Changing roles of men and women in the workplace and family

We have identified a few changes in the roles of men and women in places outside of workplace. These include changing of roles in religion, politics, sports and video games.

I shall start with changing of roles in religion.

This example focuses on women entering clergy. In the 1970s, the US’s social-service sector created millions of new jobs, and many people who once would have enrolled in seminary instead entered social-service work. The vacuum created by their absence was filled by a large number of “non-traditionals”—older students seeking to enter the ministry as a second career, and women, who now compose about 10 percent of the clerical ranks. In some seminaries, women students are now a majority. In the view of some, seminaries began admitting second and third-tier students because the first-tier students pursued other careers. These trends—the changing responsibilities of clergy and the rising number of nontraditional seminarians—have combined to create ferment and uncertainty within the ministry. This shows that women are actually moving into clergy and taking up posts which were predominantly reserved for males.

Next i shall dwell on changing of roles of men and women in politics.

One example would be the late Ms Bhutto.Since assuming the office of Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto has emphasized the need to heal past wounds and to put an end to the divisions in Pakistani society - including reducing discrimination between men and women. Ms. Bhutto has launched a nationwide program of health and education reform. Women have made it to the top echelons of the government to change the way the country works. this post was predominantly male.

Another example would be Ms Magodonga, who heads a non-governmental organisation.Obama presented Magodonga Mahlangu and her organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) with the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in a White House ceremony. WOZA has united tens of thousands of Zimbabwean women in a campaign of non-violent struggle against rapes and other rights violations under Mugabe's regime, enduring brutal repression and repeated arrests. This shows that women can also enter top ranks of non-govermental organizations and fight for women’s rights.

A local example would be Ms Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and also one of the growing number of women in the parliament. She requested incentives for companies to encourage a conducive environment for workers to balance work and family and called for childcare subsidies for parents who use the home-based nanny programme. Also she called for the Housing and Development Board to develop pro-family policies. Not only that she urged that education in Singapore be more flexible and diversified and with more options available. In her capacity as Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and the Chairman of the ComCare Supervisory Committee, she ensures that the needy and disadvantaged among us receive appropriate assistance so that they can over time be self-sufficient, and not be left behind as society progresses

Thirdly, it is the change of roles in the area of sports.

One good example would be the Iranian Women's football team, which went through much hardship to form. As women could not play football before 1970,as should they do so it would endanger their lives. The flourishing of football as a sport for them is a major step in gender equality, even in a place like Iran. However, women are still not allowed into stadiums at the same time as men, and they have to be fully clothed when playing a match. As football was a predominantly male sport, women have ventured into a new and strange environment, and destroyed the perception that football is for guys only.

Lastly it would be the change of roles in video games.

I want to point this out it has been a tradition for lead roles of role-playing games to be males. However companies such as Square Enix were pioneers in doing the opposite. It began to put females as the main characters of some of its games, and gave female characters larger roles to play in games. Female characters are no longer restricted to just scenery, they are part of the game. Titles such as Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy Xlll are good examples of putting females in lead roles. It is no longer just a bunch of hot-blooded males fighting, but instead it is a bunch of hot-blooded guys and girls pitting it out.

The delicate balance of the roles of men and women are being re-balanced in our everyday actions, as well as the policies made. It is undeniable that the women are still being disadvantaged against due to their physical limitations. Until we learn to overcome and solve these limitations can we create a balance strong enough to withsand attacks from critics and skepticals alike. Only then can we see both man AND women play soccer on the same pitch in the barclays premier league, only then can we see both and equal number of male and female representatives in the parliament. Only then will gender equality be achieved.