RubySoho
Winston
International Woman's Day...But Have You Really Come A Long Way Baby??
March 8th 2008 00:32
Yes ladies, it's that time of year again. March 8 is the day the United Nations sets aside to celebrate and recognise the female of the species. Men, of course, get the other 364.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Us women know we have not achieved gender equality. Not by a long shot. A quick look at domestic violence statistics in the United States is just one way to prove this: Really Long Link
However, those of us women fortunate enough to be living in the Western world know how much worse it could be. It is tempting, when we hear news stories about rape victims being stoned to death in Saudi Arabia, about young girls being subjected to the brutal practice of female genital mutilation in Africa and about young women imprisoned in Central America for the 'crime' of having an abortion, for us Westerners to think we are light years ahead of the rest of the world regarding the role and status of women. After all, America could well vote in its first female President in this year’s election right? (Unlikely but still possible).
Well, speaking of voting and elections I have just come across some pretty sobering statistics. Having been born in 1975 and raised in Australia, voting is something that I, if not exactly take for granted, then at least view as a basic human right. I can’t imagine living in a country where women were not permitted to vote. I can't imagine a functioning Western society that didn't value women's opinions. How archaic it all seems.
Well, it isn't that archaic actually. We all know that the suffragette movement, thanks to the mighty efforts of women such as Emily Pankhurst, lead to the female vote in the 20th century but what I didn’t know was how long it took for this trend to actually catch on in the Western world.
Here is a list of when some prominent countries finally recognised women as, you know human, and put them on the electoral roll.
New Zealand, as is so often the case regarding progressive issues, leads the way:
New Zealand: 1893
Australia: 1902
United States: 1920
Britain: 1928
France: 1945
Switzerland: 1971
Yes, you read right. Switzerland 1971!!! That’s after Beatle mania. After Woodstock. After The Summer of Love and within living memory of most of the population. My four eldest siblings were born before this date.
Whilst these statistics distress me on the one hand, they give me hope on the other. Westerners, and I admit I do this myself sometimes, often view the Muslim world as being centuries behind us in terms of progressiveness. But if Switzerland only 'gave' women the vote in 1971, and Switzerland is renowned for its modernity, then the fact that Kuwait, a so-called Muslim backwater, made that right available to women less than 40 years later in 2006, means that maybe Islam cannot be that far behind us after all? Maybe we have overestimated just how far we have actually come and how quickly we got here?
There are now women's activist groups in Afghanistan (lead by the wonderful and truly inspiring Malalai Joya, a woman I will be mentioning again here), Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Maybe their time will also come? And maybe, just maybe, the Zeitgeist, that ever shifting 'spirit of the times', is blowing in the Muslim world too and soon they also will be celebrating the International Day of the Woman?
Or maybe I am just hoping too much?
Your text goes here
Let’s not kid ourselves. Us women know we have not achieved gender equality. Not by a long shot. A quick look at domestic violence statistics in the United States is just one way to prove this: Really Long Link
However, those of us women fortunate enough to be living in the Western world know how much worse it could be. It is tempting, when we hear news stories about rape victims being stoned to death in Saudi Arabia, about young girls being subjected to the brutal practice of female genital mutilation in Africa and about young women imprisoned in Central America for the 'crime' of having an abortion, for us Westerners to think we are light years ahead of the rest of the world regarding the role and status of women. After all, America could well vote in its first female President in this year’s election right? (Unlikely but still possible).
Well, speaking of voting and elections I have just come across some pretty sobering statistics. Having been born in 1975 and raised in Australia, voting is something that I, if not exactly take for granted, then at least view as a basic human right. I can’t imagine living in a country where women were not permitted to vote. I can't imagine a functioning Western society that didn't value women's opinions. How archaic it all seems.
Well, it isn't that archaic actually. We all know that the suffragette movement, thanks to the mighty efforts of women such as Emily Pankhurst, lead to the female vote in the 20th century but what I didn’t know was how long it took for this trend to actually catch on in the Western world.
Here is a list of when some prominent countries finally recognised women as, you know human, and put them on the electoral roll.
New Zealand, as is so often the case regarding progressive issues, leads the way:
New Zealand: 1893
Australia: 1902
United States: 1920
Britain: 1928
France: 1945
Switzerland: 1971
Yes, you read right. Switzerland 1971!!! That’s after Beatle mania. After Woodstock. After The Summer of Love and within living memory of most of the population. My four eldest siblings were born before this date.
Whilst these statistics distress me on the one hand, they give me hope on the other. Westerners, and I admit I do this myself sometimes, often view the Muslim world as being centuries behind us in terms of progressiveness. But if Switzerland only 'gave' women the vote in 1971, and Switzerland is renowned for its modernity, then the fact that Kuwait, a so-called Muslim backwater, made that right available to women less than 40 years later in 2006, means that maybe Islam cannot be that far behind us after all? Maybe we have overestimated just how far we have actually come and how quickly we got here?
There are now women's activist groups in Afghanistan (lead by the wonderful and truly inspiring Malalai Joya, a woman I will be mentioning again here), Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Maybe their time will also come? And maybe, just maybe, the Zeitgeist, that ever shifting 'spirit of the times', is blowing in the Muslim world too and soon they also will be celebrating the International Day of the Woman?
Or maybe I am just hoping too much?
Your text goes here
| 69 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
Health Focus
MS Paint Art
Why should a female behave like a man, to be considered as even "on" the equality ladder.
Not easy and in the developing world still very bad indeed.
Punish the women and let the men off scott free, does not make a lot of sense let alone justice to me.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
It all got corrupted along the way and somehow feminist is now a synonym for 'angry lesbian'. Sad.
And in the developing world, yes harsh punishments for the victim. That's the trouble with countries that take their law from religious texts. Neither of the three major monotheistic religions have much respect for women. What the world needs to do is throw its weight behind the women and to be fair, some men too, who wish to reform Islam and improve the rights of women in those countries.
Comment by Damian
I wouldn't even acknowledge the bloody day. I take it as another ploy to further separate and dehumanize one 'group' of people from the other. See... if we celebrate this day for women, then we can ignore them the rest of the time, which by extension will of course be man day.
Sorry. I DID read the rest of the article (which was nice). I just get worked up on these brain-screwing tactics... by the MAN