Feminism In Canada Essay

Feminism is a huge controversial topic that is still present in today's society. The question that is often asked is do we still need feminism today, in reality feminism should never be forgotten because it was what brought equality to so many people today. However, in our society is feminism really needed, or could it be more beneficial to other countries who still fight for equal rights? On the other hand Canada isn’t perfect and the fight for equal rights among the opposite sex is still an issue. In hindsight, the citizens of Canada would gain a better understanding for each other if feminism continues to stay present in our daily lives.
For many years women fought for equal rights, these rights consisted of voting rights, fair wage rights,
labour rights, the right to call a woman a person. On October 18, 1929 women were no longer seen as objects or as property, they were finally seen as people. This was a huge milestone in women history; this gave women the chance to become their own person; during this day a decision was made to include women in the legal definition of ‘persons.’ The Famous Five fought for the rights of women, they gave women a voice, and without them our society may still see women as objects and not as people. The history of women contains many milestones, milestones that men will never go through because they were born with a XY chromosomes. Without feminism present, today in Canada women wouldn’t be seen as equal, in reality women still fight for equality today. In 1960’s the average man would earn a wage of $26,608 yearly, while a woman's wage would be 39.3% lower than the average male income meaning a women would earn $16,144 yearly. Over the last 56 years the fight for fair wages among the opposite sexes have become more equal, but there are still wage gaps. In 2016 the average man would earn a wage of $51,640 yearly, while a woman’s wage is 19.5% lower than the average male income meaning a women would earn $41,554 yearly. According to the National Committee on Pay Equity woman won’t receive equal pay until 2059, in another 41 years women will finally be paid at a equal rate. Without feminism present in today’s society this change may never happen, or the rate of this happening may decrease. Without feminism major changes like wage gaps would not decrease, so the question here is why should feminism disappear in today's society when it helps others become equal in a unfair world.
Feminism is needed in this country because it helps shape equality not only for women, but for all those who fight to be heard and fight for their rights.
Traditional working roles were changed over the years due to feminism, nowadays you see male nurses, female doctors, male secretaries, female construction workers, male chefs, and female firefighters, et cetera. Without feminism in this country each gender would stick to their traditional working roles; there would be no going outside of one’s comfort zone or working at your dream job, just doing the job that best fits your gender. Before the feminist movement the working roles were very gender specific, each job was made to fit each gender. Women, stayed home, cleaned, and took care of the house and children. While the men of the house, went out and did labour jobs. In 1931, 16% of women had a paying jobs; while 70% of men were involved in paid employment. By 2006 the employment rate for women increased significantly, it was almost 60%. This act took place mainly for gender equality, it focuses on the difference that were put in place of each gender. Without feminism present into today’s society, we as a country would not move forward, but take steps back, falling into old ways, and never reaching a goal of total equalness. Whether or not people think society is equal, it in fact is not, more can be done, and with feminism present one day we will reach this impossible goal called
equality.
Back in the 1700’s there was huge power imbalance between both man and women.
As time goes on the power imbalance between both men and women has decreased, throughout time there has been a mutual respect for each gender, each gender plays a huge role in today’s society. It is important remember the justice that was brought by the feminist movement; it brought down the wage gap by 80.5%, tradisional working roles are starting to become minimized, and each gender is starting to be seen as equals. “Women work,” was once viewed as less important and now “women work,” is viewed like “man work.” Each role had different skills, neither female or male recognized the differeities of each other. As shared gender roles progressed, the understanding of each other became significant. ‘The Industrial Revolution intensified the inequalities between the status of men and women based on the roles each fulfilled.’ The statement provides an insight of how the world use to be, a world where people were seen for their abilities and not for who they were. A question like, “Do we need feminism in this country,” should not be allowed, a question like that insults the progress of other generations. A question that allows people to think that they are better than others because they were born with XX chromosomes or XY chromosomes. A world, a city, a town, or a country should not lose feminism, it is a act that fight for
justice.
In conclusion, feminism is needed in every way. Antonio Gramsci believed that society would be better off with one ruling class, instead of being divided among other classes. This theory doesn’t explain equality, but reading between the lines it sounds like it does. Gramsic suggested that society would be better off if people weren’t divided into two classes, this resembles the act of feminism in my eyes. Feminism is improvement, feminism started off as the fight for women, but it ended with the fight for all. A movement that made a difference in the lives of many, a movement that made the world a better place for all, and a movement that has had many successes. As a society, we need feminism to remind people about the progress that was made and to remind people that equality isn’t always easy, but is worth fighting for.