Canada Gender Roles

1731 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: what are the gender role definitions in canada

Politicians and elites have historically been drawn from dominant groups in societies, which have resulted to conventional all-male governments. Overtime, however, many countries have showed a shift in the belief that cabinets should closely resemble the populations that they represent (Borelli, 2002). This shift can be observed today in most cabinets worldwide, since majority includes at least one woman as a member (Escobar-Lemmon and Taylor-Robinson, 2009). Furthermore, in 2015, newly appointed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demonstrated that this shift in gender parity can, and could be, implemented to a remarkable extent: he named Canada’s first equal federal cabinet with 15 men and 15 women . When questioned about his untraditional choice, …show more content…

Most importantly, it is imperative to note that if a higher level of the government can implement and exemplify gender equity, then there should be no excuse for provincial cabinet, or any other areas of the government, not to follow accordingly. In addition, this problem can also be observed with Canada’s lack of female representation in the Parliament. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (2017) reports that compared to 193 countries, Canada only ranks 63rd in terms of the percentage of women who are Members of Parliament,occupying only 88 of the 335 seats. Moreover, it is only logical to have elected candidates who can constitute a more accurate representation of the demographic involved. Comprehensively, Statistics Canada (2016) reports that the country has a male population of 17,995.6 thousands and a female population of 18,290.8 thousands, providing a ratio in favor of women. It is, therefore, only justified for over half of the population to be represented appropriately, contingent upon possible critical decision-making of public policies that affects men and women differently. The Liberal party even recognizes this problem and includes gender equality and gender impact in their platform …show more content…

As proven, there is a positive correlation between the percentage of women in the provincial cabinet and the following: the proportion of women within the majority parties, the number of provincial party leaders who are women, and the tendency of having a woman as a first minister. Nonetheless, the correlation between the percentage of women in the provincial cabinet and the population or legislature size of the province is erratic and unreliable, considering the case of Yukon. It can also be discerned that having either the NDP or the Liberal party as the majority increases the probability of having a more significant percentage. Albeit, it is time for Canada to initiate progress in gender balance in every level of the government, considering the need for accurate representation, and women being more than qualified for the job. Although Canada ranked 2nd in the Social Progress Index (2016), to be ranked 63rd in terms of the percentage of women in the parliament, far below many developing countries, only proves that Canada still has issues that are needed to be addressed earnestly. It is only after then that people can sincerely, without any shred of hypocrisy, take pride of and truly celebrate this

Show More
Related

  • How Did Jennie Trout Contribute To Change In Canada

    1906 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Canada, women make up slightly more than half of the population. However, throughout Canadian history and modern day, women are needing to stand up for themselves and other women to bring about change. Canadian women are strong and have the power to work together and bring about change. Jennie Trout stood up for Canadian women that wanted to be in the medical field, women during WWI made a difference in their lives by entering the workplace and standing for their right to work, Nellie McClung was a leader for women’s suffrage, and The Famous Five campaigned and won The “Persons” Case allowing women to be considered persons under the Canadian Constitution. These women were instigators of change. Change for women only occurs when ambitious and courageous women stand up for a difference that they deserve.

    Read More

  • 20th Century Canada History Essay

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before World War I, equality for woman and men were very unfair. Woman weren’t even legally “persons”; they weren’t allowed to join parliament or the senate because they weren’t legally “persons”, therefore these jobs were occupied by men only. During World War I and World War II, many men had left for war, thus meaning there were many job openings that needed to be occupied as soon as possible, women then began to take on stereotypical male jobs which men thought women couldn’t do or couldn’t do as well. Women showed their capabilities and realized they shouldn’t be considered less than men. In retaliation of not being considered “persons”, women decided to take action. The famous five brought the persons case upon the supreme court of Canada in 1927, which was finally determined by Judicial Council of Britain's Privy Council in 1929. The “persons” case involved women not legally being “persons”. After the famous five won the case, women were legally considered “persons” then women began to join important jobs such as members of parliament and the senate. Along with becoming “persons”, women were beginning to get their right to vote in provinces slowly. In 1916, four provinces gave women the right to vote provincially and, finally, in 1940, the last province (Quebec) gave women the right to vote provincially. Later, in World War II, there was another change in

