Are men and women equal? Many in the United States believe they are, but that does not seem to be true in other countries.
Many people from other countries don't believe that women in their countries are satisfied with the way they are treated. Women are still struggling with different circumstances. Senior Catherine Lee from Cambodia believes that women in her country are not being treated equally. They struggle over the unequal rights. "It's not common for women to vote and women are not likely to participate in politics,"she said.
Sophomore Savitha Jesudason from India stated that women are being discriminated against in jobs. There are certain jobs that women are not qualified because the employer thinks that women don't have the capability to manage some work. She said, "In India women cannot get jobs or money the same way men do. For example, they can't drive taxis or operate other autoriskshaws.''
In Cambodia women don't really have a voice. They are not allowed to talk back or to express their views to their husbands. Catherine said, "Women who are married have to listen to all of their husband's decisions." Beluynsh, a 12th grader, stated that women in her country of Ethiopia get marriage at an early age sometimes like 12 because the parents' arranged marriage for them and also because they are poor. Some parents believe that arranged marriage for their children is an advantage. They think that they will pick the right man who could afford a good living for their daughter. That way their daughter doesn't have to worry about the money.
In some families the daughter doesn't have equal opportunity and equal choices as the son. The son is always reserved the first place. "Girls don't have good educations. Only boys could go to school,"Meseret explained.
Money is another thing that prevents many poor women from getting good educations for better careers. Poor women just spend the time working to earn money for living while the women who grow up in the rich family can have good educations and are more likely to reach their dreams. "Only rich women have good educations to become teachers and have other careers,"Beluynsh explained.
Women who live in the villages are suffering more obstacles than women from the cities. Village women work twice as hard. They do hard work like working in the rice fields, farming, and sewing. They operate machines and sell things in the markets. Beluynsh said, "Women who live in the cities have more opportunity than the women in the villages. They don't have to worry a lot about the money problem."
In Cambodia women are servants and are below men. They do all the house chores. Their jobs are taking care of the children, keeping the house clean, cooking and just staying at home the whole time. Catherine said, "Their job is to get the whole house clean and other things organized before the husband comes home."
Married women are limited for some rights. Catherine stated that married women are not allowed to go out to a party without their husband's permission. In order to leave the house for any circumstances, they have to discuss and got an approval from their husbands.
There are certain rules that women have to follow after they get married. After they get married they move in to live with the husband's family. "They have to follow the husband's family rules. If the women don't do the perfect job like cleaning the house and many of other home chores then the people in the family have the right to scold them,"Catherine said.
What happens to women if they are reprimanded for a wrongdoing? They will get a scolding and even serious punishment. According to Savitha, if the daughters have done something that dishonors the family they would get thrown out of the house. For the wives to cause something that make the husband unhappy then she'll suffer physical pain. Savitha said, "Sometimes men beat their wives."