Having been a strong proponent of girls' education awareness film "Girl Rising," and having been recently introduced to the book and documentary concerning a wider array of women's issues, "Half the Sky," I have been nonetheless bothered by one small fact: Why did the filmmakers not choose to include a study of gender disparities in developed nations? Surely the fact that the facts and figures are perhaps less shocking in some places compared to others cannot disqualify any domestic violence victim or involuntary sex worker from her right to media exposure. Surely the lack of de jure discrimination against females in the U.S. should not detract from that which is de facto. So I did some research.
First, I discovered Gender Inequality Index, a measurement created by the United Nations Development Program to compare the state of gender (in)equality around the world, and this interactive map. Thanks to the color-coding, it was easy to compare the U.S. more closely with countries of similar shades, such as Russia, Kazakhstan, and Argentina. Then I noticed that China - infamous for its female infanticide and historical foot-binding - actually got a rank "less unequal" than America, primarily due to less adolescent fertility and HIV/AIDS prevalence, and despite greater levels of poverty. Meghan Casserly of Forbes analyzed a similar measurement done by the World Economic Forum, where the U.S. comes in as the 22nd best country for women. This did not seem shocking to me until I noticed some of the countries in the top twenty: Nicaragua, where I have been and had to confront the looming likelihood that the female students I was teaching would be pregnant before age 16 and abused forever by their husbands; Lesotho, where we still send Peace Corps volunteers; Cuba, notorious for their recently oppressive regime; and South Africa, against which the world had to unite to finally put an end to ruthless racial discrimination.
Next I looked up the specifics on issues I know and recognize to be barriers to women in the U.S. to this day. About 30% of women are at some time subject to sexual, gender-based violence by someone they know, amounting to about 20 women per minute. Only 16.6% of congressional leaders are women, making the U.S. 78th in the world in terms of political representation. Women still make an average of 77 cents for every dollar that a man makes, not to mention that our constitution still fails to have been amended in reparation. Between one and two million sex slaves live in America, even though it is illegal almost everywhere, and about 80% of these are women.
However, two other notable gender disparities surfaced. More women in America by percentage have been graduating with a bachelor's degree than men since 1992, and fewer girls drop out of high school than boys. Also, more women proportionately and in total numbers report participating as voters every presidential election since 1980. These statistics demonstrate to me that, despite persistent subconscious or behind-the-scenes discrimination against them, women choose to take part in those actions that have the greatest societal impact, when they can. One of the common ways people demonstrate the importance of economic empowerment of women is by explaining that a woman will reinvest her money in her family and her community more frequently than a man. Luckily, enfranchisement of women and public school has apparently enabled them to invest other things too, like talent and time, into civic needs.
I understand why filmmakers trying to have an impact would skim over these intricacies. Most women here and in other developed countries do just fine, and that's not something that can be said of the places that were highlighted in those two movies. Sometimes, though, I think we need to be reminded that while for some women beating the odds means escaping FGM or owning her own business, for others it can mean being an elected official. If gender equality is going to play the role in the twenty-first century that racial equality has played in centuries past, perhaps we should celebrate the whole spectrum of victories.
First, I discovered Gender Inequality Index, a measurement created by the United Nations Development Program to compare the state of gender (in)equality around the world, and this interactive map. Thanks to the color-coding, it was easy to compare the U.S. more closely with countries of similar shades, such as Russia, Kazakhstan, and Argentina. Then I noticed that China - infamous for its female infanticide and historical foot-binding - actually got a rank "less unequal" than America, primarily due to less adolescent fertility and HIV/AIDS prevalence, and despite greater levels of poverty. Meghan Casserly of Forbes analyzed a similar measurement done by the World Economic Forum, where the U.S. comes in as the 22nd best country for women. This did not seem shocking to me until I noticed some of the countries in the top twenty: Nicaragua, where I have been and had to confront the looming likelihood that the female students I was teaching would be pregnant before age 16 and abused forever by their husbands; Lesotho, where we still send Peace Corps volunteers; Cuba, notorious for their recently oppressive regime; and South Africa, against which the world had to unite to finally put an end to ruthless racial discrimination.
Next I looked up the specifics on issues I know and recognize to be barriers to women in the U.S. to this day. About 30% of women are at some time subject to sexual, gender-based violence by someone they know, amounting to about 20 women per minute. Only 16.6% of congressional leaders are women, making the U.S. 78th in the world in terms of political representation. Women still make an average of 77 cents for every dollar that a man makes, not to mention that our constitution still fails to have been amended in reparation. Between one and two million sex slaves live in America, even though it is illegal almost everywhere, and about 80% of these are women.
However, two other notable gender disparities surfaced. More women in America by percentage have been graduating with a bachelor's degree than men since 1992, and fewer girls drop out of high school than boys. Also, more women proportionately and in total numbers report participating as voters every presidential election since 1980. These statistics demonstrate to me that, despite persistent subconscious or behind-the-scenes discrimination against them, women choose to take part in those actions that have the greatest societal impact, when they can. One of the common ways people demonstrate the importance of economic empowerment of women is by explaining that a woman will reinvest her money in her family and her community more frequently than a man. Luckily, enfranchisement of women and public school has apparently enabled them to invest other things too, like talent and time, into civic needs.
I understand why filmmakers trying to have an impact would skim over these intricacies. Most women here and in other developed countries do just fine, and that's not something that can be said of the places that were highlighted in those two movies. Sometimes, though, I think we need to be reminded that while for some women beating the odds means escaping FGM or owning her own business, for others it can mean being an elected official. If gender equality is going to play the role in the twenty-first century that racial equality has played in centuries past, perhaps we should celebrate the whole spectrum of victories.
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