China has received plenty of criticism for the poor working conditions, heavy pollution, and sometimes-dangerous products associated with its remarkable economic boom. Now it is getting praise for increasing gender equality.
A World Economic Forum study released today says China climbed 16 places, to No. 57, in an annual ranking of sexual parity in 130 countries around the world.
The study, called the Global Gender Gap Report 2008, ranks the social, political, and economic status of the sexes in each country, based on education, health statistics, job opportunities, income, and political participation. The results are expressed as a percentage to show how close women are to parity with men.
In the top-ranking nation, Norway, for example, women have 82 percent of the access to resources and opportunities that men enjoy; that’s 2 percentage points more than last year, when Norway was ranked No. 2. (more . . .)
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equality,
feminism,
income,
women
With the news I’ve been reading this week about equal pay, and women dropping out of the work force, I offer up this story by writer Candida Korman about the working women who paved the way for us, and who got mad as hell and weren’t going to take it anymore:
“As far as I’m concerned feminism wasn’t about going out of the house to work, it was about getting respect for the work we were already doing. And, if possible, getting the promotions and raises and decision-making opportunities that men had. 1963 was the year that the Feminine Mystique was published.â€
“Betty Freidan, right?â€
“Yes. It was a very important book. Your mother was the first one to read it. She loaned it to my mother and then to me. We passed it on to other friends. We talked about it all the time. I was tired of the way my father favored your father over me. I was really tired of that. My Fred was dying and I was putting in late hours at work followed by trips to the hospital. I had two small children who kept asking about their father. I don’t think I slept more than five hours a week and when your grandmother sat me and your mother down to discuss the who would cook what for Passover, I exploded.
Candida (named for the G.B. Shaw heroine) is also a 2nd round finalist in Gather.com’s Chapter Writing Contest. Sort of like an ‘American Idol’ for publishing.
(Photo: Recipe Link)
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Rachal K. Zall,
sex,
tes,
The Marketplace
Two items of note for March 8th. It’s both International Women’s Day and Blog Against Sexism Day. Have things changed? Yes, but not much. Here’s some stats from the National Council on Research for Women:
- Data on women’s/girls struggle for equality has gone missing in the Bush Administration. The current administration continues to engage in a pattern of omission, distortion, and spin when it comes to information about women and girls. Data on the Department of Labor website has gone missing and the FDA continues to block approval of Emergency Contraception despite research findings that support its use.
- Women are still underpaid. Women earn only 77 cents to every dollar earned by men. (Former MA democratic Lt. Gov. Evelyn Murphy is doin great things to shake this up…check out www.womenaregettingeven.org) Also, can 1 million women against WalMart be hallucinating? This is serious!
- Women are still massively underrepresented in the sciences. Despite substantial gains in the number of women pursuing graduate degrees in the sciences, women currently earn only 20% of all PhDs in computer science, less than 27% in physics, and only 17% in engineering. Studies show that women in science experience discrimination and double standards (sorry Larry Summers, but its really true.)
- Women are underrepresented in corporate leadership. Women have made up more than 40% of the workforce since 1977, and are currently almost 50%, yet only 9 women are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.
- Too few women lawyers make partner. Women have been 40% of all law school students since 1995, and over half since 2001, but are only 15% of partners in law firms nationwide. Many female lawyers attest to double standards and discrimination.
I used to work in a business library some time ago, and used to pull stats like this all the time. What’s sad is, the numbers have hardly changed and women are as underrepresented as ever.
Blog away, my friends.
Tagged as:
Rachal K. Zall,
sex,
tes,
The Marketplace
