Blog7: Seeking Gender Equality in Singapore

Ray King

More women leaders needed for gender equality to truly exist: congress

This week I came across an article that discusses strives for gender equality in Singapore. At this years Singapore Women's Conference, there was a panel discussion revolving around women's current level of involvement in government and higher business in the country. Currently, women's involvement in parliament is at 24% which is above the global average of 20%, however there is a strong desire to give women more opportunity. One of the speakers was Malaysian social and political activist, Marina Mahathir. One interesting quote that she said in her speech here was, "When it comes to women, numbers matter because men are just not going to think of these things. Their experience in life is different from ours. And so they are not going to know what affects us." So not only is it important to help women gain access to these higher positions in congress and business, but its equally important to help men understand what it is that women encounter in their lives. Bringing men into the fold will help begin to diminish long-standing gender stereotypes. In order to accomplish this, a mental mindset that women in powerful positions is normal and that its acceptable for men to do their fair share of domestic chores needs to come into place. The smart men in power now should be able to look at a woman and what she could bring to a business or governmental position and instantly see how valuable she is to society. I especially found it profound that in order to bring about these changes that you needed to fairly include men in the discussion. There's always been a vast amount of talk about women pushing for equality and fairness as their male counter parts, however talk involving men hasn't always been brought up. In order for this change to happen in places like Singapore, it needs to begin almost on a lower level. Among everyday men and women where they can see how one another are equally valuable and each bring a skill set to the world to contribute to a working whole. Through this, equality can rise up through the higher levels of society and, eventually, we will see a more equal society for women and men.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1261731/1/.html