Women Around the World

During CSU Chico’s International Education Week, I attended the "Women Around the World" event. It took place on May 2^nd 2008 at the BMU. There were 5 students from different parts of the world talking about what it is like living there compared to living here in America. They were from Japan, China, India, Costa Rica, and Saudi Arabia.

In Japan, girls normally go to school with boys but then in college some times they have all girl colleges they can go to. Once they graduate they work until they are married and then are expected to leave work to be a full time mother but once their children have grown they can get a job again. Chinese girls go to co-ed schools as well as colleges and all families except the very poor try hard to get their children to college. Indian women from the country are only expected to be a housekeeper for their father and then husband. It is looked down upon to have a girl work but it is becoming more acceptable in cities. Women are expected to get some schooling and not go to college. Costa Rica women are split because some women choose to learn how to cook and care for the house from their mothers, while others choose to get a good education and a nice job. But only more modern Costa Rican men prefer the college educated and working women (women leave their job once they marry usually). In Saudi Arabia women are housewives and they control the running of the house. It is usual that they have a chaffer and a maid living with the family. Women are not supposed to drive in Saudi Arabia.

In all of these places it was preferred that women were home makers but at the same time women are getting the chance to go out and work if they want to. But in the case of marriage all of them said that it would be really hard to ever marry someone without the approval of the parents and especially they should not marry out of their cast. And unlike America couples never live with each other unless they are married and in Saudi Arabia and India the woman should never leave with a man unless married.