Feminism has been defined as being “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes” (Oxford Dictionaries, n.d.) and it is said that “feminists refuse to accept that inequalities between women and men are natural and inevitable and insist that they should be questioned” (Jackson, 1998, p1). In truth there are as many definitions of feminism as there are opinions about it; though many definitions are similar, the breadth makes a definitive discussion of feminism difficult. When a group of university students in central Pennsylvania were asked to define feminism each of them struggled, one commented that she didn’t “really know what feminism is except that I should be for it because I’m a girl, lots of people glare if someone isn’t, yet it gets a bad rep”. A more comprehensive answer was also provided:
“Feminism is a philosophy of
enabling women to fulfill [sic] their highest potential and not feel
intimidated by pre-conceived or socially constructed genders roles. Feminism
does not necessarily mean you hate or look down on men, but means that as a
woman, you want to better yourself and see yourself as an individual, not
necessarily to the detriment of others”
(Harrow, 2012).
Attitudes towards, and definitions of, feminism have
doubtless evolved and will undoubtedly evolve further in the future. Mary
Wollstonecraft, writing in the late 18th century, addresses the
question of equality in the Rights of Women. In her introduction Wollstonecraft
refers to “the debated question about the equality and inferiority of the
female sex” (Bennett, 1999, p4); long before the Suffragettes were making
headlines the question of female empowerment and equality between the sexes had
been a topic for debate.
Feminism is commonly described as having three waves:
distinct periods with goals which grow and evolve. These are usually referred
to as being First Wave, Second Wave and Third Wave, though some sources do use
other terms (such as the women’s liberation movement for second wave, and
modern, or new-wave, feminism in place of third wave) to refer to particular
viewpoints and theories. See appendix 1 for more information on the three waves
of feminism.
This essay will primarily concern itself with the struggles
of the first feminist groups and with their struggles. Three major battles take
the form of the three major demands of first wave feminism: women’s suffrage,
educational, and employment or working rights. I intend to initially focus on
Britain and the west, defined as “Europe and North America seen in contrast to
other civilization” (Oxford Dictionaries, n.d.), and compare the west with the
rest of the world, paying particular attention to individual countries as case
studies and to underline both common attitudes and general trends.
Suffrage is defined by the Oxford Dictionary (n.d.) as being
“the right to vote in political elections”, an 18th century revision
of language caused by the struggle for equality by early feminists. The right
to enfranchisement was one of the key demands from an increasingly educated and
politically aware sex. Much of this awareness was gained through women working
on the behalf of other groups to gain emancipation, social and political
justice; in Britain women were fundamentally involved and essential in the
struggle for working class men’s suffrage. In the United States women were equally
involved in the early civil rights and temperance movements, throughout the
period of reconciliation between the states in the wake of the American Civil
War.
It was felt by many women that issues that affected them
were not of concern to the majority of men and that only by gaining a voice of
their own would they be able to effect any changes which would benefit them.
Their struggle was one which was often overshadowed or confused as other
disaffected groups also fought for recognition and emancipation; in many places
issues of race and immigration drew attention away from women. Increasingly
this led to the use of violent ‘shock tactics’ to grab headlines and to keep
the discussion of women’s issues alive. Caine (1997, p11) argues that
"political and economic freedoms demanded and gained by men during this
period were actively denied to women" and that it was this which acted as
a catalyst to turn the cause of women's rights from an intellectual curiosity
into a mass movement.
Women were granted the right to vote in 1869 in Wyoming
Territory, quickly followed by Utah Territory in 1870 and Washington Territory
in 1883. Once these territories gained statehood they preserved women's
suffrage, making them the first places to fully enfranchise women (History.com,
n.d.). Full emancipation of women did not occur in the United States of America
until 1920, and even then it did not include all women as the franchise was not
extended to Native Americans in all states until 1962.
New Zealand became the first country to grant the right to
vote to all women, both white and Māori,
in 1893, and other nations would follow though not quickly. Before World War 1
only 3 countries had joined New Zealand in extending the franchise; Australia
in 1902, Finland in 1906 and Norway in 1907 (Kelber, 1994, p10). During and
immediately after the war a further 15 countries, mostly in Europe, continued
this trend but the road was long and uneven; the last European countries to
fully enfranchise women being Portugal in 1976 (where restrictions were lifted,
allowing equal voting rights to men and women) and Lichtenstein in 1984. See
appendix 2 for details of when countries extended the franchise to women.
