Creating Gender Equality In The 21st Century

I grew up in the 60s in Midwest America. It was a time of change in the U.S. when a new sweep at gender equality crossed our nation. I was a child before the women's movement and a woman in its aftermath. Women gained many newfound freedoms; but what if I had been born in another era or another country where gender equality is far from a basic human right.

Nichlas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's recent book "Half the Sky" is a call of awakening for all men and women to take action and right the wrongs existing in the world today because of gender inequality.

As they so clearly point out, this is not a women's rights issue; it is an issue of human rights.

The facts are startling and too hard to forget.

• A conservative estimate is that 3 million women and girls are slaves (some put the number higher than 10 million).

• It is estimated that 2 million girls disappear a year due to gender discrimination (deaths due to things like withholding vaccinations, not seeking medical care, etc. because the child is a girl).

• More girls have been killed in the last fifty years because they were girls than all men were killed in battle in the 20th century.

• Burning a girl or woman (with kerosene or acid) due to disobedience occurs once every two hours.

It's hard to 'wrap my head' around these numbers while going to the grocery, working at the university and doing my day to day routines knowing that just because someone is female she is being raped, burned, or killed -- within cultures that see it as acceptable.

But awakenings can happen -- it did for people in America in the 60s and it can for people world-wide. In my own short lifetime, I've seen cultural beliefs change radically. Strongly held beliefs of 'better than/less than' because of color or gender have virtually been eradicated (like polio) in less than three generations.

Cultural change happens when people speak out. Kristof and WuDunn's book helps by telling the stories of those affected by gender inequality. In the aftermath of reading their book, I saw a television special on 'sexual slavery' in America (it is not only happening beyond our borders), and I read the play 'Ruined' by Pulitzer Prize winning author Lynn Nottage re-telling the horrors for women and girls in the Congo. Talking, writing, and sharing the stories of those affected by gender inequality is a way for an awakening to spread.

The stories remind me of the fallacy of the statement "Ignorance is Bliss". As we wake up to the pain and suffering related to the ignorance of gender inequality, we may notice how easy it is to be 'ignorant' and pretend it is happening somewhere 'over there'. That kind of bliss pales in comparison to the bliss arising in the power of knowledge.

It is that kind of power that can change the world.

I think of girls and women who can't imagine a different kind of world, like many women here in the U.S. before the women's movement. The status quo is 'just the way it is'. Those that do think otherwise in countries of extreme gender inequality do not have a means of being heard. But we can listen, and our voices can make their way across oceans, country boundaries, and illiteracy.

A single voice becomes a crescendo when it arises in unison with others. And voices in unison can create a world where gender inequality no longer exists.

For information, see Kristof and WuDunn: Half the Sky (2009) or visit Equality Now

 

Comments

[Artemis34]

Last chapter of book is "what can I do"

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide [DECKLE EDGE] (Hardcover)
~ Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn
http://www.amazon.com/Half-Sky-Oppression-Opportunity-Worldwide/dp/0307267148/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0

[Artemis34]

One thing the authors mention is going to kiva dot org to offer micro loans ($25) to women in need

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&queryString=&status=fundRaising&gender=Female§ors[]=All®ions[]=All&sortBy=Expiring+Soon

[Catriona]

"For a woman to ask for help around the house is reversing gender roles that are thousands of years old. Be patient."

Notice please that it took them no time at all to reverse "gender roles that are thousands of years old" and abandon their traditional role of sole supporter of the family.

Once middle-class women began earning money, and the dosh started rolling in, it wasn't long before the men began appropriating the money that we were earning, arguing that our earnings were family income.

Can you explain how is it that these men had no problem making that wee adjustment?

I must add that here is Scotland, from gutting herring in Pittenweem to the Jute mills of Dundee, working-class women were usually employed. We have that tradition.

[Artemis34]

I think change will be tough if countries in the UN can state that these practices are shielded, cannot even be discussed, because they are part of their "religion.­"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-a-rizvi/can-arabmuslim-countries_b_337358.html

They aren't religious practices. Religion is being used to shield misogyny.

How can this be overcome?

[Sue Smalley]

thanks for your comment...­..i particularly like the quote by the Canadian councilmember in your post

The sadly elusive take-home message from all of this was perhaps best articulated by Canada's representative to the Council, who said: "It is individuals who have rights, not religions.­"

it is easy to see how religious beliefs and individual rights have been in conflict throughout history - (The Inquisition, Salem witch trials, etc) and today with Sharia law and women's equality.

I do believe that over time with shared voices demanding equality for women worldwide there can unfold a change in religious interpretations of 'scriptures' or 'laws' based in religion..­.....Krist­of and WuDunn describe one group already doing that with the Koran.....­and when the interpretations widen, the protection of individual rights (women/girls in this case) can be more easily achieved.

We see the diversity of interpretation of the Bible within Judeo-Christian religions and the establishment of laws to protect the individual regardless of religion, gender, etc. But look at the effect religion continues to have on social issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc.) within the U.S. as well. And, it is the interpretation of scriptures that continue to fuel the debates.

We need to speak out about gender inequality and support those voices that work to protect the rights of women and girls, including those who interpret religious 'texts' with views that promote gender equality and protect the individual.

thanks for bringing the UN issue to my attention.­......

[Artemis34]

Yes, a proud day for Canada indeed. I'm sure it took courage to say in this company

"It is individuals who have rights, not religions.­"

Precisely.

I'd be interested to the see the work on the religious interpretations you mention.

I've found that if you unwind many so-called religious practices that they are actually more rooted in the culture than the scripture.

An interesting reference is (also thanks to Canada):
http://www.religioustolerance.org/women.htm

Sometimes there is no basis in scripture whatsoever. There is no prohibition of lesbianism in the bible, for example, but there is a celebration of the love between Ruth and Naomi.

This, however, does not stop opponents of gay and lesbian rights in the US from inventing some prohibition that is not there.

If human rights, and women's rights ARE human rights, cannot be talked about in the UN Human Rights council, then perhaps they need to be discussed outside the doors of the UN.

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Kimberly Munley is the new face of an American hero. Her heroic act shows that gender roles are changing.

For the first time in history, America is on track to have more working women than working men. (As of November, women held 49.1 percent of the nation’s jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics­.) The majority of your viewers have households where women work.
Even with the workplace gains women have made studies at University of Pennsylvania show that women are far less happy than they were 40 years ago.

Fight Ancient History.
The day a woman marries she adds 7 hours of housework to her schedule University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For a woman to ask for help around the house is reversing gender roles that are thousands of years old. Be patient.

www.elidavidson.com

[Artemis34]

Are there not more women than men?

[Olivia Rosewood - Huffpost Blogger]

Wow--beautifully said, thank you.