Women in Politics

In the beginning of the 19th century, women from all over the world were considered to be the insignificant gender. Women main purpose in society was so be a mother and wife, they would rarely get jobs, choices or freedom and everything they did revolved around their husbands and households. Not many would start a career and if they did, they were often severely underpaid and not treated as an equal. Now, however, thanks to thousands of women around the globe, a vast majority of countries have given women the ability to vote and be appointed to positions of power.

The women's movement began in Europe and the United States before spreading to other parts of the world. In both world war's in the late 19th and early 20th centuries job opportunities for women expanded when a shortage of available men meant women were required to be more than just a housewife in society. Due to the political and economical changes many had the opportunity to work in careers that would have been originally denied or frowned upon. When men returned from war, most women were expected to give up their jobs. The experience of appointing different positions in society surged the women's rights movement in that it changed women's attitudes towards believing the type of work they were capable of taking on was more than being a housewife. The first wave of feminism's main goal was to gain women the right to vote and inturn have the ability to make a difference, and in some countries, such as Australia, the movement succeeded.

But although Australian women gained political rights in the early 1900's, they did not succeed in entering the federal parliament until 1943, four decades later. Although the suffragists had spoken eloquently about the need for women to take their share in "housekeeping the state", by 1959, sixty years after they were first eligible to vote and to sit in an Australian parliament, only 24 women had become parliamentarians.

Although Australia was one of the leading nations in giving women equal rights and everyone the opportunity to attain a higher rank in parliament, in some countries today, the rights and equality of women is not as accepted. In Pakistan, political participation has nonetheless failed to translate into respect and equal rights for women of the country. Every woman political leader has vowed make a difference for women by restoring their rights. But unfortunately the politician's have not been successful in transmitting this promise into reality. Pakistan still remains medieval in its treatment of women by treating them as second-rate citizens whose main purpose is to fulfil the wishes of men. As majority of the women who participate in Pakistani politics belong to the elite classes of society, the treatment of the lower classes is very unbalanced. Women are not allowed to cast their votes in almost 30 percent of the country, and a vast majority of Pakistani women are uneducated, with a sole purpose to exist only to serve their families and feed children. No amount of involvement in Pakistani politics has given women the ability

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