Throughout human history, traditional gender roles within patriarchal societies have often defined and limited women's activities and opportunities, resulting in gender inequality; many religious doctrines and legal systems stipulate certain rules for women. With restrictions loosening during the 20th century in many societies, women have gained wider access to careers and the ability to pursue higher education. Violence against women, whether within families or in communities, has a long history and is primarily committed by men. Some women are denied reproductive rights. The movements and ideologies of feminism have a shared goal of achieving gender equality.
The spelling of woman in English has progressed over the past millennium from wīfmann[9] to wīmmann to wumman, and finally, the modern spelling woman.[10] In Old English, mann had the gender-neutral meaning of 'human', akin to the Modern 'person' or 'someone'. The word for 'woman' was wīf or wīfmann (lit.'woman-person') whereas 'man' was wer or wǣpnedmann (from wǣpn'weapon; penis'). However, following the Norman Conquest, man began to mean 'male human', and by the late 13th century it had largely replaced wer.[11] The consonants /f/ and /m/ in wīfmanncoalesced into the modern woman, while wīfnarrowed to specifically mean a married woman ('wife').
It is a popular misconception that the term "woman" is etymologically connected to "womb".[12] "Womb" derives from the Old English word wamb meaning 'belly, uterus'[13] (cognate to the modern German colloquial term "Wamme" from Old High German wamba for 'belly, paunch, lap').[14][15]
Three generations: an older woman, her daughter, and her granddaughter.
The word woman can be used generally, to mean any female human, or specifically, to mean an adult female human as contrasted with girl. The word girl originally meant "young person of either sex" in English;[16] it was only around the beginning of the 16th century that it came to mean specifically a female child.[17] The term girl is sometimes used colloquially to refer to a young or unmarried woman; however, during the early 1970s, feminists challenged such use because the use of the word to refer to a fully grown woman may cause offense. In particular, previously common terms such as office girl are no longer widely used. Conversely, in certain cultures which link family honor with female virginity, the word girl (or its equivalent in other languages) is still used to refer to a never-married woman; in this sense it is used in a fashion roughly analogous to the more-or-less obsolete English maid or maiden.
Different countries have different laws, but age 18 is frequently considered the age of majority (the age at which a person is legally considered an adult).[18][19]
The social sciences' views on what it means to be a woman have changed significantly since the early 20th century as women gained more rights and greater representation in the workforce, with scholarship in the 1970s moving toward a focus on the sex–gender distinction and social construction of gender.[20][21]
There are various words used to refer to the quality of being a woman. The term "womanhood" merely means the state of being a woman; "femininity" is used to refer to a set of typical female qualities associated with a certain attitude to gender roles; "womanliness" is like "femininity", but is usually associated with a different view of gender roles. "Distaff" is an archaic adjective derived from women's conventional role as a spinner, now used only as a deliberate archaism.
Male and female bodies have some differences. Some differences, such as the external sex organs, are visible, while other differences, such as internal anatomy and genetic characteristics, are not visible.
Typically, the cells of female humans contain two X chromosomes, while the cells of male humans have an X and a Y chromosome.[23] During early fetal development, all embryos have phenotypically female genitalia up until week 6 or 7, when a male embryo's gonads differentiate into testes due to the action of the SRY gene on the Y chromosome.[24]Sex differentiation proceeds in female humans in a way that is independent of gonadal hormones.[24] Because humans inherit mitochondrial DNA only from the mother's ovum, genealogical researchers can trace maternal lineage far back in time.
Hormonal characteristics, menstruation and menopause
Female puberty triggers bodily changes that enable sexual reproduction via fertilization. In response to chemical signals from the pituitary gland, the ovaries secrete hormones that stimulate maturation of the body, including increased height and weight, body hair growth, breast development and menarche (the onset of menstruation).[25]
Usually between ages 49–52, a woman reaches menopause, the time when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children.[31][32][33] Unlike most other mammals, the human lifespan usually extends many years after menopause.[34] Many women become grandmothers and contribute to the care of grandchildren and other family members.[35] Many biologists believe that the extended human lifespan is evolutionarily driven by kin selection, though other theories have also been proposed.[36][37][38][39]
In terms of biology, the female sex organs are involved in the reproductive system, whereas the secondary sex characteristics are involved in breastfeeding children and attracting a mate.[40] Humans are placental mammals, which means the mother carries the fetus in the uterus and the placenta facilitates the exchange of nutrients and waste between the mother and fetus.[41][42]
The internal female genitalia consist of the ovaries, gonads that produce female gametes called ova, the fallopian tubes, tubular structures that transport the egg cells, the uterus, an organ with tissue to protect and nurture the developing fetus and its cervix to expel it, the accessory glands (Bartholin's and Skene's), two pairs of glands that help lubricate during intercourse, and the vagina, an organ used in copulating and birthing.
