Notion : Idea of Progress - Gender equality

I am going to talk about the idea of progress. This notion can be defined as a technological or scientific progress, a medical advancement and a social development to improve the world. In relation to the notion, I’m going to focus on gender equality as social progress. Indeed, as Karl Marx said “Social progress can be measured by the social position of the female sex”. Emma Watson stated in her 2014 speech that still today there isn’t any country in the world where women have the same rights as men.

So, what part can women play to make the world a better place ? First, I will present the evolution of women’s rights since the beginning of the twentieth’s century to nowadays. Then, I will talk about the different actions that have been made to fight for gender equality today.

I will present the evolution of women’s rights in history.

At the beginning of the 20th century, women were considered less than men : they stayed at home, took care of children, obeyed their husband… After the first world war, women began to work and some of them wanted more rights. In class, we studied the film “The Suffragettes” (in London, Middle 20th century). Suffragettes were British women who wanted the right to vote. The main character Maud Watts joined the group of women which was called the suffragettes. She can be considered as an heroine and a martyr because she died for the cause. The film is an answer to question because the suffragettes defended the right to vote for women : they made it possible.

Today, there are still inequalities between men and women, for example in the working world, in wages. The black and white ad we studied is an awareness campaign. “Prepare your daughter for working life”, “Give her less pocket money than your son” read the slogan in the top right hand corner. This poster comes from the equal opportunities commission which is a commission for gender equality in the UK. This document tells us everything we need to know about the inherent inequality in the labor market. The little boy is smiling because boys should have more money than girls ! Since 1970, women have been considered differently. Nevertheless, men have always been paid better than women and it is still true.

Then, I will talk about different actions made to fight for gender equality nowadays. The importance of education for all is declared in Malala Yousafzai’s speech in 2013 at the U.N. This young Pakistani girl, victim of the Taliban at age 14, was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 2014. To fight against oppression and for the right of all children to education, she pronounced this famous phrase : “ One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution”. She wants to fight against discrimination (rights to live in peace, to be treated with dignity, rights to equality of opportunity.) In class, we have seen that other famous women have a very important role in this fight : they can be the image of feminism and show successful women’s models. Emma Watson is a British actress and a feminist. Her campaign is called “He for She”. She took the opportunity of her speech