2014 Top 15: Kaitlyn Loft

Analyse gender equality in your community. Should more be done to empower women?

Author: Kaitlyn Loft

Community: Horsham, VIC

Age: 16

If society were to cast its critical eye onto itself, many would find that the advancements made have been greatly exaggerated. Women received the right to vote over a century ago, and since then progress has been minimal. In a world where providing information and support has never been simpler, equality could easily be achieved. However, there are many things that affect the unity of today’s society. Equality is a goal everyone should strive for, and the lack of empowerment is a problem in desperate need of addressing.

Society today is built upon competition. It perpetuates the idea that gender separates people and that only one gender can be dominant. These messages are constant, fed to us through the one thing society is constantly exposed to: the media. Media creates competition among women, comparing and criticizing the style of influential women and building up feuds between people with no relation to each other. Not only is the problem with society in that it belittles women and seeks to strip them of confidence and empowerment, but it also turns women against each other. It’s hard for women to become empowered without support, and often it can be found that the support most needed – support from other women – is stripped away by competition. In a society that targets women especially, more should definitely be done to empower women.

The empowerment of women is a difficult problem to tackle. The issue, however, is not in how to empower women but how to get women to empower themselves. As a society, women need to wake up and realize they can do this. They are every bit the human that a man is, and while gender may be important for some reasons, it doesn’t define a person. The severe lack of representation and diversity in media affects the way women perceive themselves. Without role models to prove that women don’t have to conform to stereotypes, people will be less inclined to believe it’s possible. This lack of representation affects secluded rural communities more than suburban areas. The lack of representation is yet another reason to prove the importance of empowering women.

The way to a brighter future is by eradicating the current problem. Society needs more representation and more women in positions of power. Proving that women can achieve great things will help them do it. If women begin to feel empowered, then it also provides an opportunity to people with real power to speak out. There is not enough, and never will be enough, men speaking out against the wrongs of their own demographic. It is an issue that requires more attention and a society that requires more empowerment.

Women aren’t angry enough for their own sakes. At every turn, they are wronged by oppressive, patriarchal values that deny society gender equality and basic human rights. Despite the problems existing in society today, it is here that the solution can also be found for the way towards a brighter and more equal future.