Unohdin juhlia naisten paivaa torstaina; parempi myohaan kuin ei milloinkaan: onnea kaikki maailman naiset! (Viela on kirveella paljon toita.)
Women have had the vote for a hundred years - in some places. Finland was one of the first. One of my grandmothers was three years old, when women got the vote in 1906, and the other was born two years after!
Finnish women have always had to work hard to support their families. The luxury of staying at home and being idle was not an option for most; Finland was poor and women had to participate in the public sphere alongside their men. The Victorian ideal of a delicate, pretty child bearer did not fit into the Finnish culture of the 19th century. Finnish women were strong and active, and participated in the common struggle for independence from Russia.
Now we have a woman president, and it's no big deal. Congratulations, women of the world!
Thu, 03/08/2007 - 10:53am.
by Preeti Aroon
Women and men around the world today have been celebrating International Women's Day, which has been observed now for nearly 100 years.
And how things have changed in the past century. In 1907, New Zealand and Finland were the only countries where women had full voting rights. In the United States, women didn't get the vote until 1920. It took all the way until 1971 for Swiss women to gain suffrage. Most recently, in 2005, Kuwaiti women at last gained access to the ballot box. And now, for the first time, a woman is a credible candidate for U.S. president.
I often reflect on how life has so radically changed for women in my own family. Neither of my grandmothers, who lived in India, had a high school education. One got married at age 13 and had her first child at 16. My mother was able to attain a college degree in India, and by the time she was the age that I am now, she was a married stay-at-home mom in the United States with two kids. Today, I am a woman who has a graduate degree, works a full-time job, and is nowhere close to having kids.
How fast women's roles have been changing!
As we reflect on achievements, though, let's not forget that much work still needs to be done. Today, sixty million girls are not in school. Preferences for sons has led to gender imbalances in parts of India and China. And in sub-Saharan Africa, women's lower social status is causing them to get infected with HIV in higher numbers than men.
It all makes me wonder: In 2107, how will women be doing?
No comments:
Post a Comment