Women in the 21st Century

What is woman’s role in the 21^st century?

Until the 20^th century there had never really been a question regarding what women’s role should be.  They were designed as mothers, as keepers of the hearth and any deviation from that path was merely an accident.  Untold millions of women through the ages have accepted their role as mothers, wives, daughters and little more.  At least that is how it appeared on the surface .

       With the advent of universal education, women’s suffrage and two world wars ordinary women in the Western world were participating actively in society for the first time.  Prior to the 20^th century few women made a mark in the world except by way of notoriety, an accident of birth or marriage.  There were a handful of women authors, educators and scientists in the previous centuries but by1900 doors opened up to women in myriad ways.  Women were no longer confined to their homes, the kitchen or the cradle.

       In the first half of the 20^th century women gained the vote.  They gained the right to manage their own finances, independent of their husbands.  They were allowed to gain a university education and were admitted to medical, engineering and law schools in increasing numbers.  Women moved from jobs as servants to jobs in industry which increased their independence.  Highly educated women still struggled in the first half of the century to gain entry in male dominated professions particularly within medicine, law, banking and scientific research.  The second half saw increasing strides for women in all areas but most notably in politics and media celebrity.

       The question now is how will society in the 21^st century change and will women’s role correspondingly change?  Hillary Clinton spoke recently at the Women of the World summit and said that women’s rights are the unfinished business of the 21^st century.  One hundred years ago we were on the brink of the first world war and women still wore full length dresses while wearing trousers was almost unheard of.  Believe it or not women today are still given a dress code in the work place while there is no code for a man in the same job.  A woman is an administrator while a man doing the same job is an analyst.  Needless to say he also is paid more than the woman while she generally has a great output of work.

       Society is ever more complex but how often do we hear someone ask a new father “will you go back to work”?