal access to participation and association

in the community and especially at the household. Participation and
association are terms that are created for everyone and not just for men
alone. The idea of women oppression is recognized in a way that what is
happening at present should be stopped. Women oppression should be
vanished already because at present everyone should know already that
women are capable of doing things that at the past women are not allowed
to do such as having their own opinion and even leading the family.