Whilst in the west access to the vote appears to be
relatively equitable, and arguably there are no real legislative barriers now
in place, this is not true across the globe. Three countries remain which have
not granted women rights to vote in national elections; Brunei, the Vatican
City and Saudi Arabia (Tovrov, 2011).
Brunei is a sultanate and absolute monarchy, with several councils
appointed by the sultan to advise him. Neither men nor women are able to vote
in national elections, however, there is universal suffrage for local elections
from age 18. The Vatican City is a theocracy, headed by the Pope who is advised
by the College of Cardinals. The only election is to determine who will be Pope
and only Cardinals below the age of 80 are entitled to vote: canon law does not
allow women to be ordained as priests, which bars women from being able to join
the College of Cardinals. Saudi Arabia is, like Brunei, an absolute monarchy
but it does allow national elections. Legislation is now in place to extend the
franchise to women as of 2015, four years after it was introduced, though very
strict laws remain regarding women. Saudi Arabia considers women to be legally
minors under the discriminatory “guardianship system” (Human Rights Watch,
2012).
Whilst it appears that, in general, women have won the right
to the vote the situation is not as clear as it may first appear. Whilst women
have technical rights to vote in many parts of the world there are legislative
or cultural barriers in place that serve to effectively silence their political
voice. In Lebanon women voters have to prove they have a minimum level of
education (to primary level), something that male voters do not have to do (CIA
Factbook, 2013). In Afghanistan, where
great gains for women’s rights have been made over the last decade, a law was
quietly removed in 2012 which stipulated that a quarter of all provincial
council seats should be allotted to women (Ilham, 2013). There is also a
significant risk that women will lose access to their voting rights due to a
lack of female security officers; voting is segregated and body searches are
required for all people entering a polling station due to the risk of violence
or terrorism. There is a major shortfall of female staff (Donati, 2013).
It is not just the developing world which places barriers
between women and the vote; the United States too is increasingly implementing
restrictions on voting. Whilst legislation is nearly universally presented as
means of reducing election fraud “there is no statistically
significant — or even insignificant — evidence of in-person fraud at the polls”
(Washington Post, 2013). Whilst it is comforting to believe that these
restrictions are rare, the amount of legislation passed (and struck down as
being unconstitutional) suggest a movement to disenfranchise parts of the
electorate in the US. It is not just minority, poorly educated, women with poor
English skills who are being affected; legislation in Texas which affects
voters who have changed their name (such as married women who took their
husbands surname) have given problems for high-profile women such as Judge
Sandra Watts (Goodwyn, 2013) and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis (Washington
Post, 2013).
The second demand of first wave feminism was for fair access
to education for women. At the same time as women were denied the vote, and men
were increasingly gaining access to it regardless of wealth, social position or
class. So, too, women were generally denied an academic education. Education,
generally, was far from ubiquitous and was generally based on class and wealth.
Boys and girls were taught the skills which it was felt they needed to succeed
in life; an education was felt to be wasted on girls as they were destined to
be homemakers rather than breadwinners.
This lack of educational opportunities was considered by
many to be a deliberate policy; an uneducated sex was unaware of their
disadvantages and, even if alerted, was unable to do anything about it. “All
mid-Victorian feminists agreed that educational deprivation was an essential
feature of women’s oppression and one…bearing particularly harshly on
middle-class women who were denied access to the schools and universities
attended by their brothers” (Caine, 1997, pp115-116). Caine argues further that
some women, such as Harriet Martineu and Hannah More, desired educational
advantages to better carry out their womanly duties rather than to enter into
traditionally male arenas: they desired a “rational and solid education to
better enable women to carry out their domestic tasks” (pp71-72).
Victorian arguments against women’s education, particularly
more advanced education, often referenced the supposedly innate qualities and
weaknesses of womanliness. Billington (2012, p665) writes that “women’s
unsuitability for higher education stemmed from their physical weakness which
was due to their child-bearing functions” and that “any attempt to assimilate
the education of women with that of men would serious affect the sexual
functions of women”. Whilst not a universal argument, that men were physically
stronger and thus more suited to learning, or that education could have a
disadvantageous physical reaction to women, were made time and again, and were
considered to be worthy of discussion.
It is certainly true that, without education, many
opportunities and careers are unavailable but there are other advantages (both
to an individual and to society at large) from increased levels of education.
