Women Rights
These entitlements are claimed for a woman or girl for many societies all over the world. In most cases, they are supported by custom, law or behavior, depending on which level they are claimed. The issues that are usually claimed under women rights include the right to hold public office, to be free from rape, to own property, to enter legal valid contracts, and to bodily integrity among others (Kammer, Turner, and Bowden 42).
Difficulty about Women in Business World
The perception that entrepreneurship is a man`s activity is fading out among different societies. Many Women have started launching and leading their own companies. This is a good inspiration for other women to engage in businesses. The female entrepreneurs face many challenges related to gender issues (Lane 52).
Recent news headlines have told stories about women being blocked from getting to the top management positions. This can be realized through job segregation deeds that are experienced in various companies and organizations. Women managers and administrators are concentrated in a given line of jobs that usually offer minimal opportunities for rising to the top. In the US today, it is advocated from reports that the top ranking women in various organizations are working in non-operating divisions, such as public relations, finance specialties, and personnel that can rarely lead an individual to top management positions.
Sex discrimination is an obstacle to most women venturing into businesses. There is a slow advancement in women because of bad attitudes towards women managers. A real life situation is whereby a woman in a meeting can be mistaken to be the secretary. Current surveys have indicated existence of sex discrimination in most organizations. Most men in top managerial positions tend not to view discrimination as an issue to be handled in various industries, thereby blocking execution of effective remedies (Lane 53).
Sexual harassment is also widespread among women as they perform their managerial roles. In courts today, there are many cases involving sexual harassment in working environments. The obstacle that women undergo as they execute their daily duties demoralizes and intimidates majority of women executives.
Many women are facing work-life imbalance, a situation that women are struggling to balance between raising a family and running their businesses. Most of them end up paying more attention to family related issues, leaving their business improperly managed, which limits their success in business.
Women rights in Middle East
Middle East countries have been leading in disregarding the rights of women. There are many cases of male-female inequality in most parts of Middle East. Eastern women do not enjoy the same rights with men in regard to political life, professional opportunities, access to education, and salaries. In some countries, women are disadvantaged in family and inheritance rules, whereby they are granted fewer rights as compared to men, and considered as subordinates to males` control (Kelly and Breslin 24).
Despite countries like Qatar and Oman formulating laws against sex discrimination, women all over Middle East face legal discrimination. For instance, no country in the Gulf countries allows women to enjoy equal nationality and citizenship rights as men. This usually leads to various challenges concerning marriages. For example, in most of the Middle East countries, it is hard for a woman to go to court for a divorce case, and polygamy is still very common.
Women lack their freedom and independence to the extent that when a woman is leaving the house, she should notify her husband and in some situations be accompanied by a male relative. This is a very outdated practice, which limits women from enjoying equal opportunities as men. For instance, in the case of “the girl of Qatif” whereby a girl was gang-raped but with the reason that she had no male accompanying her, she was punished. Instead of protecting the rights of a woman, they were further violated. These cultures should be done away with, and a woman should be considered equal to a man.
In the Middle East, women have no rights to participate in economic and political issues in their country. Some countries with well established governments deny women the right to vote or hold a public office (Kelly and Breslin 25). This is a very bad practice in regard to women rights.
However, the situation of women being discriminated is changing although at a slow pace. Female activists from other regions are strongly challenging the cultural practices in the Middle East. Despite the political reforms, there are economic changes in those countries that are empowering women to become more active.
Women and Politics
In most countries, women are under-represented in political issues (Hannagan 11). Different surveys have shown that women have the capability of performing as well or even better than men. Therefore, they should come out and compete with men in acquiring political offices. In the US politics, women are under-represented in political office and institutions. It is asserted that the reason for this is that women do not run for such positions but in real sense, it is due to the existence of a gender gap in U.S politics, whereby males tend to have advantage over women.
In the American politics, only two women have contested for the presidential seat: Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. This is a clear indication of how the U.S is undermining women politically without giving them the opportunities to have a substantial contribution to legislation of important laws in both the Senate and Congress. Hillary Clinton gave most women in the U.S a challenge when she vied for the presidential seat. Many women should come out in the coming elections to seek the public offices in politics if they want equality to be achieved.
Hillary Clinton had the courage of facing the competition from men in running for the presidential seat. Although she lost, she may vie for the seat again in 2016 elections. This shows how she is determined to become America`s first female president. Some argues that it is the experience she got as the first lady that gave her the courage to face the stiff competition from men. The reason to why we do not have many politically strong women in politics is that majority are assuming that politics is a male dominated field, which they cannot suit.
However, Hillary Clinton as a woman has undergone through many challenges in trying to attain the top political seat in the United States (Carrol 23). Through determination and perseverance, Hillary has managed to gain a high status quo in politics. Therefore, this should be a real motivation to other women in America to change their perceptions in regard to politics and vie for the male dominated seats. Many people expect that in 2016, there will be more women running for the political seats.
Works Cited
Carroll, Susan J. “Reflections on Gender and Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign: The Good, the Bad, and the Misogynic.” Politics & Gender (2009): n. pag. Print.
Hannagan, Rebecca J. “Gendered Political Behavior: A Darwinian Feminist Approach.”Sex Roles (2008): n. pag. Print.
Kammer, Rachelle E., Sandra G. Turner, and Kate Bowden. “Treating Women Right.”Affilia-journal of Women and Social Work (2010): n. pag. Print.
Kelly, Sanja, and Julia Breslin. “2 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA.” (2010): Print.
Lane, Mark. Women in America. N.p., 2014. Print.