The Position of Women in Modern Western Societies - Essay Example

The Position of Women in Modern Western Societies The position of women all over the world has continued to exhibit characteristics of diversity and dynamism across cultural, social, economic, and political aspects. In the process of enhancing women welfare, affirmative action has increasingly become critical to consider. Although gender is not the only concern addressed by affirmative action, women issues have taken centre stage in the affirmative action advocacy. The underrepresentation of women in politics has exacerbated the affirmative action debate, calling for harmonization of the political environment in such a manner that accounts for the role of women in society. Arguments for and against affirmative action are broad in scope and wide to cover, but the common denominator is that the key events and developments related to affirmative action have critical impacts on the position of women. The role and position of women vary from one society to another. Gender equality in western societies surpasses that of developing countries, even with the ever rising advocacy for affirmative action. Middle East countries downplay women rights, an aspect that poses critical challenges to affirmative action activities in these countries. These and more constitute societal differences in the way affirmative action is implemented, and the consequent effects on the position of women. While affirmative action focuses on underrepresented groups in the society, education sector, employment, business, and politics among others, the emphasis directed to gender equality is enormous. The primary advocacy is to have both men and women access equal opportunities regardless of their colour, gender, religion, race, national origin, or sexual orientation (Condrey, 2010). In this respect, the position of women in modern societies in regard to affirmative action is evaluated in this paper. The impacts created by key events and developments of affirmative action on women’s position in these societies are also discussed. Discrimination against women is not a new practice in the contemporary world. Discrimination practices have been one of the most critical historical injustices since time immemorial, especially those that are directed to women. Societies, both developing and developed, have had discrimination issues both in the past and present, many of which concern gender issues. The coexistence of both men and women has had its ups and downs over time, the most pertinent issue being the matching of men and women rights. This has had a consequent impact on the role and position of women in the society. Western societies are highly cautious and conscious about women rights. This scenario is promoted by the fact that many of them are democratic, and that they highly enforce human rights across all aspects of concern. In the United Kingdom, affirmative action is known as positive discrimination (Beaman et al. 2009, p.1526). The underlying positivity is derived from the enormous benefits that affirmative action accords to women. In the light of western societies, affirmative action has enhanced or improved the position of women. Increase in affirmative action events and the development of policies and programs that support affirmative action has become a contemporary phenomenon. Led by western societies, many other regions in the world have taken up the affirmative action advocacy. While western societies continue to lead and lure other societies into the formulation and implementation of affirmative action policies, the welfare of women around the world has significantly improved. As a result, both men and women have emerged as equally competitive genders. The direct impact of affirmative action is that in has enabled empowerment of women all over the world, especially in western communities. Women in Europe and America enjoy just as many rights and freedoms as their male counterparts. As a result, women welfare has shifted over time, moving from good to a better position. The underlying principle is that gender equality is not only beneficial to women, but also to men. As much as affirmative action prioritizes the female gender, it also addresses male gender concerns. In other words, it works to alleviate the domination of one gender by another. A revolutionary force has been posted to the society by western societies’ affirmative action pursuits. The idea of affirmative action is to change cultural and social beliefs which dictate that men are superior to women. It is this superiority complex factor that results in women being downplayed by men. However, affirmative action has made swift moves to ensure that historical discrimination of women is alleviated, and that the stature of women in the society is improved. In this respect, affirmative action has to a greater extent changed cultural and social perception to women (Balafoutas and Sutter, 2012, p.580). Policies and programs developed for affirmative action purposes target a number of variables that are embedded in the education sector, employment, business, and politics among others. In the education sector, education for women is advocated for. It is important to note at this juncture that affirmative action does not only focus on women underrepresentation, but on any given group that is underrepresented for one reason or another regardless of its gender. However, due to the fact that this paper assesses the position of women in regard to affirmative action, concerns of women in this regard constitute the subject matter of the paper. Proponents of affirmative action in the education sector maintain that women are equally competitive to men (Page, 2007). They argue that educational strengths of women can match those of men. As a result, women have moved to challenge men in academia. In many western societies, high women enrolments are recorded in courses that were previous thought to be men dominated. For instance, women engineers today are much higher than they were a decade ago. Basically, women have outsmarted their male counterparts in education, thereby engaging men in intense competition in terms of their strengths. The education sector has built a strong foundation for affirmative action pursuits. Women have earned their respect, not only for the fact that they can now access equal education opportunities, but also for the fact that they can effectively and efficiently work with men to enhance the growth and development of high welfare societies. Right to education and women empowerment through affirmative action have enhanced social and cultural response to women issues and concerns. As a result, societies continue to promote and appreciate women’s efforts for the benefit of the society. The labour market is another critical factor in the affirmative action debate. Discrimination of women in hiring, remuneration, and firing of employees is captured in arguments for and against affirmative action. Access to employment opportunities has for a long time been controversial, with women arguing that they discriminated against while men are favoured by trends in the labour market (Calsamiglia, Franke, and Rey-Biel, 2010). Employment