May 20, 2011
According to Beyonce girls run the world. We run this motha! Endless power, she claims. And while I cannot argue that women run the world, every day I come across scenarios that prove that women, in fact, do not rule it. We might have won the right to vote, and we have plenty of choices, but when it comes to power we are still fighting.
Women in North America have the option of acquiring higher education and we can buy real state. Lest we forget, credit card companies and mass market producers are more than encouraging when it comes to spending those hard earned dollars. Women’s make up 47% of the Canadian labour force and 35% of the self-employed workers (Statistics Canada, Women in Canada 2005). Never mind that some statistic claim our male counter parts still take home a bigger pay cheque for the same positions. I guess this inequality is just one of the few kinks we have yet to work out.
Now, if you compare our situation with the struggles of women in developing countries, we have it easy. While we go to school, and have access to food and health care, our fellow girls in developing countries are the last ones to access these necessities. Yet, in both patriarchal developing countries and the so-called First World, women still run the world where it all begins: In our families. By making endless sacrifices, women take care of their families and keep them united.
So women already run the world, but will women ever gain this "endless power"? I don't think we want power, but we do yearn for equality. And by women, I mean ALL women. We have gained “person” status and we have a voice, don’t we? Perhaps the next stage in our fight is to use our voices to demand rights and provide opportunities for women in developing nations.
Please watch the following video, and learn how you can provide said opportunities:
And to end this post on a musical note (it is Friday after all), I couldn’t resist posting this fabulous song. Makes me want to get up and shake my boo-tay.
*I strongly dislike the term “third world” because it implies that developing nations are isolated from the “first world,” when nothing could be further from the truth.
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