The mammary glands are hypothesized to have evolved from apocrine-like glands to produce milk, a nutritious secretion that is the most distinctive characteristic of mammals, along with live birth.[44] In mature women, the breast is generally more prominent than in most other mammals; this prominence, not necessary for milk production, is thought to be at least partially the result of sexual selection.[40]
Estrogens, which are primary female sex hormones, have a significant impact on a female's body shape. They are produced in both men and women, but their levels are significantly higher in women, especially in those of reproductive age. Besides other functions, estrogens promote the development of female secondary sexual characteristics, such as breasts and hips.[45][46][47] As a result of estrogens, during puberty, girls develop breasts and their hips widen. Working against estrogen, the presence of testosterone in a pubescent female inhibits breast development and promotes muscle and facial hair development.[48]
Circulatory system
Women have lower hematocrit (the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood) than men; this is due to lower testosterone, which stimulates the production of erythropoietin by the kidney. The normal hematocrit level for a woman is 36% to 48% (for men, 41% to 50%). The normal level of hemoglobin (an oxygen-transport protein found in red blood cells) for women is 12.0 to 15.5 g/dL (for men, 13.5 to 17.5 g/dL).[49][50][51]
Women's hearts have finer-grained textures in the muscle compared to men's hearts, and the heart muscle's overall shape and surface area also differs to men's when controlling for body size and age.[52][53] In addition, women's hearts age more slowly compared to men's hearts.[54]
Girls are born slightly less frequently than boys (the ratio is around 1:1.05). Out of the total human population in 2015, there were 1018 men for every 1000 women.[55]
Factors that specifically affect the health of women in comparison with men are most evident in those related to reproduction, but sex differences have been identified from the molecular to the behavioral scale. Some of these differences are subtle and difficult to explain, partly due to the fact that it is difficult to separate the health effects of inherent biological factors from the effects of the surrounding environment they exist in. Sex chromosomes and hormones, as well as sex-specific lifestyles, metabolism, immune system function, and sensitivity to environmental factors are believed to contribute to sex differences in health at the levels of physiology, perception, and cognition. Women can have distinct responses to drugs and thresholds for diagnostic parameters.[69][pageneeded]
Maternal mortality or maternal death is defined by WHO as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes."[73] In 2008, noting that each year more than 500,000 women die of complications of pregnancy and childbirth and at least seven million experience serious health problems while 50 million more have adverse health consequences after childbirth, the World Health Organization urged midwife training to strengthen maternal and newborn health services. To support the upgrading of midwifery skills the WHO established a midwife training program, Action for Safe Motherhood.[74]
In 2017, 94% of maternal deaths occur in low and lower middle-income countries. Approximately 86% of maternal deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for around 66% and Southern Asia accounting for around 20%. The main causes of maternal mortality include pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, unsafe abortion, pregnancy complications from malaria and HIV/AIDS, and severe bleeding and infections following childbirth.[75] Most European countries, Australia, Japan, and Singapore are very safe in regard to childbirth.[76][improper synthesis][bettersourceneeded]
In 1990, the US ranked 12th of the 14 developed countries that were analyzed and since that time the death rates of every country have steadily improved while the US rate has spiked dramatically. While the others that were analyzed in 1990 show a 2017 death rate of fewer than 10 deaths per every 100,000 live births, the U.S. rate rose to 26.4. Furthermore, for every one of the 700 to 900 women who die in the U.S. each year during pregnancy or childbirth, 70 experience significant complications, totaling more than one percent of all births.[77][78]
Pink: Countries where female life expectancy at birth is higher than males. Blue: A few countries in southern Africa where females have shorter lives due to AIDS.
The life expectancy for women is generally longer than men's. This advantage begins from birth, with newborn girls more likely to survive the first year than boys. Worldwide, women live six to eight years longer than men.[80] However, this varies by place and situation. For example, discrimination against women has lowered female life expectancy in some parts of Asia so that men there live longer than women.[80]
The difference in life expectancy are believed to be partly due to biological advantages and partly due to gendered behavioral differences between men and women.[80][81] For example, women are less likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors like smoking and reckless driving, and consequently have fewer preventable premature deaths from such causes.[80]
In some developed countries, the life expectancy is evening out. This is believed to caused both by worse health behaviors among women, especially an increased rate of smoking tobacco by women, and improved health among men, such as less cardiovascular disease.[80] The World Health Organization (WHO) writes that it is "important to note that the extra years of life for women are not always lived in good health."[80]
... the human rights of women include their right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. Equal relationships between women and men in matters of sexual relations and reproduction, including full respect for the integrity of the person, require mutual respect, consent and shared responsibility for sexual behavior and its consequences.
