Changing roles of men and women in Eastern Europe and Scandinavian countries.

With the coming of a new century, progress in globalisation and increase of women in the labour force, are among one of the many factors causing a change in the gender stereotypes between men and women. These general perceptions of gender stereotypical roles are deep-rooted in economic, social and religious beliefs throughout history. However, compared to today, they are not as prevalent as was in the past. This gradual change in society has been brought about by many different factors working together into a cohesive unit to encourage gender equality between men and women.

Women are generally perceived to be caring, nurturing, less aggressive and weaker. Although, some physical attributes cannot be changed, the emphasis on women’s ability for motherhood has been widely exaggerated in society. Women’s ability for giving birth to children has automatically assigned them the role of concerning themselves with only that task, to care for the child and to stay at home while pregnant and nursing. For example, this responsibility is often seen as a liability to a mother’s ability to perform both at work and in their daily life. So much so, that some women are even afraid of having children due to the threat of losing their jobs. Although, it is not as significant in Europe, it still exists. Even so, the efforts made to combat this problem in the workplace have shown significant progress. For example, in Hungary, women have shown a more stable presence in management and are investing more in human capital, cementing their presence in business, which was mainly a man- dominated faction.

Pro female high jumper. Bulgaria. Female world record holder.


Another significant indicator of sustaining equality among the sexes is the growing presence of women in politics in Europe. Currently, there are only seven women present within the European Union, among the 24 European Commissioners. The Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities, which exists within the European Union, has annual meetings with committees from the national parliaments in charge of gender equality. This shows an encouraging step taken within Europe about the issue of gender equality between the sexes. Another example would be that there has been a noticeable increase in the percentage of women MP’s taking part in electoral campaigns. Furthermore, certain European Union regulations and its socialising power, has encouraged individual member states to nominate more female candidates. The roles that women play are beginning to change if one would look back to the past and compare the political scene. Now, issues concerning the welfare and equality of women are just as significant and important as any other issues in political parties’ agenda. A politician can expect to suffer a defeat if he were to neglect the welfare of women, given that now, where generally more women, who make up half the electorate, have more equality in their role to decide their country’s future.

Angela Merkel: Chancellor of Germany


However, on the downside, there is still a sustained existence of gender inequality within Eastern Europe and particularly Slavic countries. After the cold war, the people still had deep rooted ideas against the Americans and were convinced that the liberation of women, a generally western connected concept, would be to their undoing. The liberation of women would be used by the west as a “weapon” to inflict harm upon their society. Therefore, east Slavic political leaders were interested in maintaining gender inequality in order to appeal to the general public and as a tool to reinforce their authority and charisma.

Moreover, gender discrimination is also prevalent in quite a number of countries despite other countries’ progress. Laws, especially ones that protect women, are indeed set in place in almost every country, but they are not being taken seriously or properly enforced by the countries’ judiciary. In countries like Ukraine, women still play a submissive role, which is to be abused by the other “stronger” sex. According to the Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Ukraine published by the United States last year, violence against women is a serious problem with 619 cases of rape in just the first 6 months of 2007. Spousal abuse, though stated as illegal in the law, is common, and authorities often pressured women not to press charges against their husbands. A study by Amnesty International also revealed that an estimated 50 to 70 percent of all women have been subjected to physical violence or psychological abuse at home in Ukraine. Many other forms of gender discrimination like women trafficking and prostitution are rampant where the government and the media do not give urgent attention regarding gender discrimination. The existence of such examples shows that there’s still a long way to go to change the roles of women in society for the better.

The new ideology of gender equality, in today’s modern era, is changing the patterns of domestic behaviour. Although conservative societies subscribe to their own ideology of gender inequality and gender discrimination is still rampant, all hope is not lost. Both secularisation and increased education of many other countries are working in the same direction to challenge the traditional gender role ideology, especially in the working sector. Governments could play a bigger role, in accordance with the European Union, to secure a better standing between men and women. Roles of men and women are set to change.