Gender equality

Agenda

1. Warm-up questions

2. Gender equality in the USA– historical background– current state

3. Parks and Recreation “Women in Garbage”– about the series– gender issues in the episode

4. Discussion

Warm-up questions

1) American women can vote since:

a)1989 b) 1789 c)1920

2) The majority of the US population constitue:

a) men b) women c) no difference

3) On avarage, women in the USA earn:

a) more than men b) as much as men

c) less than men

4) The first book by a woman writer was published in:

a)17th century b)15th century c)1920s

Gender inequality – dispairity in status, power and prestige between people who identify as women or men.

Historical background

• Puritans believed that a woman should be subordinate to her husband and dedicate herself to bringing up children.

• In some colonies wives:– couldn’t work with men– worked with men in the field

and stables– were treated as property– could only own clothes and some items they

brought with them into marriage

Tax-supported schooling for girls began in 1767 in New England.

• The first published woman

writer was Anne Bradstreet

in 1650 (book of poems

The Tenth Muse Lately

Sprung Up In America).

• For centuries women used pseudonyms to conceal their gender

• Women got right to vote:– in New Zealand - in 1893,– in Australia- in 1894,– in the USA - in 1920,– in Britain - in 1928,– in Canada - in 1918.

Role of a woman

• The typical housewife was expected to spin, sew, preserve food, cook, and clean while caring for her children and raising vegetables, chickens and geese. A wife was expected to be subservient to her father until she married and then to her husband.

• Sometimes they worked in typical female professions as: – teachers, nurses, servants, weavers, factory workers,

seamstresses

Beginning of 20th century

• Between 1930 and 1931, 63% of cities dismissed female teachers as soon as they became married,

• 77% cities did not hire married women as teachers,

• ¾ of cities did not employ married women for any job,

• during the Great Depression women's unemployment rate was higher than that of men, because they earned less.

World War II

• Workforce:– at the beginning of the war – 12 million – at the end of the war - 18 million

• During the war:– 350,000 women served in the military– 150,000 women computed the speed of bullets,

measured bomb fragments, mixed gunpowder, and loaded shells

– many more worked as draftswomen, mechanics, and electricians, and some received training in ordnance engineering

After the war

• In 1946 4 million women were fired.• Woman - a housewife and man - a

breadwinner• Women went to college to find a husband.• The average working woman in the 1950s

earned 60% of the average working man's salary.

Feminist movement

• A series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment, and sexual violence.

• The first women's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York on 19th and 20th July 1848. 68 women and 32 men signed a Declaration of Sentiments, which outlined grievances and set the agenda for the women's rights movement. A set of 12 resolutions was adopted calling for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women.

What was achieved

• the right to initiate divorce proceedings and ”no fault” divorce

• the right to have access to contraceptives and abortion

• the right to own property• the right to vote• more equitable wages• access to university education

Gender equality - current state

• 2012 World Economic Forum report on gender equality– indicators: economic participation and opportunity, educational

attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment– the US placed on the 22nd position (behind Cuba and Canada)– in 2011 – the 17th position

• The Time Magazine– almost 40% of American wives make more money than their

husbands– almost 60% of collage students are female– the wage gap: women earn 81% of what men do

• U. S. Census Bureau– in 2010 women became half of all workers– small rise in management positions (35 to 38% in the last 20

years)

• Possible problems:– theoretically equal rights,– need to join the role of a housewife and an

employee,– women getting pregnant are often fired,– no legal guarantee of paid maternity leave,– need for equality in workplace to make use of

feminine skills, e.g. negotiation skills.

A bit of statistics:

Aspect Comment

Population (in Mil.) 311.59

Sex ratio (male/female) 0.97 More women than men

Life expectancy (female/male) 1.066Women expected to live

longer

Income ratio (f/m) 0.62 Women earn less on avarage

Literacy ratio (f/m) 1 No difference

Women in Paliament (in %) 15.2Most politicians are male, no

woman president

Ron

Sw

anso

n

Ann Perkins

Parks and Recreation “Women in Garbage”

Ben Wyatt

Andy Dwyer

Tom Haverford

Leslie Knope

April Ludgate

In the episode

Warm-up questions1) American women can vote since:

a)1989 b) 1789 c)1920

2) The majority of the US population constitue:

a) men b) women c) no difference

3) On avarage, women in the USA earn:

a) more than men b) as much as men

c) less than men

4) The first book by a woman writer was published in:

a)17th century b)15th century c)1920s

Discussion

1. What do you understand by inequality and feminism? Do you think these two terms are still present in modern societies? Give examples.

2. Look at the problem of equality from the male/female perspective. Try to find arguments for preserving typically female and male roles.

3. Nicholas D. Kristof from The New York Times claims that ”we have gender equality when we’re no longer talking about it”. Do you agree with this statement? Why? What is your definition of gender equality?