The Fight For Women's Equality Around The World

The female revolution has begun and many women are identifying themselves more and more as feminist. But what does that really mean? According to Merriam-Webster feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes…organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.” For decades, women from around the world have banded together to fight for the same rights and opportunities as their male counterparts. Unfortunately, gender inequality still exists globally despite many substantial national and international measures that have been made towards creating a more gender equal world. This is why it is so important for both men and women to be active in speaking out against injustice. It is not enough to just talk about an issue, one must also take action. Like Pablo Picasso once said, "Action is the foundational key to success." Below is a graph depicting the percentage of individuals from countries around the world that identify themselves as feminist. From this graph it is evident that gender equality is an issue that is universal and widespread, so why are we still fighting this battle?

Below is a scatter plot graph that illustrates the percentage of women who believe there is gender inequality in their country and the percentage of women who actively stand up against this injustice in their words and actions. Although many of the countries surveyed resulted in similar numbers, four countries stand out in the graph below. When taking a further look into the gender equality climate of these countries, some interesting and unexpected facts were discovered. In the graph one can see women in Japan believe there is gender inequality, however much fewer women actively stand up against this injustice. According to the Japan Times, women are often labeled “copy makers and tea makers” — female workers serving their male counterparts. Despite many women being educated, the employment opportunities are typically limited to support roles. Japan also suffers from one of the worst gender wage gaps in developed economies, earning 25.7 percent less than men. Unfortunately even with the passing of equal opportunity laws, Japan is still having a hard time developing a gender equal environment.
In Russia, a country you would expect to find a higher percentage of inequality, many women actually reported there not being gender inequality and when there is many women actively stand up against it. Upon research into the Russian gender equality climate, I found that gender stereotypes are widespread, violence against women is a common occurance, and the gender pay gaps is almost 60% less than their male counterparts. In an article by Russia Beyond, women in Russia are so used to discrimination that it is not only something they have grown used to, but is also comfortable to them. Chief editor of a local online-poster site, Svetlana Feoktistova says, “Millions of women in the country do not need feminism. And those few women who understand the depth of this problem (gender inequality) and try to do something about it are ridiculed by both men and women." A Russian sociologist adds to this by saying, "Women are inclined to compensate for inequality with privileges that give them the status of the 'weaker sex’.” This attitude toward gender equality would explain the low levels of gender inequality reported by Russian women.