2) How equal are women to men in our country, in other countries?
In the United States women are not subject to institutionalized oppression, but are still subject to many forms of oppression that are the result of hegemony. What I mean by this is that women are not oppressed directly through laws, but suffer oppression that comes from biases that most people in the society hold. Women are subject to a pay gap where they will be payed about 75 cents for every dollar a man would make in the same profession. This is not a rule, but the result of an employer with a (usually unconscious) bias against women. Women experience less freedom than their male counterparts in the US. When women sleep with lot's of men they are demeaned, while men who sleep with lots of women are exalted. Women live under fear of being raped, and if they are they are often blamed by the police or the media. Women are taught how to not get raped, but in the same conversation men are never taught what constitutes rape, or to not rape. It's clear that in the US women do have the same constitutional freedoms as men and experience much more freedom than women in other parts of the world. But, it's also clear that we are living in an unofficial patriarchy. Around 20% of elected officials are women in the US. One would expect that the number would be closer to 50% in a society that affords equality to women.
European countries are much farther ahead in terms of gender equality. They have many more women involved in politics, and economic participation of women is very high. All ten of the top ten countries in the Gender Inequality Index are European countries.
When I traveled to Argentina for a foreign exchange trip I noticed that their culture was, in many ways, a microcosm of ours in the US. Although they had a female president, I saw a lot of things in the culture that subjugated women. At the school, from social media, and on the TV I noticed that women were sexualized from a very young age there. Cat calling was a common thing to hear on the streets. There was an overall sense of machismo from the men.
6) Within religions are expectations the same for both genders? If there are different expectations, what are the reasons for them?
The two religions that come to mind when I think of gender inequality are Catholicism, and Islam. In Catholicism women are not allowed to be priests, or go onto the altar. Nuns are required to wear an outfit called a habit that covers them completely besides their hands and face. In the Bible it says that the first woman, Eve, was created from the rib of the first man. It also says that god has men rule over women because Eve ate from the tree of knowledge. This is a commonly taught story in Catholic, and other christian churches. It's just one example of many misogynistic verses in the bible.
Women are also subjugated in Islam. I have not been raised a Muslim so I am not speaking from experience and am talking mostly about fundamentalist Islam. I have however read a good portion of the Qur'an.The most extreme cases of Islam subjugating women are in several countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia who have instated Sharia Law, laws derived from the teachings of the Qur'an. In these countries women and girls are forced to cover their body and hair, sometimes even their faces. Men are allowed more than one wife, while women can only have one husband. According to the Qur'an Muslim men may hit their wives if they are acting disobedient. Overall, in Islam the expectations for men and women are very different, affording almost all of the power to the men. -DP
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