In recent weeks I’ve been reading two distinct narratives about the status of women, neither encouraging.
One is the pattern of abortion or infanticide of girls in a number of Asian countries, including China and India. This morning’s Financial Times has a feature describing the potential adverse social consequences of this imbalance:
“[China’s] 2010 census showed 34m more men than women – comparable, says retired military officer Yao Cheng, who runs Huijiawang, a charity dedicated to rescuing abducted children, to the male population of France. “What if all the men of France did not get married?”
The article comes on the heels of a new book on the same subject noted on this blog, Unnatural Selection by Mara Hvistendahl.
[amazon_image id=”1586488503″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Unnatural Selection[/amazon_image]
The second narrative has been the dismal absence of many women on the boards of listed companies in the UK. The government would like to see the proportion rise to 25%. It’s less than half that currently. However, it would like not to have to legislate for a statutory quota. The outcome will be predictable. The proportion of female directors will edge up but will not get remotely close to a quarter of the total. And in another five years we can have the same debate with another government. Male chairmen and chief execs might think they want women on their boards but in the end will appoint people who are very similar to themselves. That is, men.
Women seem more vulnerable to redundancies at present – hard times are always harder on the least powerful. A number of high-achievers I know are giving up on the workplace struggle. To cap it all, a young friend at an excellent university told me yesterday that the ambition of her female housemate is to get married. Whatever happened to feminism?
These gloomy thoughts prompted me to dust off my copy of [amazon_link id=”0140034633″ target=”_blank” ]The Second Sex[/amazon_link] (bought in 1979). De Beauvoir writes: “The woman who is economically emancipated from man is not for all that in a moral, social and psychological situation identical with that of a man. The way she carries on her profession and her devotion to it depend on the context supplied by the total pattern of her life. She is not viewed by society in the same way; the universe presents itself to her in a different perspective.”
Having got the book off the shelf, I might re-read more of it. As far as feminism is concerned, I fear it’s deja vu all over again.
Women still appear to struggle to retain or gain independence in commerce. Their roles in society in both western and eastern countries remains very dependent on their education and opportunities afforded by their families. The overall rise in unemployment, and debt across the globe does, as you point out play a significant role in the increase in abortions and also general health of women in child birth.