Most Women Do Not Willingly Make Ten Children

The essence of power is the ability to define reality, corral choices and make the whole setup appear ‘natural’ if not ‘God-given’. This is especially true for those women from highly exploited regions of the world, who can, upon marriage, find themselves migrating into the crosshairs of the ‘developed’ nations. Such women, if they don’t speak the local language and lack knowledge about the local civic structures, are highly dependent on their husband. The above article by Walter Rhein reminded me of a situation I experienced when I was a trainee teacher for adults learning English as an additional language, back in the 1990’s. I was assigned for six weeks of teaching practice at a small college in West Yorkshire. Typically, the South Asian women who arrive in the centres of power and privilege in the West, (that has amassed wealth from much of the rest of the world) often have had no choice as to husband or location. Their parents assign to kismet or fate, the hope that their daughter will be well looked after. In one of my classes, almost all my students originated from rural Pakistan. They had come over to the U.K as brides of men already settled here. One afternoon, I gave a lift home to Shameem, an older female student in my class, who limped quite badly even though using a walking stick. Actually, I found my initial impression of her age was wrong. Though she looked and walked like a frail older person, she was actually only in her late thirties! <a href="https://medium.com/fourth-wave/most-women-do-not-willingly-make-ten-children-3ab54596588">Read More</a>