WOMEN A woman (irregular plural: women) is a female human.

The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent. However, the term woman is also sometimes used to identify a female human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "Women's rights". Womanhood is the period in a female's life after she has transitioned from girlhood, at least physically, having passed the age of menarche. Many cultures have rites of passage to symbolize a woman's coming of age, such as confirmation in some branches of Christianity, bat mitzvah in Judaism, or even just the custom of a special celebration for a certain birthday (generally between 12 and 21). The word woman can be used generally, to mean any female human, or specifically, to mean an adult female human as contrasted with girl. The word girl originally meant "young person of either sex" in English; it was only around the beginning of the 16th century that it came to mean specifically a female child. Nowadays girl sometimes is used colloquially to refer to a young or unmarried woman. During the early 1970s feminists challenged such use, and use of the word to refer to a fully grown woman may cause offence. In particular, previously common terms such as office girl are no longer used In many prehistoric cultures, women assumed a particular cultural role. In hunter-gatherer societies, women were generally the gatherers of plant foods, small animal foods, fish, and learned to use dairy products, while men hunted meat from large animals. In more recent history, the gender roles of women have changed greatly. Traditionally, middleclass women were typically involved in domestic tasks emphasizing child care. For poorer women, especially working class women, this often remained an ideal, as economic necessity compelled them to seek employment outside the home. The occupations that were available to them were, however, lower in pay than those available to men. As changes in the labor market for women came about, availability of employment changed from only "dirty", long houred factory jobs to "cleaner", more respectable office jobs where more education was demanded, women's participation in the U.S. labor force rose from 6% in 1900 to 23% in 1923. These shifts in the labor force led to changes in the attitudes of women at work, allowing for the revolution which resulted in women becoming career and education oriented. Movements advocate equality of opportunity for both sexes and equal rights irrespective of gender. [specify] Through a combination of economic changes and the efforts of the feminist movement, in recent decades women in most societies now have access to careers beyond the traditional homemaker. Many observers, including feminist groups, maintain that women in industry and commerce face glass ceilings. WOMENS RIGHTS The term women's rights refers to freedoms and entitlements of women and girls of all ages. These rights may or may not be institutionalized, ignored or suppressed by law, local custom, and behavior in a particular society. These liberties are grouped together and differentiated from broader notions of human rights because they often differ from the freedoms inherently possessed by or recognized for men and boys, and because activists for this issue claim an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls. Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include, though are not limited to, the right: to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (suffrage); to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or

equal pay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military or be conscripted; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights. Women and their supporters have campaigned and in some places continue to campaign for the same rights as men. In the subsequent decades women's rights again became an important issue in the English speaking world. By the 1960s the movement was called "feminism" or "women's liberation." Reformers wanted the same pay as men, equal rights in law, and the freedom to plan their families or not have children at all. Their efforts were met with mixed results. In the last three decades of the 20th century, Western women knew a new freedom through birth control, which enabled women to plan their adult lives, often making way for both career and family. The movement had been started in the 1910s by US pioneering social reformer Margaret [39] Sanger and in the UK and internationally by Marie Stopes. Over the course of the 20th century women took on greater roles in society such as serving in government. In the United States some served as U.S. Senators and others as members of the U.S. Cabinet. Many women took advantage of opportunities in higher education. In the United States at the beginning of the 20th century less than 20% of all college degrees were earned by women. By the end of the century this figure had risen to about 50%. Progress was made in professional opportunities. Fields such as medicine, law, and science opened to include more women. At the beginning of the 20th century about 5% of the doctors in the United States were women. As of 2006, over 38% of all doctors in the United States were women, and today, women make almost 50% of the medical student population. While the numbers of women in these fields increased, many women still continued to hold clerical, factory, retail, or service jobs. For example, they worked as office assistants, on assembly lines, or as cooks. FEMINISM The term feminism can be used to describe a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at establishing more rights and legal protection for women. Feminism involves political and sociological theories and philosophies concerned with issues of gender difference, as well as a movement that advocates more gender-specific rights for women and campaigns for women's rights and interests. Although the terms "feminism" and "feminist" did not gain widespread use until the 1970s, they were already being used in the public parlance much earlier; for instance, Katherine Hepburn speaks of the "feminist movement" in the 1942 film Woman of the Year. According to Maggie Humm and Rebecca Walker, the history of feminism can be divided into three waves. The first feminist wave was in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the second was in the 1960s and 1970s, and the third extends from the 1990s to the present. Feminist theory emerged from these feminist movements. It is manifest in a variety of disciplines such as feminist geography, feminist history and feminist literary criticism. Feminism has altered predominant perspectives in a wide range of areas within Western society, ranging from culture to law. Feminist activists have campaigned for women's legal rights (rights of contract, property rights, voting rights); for women's right to bodily integrity and autonomy, for abortion rights, and for reproductive rights (including access to contraception and quality prenatal care); for protection of women and girls from domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape; for workplace rights, including maternity leave and equal pay; against misogyny; and against other forms of gender-specific discrimination against women.

