Women 100 years ago & women today
Currently the international women’s day is formally recognized in more than 29 countries globally (Xiangrong 82). Female professionals are featured in the public domain as their male counterparts. Today the state secretary of the United States of America is said to be the woman holding the most powerful office in the world. Additionally, high profile women are being featured in key issues such as the Forbes top women's magazine. The position of the woman in contemporary society was an absolute impossibility a century ago. It was not possible to find women bosses as is the case today. Women were considered second class species of the human race back in the day. They did not participate in such things as decision making. The work of a woman was to stay in the house, cater for the young ones and ensure the house was in order. This paper seeks to illustrate the difference between the position of a woman of today and that of the woman that lived 100 years ago through a comprehensive compare-and-contrast analysis.
It was not until the year 1920 that the women in the United States began participating in electoral processes such as a democratic voting (Boucher 8). Before that, they had no role to play in political decision making. They were expected to sit back and observe as the men went about the process of selecting leaders. In other words, the ladies were not offered the opportunity to determine the future of their country. This means that they could not determine the quality of life that they wanted to lead. It is quite surprising that in other nations, the women still do not have the confidence to participate in the political decision making procedures. In Iraq, for instance, the women could not participate in political processes until the end of the Saddam era. During the tyranny, the women had no chance of contributing to society. Even so, the women in many nations across the world, just like the women in all American states have the right to participate in voting.
Talking about political leadership, women did not have the capacity to vie for electoral seats. Leadership was believed to be an exclusively male affair. The decision making authority in all social institutions, including the family unit, rested on the men who were referred to as the sole breadwinners (Xiangrong 82). On the contrary, women in the contemporary world are contesting for leadership positions with men. The women in America today are vying for political posts such as the governor and the senator positions. Women are representatives in the congress and the senate. They are political leaders and high ranking officials in the hierarchy of political parties. They are aspiring presidential candidates. In some countries across the world, presidents are women, yet the countries are running as effectively as the male dominated governments.
It is worth noting that even in the corporate world; women are chief executive officers and members of the Boards of Directors. The position of women in the corporate section is equal to that of men since the women have realized their full potential. Similarly, they have come to realize that they have equal rights as men. In the contemporary world, there are particularly many organizations meant for women. The organizations are meant to fight for the rights of females as well as for the position of the girl child in society. Such organizations are exceedingly common and popular among women in the third world nations. They have even gone an extra mile in establishing financial institutions meant to empower women through the advancement of loans (Xiangrong 83). The women take low interest loans which they use to establish small and middle enterprises, from whose proceeds; they pay the loans over a considerably favorable period.
Another point worth noting is the fact that women are currently enjoying a considerable degree of independence (Xiangrong 83). Gone are the days when the women were fully dependent on men. They lived under the dictatorship of men and had to comply with the standards and regulations that were set by the men. Currently, women are as independent as men. Unlike, a century ago, women today can determine their destiny and the life of their families. They can educate themselves, find jobs and make a balance between occupation and family. They are capable of settling their own bills and taking themselves places. The woman of today is much more outgoing compared to the 1912 woman. The changes that have taken place over the last one hundred years have been tremendously notable.
The liberation of women in the world today has made the change in the position of women more conspicuous. The contemporary woman is capable of pursuing her dreams and desires. The woman that lived a hundred years ago had desires but could not do much in a bid to achieve them. This is because the society did not give them the chance to strive. They did not go to school and hence did not have the intellectual capacity to find jobs and join professions (Boucher 8). Currently, the girl child is exposed to the same education system as her male counterpart. The society gives children of both sexes the opportunity to pursue higher education and professional qualifications. This gives them equal opportunities when it comes to employment. Sexual discrimination is a punishable crime. As such, the women that possess academic qualifications are legible to employment in various positions and professions. It is no puzzle then, that women are part of the military personnel of many countries.
A century ago, women did not hold any positions in the corporate world. They were not even entitled to the most elementary jobs such as the junior clerical jobs (Xiangrong 84). They were not even the secretaries they are today. They were absolute housewives who sat to wait for their husbands to bring home their earnings. Today, women are capable of accessing many careers. The fact that women are now capable of accessing the career options formerly seen as man's affairs, can be attributed to the fact that education is being offered to the ladies and males on a fair platform. The contemporary woman can bring up kids on her own since she can access all that man can do to earn a living. From the social point, the woman that lived a century ago was much more submissive to her husband compared to the woman of the current social order. The woman today, owing to the fact that she is independent, can intimately interact with whomever she deems fit. This has contributed enormously to the lack of chastity among women. Extramarital affairs among women were strictly prohibited a century ago. Today, extramarital affairs and cases of divorce, and matrimonial separations are rampant.
In conclusion, it is noteworthy that the changes that have taken place over the last hundred years are considerably many and conspicuous. The changes can be attributed to the campaigns for gender equality and equal access to education and professional training. Education is almost entirely responsible for the changes since it has equipped women with the skills necessary for independence and liberalization. The changes that define the woman of today have come with both positive and negative effects. From the positive aspect, women are capable of supporting themselves as well as their families. They are economically and politically empowered unlike a century ago. From the negative perspective, women have become morally weak judging from such simple aspects as dressing to such complicated matters as extramarital affairs.
Works Cited
Boucher, David. Out of Order; a Woman's Work, 100 Years Ago. New York Times. 1 (24). P8. 1999
Xiangrong, Huang. International Women's Day. Off Our Backs. 36 (3), P82-84. 2006
