Millions of women around the world are not being recognized enough for their

efforts and contributions to society, but instead are labelled as fragile, lesser than
man and many more. Although societys views are slowly improving, there are still
negative connotations on a womans value resulting in the fight for feminism each and
everyday. The song Keep Ya Head Up by Tupac explains not only a womans struggle
in a patriarchal society but also praises them for their fight to stay in it. Yvonne Roberts,
the author of the article director of the documentary Indias Daughter: I made a film on
rape in India. Mens brutal attitudes truly shocked me looks deeper into the heinous
rape and murder of Jyoti Singh and the mens opinions on women and their belonging in
society.
By examining their place in society, their value, and their victimization, this paper will
demonstrate that women of today are still continuing to suffer the consequences of
oppression and the lack of respect towards them, which demeans and devalues them.
as of now will be suffering the consequences of oppression and the lack of respect
expressed towards them thus devaluing them.

Firstly, although many do not question that women have a voice and say in
society, others believe the complete opposite thus oppressing women. In the song

Keep Ya Head Up, Tupac recognizes the struggle women face in society such as when
it comes to voicing their opinions and standing up for themselves. He says,
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up
In this line, he says Here he stands up for womens rights when he says strongly that it
is not the mans business to order the woman when and where to make have the child
as the woman is bearing the child for nearly nine months, not him. Even to this day,
some women are forced to abort the child as per their mens order. It is evident that from
such an example, although some men do not believe women have a place or voice in
society, Tupac is one of the few who believes the complete opposite. However, the
opinion of a lawyer of the one of the rapists completely differs from Tupac when he says,
We have the best culture. In our culture, there is no place for a woman,. Although the
Indian culture does give a woman her prominent place in society, this man was brought
up in a certain environment to believe that they do not have a role in society and that
they do not have the right to stand up for themselves. He speaks on the behalf of many
rapists in India as well as some of the men who were brought up in a similar
environment as him that considers women good enough only for making babies and
doing menial work at home. Although some men, like Tupac, do believe that there
should be equality amongst both the men and women, there will always be others, such

as the lawyer, who begs to differ therefore reinforcing it upon the majority of the a
section of like-minded society and marginalizing women.

The value of a womans existence differs amongst different people - some place
a higher or equal value as that of a man while in others, a place of little or no value.
Tupac believes that a womans life is as equally valuable as that of a mans and this is
demonstrated when he says,
And when he tells you you ain't nothin', don't believe him
Tupac is able to recognize the hardships that some women face including such as
emotional and physical abuse resulting in their value deteriorating. Tupacs opinions
contrast with the majority of the patriarchal society because he is aware of the real worth
women have. Women try to prove their worth towards men and although some succeed,
many, especially in third world countries fail to prove it just because they are women.
Women have successfully proven that their capabilities are equal or greater than that of
a man wherever fair societies exist. However, in certain parts of third world countries,
the prejudice towards them based solely on gender, has been a great stumbling block.
In certain shocking instances, even little girls are being stripped away of their true value.
A rapist being interviewed was questioned as to why he would rape a five year old and
he responds responded with, She was a beggar girl, her life was of no value. He

speaks the mind of a majority of the rapists and a certain mindset - especially in some
sections of third world countries - which is very unfortunate. Although many women do
believe that they are worth much more than what they are told, there will always be that
small population of women who conforms to that idea and even devalue their own
daughters ilk because of social conditioning what men tell them.

Lastly, the topic of rape is now more widely spread throughout the world. A small
majority will say that a rape victim, in this case a woman, should not be blamed and
should always fight back. However, the majority of the population influenced by the
patriarchal society will argue that it is the fault of the victim because of their indecency
as typified by wearing modern clothing or having late nights out and the like.Tupac,
questions as to why women are treated so horribly and why such traumatizing events
are to occuring. This is evident when he says,
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women
I think it's time to kill for our women
He notices that many men give zero respect to women and believes that it is time to
change up fight their unacceptable and disgusting attitude and support the victims. He
does not understand the reason of rape and the destruction of dignity of the innocent.

On the other hand, Mukesh Singh who was involved with the rape of Jyoti Singh
supports the idea of victim blaming. He says, A decent girl wont roam around at night.
A girl is more responsible for rape than a boy about 20% of girls are good. He
considers oppressing women as quite natural and is blind to the idea that his idea of
decency or indecency of a girl does not confer upon him the right to mete out
justice through rape and to teach a lesson to rectify her. is not based upon if she is
going out with a boy or wears revealing clothes but is a on if she is with a boy or if she
exposes a little bit of skin, but instead is based off of the girls self respect. Although
more people are starting to support similar ideas as Tupac, the majority, even some
females will support the opinion of Singh, thus adding onto the struggle a majority of the
women face everyday.

In a male dominated society, especially in certain sections of third-world

countries, women are facing challenges to receive the respect they deserve and get
relief from the oppression they are suffering. The song Keep Ya Head Up voices the
opinions of some men who do believe that women should have a voice in society, who
are more valuable as they are claimed to be, and do not deserve to be stripped away of
their dignity just because they are women. However, the opinions of the rapists and
defence lawyer in the documentary Indias Daughter: I made a film on rape in India.

Mens brutal attitudes truly shocked me contradict with Tupacs song and depict the
harsh reality in certain sections of society that threaten women and their dignity.

The need for educating society about womens rights should start right at the
school level. Governments must take a proactive approach in revising their
educational policies accordingly and request School Boards to add value to their
regular curriculum to include mandatory study of womens rights and demolish
traditional beliefs that have marginalized and abused women with the sanction of
society. This should be a global movement and be supported by United Nations
and receive support from all countries. Certain religious and cultural beliefs that
support the devaluation of women must be boldly taken up and debated and a
certain standard of conduct and respect towards women must be set as a goal
and accepted by all countries. Tying of international aid to the performance on
this index will be great step towards this direction. The struggle for womens
rights and dignity can only succeed when mindsets change - which are strongly
founded upon religious or cultural beliefs- and unless this is achieved as a global
movement, the chances of seeing success appear quite dim.