Society benefits from enhanced economic growth, improvements in healthcare
(particularly with regards infant mortality), engagement with and understanding
of political issues. People gain critical and academic skills to allow access to
sustainable employment opportunities and thus enhanced earning potentials,
improving healthcare for the student and their family. Women and girls, in
particular, benefit; an additional year of schooling reduces the probability of
motherhood by 7.3% and increases her earnings by 10-20% (Global Partnership for
Education, 2013).
Access to tertiary education in Great Britain came slowly
but arrived long before the vote. Girton College in Cambridge was founded in
1869 as the first residential college offering degree-level education; Emily
Davies, its founder, rejected the idea of a special curriculum for women,
arguing that “only if women succeeded in subjects held to be prestigious for
men would their educational achievements be recognised as equally valid” (HerStoria,
2012). Other colleges were soon after established in Oxford and Cambridge but
all of them attracted negative attention and criticism; education was seen as a
distraction from the domestic duties of women, a threat to the family, and
therefore a threat to the social order itself. Studying in a college associated
with the great Oxbridge universities, and passing the examinations, did not
guarantee that a degree would be issued. Access to formal lectures and
examinations was piecemeal and at the discretion of the lecturer; it would be a
long time before equality in qualification was gained:
“Women were finally awarded
degrees at Oxford in 1920 but in Cambridge the women were denied again in 1921,
having to settle for titles of degrees only (called, inevitably, the ‘BA tit’).
Women were not awarded degrees on an equal basis to men at Cambridge until
1948, partly because if women had degrees they would also have the privileges
that came them, i.e. equal status, voting rights and a share in the governance
of the institution.”
(HerStoria, 2012).
The story is similar in the United States of America. Before
the American Civil War whilst some higher levels of education were available to
women from a (women’s) seminary or academy they were not granted access to
regular colleges or universities. The sole exception was Oberlin Collegiate
Institute (which became Oberlin College in 1850), which had offered degrees to
women on the same terms as men from 1837 (Oberlin, n.d.). In the wake of the Civil War women began to gain
to access college education, usually in coeducational facilities (as opposed to
the strictly segregated university colleges in Britain). Some of the more
established colleges in the northeast opened women’s colleges which were
associated with the already existing (male) colleges: the “Seven Sister”
colleges are examples of this second kind of institute. Five years after the
end of the Civil War, in 1870, less than one per cent of the female population
went to college and this rate rose slowly: it was less than three per cent by
1900 and seven and a half per cent in 1920 (American Association of University
Women, n.d.).
Despite the initially glacial pace for women in the west to
access education, the situation has now changed markedly and no legislative
barriers prevent women from complete access to university education. This does
not mean that there are no issues affecting women attending university. Bates
(2013) commented on the levels of ingrained misogyny facing female students in
British universities in a Guardian editorial:
“Though individual institutions
are dealing well with events in some cases, we need to step back and see the
bigger picture here. Until we do, and until this wave of violent misogyny is
recognised as an urgent nationwide problem by University heads, the hundreds of
the reports we receive from young women will continue to end in that same,
bewildered question – how is this still acceptable?”
Bates (2013)
Outside of the west access to education is not as equitable,
and the accepted norm of the west (the enlightened view that women should have
equal educational opportunities to men) is not present. A report from the
Institute for Statistics of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on literacy rates noted that though the overall
number of illiterate people had fallen since 2011 the majority of these
remained women; 64%, 495 million, of the 774 million people without basic
reading and writing skills were women.
It isn’t only access to elementary or primary education
which is lacking in some parts of the world: cultural, social and religious barriers
affect women being able to access education of all levels across the globe as
they did in the west 150 years ago. In Iran, once the most progressive of the
Gulf oil states, restrictions have been increasingly applied to education
generally, and for women in particular. In September of 2012 a ban was imposed
for female students in 77 undergraduate (BA and BSc) disciplines covering
specific, academic fields at 36 government universities: this ban covered “a
bewildering variety of subjects from engineering, nuclear physics and computer
science, to English literature, archaeology and business” (Sahraei, 2012)
There is an argument presented that as other universities
exist which grant full access to all disciplines for female students there is
no real restriction imposed on women’s educational access. Widespread,
international and domestic, outcry over the discriminatory policy has raised
questions within the government. As Samadbeighi,
(2012) wrote, “responses to the new restrictions have been so extensive that
even the Ministry of Education’s academic evaluation organization has taken a
position against it and it appears that a review and reversal of the decision
may be in the making”
Nevertheless, regardless of legislative barriers (which
first wave feminism is primarily concerned with; second wave feminism
addressing questions of cultural and social discrimination) the lack of parity
of access to primary and secondary education, and restrictions on tertiary
education demonstrate that equality of education is not yet achieved. A UNESCO
(2012) study further showed that parity in primary and secondary education had
not been universally achieved in any part of the world, and that in some areas
of the globe (particularly sub-Saharan Africa) there was a greater inequality
than parity in access to even primary education. See appendix 3 for more
details.