The World Health Organization reports that based on data from 2010 to 2014, 56 million induced abortions occurred worldwide each year (25% of all pregnancies). Of those, about 25 million were considered as unsafe. The WHO reports that in developed regions about 30 women die for every 100,000 unsafe abortions and that number rises to 220 deaths per 100,000 unsafe abortions in developing regions and 520 deaths per 100,000 unsafe abortions in sub-Saharan Africa. The WHO ascribes these deaths to:
restrictive laws
poor availability of services
high cost
stigma
conscientious objection of health-care providers
unnecessary requirements, such as mandatory waiting periods, mandatory counseling, provision of misleading information, third-party authorization, and medically unnecessary tests that delay care.[83]
Femininity (also called womanliness or girlishness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Although femininity is socially constructed,[86] some behaviors considered feminine are biologically influenced.[86][87][88][89] The extent to which femininity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate.[88][87][89] It is distinct from the definition of the biological female sex,[90][91] as both men and women can exhibit feminine traits.
Puabi (c. 2600 BCE), or Shubad– queen of Ur whose tomb was discovered with many expensive artifacts. Other known pre-Sargonic queens of Ur (royal wives) include Ashusikildigir, Ninbanda, and Gansamannu.[98]
Kugbau (circa 2,500 BCE), a taverness from Kish chosen by the Nippur priesthood to become hegemonic ruler of Sumer, and in later ages deified as "Kubaba".
Baranamtarra (c. 2384 BCE), prominent and influential queen of Lugalanda of Lagash. Other known pre-Sargonic queens of the first Lagash dynasty include Menbara-abzu, Ashume'eren, Ninkhilisug, Dimtur, and Shagshag, and the names of several princesses are also known.
Shibtu (c. 1775 BCE), king Zimrilim's consort and queen of the Syrian city-state of Mari. During her husband's absence, she ruled as regent of Mari and enjoyed extensive administrative powers as queen.[104]
In recent history, gender roles have changed greatly. At some earlier points in history, children's occupational aspirations starting at a young age differed according to gender.[105] Traditionally, middle class women were involved in domestic tasks emphasizing child care. For poorer women, economic necessity compelled them to seek employment outside the home even if individual poor women may have preferred domestic tasks. Many of the occupations that were available to them were lower in pay than those available to men.[106]
An Egyptian Muslim woman who works as a men's hairdresser to "confront the customs and traditions of her society and conquer their criticism."
As changes in the labor market for women came about, availability of employment changed from only "dirty", long hour factory jobs to "cleaner", more respectable office jobs where more education was demanded. Married women's participation in the U.S. labor force rose from 5.6–6% in 1900 to 23.8% in 1923.[107][108] These shifts in the labor force led to changes in the attitudes towards women at work, allowing for the revolution which resulted in women becoming career and education oriented.[citation needed]
In the 1970s, many female academics, including scientists, avoided having children. Throughout the 1980s, institutions tried to equalize conditions for men and women in the workplace. Even so, the inequalities at home hampered women's opportunities: professional women were still generally considered responsible for domestic labor and child care, which limited the time and energy they could devote to their careers. Until the early 20th century, U.S. women's colleges required their women faculty members to remain single, on the grounds that a woman could not carry on two full-time professions at once. According to Schiebinger, "Being a scientist and a wife and a mother is a burden in society that expects women more often than men to put family ahead of career." (p.93).[109]
Movements advocate equality of opportunity for both sexes and equal rights irrespective of gender. Through a combination of economic changes and the efforts of the feminist movement, in recent decades women in many societies have gained access to careers beyond the traditional homemaker. Despite these advances, modern women in Western society still face challenges in the workplace as well as with the topics of education, violence, health care, politics, and motherhood, and others. Sexism can be a main concern and barrier for women almost anywhere, though its forms, perception, and gravity vary between societies and social classes. There has been an increase in the endorsement of egalitarian gender roles in the home by both women and men.[110][failed verification]
Although a greater number of women are seeking higher education, their salaries are often less than those of men. CBS News said in 2005 that in the United States women who are ages 30 to 44 and hold a university degree make 62% of what similarly qualified men do, a lower rate than in all but three of the 19 countries for which numbers are available. Some Western nations with greater inequality in pay are Germany, New Zealand and Switzerland.[111]
Particular religious doctrines have specific stipulations relating to gender roles, social and private interaction between the sexes, appropriate dressing attire for women, and various other issues affecting women and their position in society. In many countries, these religious teachings influence the criminal law, or the family law of those jurisdictions (see Sharia law, for example). The relation between religion, law and gender equality has been discussed by international organizations.[112]
any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.
