3%.
Six out of 195.
Our world consists of 195 countries. Six of those 195 countries offer women the same legal work rights as men; 3% of the countries in the world, with the United States not being a part of that statistic.
In the past century, humanity has changed tremendously. We went from a world built on a foundation where women had little to no rights to a world where women have more freedoms. Society has definitely grown, but that does not mean we are done yet.
We live in the 21st century society: a society where AI can do just about anything you ask it to, self-driving cars exist, where one can find anything with a quick Google search, but we are also a society where women and men still do not have equal rights. Our technology continues to advance, but our longstanding social issues remain the same. We are living in a 21st century society, yet the state of our rights dates back to 100 years ago.
A lack of bodily autonomy is a huge issue in our nation, and has been an ongoing debate. It’s a debate in which most of the people with the final say are men, as 71% of the House of Representatives members are men, who are not physically affected by the decision. The topic of abortion itself brings up many controversies and is a huge debate. It is a personal opinion that everyone is allowed to have disagreements on, but that doesn’t mean women should be stripped of the rights to own their bodies.
Globally, women receive lower quality health care than men, which can be traced back to lack of job opportunities and education, which are, again, often disproportionately available to men. Of women ranging from the ages of 15-24, one in four will not finish high school. Due to a lack of jobs and certain occupations being “more suitable” for men according to societal standards, many women end up in poverty.
A big part of gender inequality comes back to us —the people. At the end of the day, the facts are us. We have become a statistic: our lives, our odds, every contribution we make to this world. The overall mindset of a society has a crucial impact on the stability and equality between genders. We shape our future and we write our story. We pick the outcomes and, though it isn’t always easy to control, it’s worth the risk and the push.
Some of the biggest changes in history were created by women. For example, Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat was the start to a nationwide boycott that led to one of the most important decisions the Supreme Court has made. Betty White was one of the first women to work behind and in front of a camera. Change can be as little or as big as we make it, but the point is it starts with us.
Though gender inequality is a global issue, change starts in small increments. Speak up by reposting things on social media or reaching out to your local representative in efforts to help make change. We have to fight for equality, for the rights we deserve. The same rights women have spent centuries fighting for and continue to fight for are the same rights men were born with and spoon fed. If that doesn’t show our pure strength, I’m not sure what else could.
