The world as a global village
Today, the world is referred to as a global village since you can visit several continents within the same day. Just like life in the village where all households are within vicinity and can be accessed in a couple of minutes. In a village, everybody is family, and thus people become brothers or sisters’, keeper. When one family is experiencing a tragedy, the whole village joins hands to comfort then, and in times of happiness, the community shares the joy of the family. Unfortunately, the word “village” only fits the world in the eyes of humans but does not correspond to the actions and teachings from the Bible. A probable definition of a village should be a group of people sharing a strong bond. A huge family bonded with love , oneness and equality. Most of the problems experienced in society today are because of hatred, unhealthy competition, and los of brotherhood. The Bible refers to Christians as the body of Christ, which consists of different parts but which must work in harmony to achieve the kingdom of God. However, the events from today’s society portray humans as having drifted far from God’s teachings, and hence the differences being witnessed in the world currently.
One of the vital elements in the contemporary world affecting the global economy and human development is education and skilled labor force. Although education is critical, the girl child faces varying challenges in access to education like political, health, geographical, economic, and socio-cultural factors. The cultural bias against girls is due to patriarchal systems of disregard towards the female gender, heavier subsistence and domestic duties towards women, the early incidence of marriages, customary early marriages, and social organization[1]. The listed factors negatively affect the active and equal involvement of women in education and professional opportunities.
Worse, some regions in the world experiencing high inequality of women in society are due to the security and seclusion of women in such areas. The core issue of women’s issues in a patriarchal society is based on the negative attitudes of influential men in society. The root cause of the girl child is not society but home. The home is the first education system where boys and girls are taught differently on what defines being a man or a woman. For years, the parents, siblings, neighbors, or relatives who view girls more differently than men. Boys are community and family assets who are a source of wealth [2]with the perspective that boys are more responsible, skilled, proficient, and intelligent. On the contrary, girls are considered as subjects to the male community.
Contemporary society has neglected God’s command. According to Romans 12:16, the Bible urges humans to live in harmony with one another. God’s people should not be proud. Instead, they should be willing to associate with people of low position. The Bible insists that humans should not be conceited. Although parents and the community at large consider boys as the pillar of the family, the boys should live according to God’s teachings and live with girls in harmony to create some difference between the traditional and current society. This would help to separate women from the struggles of the past and bring them some equality and opportunities.
Although boys and girls are reared in the same environment of home, girls are denied some opportunities to explore their skills and talents. Due to this, most girls in such a region grow with a high level of inferiority to the male species. The high degree of gender bias in this age, the disparity of girl education and social opportunities continue to diminish. The current work will explore the factor of social-cultural factors and education among girls. The cultural issues facing women will be tackled using two case studies based on two interviews with Cindy and Johanna.
Johanna, who was interviewed from Honduras, had a unique educational opportunity and displayed an overwhelming amount of gratitude toward her parents for her medical care and education. Kingsley’s writing in The Borgen Project supports Johanna’s mindset and her view on the role of a woman living in Honduras. To fully understand Johanna, one must learn and understand her country, culture, and life experiences. Kingsley states, “As one of the largest and most impoverished countries in Central America, Honduras faces several obstacles in girls’ education. The people of Honduras fear gang violence and human trafficking[3]. This triggers the question of love at the family and community level. It is believed that the people who involve in human trafficking are members of the communities and who know their targets and their families. The aspect of love for one another seems to be fading in society.
According to Mark 12: 31, people should love their neighbors as themselves. The book reminds readers that loving people in need is the greatest of God’s commandments. It is humiliating that young people, especially girls, are sold to other countries where they are used in sex trades and drug peddling by people who know. If the perpetrators of human trafficking treated their victims as their children, it would be easy to fight such evils in the community. By obeying the commandment of love, girls in places like Honduras would get an opportunity to grow with their families, get some education, and be important people who could change society in the future.
The high level of poverty in Honduras, according to Kingsley, diminishes the ability of girls to access education. Most homesteads struggle to put food in their table, and education is a luxury. Besides, if a family has the cash to spare, the boy child is educated rather than the girl child. Kingsley argues that the place for girls in Honduras is home rather than schooling. Although the aspect of poverty affects both girls and boys, the boys at least have the opportunity of reaching the sixth grade. Worse, Honduras reports a high rate of early marriage, where approximately 34% of girls get married before their eighteen birthdays.
Child labor and domestic violence are also issues that the government continues to combat. These are only a few facts that impact education in Honduras and the reasons why one in three Honduran girls drop out of school every year[4]. In her article, Kingsley explores the top 10 facts about girls’ education in Honduras include problems connected to cultural attitudes, quality of education, and the issues related to crime.”
