From “Man’s World” to “The Woman’s World”

From “Man’s World” to “The Woman’s World”

Since the dawn of humanity, men have dominated to establish a patriarchal society. Women and their rights have been at the mercy of the men for centuries and one can discern a gender pattern, which hindered or prevented woman from achieving their productive and creative talents.

Men looked at women as their property and took them for granted to fulfill their whims and demands, since men were the sole providers of food, shelter and protection for the weaker half.

This year a man in Afghanistan agreed to part with his 6-year-old daughter to wed a debtor’s son for settling a debt. Maybe Afghanistan is still living in stone-age, but this behavior and action is barbaric by even those stone-age standards. (Luckily, a Good Samaritan paid off the debt and saved the girl from that ignominy).

Not until the late 19th century and 20th century and particularly the feminist movements of the early 1900s, that sought social, political and economic equality, did the Western world started experiencing a transformation in the role of women in society. Women leaders in the 20th century like Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Sanger, Gloria Steinem, and Betty Friedman are known for their advocacy and fighting spirit in the advancement of women rights.

Women Leaders/Pioneers from Past

Top on this list has to be the presidential candidate of 2008 and prospective presidential candidate for 2016, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, worked tirelessly for the empowerment of women worldwide. Clinton appointed the first ambassador for global women’s rights to address gender issues and after assuming the chief diplomat position, made this observation: “We are putting women on the agenda and making it a centerpiece of all that we do at the state department.”

Women politicians even more powerful than Hillary Clinton include: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990), known as the Iron Lady of Britain, and equally tough India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (1966-1977) as well as Golda Meir, the prime minister of Israel (1969-1973). In power today, Angela Merkel, the first female chancellor of Germany, has been voted by Forbes as the world’s most powerful woman a number of times for her harsh austerity measures to resolve the European debt crisis.

While the list is rather long, we cannot overlook other famous women who made history starting with: Cleopatra, the 17-year old Macedonian beauty, who ruled Egypt with grace and aplomb from 51-30 B.C.; Joan of Arc, a simple peasant girl (born 1412), who rose to become warrior-general at the tender age of 12 to oust the English from France and died in 1431, at the age of 19, when she was burned by the English to end her heroism; Catherine the Great, the Russian Empress who westernized Russia (1762-1796); Queen Victoria known for her progressive Victorian Era (1837-1901); Susan B. Antony (1820-1906), famous for the women’s suffrage movement; Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) for nursing; Marie Curie (1837-1931), the only women to win Nobel Prize in two fields of chemistry and physics. 

Notable women from 20th century include: Helen Keller (rights for handicapped); Amelia Earhart (flying); Mother Teresa (caring for starving and dying); Anne Frank (for her diary); Jane Goodall (animal rights and research of chimpanzee society); Coco Chanel (perfume business); Sandra Day O’Connor (first woman justice of Supreme Court); Madeleine Albright (first woman secretary of state); Martha Stewart (business magnate); Kathryn Bigelow (films); and Oprah Winfrey (media mogul).

Enter Recession and Role Reversal

The latest reports from the United States Department of Labor show that the unemployment rate of men is now significantly higher than that of women due to our recent economic crisis. This downturn has been vicious on men with some calling the current recession as a “mancession.” Women are now finding themselves in the role that their husbands played not too long ago, which has created an awkward situation for husbands in their marriage, since men typically place a high value on their ability to earn a living and provide for their family.

Up until recently in this 21st century, men have held and still hold the top jobs and received much higher compensations compared to women in similar positions. However, that is changing; women are the new men and breaking through even the tallest of tall glass ceilings.

The new chief executive officer of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, is not only the youngest Fortune 500 head at 37, she gets company perks never heard of before. In addition to her $117 million five-year contract and a penthouse atop the San Francisco Four Seasons, Mayer has a “baby’s nursery” next to her office suite as part of her employment understanding since she was hired in the third trimester of her first pregnancy back in 2012.

Experts say Marissa Mayer is tougher than “Chainsaw Al,” former CEO of Sunbeam Corp. Al Dunlap, who was known for turning the failing company around by firing and massive layoffs. Mayer is being called “The Stalin of Silicon Valley” for banning employees from “working at home” and in the process cutting deadwood and tightening the disciplinary screws at Yahoo, which is called the “grandfather of all the Internet companies.”

The legendary singer James Brown not too long ago in 1966 released his most popular song titled “It’s a Man’s World” that many American male chauvinists would be unwilling to give up. However, the writing is clearly on the wall which these chauvinists may ignore at their own peril. For as we progress into the 21st century, it is becoming obvious that more and more women will be taking over the reins as country heads and heading up businesses to give credence to that 1968 Virginia Slims slogan: "You've come a long way, baby.”

But this new age could be hiding a new danger. Since women are marching to a different drumbeat and climbing much higher mountains – we may be swinging the pendulum from one extreme of a “Man’s World” to the other extreme of “The Woman’s World,” when psychologists tells us that today’s society is more about sharing.

One should then hope for and put faith in the “Shared World” in which this idea of “shared responsibility,” will usher in a world of equal rights and respect, particularly for women. In return, this recognition of women should give rise to a “Caring, Competent and Compassionate World,” which is synonymous with the character of women, even those acting out the ruthless but temporary role of a modern-day CEO.