Why Feminism is still Relevant

In the past few decades, women have made significant strides in equality and human rights, but we still have along way to go; there is much room for improvement. Today we’re allowed to vote, go to law and medical schools, and be a presidential candidate, but having a say about our reproduction rights should be part of a woman’s human rights, including the right to an abortion, access to contraception and quality prenatal care. Equal rights do not exist for women in certain countries and according to various surveys, there continues to be great inequity in pay; men are paid more than women for the same position, and sexism still exists in the workforce. When women work outside the household, they earn, on average, far less than men. Also, one would think that as time goes on, there would be more equality between men and women, but trends are moving in the other direction. In certain countries, governments are not living up to their promise to protect women from discrimination and violence such as rape and female genital mutilation, not to mention harassment and sexual abuse.

This year, there were approximately 15 female CEO’s of Fortune 500 Companies in 2009. Granted not an impressive number, but still a number. How does that translate? The men of America created the financial mess. Big surprise. The question is: Can the growing ranks of female CEO’s clean up the mess? While many female CEO’s pull in much lower salaries than their counterparts, their companies are weathering the economic storm much easier. My bet? A portfolio of the companies run by low-testosterone executives could out-perform the Fortune 500 next year. Banks are still in bad shape but at least women can’t be scapegoats because there weren’t enough of them in leadership roles who had the power to affect change.