Today, it’s the International Women’s day. A lot of people do the mistake to say “Happy Women’s Day”, which I understand is not by rudeness, but by good intention. But please don’t do that. International Women’s Day, is not a celebration, but a reminding day, to pay attention to the struggles that have hounted women throughout history and still does.
Women in general, have lower payment than men. Even in overall equal countries like mine, Sweden, women most often have a lover income than men. Studies show that women in Sweden only get between 86 and 92 percent of the men’s. Even if the result are different in different studies, it’s a fact that we have a discrimination when it comes to pay for work.
But is it only due to discrimination? The answer is NO. The main reason that women in Sweden have a lower income, is because they chose different professions than men. They tend to chose professions in healthcare or kindergarten personal. A lot of the female labour are tend to work with people and care for other people, while men often work in industries, factories or craftsmanship. So even if nurses and a lot of teachers and other typical so called “female professions” should be higher paid, it’s the proffession itself that is underpaid, not because they are women.
But there are still a problem. Why are traditional so called “women professions” so underpaid? It is because they are women professions. Tha’s a legacy of hundreds of years of discrimination, when women was expected to have one form of work and men was expected to have an other form of work. The woman professions were devalued and underrated, justifying a lower sallary. Women also tend to chose parent leave oftent han men, which is a result of traditional gender roles where women shoudl take care of their children while men should go to work.
But there ARE actually a part of this income gap between men and women, who can’t be explained. Even if women did not chosose different pofessions or more parent leave, there would still be an income gap, if yet, smaller. Here is where the payment discrimination comes in and that’s a shame. Especially for a country like Sweden, where we use t boast about our equality and woman rights.
This system, off course is changing, but it goes to slow.
Even if we all live in a world by men, both today but not least, historically, there are a lot of women through history, who have broken the rules of created by men and the chains of patriarchy. Here are my top ten great women in history, that I believe have made the world a better place.
Women included:
- Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt: 69 bc – 30 bc
Poisoned herself in refuse to obey the laws of the Roman Empire - Jeanne d’Ark, French Knight: 1412 – 1431
Liberated France from English rule, executed for witchcraft - Florence Nightingale, nurse in Britain: 1820 – 1910
Military nurse who reformated and improved healthcare with policies of sanitary. - Emmeline Pankhurst, British feminist: 1858 – 1928
The most eminent of the suffragette movement, who fought for women’s right to vote. - Milunka Savić, Serbian Soldier: 1892 – 1973
Took her dead brothers place in the Serbian army and was rewarded for the Serbian progress in World War One - Rosa Parks, American anti-racist: 1913 – 2005
Black woman in the USA, arrested for taking a bus seat reserved for whites, hence the start of the Civil Rights Movement - Princess Diana of Wales, Britain: 1961 – 1997
Princess of Wales, loved for her charity and compassion for people in need. She died in a car accident due to the papparazzis harrasing her - Michelle Obama, American presidential First Lady: 1964 –
Wife to President Barack Obama and a great spokesperson for children’s rights, women’s rights and black people in the USA - Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani feminist: 1997-
Shot in the head in 2012 by talibans, because of her fight for girls right to go to school in the same way as boys. - Greta Thunberg, Swedish Climate Activist: 2003 –
Started striking from school for climate action, resulting in a global climate movement demanding politicians and companies to take actions to fight climate crisis.
May women all over the world continue to unite and fight for equality.