Achieving equality: a woman’s biggest dream now turning into reality.

While living in a society that claims to give men and women the same

treatment, all of us have a huge chance of being caught in a situation

where this treatment is everything but equal.

Since the beginning of days, women have always been seen as someone

inferior and with less abilities than men. Over the years, they have been

taking care of the house, raising their children and living in their husband’s

shadow. Nowadays, women are aware that they still stand in a lower

position than men, but they are also willing to try and achieve equality.

Their fight for equality started many years ago, precisely on March 8,

1857, when a group of 129 female workers from a New York factory were

killed in a fire inside their workplace, while protesting against their

extended working hours. From that day on, women tried and succeeded

to earn rights which had been denied to them for so many years, such as

security, freedom, access to education, healthcare, political participation

and more support in what concerns disabilities and retirement.

Although there have been some efforts to change, women continue to

suffer from different types of discrimination on a daily basis.

First of all, sexual assault still has a huge impact on a woman’s life.

Anything that can be considered sexual behaviour without consent, from

inappropriate touches to sexual innuendos and, in the most extreme

cases, rape can reduce a woman to a simple object and make her feel

weak and vulnerable.

Besides that, women’s image keeps on being stereotyped all over the

media, supporting the idea that all females need to be the perfect

housewife, with no other goal than to have a perfect family and a perfect

marriage.

At work, the differences are still very noticeable. Men tend to occupy

higher positions in almost every company, which makes women feel less

valued. On the rare occasions when men and women do occupy the same

position, the female worker usually receives less than her male co-worker.

Pregnancy is another cause of discrimination. When in a job interview,

women are always confronted with the typical questions “Are you

pregnant?” or “Do you intend to start a family soon?”. When the answer is

yes, most of the employers reject their applications and move on to the

next candidate.

In what might come as a shock, chivalry also happens to be a kind of

discrimination against women. Men go by the idea that women are always

the physically, emotionally and economically weaker part, and that they

are in constant need of help. A true gentleman would be willing to help a

person in need, regardless of their gender.

Despite women’s continuous struggle to achieve equality, a new battle is

approaching, where women must decide if they want a man that opens

the door for them or someone who would grab their hand and walk out

that same door by their side and down the road to a brighter future.

Written by Ana Carolina Anjos, Rita Fonseca and Sara Silva