It identifies three forms of such violence: that which occurs in the family, that which occurs within the general community, and that which is perpetrated or condoned by the State. It also states that "violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women".[114]
Violence against women remains a widespread problem, fueled, especially outside the West, by patriarchal social values, lack of adequate laws, and lack of enforcement of existing laws. Social norms that exist in many parts of the world hinder progress towards protecting women from violence. For example, according to surveys by UNICEF, the percentage of women aged 15–49 who think that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstances is as high as 90% in Afghanistan and Jordan, 87% in Mali, 86% in Guinea and Timor-Leste, 81% in Laos, and 80% in the Central African Republic.[115] A 2010 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that stoning as a punishment for adultery was supported by 82% of respondents in Egypt and Pakistan, 70% in Jordan, 56% Nigeria, and 42% in Indonesia.[116]
There have also been many forms of violence against women which have been prevalent historically, notably the burning of witches, the sacrifice of widows (such as sati) and foot binding. The prosecution of women accused of witchcraft has a long tradition; for example, during the early modern period (between the 15th and 18th centuries), witch trials were common in Europe and in the European colonies in North America. Today, there remain regions of the world (such as parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, rural North India, and Papua New Guinea) where belief in witchcraft is held by many people, and women accused of being witches are subjected to serious violence.[118][119][120] In addition, there are also countries which have criminal legislation against the practice of witchcraft. In Saudi Arabia, witchcraft remains a crime punishable by death, and in 2011 the country beheaded a woman for 'witchcraft and sorcery'.[121][122]
It is also the case that certain forms of violence against women have been recognized as criminal offences only during recent decades, and are not universally prohibited, in that many countries continue to allow them. This is especially the case with marital rape.[123][124] In the Western World, there has been a trend towards ensuring gender equality within marriage and prosecuting domestic violence, but in many parts of the world women still lose significant legal rights when entering a marriage.[125]
Laws and policies on violence against women vary by jurisdiction. In the European Union, sexual harassment and human trafficking are subject to directives.[128][129]
Clothing, fashion and dress codes
Women's traditional clothing varies across cultures. From left to right: Afghan model wearing traditional Afghan dress and Japanese women wearing kimono.
Women in different parts of the world dress in different ways, with their choices of clothing being influenced by local culture, religious tenets, traditions, social norms, and fashion trends, among other factors. Different societies have different ideas about modesty.
In many jurisdictions, laws limit what women may or may not wear. This is especially the case in regard to Islamic dress. While certain jurisdictions legally mandate such clothing (the wearing of the headscarf), other countries forbid or restrict the wearing of certain hijab attire (such as burqa/covering the face) in public places (one such country is France – see French ban on face covering). These laws– both those mandating and those prohibiting certain articles of dress– are highly controversial.[130]
Map of countries by fertility rate (2020), according to the Population Reference BureauPercentage of births to unmarried women, selected countries, 1980 and 2007
The total fertility rate (TFR)– the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime– differs significantly between different regions of the world. In 2016, the highest estimated TFR was in Niger (6.62 children born per woman) and the lowest in Singapore (0.82 children/woman).[132] While most Sub-Saharan African countries have a high TFR, which creates problems due to lack of resources and contributes to overpopulation, most Western countries currently experience a sub replacement fertility rate which may lead to population ageing and population decline.
In many parts of the world, there has been a change in family structure over the past few decades. For instance, in the West, there has been a trend of moving away from living arrangements that include the extended family to those which only consist of the nuclear family. There has also been a trend to move from marital fertility to non-marital fertility. Children born outside marriage may be born to cohabiting couples or to single women. While births outside marriage are common and fully accepted in some parts of the world, in other places they are highly stigmatized, with unmarried mothers facing ostracism, including violence from family members, and in extreme cases even honor killings.[133][134] In addition, sex outside marriage remains illegal in many countries (such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,[135] Afghanistan,[136][137] Iran,[137] Kuwait,[138] Maldives,[139] Morocco,[140] Oman,[141] Mauritania,[142] United Arab Emirates,[143][144] Sudan,[145] and Yemen[146]).