The third demand made by first wave feminism was regarding
employment; early feminists demanded equality in remuneration and working
conditions, and full access to respectable professions such as the law and
medicine. During the Victorian period women, particularly those of the working
class, laboured in many dirty and dangerous jobs for long hours and for low
pay. In the west legislation has been put in place to allow access to
professional careers, with active military service on the front line being the
last remaining barrier (in many cases).
Restrictions placed upon women in the military are
challenged today, with women taking to the front lines. This happening not just
in the west, where three women have succeeded in passing the strenuous Marine
Corps’ enlisted infantry training for the first time (Eversley, 2013) but also
in such places as Afghanistan. In Afghanistan only half of a per cent of the
army is made up of women, women are being trained for their special forces to
take part in front line actions, such as conducting night-time raids upon homes
(Euronews, 2013).
The Equal Pay Act was passed in the United States of America
in 1963 to address the inequalities of remuneration between sexes. In that year
women were paid, on average, less than 60% the wage of a man doing the same
role. Despite this legislation the position within the US has not become
entirely equitable, nor even close to it: in 2012 the disparity was reduced to
slightly less than 25% (National Committee on Pay Equality, 2013). This
situation is repeated throughout the globe and is particularly extreme
throughout North Africa and the Middle East where women earn 28% as much as men
(Shah, 2010), see appendix 6 for the full table.
Inequality in reward for work, and access to professional
trades, is a continuing problem. It has been said that “women do two-thirds of
the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income and own 1 percent of
the means of production” (Robbins, 1999, p354). There are legislative barriers to
women’s access to employment. In Sudan women experience economic discrimination
and lower pay when compared to men (who do a similar job). However, women do
have access to professional roles (for example more than half of the lecturers
at Khartoum University were women in 2012) and have a constitutional guarantee
to equal pay (which is not realised). There are restrictions on a woman’s
access to work as, with some exceptions, they are barred from working between
10pm and 6am (UK Border Agency, 2012).
Across most of the world women have the right to vote;
women’s suffrage is not universal but it is prevalent with only few countries
(such as Saudi Arabia) still to enfranchise their female population. Cultural
and social barriers remain in place which prevents women in some parts of the
world from taking full advantage of their political voice. In the west women
have access to education without any legal barriers, though again both cultural
and social barriers remain. Globally women lag behind men in primary and
secondary education, as demonstrated by lower literacy rates, and in some
countries accessing tertiary education is difficult with some subjects being
banned. Though legislation exists to combat pay inequality, sexual harassment
and discrimination in many parts of the globe it is clear that these are only
partially successful in the west, and are often missing entirely in other parts
of the world
First wave feminism, then, had three “battles” to fight;
suffrage, education and employment. There remain barriers in some parts of the
world, increasingly including the west, to accessing the vote so it cannot be
truly said that the battle for suffrage has been won. In the west it can be
strongly argued that there are no legal barriers preventing women from
accessing education, however, this is demonstrably not true globally: the battle,
again, is not yet won. Finally with inequality in earnings, restricted access
to executive positions, and to professions it cannot be truly said that the
battle over employment has been won.
As it cannot truly be said that any of the major battles of
first wave feminism have been won, let alone those of the second and third
waves, the relevance of feminism to the modern world is surely in little doubt.
Whilst these institutional inequalities and legal barriers remain the battle
lines drawn up by Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the Seneca Falls Convention surely
remain as vital now as they were in 1848.
Appendix 1: the three waves of feminism
The following definitions and time periods focus on the
west, and particularly on the United Kingdom and United States of America.
