The Power in Doing Everything Alone

The role of the modern woman is a juxtaposition of her position in the family and her status in the hierarchy in the workplace. Many women have chosen to face the world by themselves and thus are required to accomplish tasks that would be designated partner activities such as parenting, cleaning, earning money, paying bills, and attending gatherings. These women frequently end up doing all the things rather than being able to designate these to a partner.

One of my favorite female bloggers Allie who writes Hyperbole and a Half (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/p/about.html) and in one of her posts she speaks about the requirements of increased productivity with respect to her daily responsibilities in a blog post titled "Why I Will Never Be An Adult". As her number of responsibilities increases past the basic daily tasks, her productivity consistently decreases as a result of her increasing stress level as shown in her drawing below.

Patricia Hill Collins would would say that Allie identifies with her increasing work load as a form of oppression and she classifies her responsibilities as an adult as being types of oppression less important than her increasing workload (Collins, p.76). "Add(ing) together separate oppressions, you are left with a grand oppression greater than the sum of its parts (Collins, 77)." The addition of responsibilities to women's to do list causes a greater oppression based on their gender, financial position, stability of employment, and daily tasks that must be accomplished independently from others in one's social circle. 

Women's ability to accomplish their daily tasks depends on the safety of their person and integrity. In populations that follow the laws of Islam (the hadiths and the Q'uran), women who do not wear the Hijab (a veil or covering) may attract unwanted attention from a "uniquely masculine penchant for untamed sexual activity and construe the veil as God-ordained solution to the apparent disparities in men's and women's sexual appetites. Women are therefore deemed responsible for the management of men's sexuality (Read and Bartkowski, p. 246)." 

However Read and Bartkowski also claim that a woman may veil for reasons other than protecting against a man's sexual desires. In proponents views (Read and Bartowski citing Al-Swailem 1995 and Siddiqi 1983)"the veil can serve as a (1) demonstration of the Muslim woman's unwavering obedience to the tenets of Islam; (2) a clear indication of the essential differences distinguishing men and women; (3) a reminder to women that their proper place is in the home rather than in pursuing public-sphere activities; and (4) a sign of the devout Muslim woman's disdain for the profane, immodest, and consumerist cultural customs of the west." 

Perhaps women's choices to function in society without a partner are similar to some women's choices not to wear the Hijab in that both are rejecting the social expectations that partnership or religion that requires a union with another person is required to achieve one's full potential. Though women frequently find themselves exhausted when attempting to clear their to do list of tasks, their independence is a kind of payment for their successes.