Before World War II during the Great Depression, women were looked down upon and discriminated against when it came to the industry and military. Women are now filling all sorts of jobs that men would normally be expected to do.

The military is one area women are taking part in, even though they are still discriminated against in a way. “Women have become an integral part of the armed forces, but they are excluded from most combat jobs.” [link]

Women are involved in industrial occupations, business management, and there are even women in the government. Before the 19th amendment women weren’t even allowed to vote, now they’re voting, and being voted for. This isn’t a man’s world after all. The presidential election this year even has a female candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hillary was the first woman elected to the U.S. senate in New York. She has also done things for the nation concerning healthcare and vaccines for certain illnesses.

Another way women are arising in power is through unions. Over half of the members in the UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) are women. It may not sound important, but years ago women were barely able to leave their homes. Women are expected to be weaker than men, and to stay home with their children.

Women to this day are becoming known for things the world wouldn’t expect. When you think of building design and construction, you think of a group of men, right? Wrong, women are becoming architects, construction managers, and engineers of various fields.

Globally, women are taking on more and more jobs. “Ninety percent of the 27 million workers in export processing zones are women.” –UFWC.org. In some countries, women are working between 60 and 90 hours a week. There is even a holiday for all women called International Women’s Day (IWD). This day recognizes things women have done to affect the economy and has facts that date all the way back to the 1700’s. In 1789 during the French revolution, Parisian women that wanted liberty, equality, and fraternity demanded women’s suffrage for the first time and marched to Versailles.

Both, but not all men and women share the belief that women are treated unfairly in some situations. There are so many jobs where women have the same experience and knowledge as men if not more but get paid less still to this day.

In 1963 an Equal Pay Act was passed in the U.S. stating specifically that "No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate... between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.." -[link]


Here are some links that help support this article if you are interested.
Equal Pay Act - [link]
International Women' Day - [link]
UFCW Women in the Workforce - [link]
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton - [link]
AFL-CIO - [link]
9to5 National Association of Working Women - [link]
Women in the Armed Forces - [link]
Equal Pay Day - [link]