Women's Rights

Are women governed by their own free will that is influenced by social conditioning or instinctively by biological destiny/identity or both? "To be or become a woman tend to be viewed as the effect of a social conditioning to be analyzed and overcome, rather than as a desire to be cultivated and offered for recognition; that of belonging to a different sex or gender that makes up half the human species." (Irigaray, 2001) Women are still being treated like second class citizens. I think in our day and age that women are acknowledged as being just as competent as their counter part males but are still considered lesser by society's social norms. Women legally have the same rights as men in the US and are supposedly treated legally equal but this is not universal. Each country, each culture has there own set of rules and laws applied to women's rights. The reality is that women are treated differently because of their gender. It's not to say it is always in the negative form but the fact remains that women are treated differently from men. There are special circumstances that women are given to cure or amend the gaps in the laws but it causes conflict, even though the exception is made by law, society doesn't always approve. Males are given more recognition for taking on a feminine role but in retrospect if a female takes on a masculine role she is questioned on her sexuality or viewed as being cold.

Despite all the flaws, women's rights have evolved so much from history, and women continue to grow more and more towards equality. Before women had the right to vote but most choose not to, now women will go out and vote, hold political offices, take stands against worthy causes, and voice their ideas and concerns. Women have banded together in support to fight for equality and people are listening, responding, and acting. A good role model for that would be Hilary Clinton, but at what expense did she have to sacrifice to attain that status. Hilary only came into this power by building upon her husband's career. Would she be where she's at if she wasn't married to the President? She's proved that she is more than competent. But would the American people have believed that before being the first lady, could she be capable of running for office? The law can claim that it protects the rights for male and females equally but the problem is who is interpreting and enforcing the law. We still have women being sexually harassed, being paid less then the male workers, and employers showing preference for hiring males. The biggest issue is to discontinue the false beliefs that were installed in us throughout generations. "Women's place is in the home", "Women should be barefoot and pregnant", "Men are the bread winners"Ð'...etc

Women are already