Gender Equality - Concept

Concept

The movement towards gender equality, especially in Western countries, began with the suffragette movement of the late-19th century. Then there was a change in relation to women's property rights in marriage. (See for example, Married Women's Property Act 1882.) In the 1960s, a more general movement for gender equality developed based on women's liberation and feminism. The issue was women's rights. The idea was that women should have equal rights with men. However, actual changes in attitudes continued to focus on specific issues.

The movement resulted in anti-discrimination laws. Changes to attitudes to equality in education opportunities for boys and girls have also undergone a cultural shift. Some changes came about by adopting affirmative action policies. The change has also involved changes to social views, including "equal pay for equal work" as well as most occupations being equally available to men and women, in many countries. For example, many countries now permit women to serve in the armed forces, the police force and to be fire fighters. Also, an increasing number of women are active in politics and occupy high positions in business.

Conversely, men increasingly are working in occupations which in previous generations had been considered "female occupations", such as nursing. Also, in the home, while acknowledging the biological differences between men and women, most notably in relation to child bearing, the role of child rearing is not as widely considered to be an exclusively female role. Another manifestation of the change in social attitudes is the non-automatic taking by a woman of her husband's surname on marriage, as well as a wife being free to pursue her career after marriage.

Many people, feminist and not, still do not regard the objective of gender equality as having been achieved, especially in non-Western countries. A highly contentious issue relating to gender equality is the role of women in Christian churches, and female priests. The issue has caused splits in some churches.

Not all ideas for gender equality have been popularly adopted. For example, the movement for topfreedom rights has remained a marginal issue, though breast feeding rights in semi-public places have been accepted.