ARE MEN AND WOMEN EQUAL IN SOCIETY

Are Men and Women Equal in Society

Are Men and Women Equal in Society

Introduction

When the slogan of gender equality was first voiced, tentatively at that, in the nineteenth century, what was being demanded was an equality of political rights. Let us go back and remember the conditions in Europe and North America at that time. As a famous feminist writer has said, “A woman underwent 'civil death' upon marriage, forfeiting what amounted to every human right, as felons now do upon entering prison. She lacked control over her earnings, was not permitted to choose her domicile, could not manage property legally her own, sign papers or bear witness. Her husband owned both her person and her services.” Women were, in effect, legal minors — their fathers and husbands having rights over their wealth, labor and sexuality. And, of course, women did not have the right to vote. (Bakalar, 2009)

Women have always taken a back seat to men in American society. This occurrence is not only found in the United States, but in other countries as well. It's safe to say that the Declaration of Independence started it and it has continued to the present. There is one set of standards that apply to men, and another set of standards that apply to women. This is evident in the home, workplace, and society in general. The problem of men and women not being equal can be traced back to the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all men are created equal. There was no mention of women being equal, only men. At the time of the drafting of the document, the men had all the power. The document was even drafted by a man. Women were confined to the home to take care of the domestic housekeeping duties. Look no further than the home to see the first sign that men and women are not equal. (Bakalar, 2009)

Explanation

It was also the time when the founding principles of the modern world — Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, unfurled with such fanfare by the French Revolution, were slowly, tortuously, being transferred from the pages of books to the streets and legal statutes. It was in this larger historical context that women organised themselves to demand legal and political rights, along with workers, ethnic minorities and colonized people. (Bakalar, 2009)

Once the assertion that 'all men are equal' was accepted, it was easy to extend this premise to all humans, irrespective of sex, class, race, ethnicity, religious persuasion, etc. The main struggle was whether equality or hierarchy would be the founding principle of society. Once the battle for the equality of all men was won, it was relatively easy to extend this principle to sub-sets of the human race. Yet it took almost a century for women to gain legal and political equality in its entirety. It was only in the 1960s and later that legal and political infirmities which women suffered were fully removed in Western ...