She goes on to list the “Top 10 Facts about Girls’ Education in Honduras”.
In the case study, Johanna defied the odds and was able to succeed in health and education surpassing statistics. Kingsley states one of these facts, “In 2014, only 24.4 percent of girls enrolled in college courses, significantly less than many other developed countries in the region. Moreover, even for girls who have higher education, there is a much lower chance of being hired for work outside of the home. In 2018, women made up only 37 percent of the labor force. It is due to the cultural custom of women working inside the home[5].
Although Johanna graduated with a higher educational degree, she remains in a subservient role in her household by helping her parents with cooking and cleaning, as well as being a significant financial contributor to the family. In American standards, a woman of Johanna’s age, educational background, and financial means would feel a sense of entitlement and independence, which was not present in Johanna.
The economic factors in societies increase female disparity and discrimination. For example, in Honduras, girls do not attain the primary six-year grade due to financial problems. When boys are viewed as assets in the family, the girl is seen as a liability based on a patriarchal predominance perspective that educating a girl is a waster of money, time, and resources. The educational disparities among girls are based on the shortage of skilled and competent teachers, inadequate infrastructure, lack of resources, and difficulties of accessibility[6]. Worse, parents may feel uncomfortable where the girls are taught by male teachers only[7]. Such problems illustrate the lack of mentors in the region to steer girl child education. Unfortunately, humans believe they can determine who is superior or who is brighter in the family. When parents choose to educate boys at the expense of girls, it indicates that they believe that boys have a higher likelihood of succeeding. However, the Bible says that God always have the final say in what becomes of humans and thus humans are required to obey God and let him fulfill his plans. The book of Colossians 1: 16 states that it is in God that all things, heaven, and earth were created. This is an indication that God creates what he wants to prosper and destroys that which he thinks is not worth it. The same verse continues that all things, both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him. This shows that it is irresponsible for parents and the community to value educating boys more than girls hoping that the boy could succeed more in life. God decides what people achieve because he is the creator and has a plan for all humans.
Johanna also seemed to accept her fate as a single mother, that she would never marry because she had a child out of wedlock, believing she would not be wanted. Kingsley provided additional facts that addressed marital ages, “An estimated 26 percent of Honduran women become mothers before the age of 18, which contributes to the high drop-out rates of Honduran girls. In 2013, the Committees for the Prevention of Pregnancies and STIs among Adolescents (COPEITSA), a peer-education sexual health program for Honduran children, was launched. The program teaches sexual health and family planning topics that are all but afterthoughts in Honduran education and public awareness. As recently as 2016, 34 percent of girls were married before the age of 18. However, in 2017, the Honduran government banned child marriage. Even with parental permission, it is now illegal in Honduras for anyone under the age of 18 to be married[8]. It is a drastic change from past decades, where child marriage was common and kept girls uneducated and in poverty.”
Johanna had her daughter in her mid-twenties and was an older mother in comparison to her peers.
Further research was done by the interviewer to understand Johanna’s Honduran culture.
The Worth of A Girl project was published by the VOA, Spanish Service, A Free Press That Matters, conducted independent projects around the world focused on the worth of a girl to reveal how a young bride is valued by two families: the one she leaves behind and the one she joins. And what is the cost to the girl herself of marrying before age 18? To solicit global view during our reporting, VOA news teams representing 12 languages—posted short videos of girls and women describing their experiences as brides and young mothers. These Facebook videos received millions of views and thousands of comments, from strings of emojis to provocative arguments for and against child marriage[9].
The interviewer from the Honduras VOA project was EmmaCalderon, and she interviewed Olga Emelina Vasquez Pena.
The interview gave additional perspective into the life of a young girl in Honduras and the world that Johanna had grown up with. LikeJoanna’s case, Calderon explains the high rate of single mothers or girls left by men after pregnancy outside marriage. It is interesting that following sexual acts, the man walks freely without responsibilities as he is not allowed to marry a woman who gets pregnant before the wedding. Worse, the woman after pregnancy and giving birth is left not only to real the baby alone but is an outcast and cannot get married again. Calderon provides although she got married at a young age of seventeen where they are living under poverty. After marriage, a woman cannot walk out of marriage due to the strict rules and high cost of divorce. Although allowable, many couples opt to live together as they cannot afford a divorce.
