Brief History of Women Empowerment
Throughout history, women have made extraordinary contributions to society. Some are well known, some less so, but all have shaped history in some way or another.
This journey has been long and there is still progress to be made but the contributions from women have helped build this nation’s foundation. Through women empowering others and having equality in rights, education, and in the workforce, the women empowering movement has made significant gains for women and for the country.
Women are able to have a voice and be heard because of powerful feminists who persisted to work hard to reaching women’s rights and empowerment through women’s’ efforts in the war zone, political sphere and even online.
One woman who comes to mind is, New Zealand’s most celebrated suffragist, Kate Sheppard, who, along with fellow campaigners, presented a “monster” petition to Parliament demanding women’s suffrage with nearly 32,000 signatures. Because of their work, they were able to make history by making New Zealand the first self-governing country to give voting rights to female citizens in 1893.
Women Empowerment Quotes:
“Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” —G.D. Anderson
“I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” ―Malala Yousafzai
“There’s something so special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer.” —Rihanna in the March 2017 issue of Harper’s BAZAAR
Rise of Women’s Leadership
Women entrepreneurs have been on the rise, especially between 2015 and 2016. This was the year female entrepreneurs around the world doubled the rate of male counterparts.
Statistics indicated that companies led by women perform twice as well as those led by men and generate over 60 percent more value for investors.
But the unfortunate truth is when it comes to positions in finance and elsewhere, these institutions haven’t caught up. For example, women struggle much more than men to find funding for their business ventures.
In 2016, venture capitalists invested $58 billion and only $1.46 billion of that went to women-led businesses.
In the Journal of Entrepreneurship in 2017, “Analysis of Barriers to Women Entrepreneurship,” was published to take a look at the five largest difficulties for female entrepreneurs:
- Absence of training, experience and education
- Lack of family support
- Lack of institutional support
- Struggle gaining entrepreneurial management
- Difficulty acquiring financial resources
A variety of powerful groups, individuals, and networks around the country are aware of these disparities and are working hard to address them.
Women Empowerment Songs
Music has the ability to empower the listener just as much as it does the artist.
“Roar” – Katy Perry
A2013 pop anthem about being knocked down but getting back up even stronger than before: “You held me down, but I got up, get ready ’cause I’ve had enough … I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter dancing through the fire ’cause I am the champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar.”
“Express Yourself” – Madonna
The song’s lyrics directly address women to push them to not settle down for any man who doesn’t treat them like the queen that they are.
“Independent Women” – Destiny’s Child
This song is a tribute to all of the self-sufficient, self-motivated and self-made women who rock that “I depend on me” lifestyle.
“I Will Survive” – Gloria Gaynor
It’s the ultimate motivating song to help you get through the dark times.
Women in Sports
While female athletes make up 40 percent of the participants in professional sports, they only make up for 4 percent in media coverage. This means that less than 1 percent of athletes are covered on major networks, which is devoted to women’s sports.
Male athletes in Division I-FBS schools can get up to two and a half times more funding money compared to women athletes at the same level. This occurs even when more than half of NCAA schools are female and 44 percent of them are women athletes.
Theses number don’t add up. Females receive just 28 percent of athletic money, 31 percent recruiting funding, and 42 percent of the scholarship funding.
Despite the disparity in the numbers, women’s sports are becoming more popular with viewers and participants.
Participation in female athletics has increased year over year in recent decades. Now, more than 3.26 million females compete in various athletics. Due to this consistent increase, more than 40 percent of college and high school athletes are female. This has also affected overall sports viewership with some female sports events, such as the World Series of College Softball, gaining more viewership than some male events.
Through the women empowerment movement, females have gained significant ground in business, music and sports. There is still a long way to go, however, the gains made in the last several decades has been vital to equality.
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