The social role of the mother differs between cultures. In many parts of the world, women with dependent children are expected to stay at home and dedicate all their energy to child raising, while in other places mothers most often return to paid work (see working mother and stay-at-home mother).
Women attending an adult literacy class in the El Alto section of La Paz, Bolivia
Single-sex education has traditionally been dominant and is still highly relevant. Universal education, meaning state-provided primary and secondary education independent of gender, is not yet a global norm, even if it is assumed in most developed countries. In some Western countries, women have surpassed men at many levels of education. For example, in the United States in 2005/2006, women earned 62% of associate degrees, 58% of bachelor's degrees, 60% of master's degrees, and 50% of doctorates.[147][148]
The educational gender gap in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries has been reduced over the last 30 years. Younger women today are far more likely to have completed a tertiary qualification: in 19 of the 30 OECD countries, more than twice as many women aged 25 to 34 have completed tertiary education than have women aged 55 to 64. In 21 of 27 OECD countries with comparable data, the number of women graduating from university-level programmes is equal to or exceeds that of men. 15-year-old girls tend to show much higher expectations for their careers than boys of the same age.[149] While women account for more than half of university graduates in several OECD countries, they receive only 30% of tertiary degrees granted in science and engineering fields, and women account for only 25% to 35% of researchers in most OECD countries.[150]
Research shows that while women are studying at prestigious universities at the same rate as men they are not being given the same chance to join the faculty. Sociologist Harriet Zuckerman has observed that the more prestigious an institute is, the more difficult and time-consuming it will be for women to obtain a faculty position there. In 1989, Harvard University tenured its first woman in chemistry, Cynthia Friend, and in 1992 its first woman in physics, Melissa Franklin. She also observed that women were more likely to hold their first professional positions as instructors and lecturers while men are more likely to work first in tenure positions. According to Smith and Tang, as of 1989, 65% of men and only 40% of women held tenured positions and only 29% of all scientists and engineers employed as assistant professors in four-year colleges and universities were women.[151]
In 1992, women earned 9% of the PhDs awarded in engineering, but only one percent of those women became professors. In 1995, 11% of professors in science and engineering were women. In relation, only 311 deans of engineering schools were women, which is less than 1% of the total. Even in psychology, a degree in which women earn the majority of PhDs, they hold a significant amount of fewer tenured positions, roughly 19% in 1994.[152]
Literacy
World literacy is lower for women than for men. In 2020, 87% of the world's women were literate, compared to 90% of men. But sub-Saharan Africa and southwest Asia lagged behind the rest of the world; only 59% of women in sub-Saharan Africa were literate.[153]
One area where women have been permitted most access historically was that of obstetrics and gynecology (prior to the 18th century, caring for pregnant women in Europe was undertaken by women; from the mid 18th century onwards, medical monitoring of pregnant women started to require rigorous formal education, to which women did not generally have access, and thus the practice was largely transferred to men).[158][159]
Literature
Writing was generally also considered acceptable for upper-class women, although achieving success as a female writer in a male-dominated world could be very difficult; as a result of several women writers adopted a male pen name (e.g. George Sand, George Eliot).[160]
Women comprise a significant proportion of instrumental soloists in classical music and the percentage of women in orchestras is increasing. A 2015 article on concerto soloists in major Canadian orchestras, however, indicated that 84% of the soloists with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra were men. In 2012, women still made up just 6% of the top-ranked Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. Women are less common as instrumental players in popular music genres such as rock and heavy metal, although there have been a number of notable female instrumentalists and all-female bands. Women are particularly underrepresented in extreme metal genres.[161] Women are also underrepresented in orchestral conducting, music criticism/music journalism, music producing, and sound engineering. While women were discouraged from composing in the 19th century, and there are few women musicologists, women became involved in music education "... to such a degree that women dominated [this field] during the later half of the 19th century and well into the 20th century."[162]
Women musicians may sing, write music, play instruments, conduct orchestras, teach music, and more.
