Women's Problems: Past To Present

Women's Problems: Past to Present As an aspiring historian, and writer of women's history, it is no surprise that I have began my search for history's most important and influential female figures, along with the troubles they faced, and how they went about trying to fight for their freedom. After studying these incredible women, I can't help but ask myself, what are our worries today? and are we actually doing anything about it? Our main worries today seem to be when we should next wax our legs, tint our roots, and a daily one for me, planning that god forsaken diet that makes me hungry just writing it down! and the main questions we seem to ask are, "Does my boyfriend think I'm getting fat"? "How will I ever afford that new Mulberry purse", and occasionally "Does my boss take me seriously". I have realised that as a generation, we are more inclined to moan to our loved ones about real issues such as the recent 0 hour contract fiasco then to actually stand together and take action! Some examples of these women are as follows: 1. Virginia Woolf- A person that every woman should draw inspiration from, she devoted her life to ensuring women would be treated equally in the literary, philosophical, educational and even household world, she famously said: "Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind" which gives me inspiration to get up and actually attempt to achieve something in my life. An important factor to note about my heroine, is that she committed suicide, due to her never ending frustration due to man's response to her plea for our freedom! 2. Emmeline Pankhurst - Of course! - We all remember the song from Mary Poppins! "Cast off the shackles of yesterday! Shoulder to shoulder into the fray! Our daughters' daughters will adore us and they'll sign in grateful chorus "Well done, Sister Suffragette!" Now, as a child, the significance of these lyrics was lost on us, we just enjoyed the scenes with the old man who "loved to laugh", but looking back on that child friendly song, it certainly makes me feel proud to be a woman, and I'm pretty sure on reading this you will too! Emmeline Pankhurst started the female crusade to get the vote in the UK, to give us a say in how our 'male dominated country' was run. These women sacrificed their lives in many cases, to fight for a woman's freedom of speech, such as Emily Davison, who died jumping in front of a horse to spread courage to women across the country! 3. Queen Elizabeth I - A woman's favourite monarch, possibly due to the fact she said, "There will be one mistress here, and no master"! and also Cate Blanchett's perfect portrayal of her. For a woman to have such courage 500 years ago, and to refuse to marry a man, and in doing so sharing her power as a global warrior should surely give us 21st century girls inspiration to get up and fight for what we believe in. This woman had to fight an entire Armada! and by god she did it in style! These three woman lived in entirely different ages, both to us, and themselves, and they still achieved things to change the world's perception on women, and in turn gave us the power we have today. In the last 50 years or so, I believe we, as a sex, may be taking for granted the fact that we can wear what we like, marry who we like, have sex out of marriage, and vote, but in actual fact, we are still paid less then men ! and are still given the most 0 hour contracts! It is time we all stood together once more! "Shoulder to Shoulder into the fray" and show the world we have not given up on our right to equality in all manner of things. We owe it to the women who gave their lives to give us a future worth living. We should cast aside our superficial modern qualities, and become warriors, like Elizabeth I, Isabella of Castille, Virginia Woolf, and the other hundreds of women that have been left immortal due to their strength and passion. It is time we accomplish something to make ourselves an immortal sex, create the age we live in immortal too!