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A century
of feminism has failed to overturn several millennia of patriarchy: proof is the
fate of women in many parts of the world today (p. 17). But from unrelenting
battles to fragile victories (pp.
18-20),
by the end of the twentieth century women had learned to defend their welfare and
their interests. The two sexes, they say, are different but have equal rights and
responsibilities.
Little by little, women have undermined the old order that sealed their inequitable
fate. By standing in the forefront of struggles against apartheid and male domination,
South African women are considered as role models: the power they have won has enabled
them to impose laws sanctioning the violence to which they are subjected (pp.
20-21).
Iranian women have not yet reached that point, but they are seizing every opportunity,
from education to the ballot box, to strengthen their rights (pp.22-23). The struggle for equality
in the workplace (pp.
23-24)
and reproductive rights (pp.
24-25)
are other aspects of women’s emancipation that are still high on the agenda, five
years after the Beijing women’s conference.
Despite their massive and henceforth world-wide mobilisation, women still encounter
obstacles to political participation, where they remain a tiny minority (pp.
28-29
and 30-31). Kept back
by mentalities and societies that are moving ahead at a snail’s pace, in the private
sphere they are negotiating a new sharing of time with men (pp. 26-27). Following a path opened
up in northern Europe, women in countries such as India (pp. 32-33) have obtained quotas
that ensure more democratic representation.
In South Korea and elsewhere, they have created political breeding grounds to motivate
and train the leaders of tomorrow (pp.
34-35).
A genuine renewal of political leadership seems to be under way. It promises to be
one of the more important breakthroughs of the century that has just begun (pp.
35-36
and 37).
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