Women's Situation

For young girls nowadays it seems almost unbelievable that decades ago they would not have been expected to study, have a profession, vote or perform any "manly" activity. However, throughout history women have generally had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Being a wife or a mother were considered to be women's most significant professions. It was in the 20th century that women in most nations won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities, by imposing themselves as intelligent human beings that could be in charge of both their family and their job.

Women were long considered naturally weaker than men, squeamish, and unable to perform work requiring muscular or intellectual development. In most preindustrial societies, for example, domestic chores were relegated to women, leaving "heavier" labor such as hunting and plowing to men. This ignored the fact that caring for children and doing such tasks as milking cows and washing clothes also required heavy, sustained labor. But physiological tests now suggest that women have a greater tolerance for pain, and statistics reveal that women live longer and are more resistant to many diseases

In the civilisations of past eras, the situation of women was very different. In some cultures they were only considered to be private property of their father or husband; in others they were given freedom and legal rights, but were still subject to discriminatory practices.

The need for equality between men aand women first arose at the beginning of the 19 th century, when the development of the society gave women the opportunity to study and become writers or artists. Radical ideas spread all over Europe , as a result of the French Revolution.

In the 19th century, women began working outside their homes in large numbers, notably in textile mills and garment shops. In poorly ventilated, crowded rooms women (and children) worked for as long as 12 hours a day. Great Britain passed a ten-hour-day law for women and children in 1847, but in the United States it was not until the 1910s that the states began to pass legislation limiting working hours and improving working conditions of women and children.

As women started to fight for their rights, higher education particularly was broadened by the rise of women's colleges and the admission of women to regular colleges and universities. In 1870 an estimated one fifth of resident college and university students were women. By 1900 the proportion had increased to more than one third.However, it was only a few years ago that the American Medical Association, founded in 1846, had barred women from membership. Barred also from attending "men's" medical colleges, women enrolled in their own for instance, the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, which was established in 1850. By the 1910s, however, women were attending many leading medical schools, and in 1915 the American Medical Association began to admit women members.

For either women or men who agreed with their movement, it was getting more and more obvious that the right to vote was the most important of all. In the 19 th century, women in the United Kingdom and the United States started to fight for this particular right. In New Zealand, Australia, Finland and Norway women obtained the right to vote even before the First World War, but in other states it took them other decades.

In the 1960s, the movement called Women's Lib was established in the United States and later spread in Europe, too. It generated a reaction that is now generally referred at as "feminism". The movement's aim was to achieve eqality between sexes and to find solutions to such issues as abortion, rape or sexual harassment. The feminists managed to gain the validation of favourable laws, especially in the fields of equal rights and payment.

Unfortunately, there still are parts of the world where women are not even allowed to choose their future husband and where traditions and religion are a real threat to their lives.