As Napoleon Bonaparte once stated: “Women
are nothing but machines for producing children”.
As
ridiculous as this sentiment may be, it is unfortunately still one many men in
this world share.
The fight for gender equality is a
well-known one and many tend to roll their eyes whenever someone introduces
this topic. But how many of us have actually considered the implications should
we ever reach a point within society where women have equal opportunities and
equal say?
The economic and social advantages in
promoting the equality of women within the working environment as well as
political arena are profound. But yet, it is one of the most vital issues many
governments worldwide comfortably overlook. Little do they know that they could
potentially save a floundering economy by simply tapping into the female labour
market.
When taking the statistics into account we
clearly see that gender equality is, in all honesty, just a Utopian term and
still needs to be brought to reality. On the political front it is estimated
that less than 20% of women globally serve in parliament or hold a ministerial
position. And with only about 20 women worldwide serving as elected heads of
state or governments the so-called gender gap is strikingly evident.
Closer to home, a recent study by the
Business Women’s Association shows that a meagre 4.4% of South African women hold
chief executive and managing director positions. Clearly, there is room for
improvement.
In a report released by the Global Gender
Gap Index of the World Economic Forum the dismal state of gender equality is
frightfully clear.
In the report South Africa is ranked 14th
out of 135 countries. To put this in perspective, consider this: Lesotho, not
exactly the most economically stable country, is ranked 9th. The
idea of being the 14th best country to live in as a women isn’t too
dismal. But when looking at what this position truly entails, what the overall
result is made up of, it is shocking to say the least.
On the economic front we are ranked 58th,
being trumped by Israel (55) and barely scraping past Zimbabwe (66). Education
and health access provides an even more horrifying display of how South African
women are still regarded as the subordinate gender. With a female education
attainment ranking of 86 and a health and survival position of 102, clearly
much is still to be done with regards to gender equality policies.
Most of the top positions in the report
have been claimed by the Nordic countries such as Iceland, Norway, Finland and
Sweden. They have also proven to be the top countries in effectively closing
the gender gap. They boast with the highest rate of female workers and are able
to provide a working environment where most of these women have the opportunity
to claim leadership roles as easily as men.
But despite all the statistics and various
reports on women empowerment we are still faced with the daunting question: How
do we make the promises and policies a reality? First, we need to acknowledge
that the problem is not necessarily of a legislative nature nor does policy
serve as the main contributing factor in gender inequality. Instead, it is
largely a result of our attitudes which are so deeply entrenched within society
that changing it seems close to impossible. Whether we (and this includes women
as well) wish to admit it or not, men are still regarded as superior to women.
And unless this mindset is changed policies will remain meaningless words on
paper.
But assuming we do manage to rid ourselves
of this mentality, the responsibility then falls upon world leaders’ shoulders.
They need to create and maintain an economic and social environment wherein all citizens, both male and female,
can flourish; where their skills can be developed and utilised to its greatest
potential. The core growth factor of any country is after all its people.
The world population is growing and it
recently surpassed the seven billion mark. And as intriguing as this number
seems, it leaves us facing an entirely different problem. Our working-age
population is shrinking – more people are reaching retirement age and leaving a
gaping hole within our labour force. Therefore, at this present stage in our
demographic transformation, we need to draw even more from the existing work
force. Women are the most obvious option.
It is believed that women make up about
half of the world’s potential workforce, and the rewards our world economy
could reap from this part of the world population could be of great importance
for generations to come. We need to invest more in our women. Women empowerment
is not just a movement towards claiming a basic human right – the right to be
regarded as equal – but also one towards promoting development in already
unstable economies.
It is one thing to invest in the upliftment
of women, but if the opportunities aren’t provided for them to excel and
acquire influential positions within the workforce, then it is simply an
investment with little or no return.
For too long women’s economic power has
been undervalued and in many cases completely dismissed. But what governments
need to realise is that when a country empowers its women then the talents and
skills of its population are used more efficiently; a so-called ripple effect
of unimaginable proportions.
As Daniel Defoe (The Education of Women)
stated: “For I cannot think that God Almighty ever made them [women] so
delicate, so glorious creatures; and furnished them with such charms, so
agreeable and so delightful to mankind; with souls capable of the same
accomplishments with men: and all, to be only stewards of our houses, cooks,
and slaves”.
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