According to Jessica Duchen, a music writer for London's The Independent, women musicians in classical music are "... too often judged for their appearances, rather than their talent" and they face pressure "... to look sexy onstage and in photos."[163] Duchen states that while "[t]here are women musicians who refuse to play on their looks, ... the ones who do tend to be more materially successful."[163]
According to the UK's Radio 3 editor, Edwina Wolstencroft, the classical music industry has long been open to having women in performance or entertainment roles, but women are much less likely to have positions of authority, such as being the leader of an orchestra.[164] In popular music, while there are many women singers recording songs, there are very few women behind the audio console acting as music producers, the individuals who direct and manage the recording process.[165]
↑ Female may refer to sex or gender.[1] The plural women is sometimes used in certain phrases such as women's rights to denote female humans regardless of age.
Related Research Articles
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is intrinsically superior to another. Extreme sexism may foster sexual harassment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence. Discrimination in this context is defined as discrimination toward people based on their gender identity or their gender or sex differences. An example of this is workplace inequality. Sexism refers to violation of equal opportunities based on gender or refers to violation of equality of outcomes based on gender, also called substantive equality. Sexism may arise from social or cultural customs and norms.
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others, they are ignored and suppressed. They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls, in favor of men and boys.
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the individual's gender identity. Gender expression typically reflects a person's gender identity, but this is not always the case. While a person may express behaviors, attitudes, and appearances consistent with a particular gender role, such expression may not necessarily reflect their gender identity. The term gender identity was coined by psychiatry professor Robert J. Stoller in 1964 and popularized by psychologist John Money.
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:
Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.
Sex assignment is the discernment of an infant's sex, typically made at birth based on an examination of the baby's external genitalia by a healthcare provider such as a midwife, nurse, or physician. In the vast majority of cases (99.95%), sex is assigned unambiguously at birth. However, in about 1 in 2000 births, the baby's genitalia may not clearly indicate male or female, necessitating additional diagnostic steps, and deferring sex assignment.
Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and doesn't always involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Although, historically, sexual intercourse within marriage was regarded as a right of spouses, engaging in the act without the spouse's consent is now widely classified as rape by many societies around the world, and increasingly criminalized. However it is repudiated by some more conservative cultures.
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations, and needs equally, also regardless of gender. To avoid complication, other genders will not be treated in this Gender equality article.
Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), is violent acts primarily committed by men or boys against women or girls. Such violence is often considered a form of hate crime, committed against persons specifically because they are of the female gender, and can take many forms.
Statistics on rape and other acts of sexual assault are commonly available in industrialized countries, and have become better documented throughout the world. Inconsistent definitions of rape, different rates of reporting, recording, prosecution and conviction for rape can create controversial statistical disparities, and lead to accusations that many rape statistics are unreliable or misleading.
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability, or is below the legal age of consent. The term rape is sometimes casually inaccurately used interchangeably with the term sexual assault.
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy.
The status of women in Ghana and their roles in Ghanaian society has changed over the past few decades. There has been a slow increase in the political participation of Ghanaian women throughout history. Women are given equal rights under the Constitution of Ghana, yet disparities in education, employment, and health for women remain prevalent. Additionally, women have much less access to resources than men in Ghana do. Ghanaian women in rural and urban areas face slightly different challenges. Throughout Ghana, female-headed households are increasing.
There have been several studies concerning women in Ethiopia. Historically, elite and powerful women in Ethiopia have been visible as administrators and warriors. This never translated into any benefit to improve the rights of women, but it had meant that women could inherit and own property and act as advisors on important communal and tribal matters. As late as the first part of the 20th century, Queen Menen, consort of Emperor Haile Selassie I, had a decisive role in running the Ethiopian Empire. Workit and Mestayit regents to their minor sons have been held responsible for their provinces. They owed their rights to landed property because of a special type of land tenure that expected tenants to serve as militia to overlords, irrespective of gender. In 1896, Empress Tayetu Betul, wife of Emperor Menelik II, actively advised the government and participated in defending the country from Italian invasion. Prominent and other landowning women fought against the second invasion in 1935–41. With the assistance of European advisors, women in the ensuing period were kept out of the army and politics, even as advisors. Instead, they were restricted to family and household work of raising children and cooking. With a steady increase in female representation in education, they have started to undertake nursing, teaching, and other similarly supportive roles. Over the 2018–2019 period, their gradual participation in state politics has been increasing at a steady pace.
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Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".
Punishment for rape in Pakistan under the Pakistani laws is either death penalty or imprisonment of between ten and twenty-five years. For cases related to gang rape, the punishment is either death penalty or life imprisonment. DNA test and other scientific evidence are used in prosecuting rape cases in Pakistan.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Identified by the 2012 World Development Report as one of two key human capital endowments, health can influence an individual's ability to reach his or her full potential in society. Yet while gender equality has made the most progress in areas such as education and labor force participation, health inequality between men and women continues to harm many societies to this day.
