Women’s place in the world

What are the political, economic, educational, and psychological conditions of women around the world? Frances Culbertson, president of the Clinical Psychology of Women section of the American Psychological Association, recently summarized these conditions.

Women and Politics

In politics, too often women are treated like burdens rather than assets. Especially in developing countries, women marry early and have many children quickly, in many cases before their undernourished bodies have an opportunity to mature. In such developing countries, women need greater access to education, work, health care, and especially family planning. Some experts on women’s issues believe that these needs would have a better chance of being met if women were more strongly represented at the decision-making and managerial levels of governments and international organizations. For example, in 1990, less than 10 per cent of the members of national legislatures were women, and for every 100 ministerial-level positions around the world only 5 were filled by women.

Women and Employment

Women’s work around the world is more limiting and narrower than that of men. Bank tellers and secretaries are most often women. Domestic workers in North America and in Central and South America are most often women. Around the world, jobs defined as women’s work too often carry low pay, low status, and little security. Two authors described many of these circumstances as “job ghettos”. In 1990 the only countries in the world that had maternity leave and guaranteed jobs on the basis of national law were Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Russia, Japan and Thailand. Among the major countries without these provisions were the United States, England, and France.

Women and Education

The countries with the fewest women being educated are in Africa, where in some areas women are receiving no education at all. Canada, the United States, and Russia have the highest percentage of educated women. In developing countries, 67 percent of the women and 50 percent of the men over the age of 25 have never been to school. In 1985, 80 million more boys than girls were in primary and secondary educational settings around the world.

Women and Psychological Issues

Women around the world, in every country, experience violence, often by someone close to them. In Canada 10 percent of the women report that they have been beaten in their homes by the man they live with, and in the United States almost 2 million women are beaten in their homes each year. In a recent survey, “The New Woman Ethics Report”, wife abuse was listed as number one among 15 of the most pressing concerns facing society today. Although most countries around the world now have battered women’s shelters, there are some countries where beating women continues to be accepted and expected.

In a recent investigation of depression in high-income countries, the women were twice as likely as the men to be diagnosed as being in depression. In the United States, from adolescence through adulthood, females are more likely to be depressed than males. There are many socio-cultural inequities and experiences that have contributed to the greater incidence of depression in females than males.

Answer the questions:

1. What place do women hold in politics? Are they satisfied with this position?

2. Jobs are commonly divided into men’s and women’s work. Can you give any reasons for this division?

3. Why are jobs defined as women’s work called “job ghettos”?

4. Do women need better education? Do you think we would live in a better world if women had better education?

5. Why is “wife abuse” a number one of the most pressing concerns facing society today?