The Origin of Patriarchy and Class Society
Saturday, October 23rd, 2010“There is no society today where women have the same opportunities as men.”
(UN, Human Development Report 1995)
Discrimination, rape, trafficking, mutilation, battering, murder. The shifting and brutal appearances of women’s oppression provoke anger and despair around the world. Millions of women, and also many men, have committed themselves to fighting this oppression. An infinite amount of time and effort is spent on everything from proposing legislation, to inquiries, equality schemes, women’s shelters and demonstrations. Sometimes a victory is won on one front, but the “success list is woefully short”, to quote Joni Seager, who has compiled statistics on the situation of women around the world since 1986 (Atlas of Women in the World). Improvements are mainly in the field of increased literacy and the right to hold public office. At the same time, many women have experienced a deterioration in their quality of life in the last decade.