Marriage or cohabiting for girls, unlike Joanne, is due to pregnancy. Due to the high level of poverty, a young girl will prefer marriage due to the challenges of raising the child alone. In Joanna’s case, she was lucky her parents were better financially and got a chance of formal education. Although she is a graduate, her cultural beliefs hold her back in her home without exploring the world for better opportunities. Religion is another issue indirectly affecting and supporting the social-cultural prejudice with patriarchal dominance. Besides, most spiritual and church leaders are boys, which favors the boy child than the girl child. However, religious leaders have a vital role to play to reduce girl’s discrimination in society
Johanna was the only Honduran woman the interviewer had ever known. She allowed her worldview to judge the situation Johanna was in and at times pitied her for not wanting more, for not wanting to go back to America to have more opportunity and not to be able to have a family of her own.
However, through learning more about Honduras and the environment in which Johanna was raised, the interviewer learned that perhaps Johanna was indeed one of the fortunate girls of Honduras.
Johanna had parents who had money and the means to afford her numerous complex and expensive surgeries in Honduras and the United States. She was blessed with parents who loved her and allowed her to go to school and college to earn an advanced degree.
From the research done, perhaps other girls like Johanna may not be allowed to go to school because they had to help raise siblings and work on a farm or even marry early to help provide for themselves. Besides, Joanna was the only child in the family, a factor that led her parents to educate her for the lack of a competitor. This new-found knowledge brings different perspectives into the life of Johanna. The interviewer has great respect for Johanna’s love for God, her family, and the work ethics she possesses. Johanna also has an overall sense of joy and contentment that is lacking in the second interview that transpired in Lake Worth, Florida, with Cindy. The problem could also as a result of a society losing touch with Christian values. Humans have turned against humans, and they no longer view each other as equals, like God wants to view each other. The book of Revelations 7:9 states that “After this, I looked and before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the lamb. The verse is an indication that all humans are equal before God and will judge us the same. God does not judge people based on their gender, race, or age.
During the 1960s, influenced and inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, women of all ages began to fight to secure a more substantial role in American society. As members of groups like the National Organization for Women (NOW) asserted their rights and strove for equality for themselves and others, they upended many accepted norms and set groundbreaking social and legal changes in motion. Title VII is the section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibited discrimination in employment based on gender[10].
Cindy was born and raised in the most volatile Civil Rights Movement, which led to Women’s Liberation. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was creating a climate of protest as activists claimed rights and new positions in society for people of color[11]. Cindy’s experience of attending a sizeable liberal university gave her the freedom to find her voice. She was also given sexual freedom by the Pill. The Pill was a vital discovery that led to sexual experimentation and freedom for women. In 1960, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the birth control pill, freeing women from the restrictions of pregnancy and childbearing. Women who were able to limit, delay, and prevent reproduction were freer to work, attend college, and delay marriage. Within five years of the Pill’s approval, some six million women were using it[12].
The Pill was the first medicine ever intended to be taken by people who were not sick. Even conservatives saw it as a possible means of making marriages stronger by removing the fear of unwanted pregnancy and improving the health of women. Its opponents, however, argued that it would promote sexual promiscuity, undermine the institutions of marriage and the family, and destroy the moral code of the nation. By the early 1960s, 30 states had made it a criminal offense to sell contraceptive devices[13].
Cindy became a product of her environment. She was active in student activities that promoted women’s rights.
It was a sense of belonging and purpose to her. The interviewer questioned, “where was God in Cindy’s life?”
To further understand Cindy’s childhood, it is essential to note that she was raised by Holocaust Survivors. Cindy freely expressed, her parents were not affectionate; there were specific topics that were not allowed to be discussed, referencing “the other place.” Cindy also felt she never belonged and found the Orthodox Jewish environment dull and oppressive. If she had stayed, her parents and the religious order would have chosen her destiny. Cindy wanted to explore and find her own identity. She was seeking happiness and validation.
Cindy, in terms of education, was enlightened and has enhanced her skills and abilities. However, in the Jewish tradition, girls were denied equal rights as boys and were married at an early age. Yet, due to her education, Cindy, unlike Joanna, has explored her talents and likes, where she has had different and several relationships with both men and women. It is contrary to her Jewish training, which includes household chores, like childbearing and rearing, embroidery, sewing, rearing livestock, fetching water, cleaning, and meal preparation.
Holocaust trauma was not limited to the survivors themselves but was passed on to the next generation born after the Holocaust and raised in its shadow. It is possible to see the effects of growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust and transgenerational transmission of trauma in many aspects of the second-generation children’s lives[14]. Cindy had experienced transmission of extreme trauma, passed down through her parent’s experience of being victims of the Holocaust. Their “circumstances,” as expressed in Bina Nir’s studies, became part of her[15].
Cindy found ways to express her trauma through photojournalism. She was finding ways to cope with her oppression through the images and stories of those she told through her photojournalism work.
Cindy is defiant against authority.
