5 Paragraph Essay + Citation

7/28/2019 5 Paragraph Essay + Citation

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By Annika Adamski

Zurich International School

June 4, 2013


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Most people have never thought about women's rights because they think that it

doesnt concern their country, because they live in a democracy and everyone should be

treated equally - they are wrong. Woman's rights are an issue that affects the whole world,

sometimes it is a bigger problem or a smaller problem it depending on the country. Why do

women not have the same rights as men do? What makes men better? I do not wish them

*women+ to have power over men; but over themselves.(Wollstonecraft). The fight for

equal rights for women and men has been around since centuries but equality has not been

reached and this has to change. Equality between men and women has never completely

been accomplished, womens rights have been taken so they have no chance to vote, have

an education or get the same wage for the same job as a man.

Imagine waking up and not going to school, not because you dont want to but

because you arent allowed to. In UNICEFs annual State of the World's Children report, they

said 121 million children worldwide do not attend school. From these 121 million children

estimated 65 million girls are being denied basic education, increasing the likelihood that

they will live in poverty or die young (UNICEF). Does this seem right? These women/ girls are

not even given the chance of having a better future. Instead of going to school they have to

work and help earn money to provide for their families from a young age on. Another

reason why girls arent allowed to go to school is that they are married off at a young

age(Child marriage). Often they become pregnant and have to take over the household and

there would be no more time for education. Last girls love to learn and go to school

especially in the poorer countries but often end up being scared to go to school since they


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get bullied and teased for being a girl. They get discriminated and put down even in school.

All their rights are violated and some of the examples of violence include: rape, sexual

harassment, physical and psychological intimidation, teasing and threats. This is one of the

most common reasons why girls drop out of school next to getting married. (Right to

Education Project) This should not be the case. Girls should be happy to go to school and not

scared.

Wages and employment have a great effect on womens rights and they show

discrimination. In general women get a lower wage than men even when they have the

exact same job. This occurs all around the world even in Europe and America. Referring to

the Census Bureau in 2007 female secretaries earned only 83.4% of the salary of a male one.In male dominated fields the gap is even bigger: female truck drivers earn just 76.5% of the

weekly salary of a male driver. A study of the University of Chicago examined the salary

change of people who underwent a sex change the result was that men who changed their

sex to become a woman earned 32% less after the surgery, women who became men

earned 1.5% more. This verifies that the quality and amount of work is not the matter for

the difference it is just the discrimination because of the gender. This discrimination has to

be eliminated. There is no reason why women should earn less than men. A possibility could

be to keep the gender hidden during the application for a job. If every applicant for a job

would turn in a piece of work to the employer, which does not give a hint on the gender of

the applicant, then the employer would only choose the best work and pay accordingly. For

example a study from the year 2000 found, that after symphony orchestras introduced blind

auditions, which required that the musicians performed behind a screen, women became

more likely to get the job (Time U.S.) This could be a first step to equality.

Voting has always been a big point in womens right. In some places as Switzerland

women only got the right to vote in 1971 in the Kanton Appenzell Innerhoden the women

only gained the right to vote in elections on the level of the Kanton in November 1990! That

is only 23 years ago. In some places such as Saudi Arabia or even Vatican City women are

still not allowed to vote. The main reason why women werent allowed to vote was that

they were seen as second class people. They were expected to stay at home and clean and

cook. Men thought that women didnt understand politics and had no position in it. ( Why


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were women not allowed to vote?) Some men considered women unable to make the

correct decisions in order to vote. The first country that gave women the right to vote was

New Zealand in 1883 (although it was a British colony at that stage). The first independent

country to give women the right to vote in national elections was Australia in 1902. The next

big step was made when the first female Prime minister was elected in 1960. Her name was

Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike. She was a Sri Lankan politician and the modern

world's first female head of government. She served as Prime Minister of Ceylon and Sri

Lanka three times, 196065, 197077 and 19942000, and was a long-time leader of the Sri

Lanka Freedom Party (Wikipedia). This was a big change in the history of womens rights.

There is still a long way to equality but we have been able to make the first steps.Now it is your turn to make a change. The organization Chime for Change fights for womens

rights and raises money for projects to support women and girls in the areas of education,

health and justice. On June 1, 2013 Beyonc, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez held a charity

concert in London to collect money for a campaign, called Chime for Change, to empower

girls and women around the world. Beyonce, Salma Hayek, Frida Gainnini and the company

Gucci are the main founders of the organization (Chime for Change). The concert collected

around 4.3 Million pounds in London to help women and girls all around the world with

different projects and to raise awareness to this topic (CBS News). Some of the current

projects are: Skills Training for Human Trafficking Survivors in Asia and Pacific, Cultivating

the Leadership of Girls in Haiti in Latin America and the Caribbean and Help Syrian Redugees

Access Health Care in Middle East and North Africa (Chime for Change). There are other

organizations that support womens rights, including: education, the right to vote and

wages. I think that women should have the same rights and the same status as men do

because what makes us different? We are all human and we are all equal. Some people just

have to realize this and to make this happen we raise awareness.

Works Cited


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"Beyonce Headlines London Concert for Women's Rights." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 1

June 2013. Web. 03 June 2013.http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-

57587220/beyonce-headlines-london-concert-for-womens-rights/.

"Child Marriage." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 May 2013. Web. 24 May 2013.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage.

"Chime for Change About." Chime for Change About. Gucci, n.d. Web. 03 June

2013.http://www.chimeforchange.org/about.

Fitzpatrick, Laura. "Why Do Women Still Earn Less Than Men?" Time U.S. CNN, 20 Apr.

2010. Web. 3 June 2013.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html.

"Gender Equality." About Gender Equality and UNICEF. UNICEF, 29 Dec. 2010. Web. 21

May 2013.http://www.unicef.org/gender/gender_57317.html.

"Sirimavo Bandaranaike." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Apr. 2013. Web. 28 May

2013.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirimavo_Bandaranaike.

"Why Aren't Girls in Schools?" Why Aren't Girls in Schools? Right to Education Project,

2008. Web. 22 May 2013.http://www.right-to-education.org/node/192.

"Why Were Women Not Allowed to Vote?" WikiAnswers. Answers, n.d. Web. 29 May

2013.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_were_women_not_allowed_to_vote.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. "Quotes About Women S Rights." Quotes About Women S Rights.

GoodReads, n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/women-s-

rights.

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