Missing women, missing opportunities

I recently finished reading “A Woman's Place: An Oral History of Working Class Women 1890-1940” by Elizabeth Roberts. It is a highly readable book presenting a picture of the lives of American working-class women through childhood, adolescence, work, leisure, marriage (and more work), family, sexual relations and motherhood.

It was not that long ago in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which the UN drew up in 1979 that these words were noted: “… the full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace require the maximum participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields.”

Yet, women struggle for equal rights and fair political representation around the world.

Nearly a half century before this UN convention, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, said the following words in his speech on Aug. 18, 1928: “… The social reforms and progress will not be actualized without the help of women; a society that neglects women is destined to lag behind. It is a must that women become a part of the society as free individuals. I want to stress the importance of women's accession from private life to public life. Women have to see the world through their own eyes.”

In the research, “‘Missing Women': Revisiting The Debate” by Stephan Klasen and Claudia Wink, they point out that in the late 1980s, Amartya Sen claimed that about 100 million women were “missing,” which refers to the number of females who had died as a result of unequal access to resources in parts of the developing world. The researchers provide an update on the number of these “missing women” and investigate the determinants of current trends in gender bias in mortality. In short, the absolute number of “missing women” has increased, primarily in India and China; whereas on the other hand, evidence indicates that there have been improvements for women's relative survival in most of South Asia and in the Middle East. It is encouraging that in the areas of education and employment opportunities for females these avenues have improved reducing gender bias. However, sex-selective abortions have worsened. Interestingly enough, it is more of a problem in China and South Korea than in the Middle East and other parts of Central and West Asia.

Problems for women can begin even before birth. If a family cannot afford to have another child and due to a preference for sons, sex selective abortions and infanticide can occur. Female children can also suffer from poorer nutrition and healthcare and may not be given the same educational opportunities as a male child.

Women facing discrimination continually return to the bottom line, which is: How does this affect my daily life and my family and my career? Wouldn't you agree that all of us females share the same concerns to some degree, which are:

• Having a roof over our head and providing basic care for ourselves and loved ones
• Financial struggles
• Feeling powerless
• Pressures of society
• Conflicting demands of employment versus home/family

These particular concerns are no different from most of my friends back in the US, many of whom are white Anglo-Saxons.

In reference to my previous piece, “The modern ‘Great Game': women's role and status,” (May 25, 2012) I find in some ways women are similar to our character, Kim, in many ways. Throughout Kipling's “Kim,” the protagonist, Kim moves between the white and non-white worlds in India with the ease and skill of a chameleon. To survive some women today do the same to achieve what they want. Kim's unique ability to ignore caste divisions and experience true freedom of motion allows Kipling to render a vision of India unconstrained by typical limits of perspective. I think Kim says it all when he says: "I am not a Sahib. I am thy chela." Every one is searching for his identity and purpose in life. I have come to the conclusion that our identity is not only in what we do but in who we are.

Here is some powerful advice from a true survivor: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -- Mary Angelou