She uses her voice and influence to stand for equality and human rights for all people. Her actions reflect her Jewish roots and the persecution suffered by her people. Cindy projects the personality traits of both “aggressor” and “victim,” which author, Grossman discusses regarding Holocaust Survivors and the next generations.
Several factors influence the high drop-out of girls in schools like school-level factors, household level, schooling cost, absenteeism, female teachers in schools, feminine facilities in schools, low academic performance, school distance, teachers’ attitude, cultural beliefs, and cultural factors. The first element on the economic factor is influenced by gender-biased parental investment, where parents highly invest for the boy with no or little investment for the girl. The high-cost o of child education in some regions has reduced the number of children accessing education to purchase all school requirements. Worse, most schools lack female facilities like sanitary units for girls may inhibit the level of knowledge of a girl.
The attitude of teachers plays a vital role in the accessibility and retinene of students at school. Teachers should contain an approachable manner to reduce the number of girls dropping out. In some schools and instances, teachers have favored boys and neglected girls’ needs. Worse, some students travel to a long-distance from how to school where girls are posed with a high risk of sexual and physical attack. The thought of traveling long distances may make a parent or girl vulnerable concerning sexual harassment.
On the concept of human diversity and culture, girl child continues to face social, economic, religious, cultural, and political prejudice in their education and real life. The current work explores the different experiences of Cindy and Joanna, which varies in different ways; they share some similarities, especially the role of culture, education, and religion in a girl’s life. At young ages, both Cindy and Joanna had a chance to formal education, an aspect that is lacking in other communities. Cindy, although is at the elderly stage, have no religious beliefs but has an excellent helping heart. She distasted her religion and culture and lived her life to the fullest, where she has dated several men and women, have no plan or liking for traditional family and walks less regarding her parents.
Joanne, on the other hand, is a God-fearing and religious woman who, due to her disability and family capability, traveled to the US for orthopedic. While in the youth, she learned about Jesus and surrendered her life to Jesus. After qualification with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology, Joanne leaves America and started living with her parents. Her strong cultural values inhibit her from walking and searching from green pastures. Although educated, Joanne remains a subverting and industrious woman. Her core objective is taking care of her parents, who took care of her at a young age.
The events point to the evils that prevail in society today. People like Johane and other girls who were not lucky enough to get a chance for education are victims of a society that has failed to acknowledge God’s love. Leaders are diving people instead of uniting them. Men have forgotten that it is through God that the world exists, and society, which is supposed to represent the body of Christ, is no longer living harmoniously as the Bible says. The disparity between girls and boys can be eliminated, but only if humans uphold the commandment of love. The scripture reminds us of oneness, equality, and above love. However, there is still hope in identifying the role of girls in society because God has a plan for his creatures.
[1]S. M. Shahidul and A. H. M. Zehadul Karim, “Factors Contributing To School Dropout Among The Girls: A Review Of Literature,” European Journal Of Research And Reflection In Educational Sciences, 2015.
[2]S. M. Shahidul and A. H. M. Zehadul Karim,
[3]Rachel Kingsley, “TOP 10 FACTS ABOUT GIRLS’ EDUCATION IN HONDURAS”, The Borgen Project, 2018, https://borgenproject.org/top-10-facts-about-girls-education-in-honduras/.
[4]Rachel Kingsley,
[5]Rachel Kingsley,
[6]Jennifer Parsons et al., “Economic Impacts Of Child Marriage: A Review Of The Literature,” The Review Of Faith & International Affairs 13, no. 3 (2015): 12-22, doi:10.1080/15570274.2015.1075757.
[7]Qaiser Suleman et al., “Exploring Factors Affecting Girls’ Education At Secondary Level: A Case Of Karak District, Pakistan,” Journal Of Education And Practice 6, no. 19, (2015).
[8], Rachel Kingsley
[9]Voice of America, “The Worth Of A Girl: Child Marriage Around The World, Calferon, Emma,” Voice Of America, VOA Spanish Service, Last modified 2019, https://projectsvoanews.com/child-marriage/ebglish/videos/honduras-olga.html.
[10]APUSH:KC – 8.2.11.A (KC), SOL, Unit 8: Learning Objective L., Second Wave-Feminism, Khan Academy, ebook, accessed 28 April 2020, https://www.khanacademy.org/humantities/us-history/postwarera/1960s-america/a/second-wave-feminism.
[11]APUSH:KC – 8.2.11.A (KC), SOL,
[12] Ibid
[13]Ibid
[14]Bina Nir, “Transgenerational Transmission Of Holocaust Trauma And Its Expressions In Literature”, Geology 2, no. 49 (2018).
[15]Bina Nir,