"In the western world we like to look upon ourselves as ambassadors of freedom, people’s rights, democracy and equality between races and sexes. In western countries the women do not need to fight for their rights as human beings. They have been granted the same rights as men, and they have got laws to protect their equality to men. In the west we like to think that nowadays all women are equal to men, and that we don’t need to fight for women’s right no more. This is a common mistake many people make today. It is correct that women have got improved rights in the last decades, but this only count for rich industrialized countries like Norway, the USA, France and Japan. In the developing countries the differences between men and women are still very big. The questions are: How big is the contrast? And is it really as good in the west as the western countries claim it is?
Every morning Eunice (14) has to go 3km down a road, up a hill, around a dump, across a field and back again to fetch water for her family. Eunice has three older brothers, two younger brothers, and two younger sisters, but her sisters are too young to fetch water with her. Some days she has to take the trip up to three times to get enough water for her family to wash the house, clean themselves and cook dinner. When the boys are asked to help pick up water, they say; “why should we worry about that when God has blessed us with one or more sisters to relieve us of those tasks.”(1) When Eunice arrives at home after fetching water she needs to clean the house along with her younger sisters and her mom. The women in the house take care of all the housekeeping and cooking whilst the father and brothers do whatever they would like to after work and school. Often Eunice looks at the boys playing football, but she cannot play with them as that is one of many things which are only for men. She can’t even go to school since the family can only afford to pay for the boys, and her mother has told her that the boys will have a much higher chance of making money afterwards.
This might not be a totally true story, but many women in developing countries experience similar conditions as Eunice. They are not able to go to school because the family has to pay for the boys’ education first, since they will have much higher chances of getting a well paid job afterwards. Some places the schools are not even open for girls, or the school for girls is located too far away. This is open discrimination of women, and it is common in many developing countries today. It is not only affecting the girls’ childhood, but also their life as grown ups. No education means no work, and even if they had an education they would come after the boys on the job market. If a woman should be so lucky to get a job on a factory or motel she would definitely recieve a much lower salary than the man across the hall with the same job. The women are not treated with the same respect as the men are. The women in these countries are seen upon as second-class citizens, and they are treated thereby. (1) This means that they don’t have that many civil rights as men do. They can for example not vote, run for head of state, join organizations or get higher education. The difficulties are big and many for the women in developing countries.
Sofie is 25 years old. She was born in Oslo, Norway and she has lived all her life in Oslo. She grew up with a great family who loved her and treated her as an equal to her older brother. Every day she and her brother traveled to school together, brought the same lunch and had the same possibilities at school. They were picked up by their parents after school, and at home dad made dinner if mom could not. Every Friday the family cleaned the house after the week, and as usual they split the tasks between all the members of the family. Sofie liked to do the ironing, and her brother would rather clean the bathroom. In the spare time Sofie liked to play handball, while her brother liked to play football. When their parents bought the necessary equipment for their sports they counted the money and made it clear that each and one of them would get as much as the other. Sometimes that meant they had to give one of them extra allowance. As Sofie grew older she wanted to study art and design and she got into one of the best schools in Norway when it comes to design and communication. Her brother also wanted to study more after high school, so he went to Trondheim to study Civil Engineering. Both of them were born with the same possibilities and the same civil rights, and they had the same salary after their first job on a supermarket.
This is a true story of two siblings growing up in Norway. Today they are living in Oslo, still with the same possibilities and civil rights. They are considered equals in the society, even with their differences when it comes to sex. This story is fitting for many people in many western countries, but not everything is as perfect as this story might show. Even after many years of law-protected equality between sexes some differences are still hiding behind the curtains. Even though there are laws forbidding favoring of one sex, most women in Norway today do not get the same salary as men with the same job. There are also some companies who would rather employ a man than a woman when it comes to highly ranked jobs such as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The government of Norway has made some projects to have more women into jobs which are dominated by men. They are also making projects to get men into jobs which are dominated by women. For example it is easier for women to make it into schools which teach information technology, engineering and math. Companies which has a majority of either sex are also making it easier for women/men to apply for their jobs, but they cannot reject a man because of his sex, even though they would like the woman. To top it all of there are several organizations that watch out for favoring of sexes, and help those who feel they get discriminated because of their sex.
The contrast between women’s rights in rich western countries and poor developing countries is as big as the contrast between black and white. If you are born as a woman in for example Cameroon you would not get the same rights as the boy next door. You would probably not see any day at the school, and you would be restricted to work like housekeeping or agriculture. You would most probably not get any paid work, except for the money you could make from handcraft. However, if you are born as a woman in Norway, Sweden, the USA or any other rich western country you would get the same possibilities and civil rights as the boy across the street. You would get the same possibilities at school, work and in the community. If you like you could run for head of state, work as a company CEO or doctor at the finest hospital in town. And if you get second in line behind a man you could press charges against those who are discriminating you, because there would be laws protecting you, and powerful organizations protecting your rights. We are indeed living in a good world, or at least some of us are. The fact that you got the same possibilities as any of your neighbors is a great thing, even though there are still some differences between men and women in the western world. It is just so bad that equality between sexes is just a distant thought and a vague dream for most people in this world. "
