Ancestor Stones Blog 2

It was a little harder to keep track of who was who, and keep track of the experiences that the girls talked about in the previous section of readings and how they matched up. Throughout this reading it made me think a lot about how a woman's worth was measured. She must marry, the wealthier the man the better. A woman was looked down upon if she married below her. She was looked down upon if she did not remarry after her husband's death if she was still of an appropriate age. The woman had a specific purpose, and although the times and the beliefs were gradually changing, those purposes seemed to hold on in some sort to measure their worth.

As I looked at how the woman's worth was measured it made me think a little of how we measure a woman's worth here in America. Apparently we are supposed to be a superior, more knowing country. But here in America we measure a woman's worth by her looks, by her size, by her possessions and sometimes by her education. Which is comparable to how those in Africa measured a woman's worth. So what makes oh so much more "civilized", knowing, and what not?

We discussed in last class how we were to solve this problem that has been created in Africa of disease, poverty, and corruption. One student made the comment of how are we to go over there and try to make things right, who is to say what we implement and do over there to create their lives better (like ours) is really what is best for them? It just made me think while reading this book that many times people are too quick to judge. Before we say who's wrong or right we need to think about the backgrounds and history of those other people. Things we've probably never experienced influence a persons everyday move. If we are so different and "civilized" than those in Africa than why do we treat our women in similar ways?