What still needs to be done to address gender inequalities in society
What still needs to be done to address gender inequalities in European societies?
Socially and biologically constructed gender roles have led to unequal advantages awarded to males within modern European societies. Key gender inequalities exist in the workplace, political spectrum and through media representation alongside the private sphere. Elimination of gender inequalities became present on the social and political agenda in the latter part of the 19th Century, over a century later and it’s still a prevalent topic in today’s European societies.
This essay will firstly define the various forms of perceived gender biases that are featured in European societies before analysing how these potential inequalities have been minimised through political, social and economic means and whether these have been construed as effective or not. However I shall conclude that there is no apparent gender inequality in Europe most notably in socially and economically modernised nations such as UK, Germany and Netherlands whereby biologically constructed characteristic differences have led to a perceived inequality.
Arguably the most prominent gender gap within European societies is the difference between male and female earnings, commonly defined as the wage gap. Wage disparity exists in all European nation states is often expressed through the term “Glass Ceiling” (Hymowitz 1986) which is executed when women face “hurdles of advancement” (Yousry 2006). Female rates of participation within the workforce have increased from 1860 onwards most notably post WWII (Hakim 2006), the most prominent reason for this change being placed on societies altering perception of women whose sole purpose is no longer child bearer and rearer. Participation and the further education of women has been increasing in the majority of European states with Sweden experiencing 85% of females now participating in the work force (this figure is often lower in many other European countries (e.g. UK
Socially and biologically constructed gender roles have led to unequal advantages awarded to males within modern European societies. Key gender inequalities exist in the workplace, political spectrum and through media representation alongside the private sphere. Elimination of gender inequalities became present on the social and political agenda in the latter part of the 19th Century, over a century later and it’s still a prevalent topic in today’s European societies.
This essay will firstly define the various forms of perceived gender biases that are featured in European societies before analysing how these potential inequalities have been minimised through political, social and economic means and whether these have been construed as effective or not. However I shall conclude that there is no apparent gender inequality in Europe most notably in socially and economically modernised nations such as UK, Germany and Netherlands whereby biologically constructed characteristic differences have led to a perceived inequality.
Arguably the most prominent gender gap within European societies is the difference between male and female earnings, commonly defined as the wage gap. Wage disparity exists in all European nation states is often expressed through the term “Glass Ceiling” (Hymowitz 1986) which is executed when women face “hurdles of advancement” (Yousry 2006). Female rates of participation within the workforce have increased from 1860 onwards most notably post WWII (Hakim 2006), the most prominent reason for this change being placed on societies altering perception of women whose sole purpose is no longer child bearer and rearer. Participation and the further education of women has been increasing in the majority of European states with Sweden experiencing 85% of females now participating in the work force (this figure is often lower in many other European countries (e.g. UK
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