Canadian History of Women:
Institution of Affiliation:
Date:
Women play very important roles in society. Since ancient times, women have been on the frontline in terms of productivity. Starting in the early 1500s, women produced most of what was needed locally because by then, the only paying job was of a domestic servant. In 1750 when the first textile industry was established, women played a crucial role in weaving making a huge number of workers in Quebec. In 1871, the manufacturing sector in shoemaking and printing employed women who formed 50% of the workforce. 1912, a woman professor took office at a Canadian university which just shows how much women are doing.
In 1914-1918 during World War I, women in large numbers helped run the manufacturing industry aside from domestic service. Apart from working in these industries, women also played an important role in electing a leader from 1916 where they won the right to date. In 1939 – 1945 during World War II, women played an important role by replacing men in the labor force. They continued to contribute positively to society until 2009 where we had more women than men in the labor force. Today we have female company CEOs who are very competitive. (LaVoi, et. al 2018)
However, women continue to face a lot of issues in Canada starting with personal to professional issues. Canada being a first world country, one would expect that people have respect for each other, are polite an even promote gender equality. But this is far from truth thanks to the #MeToo movement for enlightening the people of Canada and the whole world. The impact of movement has been felt in the whole world. In the 21st century, women do not want to be silenced and constant awareness has been witnessed to protect the female child. Many projects for women’s rights have emerged and are receiving funding from various sponsors including the Canadian national government. Some of the issues include financial security, violence, harassment at the workplace, women in leadership, women in sports, equality issues, criminal injustice, education, and employment-related issues
Financial security is a common problem. Over 1.5 million women in Canada survive on low incomes. While devoting much of their time to taking care of children and housework, they are more likely to earn less than men. This means that women in Canada live in poverty. To add to this, female workers earn 74 cents of each dollar earned by men as of 2018. While there has been a lot of rhetoric on women’s contribution to the economy through unpaid work, little in terms of policy and practice has been advanced in this regard. Societal norms still expect women to tend to household chores even though both women and men could be in school or the corporate world. Understandably, it would be difficult to legislate every aspect of community behavior. However, the government can encourage women to know that they don’t have to choose between family and school or work. Future generations of girls and boys can grow up to be more inclined to support either gender and hopefully, if they make it to influential positions in society, to make decisions that empower women.
For decades, violence against women has been a topic of discussion. Statistics show that at least one female is killed by fellow inmates in six days. However, foundations in Canada are working on creating awareness and sensitizing the youth to differentiate healthy relationships from unhealthy relationships. This awareness will help prevent violence before it starts. AfterMeToo fund is also playing a crucial role in providing support to groups that take care of the women who have been through sexual harassment. These groups objectives are to help the girls and women recover and regain their self-esteem
In Canada, most women are struggling to break the glass ceiling in academia and work despite decades of empowerment programs (Lowe, 2016). Recent studies have shown that for the same job positions, men are paid more than women. In the corporate sector, there are very few women at the apex of company leaderships. Even where women have a chance to be leaders, there are many unseen impediments on the way (Hoobler, Lemmon, and Wayne, 2011). Some of the obstacles on the career path of women are supported unknowingly by fellow women. Men have also perfected the “blame the victim” mentality to pitch women against each other under the pretext that “women are their worst enemy”. Such stereotypes can be defeated when women are informed, empowered and organized to have one strong voice against such discrimination. The society at large has a responsibility to create a safer space for women to thrive. In Canada like most of the other countries, women constitute about half of the population. That means that any discrimination against them will affect one in two people in the country. It will not make logical sense to only rely on half of the country when there is potential in the other half.
It is incumbent upon current all persons to ensure that they provide a safe environment at home, work, and or any positions of responsibility. For many years harassment at the workplace is a common norm for women. But this should not be the case. Multiple interventions are required to change the status quo. Currently, it is four times more likely for a woman to meet sexual harassment as compared to a man. However, recently, the NWAC in Canada has been on the frontline to pass a bill that will address harassment at workplaces. The most vulnerable are women with disabilities. The organization also aimed at improving the enforcement procedures with the use of a competent team to handle harassment issues without bias. Canada aims at a culture that will strongly fight for women instead of fighting against women.