Violence against women in India refers to physical or sexual violence committed against a woman, typically by a man.
Rape myths are prejudicial, stereotyped, and false beliefs about sexual assaults, rapists, and rape victims. They often serve to excuse sexual aggression, create hostility toward victims, and bias criminal prosecution.
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) than endosex people. According to a study done in Australia of Australian citizens with intersex conditions, participants labeled 'heterosexual' as the most popular single label with the rest being scattered among various other labels. According to another study, an estimated 8.5% to 20% experiencing gender dysphoria. Although many intersex people are heterosexual and cisgender, and not all of them identify as LGBTQ+, this overlap and "shared experiences of harm arising from dominant societal sex and gender norms" has led to intersex people often being included under the LGBT umbrella, with the acronym sometimes expanded to LGBTI. Some intersex activists and organisations have criticised this inclusion as distracting from intersex-specific issues such as involuntary medical interventions.
↑ "wīfmann": Bosworth & Toller, Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (Oxford, 1898–1921) p. 1219. The spelling "wifman" also occurs: C.T. Onions, Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (Oxford, 1966) p. 1011
↑ Webster's New World Dictionary, Second College Edition, entry for "woman".
↑ Stanton, Elizabeth Cady (2002). "The Book of Genesis, Chapter II". The Woman's Bible: A Classic Feminist Perspective. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications. pp.21–22. ISBN978-0486424910. Next comes the naming of the mother of the race. "She shall be called Woman", in the ancient form of the word Womb-man. She was man and more than man because of her maternity. (Originally published in two volumes, 1895 and 1898, by The European Publishing Company.)
↑ Used in Middle English from c. 1300, meaning 'a child of either sex, a young person'. Its derivation is uncertain, perhaps from an Old English word which has not survived: another theory is that it developed from Old English 'gyrela', meaning 'dress, apparel': or was a diminutive form of a borrowing from another West Germanic Language. (Middle Low German has Gör, Göre, meaning 'girl or small child'.) "girl, n.". OED Online. September 2013. Oxford University Press. 13 September 2013
↑ By late 14th century a distinction was arising between female children, often called 'gay girls'– and male, or 'knave girls' -: a1375 William of Palerne (1867) l. 816 ' Whan þe gaye gerles were in-to þe gardin come, Faire floures þei founde.' ('When the gay girls came into the garden, Fair flowers they found.') By the 16th century, the unsupported word had begun to mean specifically a female: 1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. x. sig. D, 'The boy thy husbande, and thou the gyrle his wyfe.' The usage meaning 'child of either sex' survived much longer in Irish English. "girl, n.". OED Online. September 2013. Oxford University Press. 13 September 2013
↑ "age of majority". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
↑ Poeschl, Gabrielle (7 June 2021). "A hundred years of debates on sex differences: Developing research for social change". Journal of Social and Political Psychology. 9 (1): 221–235. doi:10.5964/jspp.6399. hdl:10216/134531.
↑ Haig, David (April 2004). "The inexorable rise of gender and the decline of sex: social change in academic titles, 1945-2001". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 33 (2): 87–96. doi:10.1023/b:aseb.0000014323.56281.0d. PMID15146141.
↑ "Confirmation". BBC Religion. 23 June 2009. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
1 2 Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Understanding the Biology of Sex and Gender Differences; Wizemann, Theresa M.; Pardue, Mary-Lou (2001). "Sex Begins in the Womb". Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health. National Academies Press (US). doi:10.17226/10028. ISBN978-0-309-07281-6. PMID25057540. All human individuals–whether they have an XX, an XY, or an atypical sex chromosome combination–begin development from the same starting point. During early development the gonads of the fetus remain undifferentiated; that is, all fetal genitalia are the same and are phenotypically female. After approximately 6 to 7 weeks of gestation, however, the expression of a gene on the Y chromosome induces changes that result in the development of the testes.
↑ Anderson SE, Dallal GE, Must A (April 2003). "Relative weight and race influence average age at menarche: results from two nationally representative surveys of US girls studied 25 years apart". Pediatrics. 111 (4 Pt 1): 844–850. doi:10.1542/peds.111.4.844. PMID12671122.
↑ "Menopause: Overview". Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 28 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
↑ "Menopause: Overview". PubMedHealth. 29 August 2013. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
↑ Oftedal, Olav T. (2002). "The mammary gland and its origin during synapsid evolution". Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia. 7 (3): 225–252. doi:10.1023/a:1022896515287. PMID12751889.