First Wave feminism usually refers to a period from the
nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. It was concerned with promoting
equality for women with a focus legislated or officially mandated inequalities
such as political enfranchisement (the right to vote), education and working
rights. This wave is usually considered to have begun in the United States of
America in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention where Elizabeth Cady Stanton
revealed the Declaration of Sentiments. The Declaration of Sentiments was
fashioned after the Declaration of Independence and was signed by 100 people,
68 women and 32 men. It asserted that women should enjoy the same rights and
privileges as men; it laid out their complaints (paying particular reference to
the absolute tyranny which man employed over woman) and concluded by insisting
“that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which
belong to them as citizens of the United States” (Stanton, 1889, p71).
Groups were quickly formed along the same lines in Great
Britain, France and Germany and by the 1870s similar organisations had spread
to Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and throughout Scandinavia. From the start
there was support from men as well as women; Le Droit des Femmes (the Right of Women) was a French newspaper
established in 1869 which had enjoyed a mixed readership (Anon, n.d., p19). In
Great Britain the formal start of feminism as a movement can be tracked to the
formation of the Kensington Society in 1865, followed later in the same year
with the Manchester Committee for the Enfranchisement of Women.
Second Wave feminism is usually considered to start some
point in the early 1960s and to continue into the 1990s (Rampton, 2008), some
significant time after women had gained enfranchisement (1918/28 in Britain and
1920 in the USA, though with some exceptions for Native American women). Second
wave feminism, sometimes called the “women’s liberation movement”, focused less
on legislative inequalities and more on perception, ingrained prejudice,
challenging male-centric culture, and social equality. Where the first wave of
feminism was primarily focused on middle (and some educated, working) class
white women the second wave was more inclusive.
One major focus of second wave feminism was of education,
both for men and women, to understand the struggles, pressures and prejudices
facing women. Because of this it became increasingly theoretical, adopting and
incorporating political and psychological theories which questioned women’s
place in society, introducing the term “patriarchy” into the mainstream to
describe “a system of society or government in which men hold the power and
women are largely excluded from” (Oxford Dictionaries, n.d.). The other major
focus was on sex and gender roles, and on forming safe spaces for women
(Rampton, 2008).
The third wave of feminism, sometimes called new-wave
feminism, is usually described as following on from second wave in the mid-1990s
and continuing today. Part of the force which created the third wave was a
response to the backlash from movements and initiatives caused by the second
wave, with another being a readoption of earlier ideals of feminine beauty by
women and for women. A new set of language and terms has been adopted by the
“grrls” of the third wave; women who present themselves as being empowered and
powerful, part of a large and global community, taking advantages of the
opportunities presented by the internet and social media. Some refuse the title
of “feminist” as being outdated and many have attempted to recover abusive
language for their own: adopting “slut” and “bitch” in a similar manner to
other oppressed groups’ reclamation of “nigger”.
Appendix 2: timeline of women’s suffrage
|
Year
|
Country
|
|
1893
|
New Zealand
|
|
1902
|
Australia
(other than Aborigines, 1962)
|
|
1906
|
Finland
|
|
1913
|
Norway
|
|
1915
|
Denmark, Iceland
|
|
1917
|
Canada (other
than Native Canadians, 1960)
|
|
1918
|
Austria, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
Russia
|
|
1919
|
Belarus, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Ukraine
|
|
1920
|
Albania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, United States of America
(other than Native Americans, 1962)
|
|
1921
|
Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Sweden
|
|
1924
|
Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Saint Lucia, Tajikistan
|
|
1927
|
Turkmenistan
|
|
1928
|
Great Britain, Ireland
|
|
1930
|
South Africa
(whites only, 1994)
|
|
1931
|
Spain, Sri Lanka
|
|
1932
|
Brazil,
Maldives, Thailand, Uruguay
|
|
1934
|
Cuba, Turkey
|
|
1935
|
Myanmar
|
|
1937
|
Philippines
|
|
1938
|
Uzbekistan
|
|
1939
|
El Salvador
|
|
1942
|
Dominican
Republic
|
|
1944
|
Bulgaria, France, Jamaica
|
|
1945
|
Croatia,
Indonesia, Italy, Senegal, Slovenia, Togo
|
|
1946
|
Cameroon, D.P.R. of Korea, Djibouti, Guatemala, Liberia, Panama,
Romania, The F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Viet Nam,
Yugoslavia
|
|
1947
|
Argentina,
Japan, Malta, Mexico, Pakistan, Singapore
|
|
1948
|
Belgium, Israel, Niger, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Suriname
|
|
1949
|
Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Syrian Arab Republic
|
|
1950
|
Barbados, Haiti, India
|
|
1951
|
Antigua and
Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Nepal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines
|
|
1952
|
Bolivia, Côte d'Ivoire, Greece, Lebanon
|
|
1953
|
Bhutan, Guyana
|
|
1954
|
Belize, Colombia, Ghana
|
|
1955
|
Cambodia,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru
|
|
1956
|
Benin, Comoros, Egypt, Gabon, Mali, Mauritius, Somalia
|
|
1957
|
Malaysia,
Zimbabwe
|
|
1958
|
Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Lao P.D.R., Nigeria (South)
|
|
1959
|
Madagascar, San
Marino, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania
|
|
1960
|
Canada (all), Cyprus, Gambia, Tonga
|
|
1961
|
Burundi,
Malawi, Mauritania, Paraguay, Rwanda, Sierra Leone
|
|
1962
|
Algeria, Australia (all), Monaco, Uganda, United States of
America (all), Zambia
|
|
1963
|
Afghanistan,
Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kenya, Morocco
|
|
1964
|
Bahamas, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Papua New Guinea, Sudan
|
|
1965
|
Botswana,
Lesotho
|
|
1967
|
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Kiribati, Tuvalu,
Yemen (D.P. R.)
