Estonia Gender Problems Essay

Throughout history, wo custody contract constantly struggled for fitted rights. However, even after women have gained increased equality in many a(prenominal) countries, sexual urge divergence notwithstanding exists on an international scale. The European hoidenish Estonia, in particular, faces a noticeably greater gap amongst mens and womens rights in comparison with its European neighbors. Despite the Estonian sexual urge Equality Law passed in 2004, sexism and sexuality stereotypes ar tranquil cock-a-hooply prevalent in Estonias goernment and society. The problem of gender inequality has negatively impacted Estonian women in economical, genial, and political aspects of conduct in Estonia.One major result of gender inequality is the restrain of economic opportunities for women. Because of traditional gender stereotypes, Estonian women are believed to be slight valuable in the workplace than men. This form of sexism has heavily impacted the ability of women to ob tain and maintain employment and salary in the 1990s womens unemployment exceeded that of men (38.3% of women and 24.7% of men) (Erickson 278). In addition to the high unemployment rate for women, Estonias represent gap (the difference between men and womens wages for the said(prenominal) job) is currently the highest in Europe women are paid over 30% less than men for the same profession (Domsch 73). Since Estonian women are economically disadvantaged by unfair employment and salary, many women are oblige to become economically dependent on their husbands or fathers. Overall, Estonias large pay gap reflects its economic sexism and the detrimental effects of gender inequality on women.Gender inequality in Estonia has also led to social hurt against women. Since Estonias incorpo symmetryn into the Soviet Union, gender shares have been deeply established into Estonian society. These gender roles dictate what women are allowed to do and what junior-grade spheres of influence they have on economics, government, and politics. Gender roles have also unavoidably led to sexism The relationship between men and women on a social level represents relationship with unequal power distribution, where men dominate and women are subordinated or under-represented in most spheres of life. (Morten para. 6). The social dominance of men stems from Estonias incorporation into the Soviet Union in 1940.During this period, Estonias once horse opera attitudes and views on gender equality shifted to Soviet-centered beliefs, which emphasized the importance of submissive women who served men. Although the Soviet Union often used feminist propaganda to encourage women to work, women were frequently inured unfairly at home and in society. The gender roles established during the Soviet Union era continue to play a major role in Estonias society today. Gender inequality is prevalent in both the household, where men are expected to exert dominance over their wives, and in social gath erings, where womens opinions are held in lower dream up (Domsch 148). In summary, gender inequality in Estonia has led to social contrast against women.Another major result of gender inequality is the political prejudice that Estonian women face. After World War II, a period in which Estonia was politically and economically run by women due to a need of men, the Communist Party reestablished men in the ruling bodies of Estonia. During this period, Estonian women were outside from politics and their political power was undermined. Very juvenilely, some attempts have been make to solve the political gender inequality problem. In 2004, the government passed the Gender Equality Act to ensure that women had equal political power and economic stability (Domsch 127). However, many of the rights guaranteed in the Gender Equality Act were pre-existing in the Constitution of Estonia. In practice, women have yet to see on-key(a) equality in political or economic aspects.For example, a recent study showed that roughly 8% of Estonian government positions are held by women, while only 20% of parliament members are women (Morten para. 4). The small per centum of women in Estonias government directly reflects on the sexism in Estonian politics. Estonias male and female populations, though equal in size, are not equally politically represented, as shown by the clearly crazy gender ratio in their government. Overall, although small steps have been do toward gender equity, sexism and gender inequality are still widely extant, and have led to comparatively less political empowerment for Estonian women.Although womens rights have been improved internationally, many countries still face challenges in establishing true gender equality. Estonia currently faces significant problems for women in many major aspects of society. Originating from Estonias incorporation into the Soviet Union after World War II, gender stereotypes have negatively affected Estonian women to this da y. With one of the largest pay gaps between men and women in Europe, Estonia has a significantly imbalanced gender ratio for employment. Furthermore, sexism has also led to the diminished social and political power of women in Estonian society. Despite the recent improvements that have been made by the Estonian government in the past decade, the economic, social, and political opportunities of Estonian women are still severely limited by gender inequality.