↑ Dreger, Alice D.; Herndon, April M. (2009). "Progress and Politics in the Intersex Rights Movement: Feminist Theory in Action". GLQ. 15 (2): 199–224. doi:10.1215/10642684-2008-134. ProjectMUSE261479.
↑ Hines, Melissa; Ahmed, S. Faisal; Hughes, Ieuan A. (2003). "Psychological Outcomes and Gender-Related Development in Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 32 (2): 93–101. doi:10.1023/A:1022492106974. PMID12710824.
↑ Cohen-Kettenis, PT (August 2005). "Gender change in 46,XY persons with 5alpha-reductase-2 deficiency and 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-3 deficiency". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 34 (4): 399–410. doi:10.1007/s10508-005-4339-4. PMID16010463.
↑ Furtado, Paulo Sampaio; Moraes, Felipe; Lago, Renata; Barros, Luciana Oliveira; Toralles, Maria Betânia; Barroso, Ubirajara (November 2012). "Gender dysphoria associated with disorders of sex development". Nature Reviews Urology. 9 (11): 620–627. doi:10.1038/nrurol.2012.182. PMID23045263.
↑ Kevin L. Nadal, The Sage Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender (2017, ISBN978-1-4833-8427-6), p. 401: "Most cultures currently construct their societies based on the understanding of gender binary—the two gender categorizations (male and female). Such societies divide their population based on biological sex assigned to individuals at birth to begin the process of gender socialization."
↑ Moscucci, Ornella (2005). The science of woman: gynaecology and gender in England 1800 - 1929. Cambridge history of medicine (1. paberpack ed., transf. to digital printed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN978-0-521-44795-9.
↑ Education material for teachers of midwifery: midwifery education modules. World Health Organization. 2008. p.3. hdl:10665/44145. ISBN978-600-7257-12-8.
↑ The Pacific muse pg 49 By Patty O'Brien "The young beautiful Venus wringing water from her tresses was a configuration of exotic femininity that was…
↑ Fosu, Augustin Kwasi (1990). "Labor Force Participation by Married Women: Recent Intercity Evidence". Eastern Economic Journal. 16 (3): 229–238. JSTOR40326204.
↑ Schiebinger, Londa (1999). Has Feminism Changed Science?: Science and Private Life. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp.92–103.
↑ Gere, Judith; Helwig, Charles C. (2012). "Young Adults' Attitudes and Reasoning About Gender Roles in the Family Context". Psychology of Women Quarterly. 36 (3): 301–313. doi:10.1177/0361684312444272.
↑ In 2006, the UN Secretary-General's In-depth study on all forms of violence against women found that (p. 113): "Marital rape may be prosecuted in at least 104 States. Of these, 32 have made marital rape a specific criminal offence, while the remaining 74 do not exempt marital rape from general rape provisions. Marital rape is not a prosecutable offence in at least 53 States. Four States criminalize marital rape only when the spouses are judicially separated. Four States are considering legislation that would allow marital rape to be prosecuted."
↑ In England and Wales, marital rape was made illegal in 1991. The views of Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century jurist, published in The History of the Pleas of the Crown (1736), stated that a husband cannot be guilty of the rape of his wife because the wife "hath given up herself in this kind to her husband, which she cannot retract"; in England and Wales this would remain law for more than 250 years, until it was abolished by the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, in the case of R v R in 1991.
↑ For example, in Yemen, marriage regulations state that a wife must obey her husband and must not leave home without his permission. In Iraq husbands have a legal right to "punish" their wives. The criminal code states at Paragraph 41 that there is no crime if an act is committed while exercising a legal right; examples of legal rights include: "The punishment of a wife by her husband, the disciplining by parents and teachers of children under their authority within certain limits prescribed by law or by custom". "The Penal Code – With Amendments"(PDF). Iraqi Ministry of Justice. Archived from the original(PDF) on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012. In the Democratic Republic of Congo the Family Code states that the husband is the head of the household; the wife owes her obedience to her husband; a wife has to live with her husband wherever he chooses to live; and wives must have their husbands' authorization to bring a case in court or to initiate other legal proceedings.
↑ Directive 2002/73/EC– equal treatment of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions
↑ Brainard, Suzanne G.; Carlin, Linda (October 1998). "A Six-Year Longitudinal Study of Undergraduate Women in Engineering and Science". Journal of Engineering Education. 87 (4): 369–375. doi:10.1002/j.2168-9830.1998.tb00367.x. ProQuest217940422.
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