|
|
1968
|
Nauru,
Swaziland
|
|
1970
|
Andorra, Yemen (Arab Republic)
|
|
1971
|
Switzerland
|
|
1972
|
Bangladesh
|
|
1973
|
Bahrain
|
|
1974
|
Jordan, Solomon Islands
|
|
1975
|
Angola, Cape
Verde, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Vanuatu
|
|
1976
|
Portugal
|
|
1977
|
Guinea Bissau
|
|
1978
|
Nigeria (North), Republic of Moldova
|
|
1979
|
Marshall
Islands, Micronesia (Fed. States), Palau
|
|
1980
|
Iraq, Vanuatu
|
|
1984
|
Liechtenstein
|
|
1986
|
Central African Republic
|
|
1989
|
Namibia
|
|
1990
|
Western Samoa
|
|
1993
|
Kazakhstan,
Moldova
|
|
1994
|
South Africa (all)
|
|
2005
|
Kuwait
|
|
2006
|
United Arab Emirates
|
|
2015
|
Saudi Arabia
|
Source: Pearson Education (2013) and Women in Politics
(n.d.)
Appendix 3: gender equality in education
Source: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (2012)
Appendix 4: literacy rates
|
Adult literacy rate
|
total
|
84.1%
|
|
|
male
|
88.6%
|
|
|
female
|
79.9%
|
|
Adult illiterate population
|
total
|
773.5 million
|
|
female share
|
63.8%
|
|
|
Youth literacy rate
|
total
|
89.5%
|
|
|
male
|
92.2%
|
|
|
female
|
86.8%
|
|
Youth illiterate population
|
total
|
123.3 million
|
|
female share
|
61.3%
|
Source: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (2013)
Appendix 5: Disparity of income over time (US)
|
Year
|
Men's earnings
|
Women's earnings
|
$ difference
|
% difference
|
|
1960
|
$26,608.00
|
$16,144.00
|
$10,464.00
|
60.7%
|
|
1961
|
$27,463.00
|
$16,272.00
|
$11,191.00
|
59.2%
|
|
1962
|
$27,972.00
|
$16,587.00
|
$11,385.00
|
59.3%
|
|
1963
|
$28,684.00
|
$16,908.00
|
$11,776.00
|
58.9%
|
|
1964
|
$29,362.00
|
$17,368.00
|
$11,994.00
|
59.1%
|
|
1965
|
$29,791.00
|
$17,852.00
|
$11,939.00
|
59.9%
|
|
1966
|
$31,055.00
|
$17,874.00
|
$13,181.00
|
57.6%
|
|
1967
|
$31,568.00
|
$18,241.00
|
$13,327.00
|
57.8%
|
|
1968
|
$32,389.00
|
$18,836.00
|
$13,553.00
|
58.2%
|
|
1969
|
$34,241.00
|
$20,156.00
|
$14,085.00
|
58.9%
|
|
1970
|
$34,642.00
|
$20,567.00
|
$14,075.00
|
59.4%
|
|
1971
|
$34,771.00
|
$20,691.00
|
$14,080.00
|
59.5%
|
|
1972
|
$36,614.00
|
$21,185.00
|
$15,429.00
|
57.9%
|
|
1973
|
$37,381.00
|
$21,397.00
|
$15,984.00
|
56.6%
|
|
1974
|
$36,456.00
|
$21,419.00
|
$15,037.00
|
58.8%
|
|
1975
|
$36,207.00
|
$21,297.00
|
$14,910.00
|
58.8%
|
|
1976
|
$36,114.00
|
$21,738.00
|
$14,376.00
|
60.2%
|
|
1977
|
$36,901.00
|
$21,743.00
|
$15,158.00
|