    Read More

  • Second-Wave Feminism and Labour in Canada

    2849 Words  | 6 Pages

    Canadian workplaces today seem to be a fairly diverse place, with a blend of many religions, ethnicities, and genders present. However, although people preach affirmative action and melting pots in current times, many inequality and power issues still abound. One strikingly noticeable example is gender discrimination. Women in the workforce face many challenges like smaller wages, harassment, male privilege in hiring or promotions, and lack of support when pregnant or raising children. One half of the planet is women, and it can be assumed the same for Canada, but they still face judgment at work because they lack the authority to dispute against big corporations or even their male supervisor. It cannot be argued that Canadian women’s status has worsened over the past hundred years, of course, thanks to feminism and activism. However, their status is not as high as it could be. Women as a group first started fighting for workplace equality during the second wave of feminism, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Legislation was approved during the second wave to try to bring gender equality to the workplace. Feminists both collided and collaborated with unions and employers to ensure women received fair treatment in an occupation. Quebec had the same issues, only the province approached the conflict differently than English Canada with its own unique viewpoint. It became clear that women were entering the workplace and did not plan on leaving. Second-wave feminism in Canada shifted power from the government and businesses to women in order to try to bring equality, although the discrimination never completely disappeared.

    Read More

  • Women, Power and Politics by Sylvia Bashevkin

    2287 Words  | 5 Pages

    The contentious little book titled Women, Power, Politics maintains politics to be devalued, acknowledging the fact that only few people do vote, and women are unable to achieve within the realm of Canadian politics. Sylvia Bashevkin, the author of the book argues that Canadians have a profound unease with women in positions of political authority, what she calls the "women plus power equals discomfort" equation. She evaluates a range of barriers faced by women who enter politics, including the media's biased role of representing the private lives of women in politics, and she wonders why citizens find politics is underrepresented in Canada compared to Belgium. In clear, accessible terms, Bashevkin explains her ideas on how to eliminate “low voters turn-out,” “devaluation of politics,” "gender schemas," and "media framing.” She outlines some compelling solutions to address the stalemate facing women in Canadian politics which are; contesting media portrayals, changing the rule of the game, improving legislative quotas, electoral reform, movement renewals, and so on. This response paper would addresses the reality of a political mainstream, actions which should be taken against the oppressive elements of reality, and the awareness it brings through economic, social, and political environment.

    Read More

  • Canada's Electoral System

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Proportional representation is almost always acknowledged as the fairest electoral system. With this in mind, many still reject a mixed member proportional system. Critics argue that the current method has produced a stable and effective government, while MMP would create an ineffective government. Wiseman feels that since Canada has been consistently stable, our electoral system does not need to be changed. Hiemstra and Jansen disagree with the plurality system that is currently in place for it does not produce fair representation and devalues citizen’s votes. Canadians must make a choice between the value of effectiveness and the values of justice and equity. Although a switch is not anticipated in the near future, Canadian citizens can hope that it is at least in the minds of many voters and on the discussion list of the government.

    Read More

  • The Prime Minister of Canada

    1908 Words  | 4 Pages

    Frist, federalism is the division of power between the provinces and the federal government (Cutler 2010, 3). As well, Federal systems tend to be made up of multiple parts, which do not necessarily work together (Brock 2008, 3). There has been an increase on the study of federalism in recent years, which has created a more in-depth look at how federalism impacts the government. (Farfard Rocher 2009, 294). There are two aspects of federalism and both of them put limitations on the influence of the prime minister. The first is called political asymmetry; this encompasses the various attitudes of the different provinces such as the culture, economic, social and political conditions and how it shapes the relationship between the provincial and federal governments (Brock 2008, 4). This can create a problem for the federal government because it means that they may ha...

    Read More

  • Women Rights in Canada

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Honey, you’re not a person, now get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich!” If a husband were to say these words to his wife today, he would likely receive a well-deserved smack to the face. It is not until recently that Canadian women have received their status as people and obtained equal rights as men. Women were excluded from an academic education and received a lesser pay than their male counter parts. With the many hardships women had to face, women were considered the “slave of slaves” (Women’s Rights). In the past century, women have fought for their rights, transitioning women from the point of being a piece of property to “holding twenty-five percent of senior positions in Canada” (More women in top senior positions: Report). The Married Women’s Property Act, World War I, The Person’s Case, and Canadian Human Rights Act have gained Canadian women their rights.

