Essay, Research Paper: The Most Dangerous Game

The question is: are we living in a post feminist
world? Are women liberated at the moment? Sure, women can
vote, serve as jurors, judges, presidents, or prime
ministers. Equal pay is protected under legislation. Women
have certain rights to maternity leave. Women have equal
access to education. Divorce laws have been modified in
that both parties get half of their savings. Contraception
is more readily available. There radio programs, feature
articles, government bodies, TV stations (WTN) specifically
aimed at women's studies and affairs. Sport clubs are open
to women. Women can hold property in their name. Women are
allowed into bars to drink beer. In other words, since the
birth of feminism in the sixties, some of the oppression
against women has disappeared.
However, women are still far from equal. The average
hourly earnings of women are still 68% of those of men. In
cash terms, men earn on average, $3.66 more per hour than
women do. Women workers are on the lower end of the work
scale. Not very many women are high court judges, CEO's of
companies, or prime minister. With the exception of Kim
Campbell, who was only in office for a short time, who other
female presidents or prime ministers can you name? How
about a female CEO? Stumped you, didn't I?
Why is it that all the advertising of medicine,
cleaning products, and other household items are geared
towards women? Don't you just hate those Triaminic
commercials where both kids and the husband are sick and the
wife (mom) gives them all Triaminic? Then the commercial
concludes with, "Triaminic, recommended by doctors, and Dr.
Mom". There are countless other examples of the
stereotypical attitude of women being bearers of children
and keepers of homes. "A woman's place is in the home" as
the old saying goes.
How about the infamous woman-walking-down-the-street-
and-the-construction-workers-whistling example? What about
the guy telling his coworker a blonde joke? How many men
call women broad's? What about the constant sexual
harassment at work? Did you know that most sexual
harassment at work and in general is never reported? How
about the huge statistics on rape and violent crime against
women? I don't think women consistently being harassed and
degraded is beneficial to them gaining equal status among
men.
Women have the potential to get pregnant, which leads
to maternity leave for employers. So, they are slightly
more expensive to employ than men. That's why quite often
women are asked illegally at job interviews if they intend
to marry. Women will remain as second class citizens in the
work force as long as they are regarded as unstable
workforce. They are regarded in that manner because to
employers most women are likely to want pregnancy leave,
likely to come in late if their kid is sick, likely to want
to work part time, etc.
Women still do not have control over their bodies.
Abortion is illegal in many parts of the world. In North
America, women won the right to have an abortion, but that
right has been moving back inch by inch. With the recent
election of a Republican congress in the United States and
many anti-abortion groups lobbying for anti-abortion laws,
the pendulum is swinging the other way.
Women in North America are slowly getting there. If
you compare the equality of women in our society, to say,
the Middle East where women are not even considered persons,
women here are more equal to men. But isn't that like being
valedictorian of summer school?


Word Count: 585