Women and Men - Are They Now Equal

According to an article published in the Guardian by Nikki van der Gaag (2014), women are better off today, but still far from being equal with men. In the US, and for the first time, in 2011, women made up slightly more than half the work force.

"As individual workers, they experienced both the liberating or the "empowering" impact of earning a regular wage, and of having increased autonomy over their economic lives; at the same time many were also well aware of the fact that their work was low paid, both in comparison with male workers but also with women workers employed in industrialized countries" - Ruth Pearson, Feminist Economist

But even though more women are working, they are still often paid lower than men even if they are more education or have more experience. The reason for this is because top of industry and government are men, sometimes narrow-minded, stubborn men. Some of these men will tell you that the above statement is false, but if you are a smart woman (and I know you are) you will know that yes, women are taking over the work world but equal pay is not true.

Don't fret, we may be underpaid, and at times do not have the corner office, but what we do have is a growing number of women owning small and medium-sized businesses. It is estimated that anywhere between 8 million and 10 million businesses are women owned. Yet, women do not receive as many opportunities (money) as men.

"You don't have to believe in patriarchy to realize that the law was made by men and is dominated by men, and that the same goes for parliament (politics). Which means that in all the making of the laws, women are largely absent. It is not surprising that the law doesn't work for women." - Dame Helena Kennedy (excerpt from her International Women's Day Speech).

What will it take for equality to be in the work force? Probably female domination! A world of Wonder Women in power, enslaving men and calling the shots. But wouldn't that be the same world we have today except with women in charge?

What we as women need to do is continue working for change, starting successful businesses, demanding the corner office, hell, running the corporation from that corner office. The small changes that have been made, "have led to an increased sense of self-esteem among the women who now have greater confidence to speak and participate in the affairs of the cooperatives." - Nikki van der Gaag (2014), from her book, Feminism and Men.