Educate a Woman, Educate a Generation

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” (Young). This quote illustrates the importance of women in today’s society and the crucial role they play in inspiring the next generation of young women. Feminism is a social perspective dedicated to equality and equal rights between both sexes, male and female. This social perspective has been and still is practiced by millions of feminists around the world fighting for equal rights. The feminist movement has undergone three waves in the past century, changing the face of the human race as we know it. It has changed social norms and shifted the norms and stereotypes of typical gender inequality that is embedded in daily practices. In Canada we still need feminism because women are yet deemed less important than men in society, our culture is male dominated resulting in the overlooking of major contributions women have made in society and finally, women are misrepresented in the media let alone a larger culture.

Gender inequality theories identify that women’s place in society not only differ but is unequal to men. For centuries, men have had a greater amount of rights and privileges as oppose to women. The US census recently updated their statistics stating that women earn 77 percent of what men earn and for the same amount of work. This statistic has been updated as of last month, February 2014 . This is merely just one major example of how women are treated less equal to men because women can work just as hard if not harder than men at a same job and yet receive around ¾ of the men’s pay. Women also often face what is known as a ‘glass ceiling’ many times when it comes to promotions. This is apparent when you examine the lack of women in le...

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...example of how the media abuses the female body that is supposed to be the epitome of beauty but instead objectified. It is rare to see on any source of media, women portrayed as bright, intelligent and inspiring. Popular male singers who are frequently appearing on television such as Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake and Usher have all released songs that talk about women in a sexual matter. Popular musicians such as these have a fan base of millions. That is millions of people listening to music that objectify women. This is why feminism is critically needed. With millions of people being shaped by the media, feminists have to fight back even harder and speak out louder. Canada needs feminism because there is still a massive amount of work to be done for women’s right and equivalence. Feminism can shape humanity as we know it, and fight for the equality of women.