“All oppression creates a state of war. And this is no exception”, said Simone de Beauvoir in her most famous book, The Second Sex. Women lived moments of war towards misogyny and prejudice that constantly surrounded them. Most of the time, they have lived feeling hopeless, and resistance was the only way for a change. Individually, their actions weren’t enough, but union was always the key for change. Together, they fought for rights and equality.
Here are some moments in history in which united women made the difference.
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1879: Right of access to Higher Education achieved in Brazil
According to the nº 7.247 Decret, of April 19, 1879, women were allowed to get a college degree. Since 1929, the Brazilian Federation for Feminine Progress worked for insertion and permanence of women in universities. According to UN, today in Brazil, for every 100 men, there are 133 women registered in universities. The academic insertion was an important step to transform the idea of women in something other than a housewife. Still, having a job is not seen as enough if a woman doesn’t also have a family and a happy marriage.
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1963: Equal Pay Act passed in the United States
In 1963, women conquered an United State labor law amending the Fair labor, that ensured the same wages to women and men performing the same job, remedying sexual discrimination. “No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section [section 206 of title 29 of the United States Code] shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, 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” this is what the law provides. It was signed by the former President Kennedy, that backed the situation. In that time, women were reunited in the streets requiring equal payment. More than fifty-five years later, women still do not receive equal pay, according to Catalyst, a global nonprofit, women earned earned 81.8 percent of what men earned in 2017.
The American Association of University Women with President John F. Kennedy as he signs the Equal Pay Act into law on June 10, 1963. (Image Source: AAUW)
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1969: Women calculated the trajectory of the man’s first journey to the moon
Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson were essential in NASA’s math team responsible for complex calculations during space race. They were called “computers with skirts”, all the mathematical operations that today are made by computers, were made by them. They suffered many difficulties and restrictions not only for being women, but for being black as well. They lived in a context which racial segregation prevailed, but that didn’t stop them from being an important part of the process of taking the man to the moon.
Highlight for Katharine, woman who stood out for her abilities at the Langley Research Center. She was responsible for helping to make calculations that transformed Apollo 11 mission into a success, enabling the American man to be the first to step on the moon. We can also mention her importance in calculating the route of the first American spacecraft, Mercury-Redstone 3, and its role in checking the Friendship 7 mission counts, when the first astronaut orbited the planet.
Nowadays the history of these women is known by many people, but it is important to know that they were made invisible for too long, erasing their relevance to science. In 2017 their history became a film named “Hidden Figures”, showing the world that women made and make the difference.
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1980: New Marriage Law passed in China
In a traditionally strict country, Chinese women are commonly put in powerless positions. Due to that, The New Marriage Law, established in 1950, supported women in marriage cases, by raising marriageable age (18 for women and 20 for men), providing a civil registry for legal marriages and banning arranged marriages. Updated in 1980, the “Second Marriage Law” then allowed the divorce and the court to act in favor of women for the sharing of goods and giving women the children property, if required. Later in 1983, interracial marriage and with foreigners was legalized for women. The change brought by this law was extremely radical and sudden, in a historically patriarchal society like the Chinese and its marriage traditions. When People’s Republic of China was established (1949), Mao Zedong showed a personal interest in developing gender equality, quoting “Women hold up half the sky”.
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2017: Lebanon repeals law that sided with male rapists
“A white dress doesn’t cover up rape”, was written in billboards in Beirut as part of Abaad, a women’s rights group. The campaign made by this and other groups were protests against Article 522, a law that allowed rapists not to be punished if they were married to their victims. The law was repealed in August of 2017.
The Article 522 show us that we still live in a patriarchal society all over the world. Basma Mohamad Latifa is a girl that was raped by a man much older than her. Her family made a deal with the rapist: if he became Basma’s husband, they wouldn’t file charges in the police. This case is an example that the importance of women chastity for their society, family interest, honor and reputation is put ahead the victim’s right to justice.
It is no coincidence that issues like this came to light when the level of education of women in the Arab world has been growing. The activism has been gaining ground amongst these women who were silenced for a long time by society and its rules.
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2017: India rules sex with minors illegal
After hearing a petition made by Independent Thought (and pushing back hard against it), the Indian Supreme Court ruled that rape against minors is now a crime, even if it’s a child bride. Although child marriage is illegal in India, it happens commonly in many communities, and the Hindustan Times called it an Indian government fail. Rules like this helps the process of banishing child marriage and achieving civil rights for young girls across the country. India today has the highest levels in the world: According to The Wire, 12 million children were married in India before turning 10 years old, and in a research by Girls Not Brides, 47 percent of girls get married before turning 18. Giving these girls the right to study, have a job and healthy conditions, helps developing the entire country as one.
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2018: United women against Bolsonaro
During Brazil’s presidential elections, Jair Bolsonaro is the right-handed candidate, ideologically speaking. Part of the political party Social Liberal Party (PSL in portuguese), Bolsonaro is responsible for sexist, homophobic, racist and misogynist statements, like when he said that “I won’t rape you because you don’t deserve it”, to a federal deputy called Maria do Rosário. Unfortunately, he is the one who leads the electoral polls in Brazil. That’s why women, together, created a group in Facebook in which they share their political position against Bolsonaro. We still don’t know if this is going to change the result of the elections, but, as women, we know that we will be always fighting who hurts our existence. And that’s how came the phrase: if it hurts our existence, we will be the resistance, used by women, homosexuals and everyone who feels offended by Bolsonaro’s speech.
Women protesting, in London, against Bolsonaro’s hate speech (Image Source: Wikipedia)
We can say that united women had already made changes in the way the world is, but we still have lots to do. We have to keep fighting against sexism and misogyny. We can’t give up. On the contrary, increasingly we need to be together, we need to resist. Thanks to us, the world is a better and more egalitarian place. That’s why women should never give up on yourself and on each other. Let’s keep fighting! Let’s keep together!