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Since time-immemorial moral pseudo-religious ethics became the mainstay of our societies, women have been relegated to the back seat of the car; that’s when they had the right to even get into a car. Women have been down-trodden and pushed into the recesses of society by phallic man, that really only used women as a means to have a relationship with himself. There is that French philosopher and feminist (ultra-hardcore stuff) that proposed that in fact all men were just vying to have relations with each other and women were only an excuse for that to be socially acceptable throughout history. Luce Irigaray poked fun at the men of the world that asked the father for the hand of the woman to get married and the woman was just a pretense to get into the bed of the mindset of men that wanted to fool about with other men. Women had to be kept in their place, for it was a good pretense of that gender problem between the guys. Women throughout the world have bene second-rate citizens and there is nowhere that has the success of closing the gender gap in any country in the world. There are certainly some that are doing better than others. But, equality simply doesn’t exist between men and women.
The World Economic Forum shows that women are trailing behind men in areas such as political empowerment and educational attainment, with of course ensuing economic participation problems and salary disparities wit men. There are even health issues engendered by the fact that women are women and they aren’t men. The Global Gender Gap Report, published annually by the World Economic Forum, takes into consideration four areas of difference in the way that men and women are treated in societies in the world: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and lastly political empowerment.
Worst Countries for Women
10. Morocco
Female-to-male income ratio stands at 0.28 and females participate in the workforce at a rate of 27%, while males are at 79%. The literacy rate for females stands at 58% and for males 76%. There are only 17% of females in the national parliament in this country. Women earn three times less than men here (who have an average salary of $11,000 per annum, while women only earn $3,123).
9. Jordan
There is a female-to-male ratio for income here that stands at 0.18 and it is the 3rd worst for women in the world. Literacy for men and women is almost equal, however (standing at 98% for men and 97% for women). 12% of the Jordanian parliament is women who hold seats. Labor participation stands at just 16% of the workforce for women and 69% for men.
8. Lebanon
This is the 7th worst country in the world for women’s earnings by comparison with men’s. They earn 27% less than men do in this country. Literacy is almost equal with 93% of men who are literate and 86% of women that are. Only 3% of the Lebanese parliament is women and this is one of the lowest rates in any country in the world for female participation in political empowerment. 26% of women work and 76% of men work.
7. Cote d’Ivoire
Literacy for women stands at 30% and for men 52%. Labor force participation for women stands at 53% (and 82% for men). There are only 9% of seats and positions in the parliament in this country that are held by women. Female-to-male income ratio stands at 0.49.
6. Iran
In this country the female-to-male ration for income stands at 0.17 and his is the worst country in the world for this particular element. Men earn an average salary of $26,644 annually, while women earn only $4,656 per annum. Only 17% of women participate in the labor force (compared to 76% of men). However, literacy for women stands at 79% and for men at a figure just above that (89%). Only 3% of the seats at parliament are held by women in this country.
5. Mali
This country has a female-to-male ratio for income that stands at 0.41, making it the 23rd worst country in the world. Only 25% of females are literate and 43% of men. There are 10% of seats in parliament that are held by women. There are 52% of women that are in the workforce and 82% of men.
4. Syria
Labor force participation in this country stands at just 14% for women, while men have a ratio of 76%. Literacy levels for women stand at 79% and for men 91%. There are 12% of seats and positions in parliament that are held by women today. However, life expectancy for women today is at 65 years of age, while for men it is a decade lower at 55 years of age.
3. Chad
There are only 15% of seats at the Chadian parliament that are held by women today. Literacy amongst women stands at 28% (while at 47% for men). Female-to-male ration for income stands at 0.62.
2. Pakistan
This country has the third-worst ratio of female-to-male incomes in the world (0.18). Participation in the work force stands at just 25% for women and 86% for men. Only 42% of the female population is literate (while it is 67% for men). There are 21% of the positions and seats in the Pakistani parliament that are held by women today.
1. Yemen
This country has the 8th worst ration of female-to-male incomes (at 0.28). 52% of all marriages take place in Yemen before the female reaches the age of 18. 14% of women were married before they celebrated their 15 birthdays. 26% of women are in the labor force in the country and 74% of men. There are no members of the Yemeni parliament that are females today. Only half of all women in the country are literate and 83% of men are.
It is perhaps not news to any one of us that Yemen has been the worst country for women with regard to the four key areas of the Gender Gap rankings by the World Economic Forum for the past decade nearly now. The World Economic Forum started measuring the gender gap in 2006 and Yemen has been the worst country every single year since then. There are countries that have a lot of progress to make to close that gender gap. Just 55% of girls actually get the chance to go to school in a country like Chad, in fact. In Mali, there are only 25% of all women that actually could be considered as literate. Chad has a rate of just 28%. How could they hope to close the gender gap, when the women are not even able to read and write, let alone go to school and receive some form of instruction? While education for women is not a priority in these countries, then they will never close the gender gap. Refusing to allow women to be educated will maintain them in the same position that they have always been in. Lack of education means lack of possibilities to enter the workforce. Syrian women only participate to the tune of 14% of the female population. Men in Syria have an economic level of participation that stands at 76%.
When will we stop perpetuating the myth that women are second-rate citizens and that they don’t deserve, or even can’t handle a better position in society? The USA only ranks in 20th position with regard to the Gender Gap report of the World Economic Forum for 2014. It comes in at 65th position for wage and equality for similar work and labor participation sees it ranked at 47th position only. Literacy rate sees the USA in 1st position in the world for women and also in 1st position for enrollment at secondary-school level of education and tertiary-school level education. But, the USA stands in 77th position for primary-school level education in the world today. Life-expectancy of women stands at 76th position for women in the USA today. The USA is only in 83rd position for women in parliament in the world and there is a great need for progress to be made. I thought the USA was always best at everything?
Are we finally going to see the gender gap close in the coming years, even in the USA?
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