Women's Role in Society in the 21st Century
Throughout history women
have usually been seen as lower than
men. When women grow up they are expected
to have children, raise them and take care of a household chores. This way of
viewing women is common in many countries and since many people feel that there
is nothing wrong with these views, they continue. About a hundred years ago, only
a few women in society were recognizable and most were not acknowledged at all
whatever their contribution may have been. Times are slowly changing and as our
society continues to grow and gain a more liberal mindset, the roles of women
begin to change. There’s a difference from the 21st century and the
previous ones, which is that this generation feels strongly about gender
equality. Women now don’t want to be known for their role of being homemakers,
they are now joining men in the work field. Some of these women are also
mothers who are able to juggle and multi-task their work and household duties.
They are having more privileges than before. Women are now able to go to school
to get a proper education, they can vote, they are free to give out their
opinions and suggestions without the authority of men questioning them and they
can be found working in almost all jobs where men mostly worked at and in
places where women weren’t usually accepted in.
Work Life
While
women have beat the label of "housewife" in the 20th century, there
are still tensions held between men and women in the workplace. Josette S.
Shiner, an editor of the "Washington Times," stated in a public
address that because women feel that they have to compete with men in the
workforce they start also behaving like them. Still other women, Shiner said,
gave up having a family altogether so they could focus more on work. In religious
institutions, the men are still cast as the leaders, only they can hold clergy
positions in some faiths. It has been reported that in 2014
for the first time in history, women are close to making it to a majority of
the national workforce. The economic downturn has hit men harder. During what
is now being called the "mancession", women were more able to retain
their jobs as opposed to men. The New York Times recently reported
that some of the highly educated, high powered women who "opted out"
of corporations starting in the 90s to raise children and take care of ailing
elders have now returned to the work.
Future
Soon we may have a female president and powerful woman are beginning
to dominate our society. Although women have a hard time getting
out of the role that the 20th century gave them, they keep trying to
change their roles and reach to higher expectations. As a society, we need to
continue to encourage people to go beyond stereotypes and recognize the
contributions that each individual, male or female, can make to the workplace. Also we need to see
that there shouldn’t be roles put on women because they can achieve much more
then what their role limits them too.
Rampell, Catherine. "The Mancession." Economix The Mancession Comments.
N.p., 10 Aug. 2009. Web. 29 May 2014.
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