Problems in human diversity: Evolution of gender equality

P R O B L E M S I N H U M A N D I V E R S I T Y:

E VO LU T I O N O F G E N D E R E Q U A L I T YC O N T E M P O R A RY S O C I A L I SS U E S - G N E D 2 0 5 7C L AU D I A W O O D R U F F

GENDER EQUALITY VS. GENDER INEQUALITY

• “Gender equality is achieved when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation and decision-making, and when the different behaviours, aspirations and needs of women and men are equally valued and favoured.” (Gender Equality in Ireland, 2013).• “Gender Inequality refers to the differences in the status,

power and prestige women and men have in groups, collectivity's and societies.” (English Encyclopedia, 2014).

16TH CENTURY • Allowed women limited opportunities for involvement in society.• Purpose was to run the household.•Worked towards bettering their husbands.• Education for these women was not advocated because it was believed to ruin the traditional female virtues.

THE 17TH CENTURY • Not much change from the previous century.• Women were still viewed as a significant part of society

but were not acknowledged in the economic or political structures. They were still viewed to do the domestic activities.• Acted as councils to their husbands when they would

come home from work.• Actions in the home and community allowed them to

influence political decisions.• Women who challenged societal norms put their lives at

risk.

THE 18TH CENTURY•Women’s roles began to evolve.•Middle to high class women were able to become involved in commerce.• Low class women would assist their husbands in working outside.• The basic idea of marriage was that middle or high class women would be dependent on the man.• In 1857 men were given the right to divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery. Women were not allowed to divorce the man, no matter what offence they committed.

THE 19TH CENTURY• Women were taught to attract a guy by not only their looks but

also their educations.• At a young age, adolescent girls would be educated at a

boarding school or at a resident governess.• It was believed that women would desire to become married

because they wanted to become mothers, rather than for their own satisfaction.• As the women began to gain more rights, men still had more

power over them.• Men still had the obligation of providing for the family.• As we continued through the 19th century the average family

size began to decrease.

THE RIGHT TO VOTE• By the 19th century men and women believed

that they were separated by natural and divine laws, calling it “separate spheres.”• Women in the armed forces or a relative of a

military man were granted the right to vote in the Federal Elections during the Wartime Elections Act of 1917.• Women began to gain rights after they were

granted the right to vote in 1918.• Voting rights based on “no taxation without

representation.”• Aboriginal women were excluded from voting

rights until 1951.• The turning point of gender equality.

THE 20TH CENTURY • Change was brought with the industrial revolution.• Women began participating more and more in public

life and pushed towards greater equity.• Inequality was still shown in politics, wages and

working conditions.• More and more women began to get out into the

workforce.

PRESENT DAY• Women are still payed less in the

workplace than men, even if they have the same amount of education.• Women and men are both able to be in

the workplace in any occupation, whether it is trades or in business.• Women and men now have the choice

as to whether they want to be a stay at home parent or be out in the workforce.• It is becoming more common to see

women in jobs that used to be male-dominated, such as the military or in the trades.

A MAN’S EQUALITY• Pressure to be the main provider of the family.• Until the previous century, men were expected to go out a

get a full time job. • It is now expectable to for them to be the stay at home

parent to take care of the children.• Men can now been seen in job fields that had been previously

stereotyped as a women’s job, such as hairstyling or nursing.

CONFLICT THEORY• Protests have lead to the social change needed for gender

equality.• This theory believes that inequality is the main source of

conflict, which is the same as for finding a balance of gender equality.• Previous social arrangements always benefited the men more

than the women from what we saw in previous centuries.

THE FEMINIST THEORY•Women have been fighting for their rights for many years.• They have always been inferior to males. • Activists have been working towards gaining these rights to benefit women for the better.• Uses the historical evolution as a platform to work towards a better future.

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM • Gender equality is changing societies “norms.”• The women was the one to stay home with the kids and take

care of the household, while the man had to provide for his family by working many hours a day.• Both men and women had roles that benefited society, but it

didn’t always mean that they were happy.• Overtime these norms have been changed and society has

adapted to it.• Working towards a “Natural State of Society”.

IN CONCLUSION•Gender equality is continuously evolving.•Women and men are becoming more and more equal.• Equality in the workplace is where we are lacking.•Men deserve to be equal just as much as women; women just had to work harder to get that equality.

R E F E R E N C E S :Feminism in Literature Essay - Women in the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. (n.d). Enotes. Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/topics/feminism/critical-essays/women-16th- 17th-18th-centuries

Hughes, K. (n.d). Gender roles in the 19th century. Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians. Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-

victorians/articles/gender- roles-in-the-19th-century

Marsh, J (2015). Gender Ideology & Separate Spheres in the 19th Century. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved from http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/gender-ideology-and-separate-spheres-19th-century/

Tag Archives: Gender Equality (2013, March 31). WOMEN WRITERS, 1660-1800

EXPLORING AUTHORIAL ADVENTURES IN THE LONG EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. Retrieved from https://eng307womenwriters.wordpress.com/tag/gender- equality/

What Are the Roots of Gender Inequality? Women's Rights, Race and Reproduction. (2012, June 1). Newswise. Retrieved from http://newswise.com/articles/what-are-the-roots-of- gender-inequality-women-s-rights-race-and-reproduction