There is a need for more women representation in the Canadian government to have a good representation of the people. In the House, only 27 percent of the seats belong to women. When we talk of business CEOs in Canada, only 15 percent are women. Only 8.5 percent of high paying jobs in top companies in Canada are led by women. This statistic shows that women are not well represented in leadership positions.
Women in sports face a lot of discrimination. Women have always been perceived as weak, unsuccessful, and vulnerable. With little representation in sports, they also face harassment from male athletes who often degrade and dehumanize them. The Canadian government has, however, tried to put a balance on this. In recent years, they have created an environment that appreciates both gender skills in sports, and everyone’s abilities are respected.
Gender equality continues to be a topic of discussion even in the 21st century. In 1849, all women were denied voting rights in Canada. However, the fight to achieve gender equality started way back in 1882 where the male unionists supported the women shoemakers to strike against factories in Toronto went. Currently, Canada joins the whole world in celebrating international women. Large audiences, both male and female gather to celebrate our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, wives, and daughters. Celebrating what women have accomplished and assuring them that they have an equal place in society is close to becoming the new norm in Canada. We have seen respectable women who have made it in academia, corporate life as well as politics.
When we get to the Criminal Justice system, we expect justice and fairness. However, this has not always been the case for women. In the early 1900s, women and girls were a common figure in courts. Although they made up half of the crime victims, they often represented a minority on the offender’s side. A small number of women offend others while large numbers were offended, sexually harassed, and denied justice in courts. This is because they did not have a voice. However, in recent years, the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and GSS have helped the court to find justice for both genders.
In ancient times, the females were denied the right to education. They were expected to stay at home and take care of the children and take care of their husbands. In the academic arena, it was until 1862 that Mount Allison University allowed the admission of the first female student. In 1877, Women’s Literacy Club was established by Emily Stowe who later continued fighting for women’s rights in education. In 1900, the only career that was open to women was teaching. This is because it was considered to be homely and women were not required to go far from their homes. While this is still experienced in some parts of the world such as Saudi Arabia, this is currently not an issue in Canada. However, in the 21st century, women are educated and match the number of men in the majority of work positions. However, women must take this opportunity to revisit history. Most of the historical documentation has been done by men. That is why the position of women in historic milestones such as liberation wars and inventions is missing. It will take people to take the feminine lenses for them to correct such errors in history.
The employment history shows data with missing women. One report shows that in 1850, there was a need for many workers and they used women and children to meet the needed large pool of labour but this was not documented because they were not considered part of the formal labour force. In 1901, 13.4% of the total labour force were women. Today, women are valuable members of the workforce in Canada. We have women doctors, lawyers, Clerks, cleaners, Waitresses, Teachers, Scientists, and soldiers to mention a few. However, it is still a challenge when it comes to the balance between work and life. In most of our families, Women are primary caregivers therefore balancing work and family responsibilities is not an easy task. We have seen many in a situation where they have to choose between work and family because work arrangements are not flexible. This is not supposed to be the case in a country where we can say it has achieved gender equality. It would be very appropriate for employers to encourage flexible work arrangements for women. By this, I don’t mean that women should work less but work differently and ensure they feel supported in trying to take care of their families. This is quite beneficial to the employer, economy, society, and also for our children.
Conclusion
Women must look into history to get the inspiration that the fight for equality is a continuing journey. Progress has been slow over history. However, a lot of progress has been made in academia, workplace, and home that women can be proud of. Unfortunately, a woman’s perspective of the history of the struggle needs to be undertaken to inspire a generation of future women as well as men who appreciate women as equal partners. To conclude, we can say that in Canada, women’s rights have been recognized and won. However, our children are exposed to magazine videos, music from other countries that are still discriminating against women, and having girls fight for education. Sensitizing our children on these issues is a crucial responsibility so that they grow up knowing that women have a place in society and the world at large. Good that women in modern times appreciate this history. The war on the liberation of women has not started now. But to win it women must go back into history to appreciate the contribution of foremothers”. In the process, older women ought to learn to work with younger girls and women through digitizing the content and placing it on websites and social media.
References
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