Democracy And Gender Equality Comparative Government Thesis

Throughout History, women have been permanently oppressed and treated as subordinate to men. They have been considered mentally weak and biologically inferior. The power of their opinion has been limited and in many situations ignored, being condemned to live in that condition for several years. Therefore, we can conclude that the only responsible for strengthening this characterization of women’s inferiority is our society.

Women have been downgraded and mistreated because of their gender. From birth, Women and Men grew up with very different rules to follow. Men were raised to be the head of the house and do work for a living. Growing up as little girls, women were taught to raise their kids and make food for their families. “Strong family structures were necessary because the family was the basis for all other institutions. The government, church, and community all worked through the nuclear family unit.”(“Gender and

On the same token, women face unique challenges that throughout their different life stages that places them into the Special Population group when compared to men. Women still face challenges today in areas of social, economic, sports, political and cultural despite the fact that there has been success in empowering women and shattering the glass ceiling for employment promotions. They live 7 years longer than men, make up majority of the world’s population but yet they are greatly ignored. Some women are subjected to part time jobs and lower wage position than their male counterparts. Likewise, women face ageism and sexism in the media on the average profile of a woman.

For an immense period of time, society deemed women as inferior to men. However, through many protests and the growing acceptance of women, society continues to increasingly close the gap between the two genders. The differences in the societal expectations of women in the early 1900’s and 1970’s compared to the expectations of women in modern society demonstrates this improvement. Although women’s oppression dramatically improved over the past century, it persists as an apparent issue in today’s society.

Reserve the few important portfolios for the women-------- female ministers are typically given ‘feminine’ portfolios, such as education, health, social welfare or environment. Moreover, governments do not consider gender equality as a priority, gender equality issues are missing from the budgeting process, and women are not present in the financial, peace, and international negotiations, structures and delegations. The participation of a proportion of women in government in all levels should be established as one of the rules of democracy. All governments should thus include a proportion of women. Men and women alike are fitted to hold government

The roles of masculinity and femininity dominate our society, and remind us that while we may place ourselves into certain boxes, life is not always black and white. When thinking of genders, we associate certain things underneath being male and female. When we think of women, we picture a loving, caring individual. One who is responsible for the household in addition to keeping her husband happy. When we think of men, we picture a strong individual who is fearless. One who is powerful and brave who is also capable of providing for his family. As a cause of centuries of conformity to these assigned gender roles, we have been taught to believe that a brave woman has no place in our society,

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, is said to have revolutionized the structure of the Canadian government this past November with his policy for a gender-balanced cabinet. For the first time in Canadian history, the Canadian parliament sits with a 50% female and 50% male cabinet as a reflection of Canada’s diversity (Murphy). Yet what may have stunned citizens even more than the country’s step towards gender equality, was Trudeau’s explanation for the gender parity: “because it’s 2015” (Murphy). Despite it being the 21st century, a century that strives for gender equality in all areas of life, the political arena still “appears somewhat stuck in time” (The Canadian Press).

In 1919, Grace Benny became Australia’s first woman in office catalyzing the female empowerment movement, which in result, provided women with opportunities to consider becoming more actively involved within the government and various associations (Victorian Women’s Trust 2017). In 1947, Sweden elected their first woman into the government position of ministerial, Karin Kock; she also influenced the evolution of the women empowerment movement; in addition, Knock, influenced a greater pull towards female participation in the economic and political parliaments (Sweden Sverige 2017). My analysis sheds light onto the various similarities and differences that helped form a progressive enlightenment on gender equality towards women in politics within both countries. Though Sweden and Australia vary significantly within their demographics, similar ideologies were used when initiating women stances in the governing parliaments.

It’s not surprising that a nation, built under the principal of “all men are created equal”, would discriminate against women. In today’s society, the traditional roles, values, and thoughts placed upon women from prehistoric times still play a central part in the inequality women face every day. The day I no longer have to worry about what I’m wearing will label me as a “slut,” is the day that women will be thought of as more than just sexual objects. The day I can be praised for my brains instead of my beauty, it the day men and women will be considered equal. This is the future I hope to foster. This is the future where the line “all men are created equal” means all humans and not just men.

The women community has faced some harsh times, even to this day, they still face harsh obstacles that lets them not able to improve themselves from a male dominated world. The notion that women from the common knowledge, most believe that women should stay home, take care of the children and cook breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In this day of age, women barely have any freedom with gender discrimination - involving around the gender gap, being fairly and proportionally represented in the media, occupational sex segregation - sexual violence, getting blamed and shamed, the lack of basic feminine hygiene in the American prison systems, restriction to contraceptives, political agenda depriving women of essential health services, objectification

Religion goes hand in hand with culture, and in the Muslim countries this is very apparent. The cultural importance of men over women may have stemmed from religion, however it was further recognized when imperialist countries introduced capitalism and class divides. “Islam must combat the wrenching impact of alien forces whose influence in economic, political, and cultural permutations continues to prevail” (Stowasser 1994, 5). Now, instead of an agrarian state where both men and women had their place, difficulties have formed due to the rise in education and awareness that women can and do have a place in society beyond domestic living Though women are not equal to men anywhere around the

Throughout history and today, we women are constant victims of stereotyping from our society. Certain “rules” have to be followed and certain “ideal” women images have to be kept. We are raised in a way to fill certain position where the society wants us to be and as a result, the opportunities are always limited for us and ideas of our importance in the society are diminishing. Even though women gained some independence, where women can work and take various position in society, the society’s idea of typical role of women never seem to change.

Gender discrimination is an unfavorable treatment based on gender. It causes the elimination of individual’s right and opportunity (Reeves and Baden, 2000: 2). Gender discrimination usually disadvantages women because women are considered inferior in society. Virginia Woolf states that gender discrimination is a result of the imbalance power between men and women (in Dobie, 2012: 114). Apparently, women have already suffered the discrimination since a long time ago.

Throughout history, countless acts of gender inequality can be identified; the causes of these discriminating accounts can be traced back to different causes. The general morality of the inequity relies on a belief that men are superior to women; because of this idea, women have spent generations suffering under their counterparts. Also, a common expectation is that men tend to be more assertive and absolute because of their biological hormones or instinctive intellect. Another huge origin is sexual discrimination; even in the world today, many women are viewed by men as just sex objects rather than a real human being with

Throughout history, women were not seen as equal to men. Even in 2017, marginalization and oppression still persists in many regions and states. Because of a long history of sexism and institutionalized that dates back to the first functional societies, women are discouraged from participating in society politically. Oftentimes the political participation of a group can be measured by active voting, as well as how many parliament seats are held by women in each country; as of June 2016, only 22.8 percent of parlimentarians were women, a slow increase from the measured 11.3 percent in 1995, and