Gender Inequity in a Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (Essay Example)

Throughout history, gender inequality and disparities between males and females have been valid, excluding women from the broad world of opportunities that men have held for centuries. Although there are many arguments to the topic of gender inequity, in the essay, A Room of One’s Own, authored by Virginia Woolf, a modernist English writer of the 20th century, argues that the inequity among both genders is due to their domestic gender roles and lack of economic independence. Mary Beton, narrating the impediments that she came across when attempting to reach her ambitions in the prosperous world of men, was Woof’s procedure in illustrating her argument along with promoting hope in her audience through the history of female literature  successes. Her intention in writing such an essay was to encourage females to seek for their own independence or in other words “a room of her own '' (Woolf 4).  Relating to the purpose of Woolf’s argument, females in the Middle East still struggle with pursuing a career after the completion of their education, even when outperforming their male companions. This struggle is believed to be due to gender discrimination that is still an issue in Middle Eastern culture. Furthermore, the inconvenient manner that females face being educated and financially independent embodied in Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, and the prejudice of females in the Middle East when it comes to pursuing a career post education despite inhibiting cultural relevance, create an imbalancement in personal achievements, which can be resolved through considering to normalize independence. 

As approached in Woolf's essay and the lives of females in the Middle East, females faced an inconvenient manner when it came to the subject of their education and careers. This was especially discerned when concocting what she portrayed as Shakespeare’s sister, Judith, a clever girl, with all the gifts of her brother but they come to naught: "She was as adventurous, as imaginative, as agog to see the world as he was. But she was not sent to school.”(Woolf 47) and to avoid a life of domestic drudgery she ran away to become an actress, was roundly ridiculed, fell pregnant by her employer and took her own life. The purpose of Woolf introduding Judith in her essay, utilizing a feminist perspective, was to identify society valuing one gender over the other. Referring to the essay, both genders were gifted with the same talents yet one was educated and the other wasn’t, one’s career was at ease and the other fought till there was no hope of life. Woolf intended to create a female version of Shakespeare to prove how even if both genders were just as talented and just as dedicated, females would still be underrated and devalued. If Judith had the same opportunities of education and ease of a career she would not have ran away from her home or even committ suicide. This idea portrayed by Woolf connects to the modern lives of female individuals in the Middle East, where gender discrimination is significant in their culture, which usually interferes in a Middle Eastern female’s career. There are also practical differences in incentives, for instance, in the Middle East females have a couple choices; they either must score high on end of the year exams, which only half the students pass, and get into a university to later on get a reputable job such as a teacher or a doctor, or they must marry right away due to being “considered dishonorable for a woman to work alongside men in service jobs at restaurants or hotels'' (Ripley).  It is a must for females to work hard in order to get a respectable job yet a male in the Middle East does not have to study hard to have a good job. In the middle east males with mediocre test scores could still get a job after highschool, not necessarily a great job , but an income that will allow him to marry someday, which remains a mark of status in their culture. Due to gender discrimination being valid in Middle Eastern culture, the majority of females struggle to have a career other than a typical housewife. Their strict culture revolves off of the inequality of genders, resulting in one gender being more privileged than the other. With all that being said, the idea of Judith in Woolf’s essay and her access to her career in her era is just as limited as the access to careers of females in the Middle East today. 

Also relevant in Woolf's essay and the lives of females in the Middle East, females faced a discouragement in being financially independent, which would be assembled through being unconstrained. Woolf’s most significant argument, which her essay revolves upon, states, “ a woman must have money and a room of her own to write fiction” (Woolf 4).  portraying a formalist perspective, not only is the “room” stated in the text associated with a place where women could write, this “room” also resembles economic independence. Females of this era relied on a male figure’s wealth in order to live due to being legally bound to them. Unlike their male counterparts, females were routinely denied the education, time, and space to construct creative works and instead, were weighed down with household duties. When a female is deprived of a room of her own, there is a possibility for her to redirect this situation and become independent financially, even mentaly and emotionally. Even though this ideology is a historical truth, recasting the accomplishments of women in a new and far more favorable light forced people to realize the harsh truths about society and what were considered norms. Adjacent to Woolf’s thesis, the majority of the females in the middle east lack economic independence due to unequal gender based laws. Research indicates that females in the middle east  generally have the legal right to own property, enter legal contracts, apply for loans, and access credit but, “they frequently do not do so because laws in other areas perpetuate gender-based 

Also relevant in Woolf's essay and the lives of females in the Middle East, females faced a discouragement in being financially independent, which would be assembled through being unconstrained. Woolf’s most significant argument, which her essay revolves upon, states, “ a woman must have money and a room of her own to write fiction” (Woolf 4).  portraying a formalist perspective, not only is the “room” stated in the text associated with a place where women could write, this “room” also resembles economic independence. Females of this era relied on a male figure’s wealth in order to live due to being legally bound to them. Unlike their male counterparts, females were routinely denied the education, time, and space to construct creative works and instead, were weighed down with household duties. When a female is deprived of a room of her own, there is a possibility for her to redirect this situation and become independent financially, even mentaly and emotionally. Even though this ideology is a historical truth, recasting the accomplishments of women in a new and far more favorable light forced people to realize the harsh truths about society and what were considered norms. Adjacent to Woolf’s thesis, the majority of the females in the middle east lack economic independence due to unequal gender based laws. Research indicates that females in the middle east  generally have the legal right to own property, enter legal contracts, apply for loans, and access credit but, “they frequently do not do so because laws in other areas perpetuate gender-based 

As previously mentioned, females in the Middle East struggle to gain independence due to their gender discriminating culture. The limmited choices of post education careers and not lack of being financially independent are only a couple restrains that females in the Middle East face due to the gender discriminating culture of that region. The world has evolved with the topic of gender equality yet the Middle East seems to struggle with progressing and closing this gap. Not many individuals are aware of the broad inconveniences that females of this region face on a day to day basis. Middle Eastern females are currently stepping in changing this discriminated ideology and in closing this long lasting gender gap that will hopefully suit the hard work that many females put in for many years. In order for all these changes to occur Middle Eastern cultures must learn to consider female independence.