The best places to be a woman?

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neverfoundthetime
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:09 am

Yes it is true that women are well represented in politics here, in fact 4 of 7 ministers are women and the president is a woman but they do have difficulty in rising to the top of companies. The underbelly of the high Swiss ranking is:

- Women only got the vote in the Canton (state) of Appenzel in the 1970's

- Women are nearly always paid less than men in the same job although this is illegal. How much you get paid is a secret here as are the contents of your bank account and people do not talk about how much they make. That is how the system locks it in.

I'm puzzled at the absence of Germany on that list too... women in Germany are very emancipated and strong and I have also felt very comfortable in Canada, Sweden and the US on gender equality.

One place where I have not felt comfortable on attitudes to gender and was, frankly, horrified: video rental shops. Not that they exist any more but what I saw the first time I visited one really triggered a feeling of utter outrage. Nearly every crimi or action film box cover (so it seemed) showed violence against women or a weapon and a half naked woman or a screaming, threatened or dead woman. These things were dripping with sexual violence. I remember walking out and asking myself how can we as a society accept that!

Another place where women cannot feel comfortable is in almost any religion or church in this world. Without wanting to start a debate on this subject, it seems to me a central purpose of most religions is to gain power over others and especially to oppress women.

Tombo, you make a very valid point, the potential of this thread to go up in smoke is there so no worries on pointing that out.


michelew
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 10:07 pm

Video stores - hmmm... What a quaint concept. Their days certainly are numbered. They are destined to go the way of the dinosaur and those flat disc things we used to call records (which appear to be a great canvas).

Personally, I'm reluctant to enter video stores. Everytime I do I get this strange thing called a 'late fee'. Really I should just throw money at the cashier as soon as I enter the place. Scary places. :)


thereshopeyet
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 3:23 am

Thanks


michelew
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 7:14 am

Haha. Dermot you're the man with a picture for everything. I guess a picture does paint a thousand words. :)

M.


michelew
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Sat Sep 24, 2011 3:09 am

By the way Chris, on a serious note, you're also right about video stores and video covers. That stuff never ceases to amaze me either. I guess I've become pretty desensitized to it, but it's not a good measure of our community's health.


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neverfoundthetime
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Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:34 am

That experience was about 25 years ago Michele but I recall exactly how I felt; shocked, outraged and incredulous. The sheer volume of those images and the message they conveyed!

Did I hear the news correctly last night... Saudi Arabia is going to give the right to vote to women in communal elections in 4 years time?


michelew
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Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:02 pm

Chris,

Yes I read that yesterday myself. It was good to hear about. Well it's a universal law, things change. I wonder how things will change in the next 100 years, the things that we do now that people will look back at in amazement. 'I can't believe they used to drug themselves every morning with that think brown goop; coffee...crazy!"


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