Have women in the world come a long way or do they still have a long way to go?

Question

The media seems to focus on the shallow, screwed up lives of young women in Hollywood and there seems to be few (if any) strong female role models. Can you name one that inspires you? The few strong women are characterized as bitches and most young women seem to be more concerned about getting drunk, high, married and pregnant (all in varying orders) instead of making a true impact on the planet. Perhaps being married and pregnant is a viable option but have women given up the choices that so many fought for them to have?

Answer 1

Yes. Women have come a long way. And, Yes. Women can go further. Same as men.

Answer 2

I'm only a fourteen year old girl, But I recognise the injustice towards women. My role model is a woman (I'm sorry I dont know her name) that works as a lawyer in some place where women are stoned to death for petty crimes while men cast the stones. All I think at that time is a saying, let he who comits no sin cast the first stone. These men obviously dont know the saying. I want t grow up to be just like this lawyer but I want to do more. Yes women still have a long way to go, but its not their fault sometimes. Plus the media only focuses on those women who do the things you say they do, because media are men and they want to show all the bad things about us, while they are the same and in most cases worse.

Answer 3

I think its great woman have been liberalised and im all for it. However i think some women become a little bit militant which isnt really attractive. I say there should be a balance. I dont see anything with traditional roles of once children come along the man works and the women nurtures at home. Most men take their hat off to Women as they are capable of so many things and always have been.

PS. I dont like ladettes!

Answer 4

You have selected a surprisingly narrow viewpoint - the media and Hollywood. believe me nothing those slappers spears and Hilton do will ever influence my life in any way, shape or form. I also believe that the UN will never pass a resolution based on the drunken antics of said fools. It may seem that we are living in a celebrity obsessed culture but I know many people who NEVER watch any reality show and never buy any celebrity magazine. The sales of those many magazines put together may not even total 500,000 for the whole of the UK (just guessing no idea!) I would not take my hard-to-come-by money to by someone's CD, book, concert tickets, cinema tickets, DVD, etc. based on their drunken, drugged-fuelled antics. I don't care if spears picked her nose whilst drunk, or if Hilton carried a yellow hand-bag by 'Le Toss-pot'. Or some 'person' who was in a show years ago is going to be a in panto near me. My real life is all consuming and very harsh and escaping into their artificial worlds simply doesn't appeal to me. I believe many women have achieved a lot over the years, and should be given due credit for what has been done to date.

Answer 5

Not all women are shallow, nor all Hollywood women, Jodie Foster, for example, would be a good example of a Hollywood role model.

There are some women though, who seem a bit lost, as do men these days. The roles of women and men have been blurred. Men seem to be no longer strong, protective, the provider. Women seem to no longer want to be cared for and looked after. I appreciate that women want to be independent so that a man cannot control them, in the past some men have been in a position of power and have abused it. When a woman has children she needs protecting and providing for, it is at this vulnerable stage in the game of life that men have sometimes taken their chance to seize power. I am not saying all men are like that.

Bottom line, it is natural for women to be cared for by men and for men to be cared for (mothered) by women. If we stuck to our roles and did not take advantage of them, things would be far less complicated, people would not feel so lost.

As has been pointed out, women do a great job looking after house, home, hubby, children etc. and men do a great job by providing for all the dependants. It is a real pity that one wage is not enough these days because too much importance has been placed on status symbols and materialism, and because the minimum wage is a joke.

Answer 6

Yes and yes, we have come a long way and there is still a long way to go. And I think there are a lot of good role models. Mine are especially in the music business. Patricia Barber a wonderful jazz pianist and singer songwriter. And the danish tenor sax player Christina Dahl. Creating good music is very important, it is also a way to influence people politically. There are also more and more women politicians. I hope the next prime minister in Denmark will be the social democrat Helle Thorning Smith.

Answer 7

Hello,

In response to your posting, I have no doubt in my own mind & feelings that woman have made massive strides forwards. But change is a strange process and what we often dont seem to realise is that changes in peoples atitudes, especially concerning genda isnt a straight line forwards movement. I see that change is more like some odd dance we're not that familar with, one step forwards and two steps back, then five steps forwards and three steps sideways,etc.

**woman are a massive movement now in the labour (work) force and even in my own life time I can perceive the balance of the work force has tipped over towards more woman than there ever used to be. The only question is at what cost has that taken place?

**Woman have come ALONG WAY!! its only that patriarchie has much much further to go, in terms of changes in the balance of power.

**Strong positive role models of woman in movies & films. I admire Jodie Foster a great deal. Why? because she has consistently played very tough roles, yet she isnt afraid to show a vulnerable side of herself. She generally doesnt come across as a victim and thats something I like alot.

**Hilary Clinton I admire alot too, her determination & drive yet with such intelligence and grace.

IR

Answer 8

First of all the women you speak of are the movie stars...hey our lives are not on display like theirs. Yes women have come a long way and some of us feel cheated and others feel content. Do we really want to be like men. That is what makes us whole and also makes the man whole. No one should ever control us that is the women's fault not the mans. So this statement is so controversial and just like when you start talking politics or religion it's never going to be resolved. So we must look at ourselves and say are we glad to be women or would we rather be a man!

Answer 9

I like Spoonraker’s answer.
It’s nice to see a woman that isn’t yelling and screaming that women who have not chosen to hand their kids off to a daycare center are somehow less of a person than the ones who have.

Please note that I did say CHOSEN. I’m not ignoring the fact that many women have no choice but to go out and get a job because the women’s movement destroyed our economy.

It’s obvious some women have come too far and want to see other women’s choices taken away. As an example, I will refer to the statement made above that says ‘I am so appreciative of the choices women have,’ but in the two paragraphs above that statement she makes it clear that if a woman makes choices that contradict her own views, she asks ‘What kind of power is that?’ insinuating that women who do demand their right to make their own choice are less powerful than she is.

Apparently she feels taking away women’s rights to make their own choices somehow makes women more powerful. That sounds like a contradiction to me.

I guess to answer your question, some women still have a long way to go since they still insist the rest of the world conform to their views of right and wrong, and want to see other people's choices taken away because those choices don't agree with their own...
kind of the way it was during the Dark Ages.

Answer 10

I think woman have come a long way. Yet look what a woman is payed for the same job as a man. They hold key positions in business yet have not make a dent in politics apart from a few exceptions. No they have a long way to go, they still like a door opened for them or a seat on a crowded bus given up for them. Equal is in all things. Madonna is one who has made it both in business and as an entrtainer.

Answer 11

Obviously you are talking about women that you've met where you are coming from. I have a company of six friends that we go out together. Two of them are medicine doctors, me and another one electronic engineers, my best friend is a lawyer and the other one is a dentist. I can assure you that we don't get drunk because we like to have our senses right when we go out to have fun and to return home safely. All of us have stable relationships(some for more than 5 years now including mine).
The lawyer is doing another degree in the university, the two doctors are doing their speciality, the dentist has opened her own medical centre and me and the other electronic engineer have finished our Masters and started PhD.
After all these i don't see how we are not making worth of the fight the other women have given for our rights. Maybe it is the kind of women you see everyday but it is not the kind of women that i see everyday where i come from and i can only speak about where i come from. ( I don't want to mention that because it would insinuate things and it is not the purpose of my answer.)
As you see the most young women that i know are interested in education, career and a stable loving family.