On the 6 February this year, we celebrated 100 years of women’s suffrage. It was on this day in 1918 that women, over the age of 30, won the vote, through the passing of the Representation of the People Act, the women’s suffrage movement in the United Kingdom finally realising its goal. It was a move toward the equality of the sexes, but how far have we really come in achieving parity?
Recently, the gender pay gap has received attention in the media, with various companies exposed for paying women less than men for doing the same work. Despite the Equal Pay Act 1970 making this illegal, many companies have revealed gender pay gaps of more than 15% in favour of men for mean hourly pay, including Easyjet and Virgin Money. Some of this, it is argued, is down to disproportionate female representation at senior levels, but then this highlights the problem of women struggling to attain leadership roles and senior positions. The UK government have introduced a compulsory reporting of the gender pay gap for organisations of 250 or more employees by April this year. Hopefully this, along with continuing raising of awareness of this issue, the scales will balance for women in work.
As well as discrimination in pay in the workplace, sexualisation has been a key area where women are disadvantaged in comparison to men. Campaigns like the #MeToo campaign have shed a light on the sexual harassment and assault of women in the workplace, which have left many women feeling intimidated, violated, and helpless because of the institutionalised silencing of victims in industries like Hollywood. The movement is hoping to change this, encouraging women to speak out about sexual abuse and Time’s Up Now is a legal fund offering representation to those who have experienced it.
A worry with all the efforts being made in women’s liberation and equality is that they benefit only a fraction of the gender. ‘White feminism’ is a form of feminism that fails to acknowledge the oppression faced by women of colour, transwomen and women lacking other privileges, examples of which include Miley Cyrus’, a known feminist, cultural appropriation of twerking and dreadlocks, and Chris Evert’s refusal to acknowledge the pay gap between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams in tennis.
It would be unfair to say that the pursuit of gender equality has been in vain; over the last century strides have been made to help balance the scales. However, it would be wrong to assume that the job is done. Sexism, like racism, is an institution so many years old and it cannot be expected to vanish after a hundred years. An acknowledgement of this fact and awareness of its presence in today’s society is key to affecting change, with people making a concerted effort to sympathise and to challenge sexism when they see it.