58.9%
|
|
1978
|
$38,051.00
|
$22,617.00
|
$15,005.00
|
59.4%
|
|
1979
|
$37,622.00
|
$22,446.00
|
$15,176.00
|
59.7%
|
|
1980
|
$37,033.00
|
$22,279.00
|
$14,754.00
|
60.2%
|
|
1981
|
$36,854.00
|
$21,830.00
|
$15,024.00
|
59.2%
|
|
1982
|
$36,224.00
|
$22,367.00
|
$13,857.00
|
61.7%
|
|
1983
|
$36,106.00
|
$22,961.00
|
$13,055.00
|
63.6%
|
|
1984
|
$36,842.00
|
$23,453.00
|
$13,389.00
|
63.7%
|
|
1985
|
$37,131.00
|
$23,978.00
|
$13,153.00
|
64.6%
|
|
1986
|
$38,088.00
|
$24,479.00
|
$13,609.00
|
64.3%
|
|
1987
|
$37,389.00
|
$24,663.00
|
$12,726.00
|
65.2%
|
|
1988
|
$37,509.00
|
$24,774.00
|
$12,735.00
|
66.0%
|
|
1989
|
$36,855.00
|
$25,310.00
|
$11,545.00
|
66.0%
|
|
1990
|
$35,538.00
|
$25,451.00
|
$10,087.00
|
71.6%
|
|
1991
|
$36,440.00
|
$25,457.00
|
$10,983.00
|
69.9%
|
|
1992
|
$36,436.00
|
$25,791.00
|
$10,645.00
|
70.8%
|
|
1993
|
$35,765.00
|
$25,579.00
|
$10,186.00
|
71.5%
|
|
1994
|
$35,513.00
|
$25,558.00
|
$9,955.00
|
72.0%
|
|
1995
|
$35,365.00
|
$25,260.00
|
$10,105.00
|
71.4%
|
|
1996
|
$35,138.00
|
$25,919.00
|
$9,219.00
|
73.8%
|
|
1997
|
$36,030.00
|
$26,720.00
|
$9,310.00
|
74.2%
|
|
1998
|
$37,296.00
|
$27,290.00
|
$10,006.00
|
73.2%
|
|
1999
|
$37,701.00
|
$27,208.00
|
$10,493.00
|
72.2%
|
|
2000
|
$37,339.00
|
$27,355.00
|
$9,984.00
|
73.3%
|
|
2001
|
$38,275.00
|
$29,215.00
|
$9,060.00
|
76.3%
|
|
2002
|
$39,429.00
|
$30,203.00
|
$9,226.00
|
76.6%
|
|
2003
|
$40,668.00
|
$30,724.00
|
$9,944.00
|
75.5%
|
|
2004
|
$42,160.00
|
$32,285.00
|
$9,875.00
|
76.6%
|
|
2005
|
$41,386.00
|
$31,858.00
|
$9,528.00
|
77.0%
|
|
2006
|
$42,261.00
|
$32,515.00
|
$9,476.00
|
76.9%
|
|
2007
|
$45,113.00
|
$35,102.00
|
$10,011.00
|
77.8%
|
|
2008
|
$46,367.00
|
$35,745.00
|
$10,622.00
|
77.1%
|
|
2009
|
$47,127.00
|
$36,278.00
|
$10,849.00
|
77.0%
|
|
2010
|
$47,715.00
|
$36,931.00
|
$10,784.00
|
77.4%
|
|
2011
|
$48,202.00
|
$37,118.00
|
$11,084.00
|
77.0%
|
|
2012
|
$49,398.00
|
$37,791.00
|
$11,607.00
|
76.5%
|
Source: Census Bureau reports and data, Current Population
Reports, Median Earning of Workers 15 Years Old and Over by Work Experience and
Sex. Taken from data supplied by the National Committee on Pay Equity (2013)
Appendix 6: Disparity of earnings (women/men) globally
Source: Anup Shah, Women’s
Rights (2010). Data taken from UNICEF, State of the World’s Children report,
2007
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