Women have proved and prove world-wide daily what they are able to do. Without us the world would be only half as beautiful and peaceful. But is it okay as it is now? As a matter of fact, women - especially in a global perspective - were not and are not allowed to do anything that men are allowed to do, not even in our west hemisphere, although we have had a fundamental change before nearly 100 years ago: the women's right to vote. This is due to the initiators of the International Women's Day, the suffragettes, who fought for equal women's rights and enforced the right to vote, which is nowadays as a matter of course. The first International Women's Day March happened 19 March, 1911 in Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the USA arosed from the international socialist and social-democratic women's movements. In the following years women in France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Russia also went out on the streets for their demands. |
This woman advertises for arm industrie in the 1940s in USA. Women are still a popular subject for all types of advertising, direction usually lead men. Merken Merken Merken Merken Merken Merken |
In Germany on 12 November 1918 the free and secret right to vote was promulgated from the age of 20 years, for men and for the first time for woman. Today, almost 100 years later, the last country in the world has left its women to the polls. In Saudi Arabia women were allowed for the first time on 12 December, 2015 to participate as voters and candidates in local elections.
Already the ancient philosopher Plato adjudged that "the talents evenly distributed in both sexes." But the women of western ancient world were without rights and belonged to the possession of their husbands; they were excluded from the elections of the celebrated cradle of democracy in Athens. It looks like this a very long time ago in the European occident.
What about today, in our modern civilization? Unfortunately the right to vote doesn't mean equal rights and how we know not even equal pay for equal work, even not in the EU. For more now than half a century, there is a gender-equality law in the basic law established. And actually women in leadership positions are no rarity today and some of them well-known and influentially, that's right. Germany has the first female chancellor and a first female minister of defense. This is great, progress. On the other hand there were always some great female rulers in history. The question is, what is the norm and not the exception. Nowadays quotas ensure that women are more likely able to enter public administrations and the economy, beyond doubt. And many women work independently as I do. But the economic exploitation is enormously, especially for female freelancer. On average, the wage for women is 23% lower than that of men til today, according to the motto: If we take a women, please somewhat cheaper. Exploitation and depreciation remain and there are still many precarious employment and living conditions. And for many years not only for women, also men are concerned from injustice more and more. |
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We, the woman can do it, how the slogan says. Yes, we can do many things and our female social and empathetic qualities are quite appreciated. But what we do is mostly determined by men in the great economic transmission. That's the reason why we don't really have the symbol of a strong, emancipated woman in the picture above. This image of the United States at the time of WW2 campaigned for arms production, the most masculine business at all. In opposite to this the early women's rights movement from the 1910s was pacifistic. So what happened meanwhile? It doesn't really look like self-determinated women in further times.
To live self-determinated and peaceful remains a topic for both sexes nowadays. The women's movement originally was a peace movement as well. Women and men should continue to orient themselves towards this. We need no war, no racism and no sexism, but peace, compassion, love and equality. There is really a lot to do. The ability for individual self-determination is extraordinary important for this. The good news is that there are some great humanistic people, who know a lot about this. Also me are busy with that issue, theoretical and practical. You can read more at "Mission ETic". Thank you very much for reading.
Karin Jansen