opportunities vary from one region to another, depending on the economic and political performance of any one given region. This component of affirmative action is diverse and dynamic across western societies. In the United Kingdom, both men and women coexist in the labour market. Both genders make moves whenever an employment opportunity arises. However, the selling factor is individual competitiveness in the actual field that the employer seeks to hire. In the labour market, women continue to adequately compete with men for employment. They have become more or less knowledgeable and skilled in fields that are considered to be predominantly for men. In societies where industrialization and job creation are significantly high, women are taking top leadership and management positions in both the public and private sector. For example, women CEOs are more in western societies than in the developing world. The business world has had its fair share in the affirmative action advocacy. Self-employment and entrepreneurship have taken toll in women empowerment for business. The number of businesswomen across the western societies is substantial. While others work independently, others have engaged in collaborative efforts with men in the process of pursuing their business goals and objectives. Entrepreneurship has proved that it is designed for the open-minded people, regardless of their gender. A business that fails does not do so because it is run by a woman, but due to other business-related factors that affect both men and women in business (Tohidi, 2002, p.873). The increased number of businesswomen has resulted in more financially stable women, allowing them to lead financially independent lives just like their male counterparts. Women empowerment for business activities has shifted the cultural and social view on women. While western societies regarded women as financially dependent on men a few decades ago, this view has significantly changed over time. Self-realization and self-awakening calls for women have dynamically revolutionized the woman concept through processes, programs, and policies of women empowerment. This keeps giving women new social faces and life phases in regard to their roles and position in the society. The political factor in the context of women’s position in western societies and the impacts of affirmative action on this position is not only controversial, but also interesting, intensive, and extensive. The political environment is dominated by men, an aspect that presents women as always trying to fit in an area that do not suit them. However, it is undoubtedly true to say that women’s leadership and governance skills can match or even outperform those of men. The United Kingdom serves an outstanding example in this line, where her social, economic, and political prosperity has come under the leadership of Queen Elizabeth II. Women participation in politics has become a contemporary practice. Women are running for offices and positions that require intensive competition with the men. Fortunately, western societies seem to be modernized and up-to-date with the fact that women leaders possess substantial potential that can be employed in the growth and development of societies. Women have further been mobilized to challenge men leadership and their political position, thereby allowing women to manifest their developmental traits for the benefit of the society. Political systems in modern western societies have been mainstreamed to factor in women leadership and representation (Hewlett and Buck Luce, 2005). Underrepresentation of women in the political arena has always been a critical concern for women, not only in the western societies, but also across the globe. In this respect, numerous policies that account for gender mainstreaming in the political environment have been introduced, and such policies have enabled women to be more outspoken politically. Consequently, male dominance in politics is slowly declining as more women sign up for political roles in the society. The implementation of gender mainstreaming in politics has been aided by the role of political parties in the affirmative action debate. Political parties pursue different policies and measures that are tailored towards bettering the social welfare of the people. Andreoni and Vesterlund (2001, p.299-303) maintain that in order to present the advocacy of a political party as one that promotes equality, the needs, concerns, and interests of both men and women have to be accounted for. At the height of this, gender equality is addressed at the political party level before the debate broadens across the society. The implementation of affirmative action in the political environment is not a one man’s or woman’s job. The process calls for cooperation and collaboration between all stakeholders in order to ensure that the policies or programs being advocated for are tailored towards addressing the underrepresentation of women in the society. Promoting women rights and welfare within and without politics has enabled women to rise beyond cultural, social, economic, and political expectations (Weber and Zulehner, 2010, p.359). They have proved their competitiveness in the society through challenging their male counterparts, working, and collaborating with them to foster social, economic, and economic growth and development. In a nutshell, affirmative action has moved swiftly to address the needs, concerns, and interests of underrepresented groups in and out of modern western societies. These societies have identified women’s potential, and have moved fast to tap their capabilities through affirmative action. While there are arguments for and against affirmative action, the common denominator is that it is working for women if not the rest of underrepresented groups in the society. Proponents of affirmative action should exacerbate their bid to promote cultural, social, economic, and political welfare of women. Reference List Andreoni, J. and Vesterlund, L. (2001) Which is the Fair Sex: Gender Differences in Altruism, Quarterly Journal of Economics, CXVI, pp. 293 – 312. Balafoutas, L. and Sutter, M. (2012) Affirmative Action Policies Promote Women and Do Not Harm Efficiency in the Laboratory, Science, 3. Vol. 335, pp. 579-582. Beaman, L. et al. (2009) Powerful Women: Does Exposure Reduce Bias? Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 124 No 4, pp. 1497-1540. Calsamiglia, C., Franke, J. and Rey-Biel, P. (2010) The Incentive Effects of Affirmative Action in a Real-Effort Tournament, Working Paper. Condrey, S. (2010) Handbook of Human Resource Management in Government, London: John Wiley & Sons. Hewlett, S. and Buck Luce, C. (2005) Off Ramps and On-Ramps, Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success, Harvard Business Review, March 2005. Page, S. (2007) The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tohidi, N. (2002) The Global-Local Intersection of Feminism in Muslim Societies: The Cases of Iran and Azerbaijan, Social Research, 69, no. 3: pp.851-887. Weber, A. and Zulehner, C. (2010) Female hires and the success of start-up firms, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 100 (2), pp. 358-361. Read More