Only four countries offer total equality for women. FOUR, quattro, vier... I could say it in every language and it would still have the same significance. The United States, being one of those, doesn't even cut the progress that some other countries have made, or always had, in the way of women's rights. To think, that one of the most "up and coming" countries has yet to have a female president. Interestingly enough, Europe, where most of our ancestors are from, had many female rulers; namely England. Were our ancestors so scarred from queens and women in power that it has led us to be the same way?
Even though women make up 1/2 of the population on this planet, they're poorly represented and in almost every sense taken advantage of. Women are thought to be, by many people I know, incapable of thinking without their emotions, (SO horrid right?!), and unfit for many things that require strategizing and planning. I'd actually say that women are better foreseer's of the future than men and that using a little emotion in thought is never a bad thing. Think of it in these terms: Women who have held high-power positions, have spent more time thinking of ways to better living standards, environments, communities, health care, etc... While men are more willing to plot about weapons of mass destruction and allocate more funding towards weaponry.
With a lot of suppressed women throughout the world, it's interesting their reactions to their conditions. In one of the films we watched in class, a woman commented on how much she supported the Taliban and that given the opportunity, she would become a member. The members of the Taliban and groups like Al Qaeda, are part of the reason that women are faced with such harsh conditions, but people would support them without question?!
Other women are so desperate to earn money that they take any and every job available to them. This leads to overworking and to terrible working conditions for many. Due to globalization, many jobs are in sweatshops, helping to grow crops, factories...the list goes on. The workers are 3rd party workers, they're never in touch with their "real boss," thus they're not able to fight for any workers rights. Some women's land has even been taken from them into to have more space to grow crops for exports.
An argument for solving the suppression of women is to implement labor protection, but how is this going to stop women from being murdered for dating/marrying someone outside of their religion, wives from having acid thrown upon them because their husbands are dissatisfied with them, or human trafficking into the sex trade?
Unfortunately it wont. Until women are given rights via the government, nothing will TRULY change, at least not enough to say that conditions have improved.
Something to ponder- what are people's views on arranged marriages?
* Is it simply a cultural thing that has taken place for so many years that we must accept it
* Is it something that should be looked at as a part of women's lack of rights?
---More to come on my thoughts regarding this---
While the majority of this post has been dedicated towards women's suffrage, it's not fair to discuss one thing without discussing the other. That other being human rights.
I want to discuss this more after our class discussion, but the rights of those living in China, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, etc... Are almost all alike. The government controls everything and other than what they say or approve...you're SOL.
Human rights are barely even defined in countries such as those listed, all because of the way the government is set up-isn't that the way it is in most countries? It's not fair, but it hasn't changed and wont anytime soon.
I like how the article listed below sees no difference in the rights of women and men, because human rights are after all meant for all humans. I do not think that the rights of women will be so easily gained by ignoring any government that does not recognize women as equals. In the documentary we watched about the middle east, one woman spoke of how she and others had returned to covering themselves up in the streets because they were being condemned. This is not simply a governmental issue, it's society, cultural, and deeply inbreed into those in countries who feel women are the lesser species. It almost seems like an oxymoron to think that there would be no males without the female's carrying them for 9months, giving birth, and nurturing them; yet women are not even allowed simple pleasures like eating at the same time their husband eats, having rights, being able to say and do as they please.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,185643,00.html
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LYGf22G4Km2f7TqHBfSFhsQc74ZSQRd8Z1VHSG1zd84zJZcJ0Q5D!-1784052340!351573012?docId=98938035
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