After running out of luck with figuring out what to write about for my next article, I turned to one of my best friends and asked for help. She instantly told me to write about the existing gender roles, here at home. Which would be Kuwait. A society, just like many others whose people abide by the societal norms, especially when it comes gender/sex.
Kuwait is a tiny nation located in the heart of the Arabian Gulf, rich in its own history and Islamic heritage. Kuwait is also considered to be a fairly progressive and tolerant nation, whose people share both conservative and liberal views. Despite that, gender roles seem to dictate people’s behaviors and actions, which in turn makes it difficult to allow the nation to move forward and make its mark in the future.
As a young Kuwaiti woman, I am lucky to have been exposed to and experienced many different things and situations which I believe has allowed me to open my heart and mind a little more to the world around me. Though, not everyone in Kuwait could say the same, which I think are partly due to the strict gender roles.
In Kuwait, boys are taught to grow up to be men who provide for and protect their families. While girls are taught to grow up to be women who take care of their families and raise the next generation. Though these practices are benevolent, they don’t necessarily seem to depict the entire reality.
The strict gender roles that have been solidified over the years seem to desensitize boys as well as men while shackling girls and women. Boys are taught and encouraged to display and exert their dominance in some shape or form, which usually projects itself through the form of violence and aggression. They are also discouraged from showing emotion especially publicly, as it would associate them with being womanly or feminine. Furthermore, once they reach adolescence and young adulthood, many experience a lot more freedom in which they can leave the house and don’t have to worry about curfews, they can smoke freely and can drive around at anytime they want.
On the other hand, girls are typically shackled by society’s view of how females should behave. Girls are taught to take an interest in their physical appearances and focus on their looks, hair, makeup and other materialistic things. To add on, when it comes to their careers and vocational options, most of the fields available are considered to be male-dominated fields such as law, medicine and engineering, which would be something Kuwaiti women would feel discouraged from joining if not given the proper support. Though these negative gender roles seem to remain existent, we should still shed some light on the changes that are happening in the Kuwaiti society.
More recently, the Kuwaiti youth have begun to work together to revitalize the future of this country and allow it to move forward by creating small businesses, inventing new things and using education and creativity as tools at their disposal. Furthermore, more people have begun to give and offer opportunities to people based on who they are and what they can do, while simultaneously breaking down the barriers of gender.
For these reasons, I am proud to be a member of a society that is working towards prosperity and development by capitalizing on the youth’s talents and capabilities. As I am also proud to be a citizen of a country that has been one of the leading countries in the region to provide and fight for equal rights and opportunities. Therefore, I am proud to be a Kuwaiti.