    Read More

  • Quebec Suffrage Movement

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    To conclude, the cultural and traditional suppression of Quebec denied the French-Canadian women their right to vote, until 1940. The brief summary of Canadian suffrage was to introduce the general opposition and the reasons for it, while the Quebec situation notes the family foundation of their cultural identity. The delay was due to the unwavering thinking of Quebec, until women created opportunities for themselves to become equal to men. The right to vote was a privilege they were not able to enjoy because of their gender. Hence, the tradition of separating the gender roles was the main argument to which Quebec saw a threat to their basis if women were to become more active.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Society

    2016 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls”: few of our cultural mythologies seem as natural as this one. But in this exploration of the gender signals that traditionally tell what a “boy” or “girl” is supposed to look and act like, Aaron Devor shows how these signals are not “natural” at all but instead are cultural constructs. While the classic cues of masculinity—aggressive posture, self-confidence, a tough appearance—and the traditional signs of femininity—gentleness, passivity, strong nurturing instincts—are often considered “normal,” Devor explains that they are by no means biological or psychological necessities. Indeed, he suggests, they can be richly mixed and varied, or to paraphrase the old Kinks song “Lola,” “Boys can be girls and girls can be boys.” Devor is dean of social sciences at the University of Victoria and author of Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality (1989), from which this selection is excerpted, and FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society (1997).

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Society

    379 Words  | 1 Pages

    Society places ideas concerning proper behaviors regarding gender roles. Over the years, I noticed that society's rules and expectations for men and women are very different. Men have standards and specific career goals that we must live up to according to how others judge.

    Read More

  • The Exclusion of Women's Rights

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, women, no matter what race or class they came from, have not always been given the right to participate in government. Through political attitudes and institutions, women’s rights were excluded. However, due to the fight women have put up against “old-fashioned” societal thinking, changes have been made from pre 1900 to post 1900 that have changed the way women are seen in a society.

    Read More

  • Gender Wage Inequality: A Historical Perspective

    1565 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, with regard to women and electoral politics, there was not a huge change accomplishments of women until the 1960s and onward (Anderson 1, 1996). Today there is a record number of women in congress, with 20 serving in the Senate and 82 serving in the House of Representatives, which is still below 25% of members of the government (CAWP 2014). Women are underrepresented and less likely to be involved with or run for local or national levels of government. A popular belief, while unproven, is that women are less likely to run because they are concerned about their family responsibility (Fang 2014). Women are less likely to seek government positions because women are less likely to be encouraged to seek government positions, and are therefore less likely to be seen as a candidate for an open government position. Despite this, a Gallup poll in 2014 showed that 63 percent of Americans say that the U.S. would be more well governed if there were more political leaders who are women. So while women need to be more involved in political affairs to reduce the wage gap, the barrier isn 't that women are not wanted in office, nor that they are too focused on their families, but instead that there is very little encouragment for women to enter the political arena at

    Read More

  • Gender Equity in the 21st Century

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ntries women are restricted in where they can and cannot work. Most commonly, they seem to be restricted from jobs in which physically taxing tasks are the norm. This is no doubt due to the stereotype that women are fragile and weak and must be protected (a stereotype that can hold true, but that is not always true). This also seems to be consistent across culture. However, despite the fact that these restrictions were enacted to protect women, they place heavy limitations on women’s opportunities. Furthermore, these are not the only injustices many women across the world face. However, the only way to fight these injustices is to increase women’s participation in politics, as discussed in the UN report from 2008. It is absolutely vital that women be able to actively participate in politics without letting gender discrimination and stereotypes get in the way.

    Read More

  • Bill C-16 Speech

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 2015 Canadian federal elections were quite historical; after 9 years, Stephen Harper’s Conservative party government was finally replaced by Justin Trudeau and the Liberal party of Canada. Many people were unhappy with Harper and were eager to welcome the liberal party in Parliament. A year later, however, it seems that with the rise of the LGBT community and the SJWs, the supposedly center positioned liberal party has radicalized into the left wing.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Gender Inequality In Pakistan

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pakistan is one of the most dangerous place on earth for gender equality, and Canada is one of the best for gender equality. What I have suggested is to take example of the best countries in gender equality, but my research have shown me that not even the residents of the country of Pakistan are not willing to improve their country by having equality between gender. But no country are perfect, Canada’s women earn on average 0.79$ to every 1$ earned by men which is 79% for every 1$. Canada also struggle in their time, from 1916 to 1989, women have worked their way up to obtain the right to vote and having a place among the men in the house of commons. Briefly, I hope that the society will open their eyes and not only worrying about themselves but trying to make a change for other people around the globe that are not having the same opportunities as we do, even if this person is on another

    Read More

More about Canada Gender Roles

Open Document