During much of its history, most feminist movements and theories had leaders who were [15][16][17] predominantly middle-class white women from Western Europe and North America. However, at least since Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech to American feminists, women of other races have ] proposed alternative feminisms. This trend accelerated in the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement in the United States and the collapse of European colonialism in Africa, the Caribbean, parts of Latin America and Southeast Asia. Since that time, women in former European colonies and the Third World have proposed "Post-colonial" and "Third World" feminisms. Some Postcolonial Feminists, [18] such as Chandra Talpade Mohanty, are critical of Western feminism for being ethnocentric. Black feminists, such asAngela Davis and Alice Walker, share this view The feminist movement has effected change in Western society, including women's suffrage; greater access to education; more nearly equitable pay with men; the right to initiate divorce proceedings and "no fault" divorce; and the right of women to make individual decisions regarding pregnancy (including access to contraceptivesand abortion); as well as the right to own property From the 1960s on the women's liberation movement campaigned for women's rights, including the same pay as men, equal rights in law, and the freedom to plan their families. Their efforts were met with mixed result. Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include, though are not limited to: the right to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (universal suffrage); to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights. The United Nations Human Development Report 2004 estimated that when both paid employment and unpaid household tasks are accounted for, on average women work more than men. In rural areas of selected developing countries women performed an average of 20% more work than men, or an additional 102 minutes per day. In the OECD countries surveyed, on average women performed 5% more work than men, or 20 minutes per day. At the UN's Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Women's Association 21st International Conference in 2001 it was stated that "in the world as a whole, women comprise 51% of the population, do 66% of the work, receive 10% of the income and own less than one percent of the property" Five important dimensions of female empowerment and opportunity have been chosen for examination, based mainly on the findings of UNIFEM, concerning global patterns of inequality between men and women: 1. Economic participation 2. Economic opportunity 3. Political empowerment 4. Educational attainment 5. Health and well-being A Common Core: What Elements are Crucial to Womens Empowerment? An essential first step in CAREs field research into our impact on womens empowerment is to guide participants toward their own definition of an empowered woman. In all four countries where our first round of research was done, four elements were common to participants definitions. What elements form this crucial core? According to our respondents in India, Ecuador, Bangladesh and Yemen, an empowered woman has: Notions of self-worth and dignity (individual). Bodily integrity; freedom from coercive forces over a womans very body (individual and structure). Control and influence over household and public resources (structure and relations).

 Experience with or appreciation of the value of collective effort and solidarity among women (relations). Caution: Empowerment Work Carries Risks In our projects and our research, CARE strives at all times to benefit people and to do no harm. We consistently question how our work might place an individual at risk. This is nowhere more salient than in projects that implicitly or explicitly question the balance of power within a community or family, and particularly between men and women. Unintended consequences of empowerment work may fall into one of two categories: Backlash: Perhaps the most common consequences result from fear that empowerment is a zero-sum game; that for one person to gain, another must lose. In addition to the earlier India microfinance example, we have seen: Cases where emergency response prioritized women and children, whose needs were greatest, but left the women at greater risk of attack from men who would steal food and other aid items. Instances around the world in which women suffered abuse from husbands who feared that their participation in a project of any stripe would alter the status quo. A few cases in Niger where a womans growing financial status via participation in a savings group actually puts her at risk of seclusion within the home: Some families see this as a symbol of wealth. Gilding the Cage: Most people live within social structures so deeply normalized that they are seen as the natural way of things. An individual who benefits from some change in status or wealth may use that change not to alter structures, but to gain power within the very system that restricts her. For example: A woman in India may use increased income to purchase fetal screening and, per cultural preferences for sons over daughters, abort a female fetus. Discussions about female genital cutting may persuade a family not to drop the practice, but to perpetrate somewhat less severe forms on their daughters. In Bangladesh, a woman whose social status grows from improved financial security may use her new position to abuse the one socially-sanctioned power relation available to her: control over her daughter-in-law. PHILIPPINES The role of women in the Philippines is explained based on the context of Filipino culture, standards, and mindsets. The Philippines is described to be a nation of strong women, who directly and indirectly run the family unit, businesses, government agencies and haciendas. Although they generally define themselves in the milieu of a masculine dominated post-colonial Asian Catholic society, Filipino women live in a culture that is focused on the community, with the family as the main unit of society. It is in this framework of Philippine hierarchical structure, class differences, religious justifications, and living in a globally developing nation wherein Filipino women struggle for respect. Compared to other parts of Southeast Asia, women in Philippine society have always enjoyed a greater share of legal equality. Modern-day Philippine women play a decisive role in Filipino families. They handle the money, act as religious mentors, and could also arrange the marriages of sons and daughters, striving to improve the familys dynastic connections. The emergence of Corazon Aquino, Imelda Marcos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as political figures shows that Filipino society respects women, in spite of its male chauvinism, and in spite of women being often portrayed as surrogates of their husbands.

Urban setting In the metropolitan work realm, firms and businesses generally hire Filipino women for less pay and lower positions. Typically, a man is hired for the professional position and the women for the secretarial position, despite their having an equal level of education. The Filipina will not only receive smaller wages, but also additional secretarial functions. This servile mindset begins in childhood. In school, boys are often elected to organizational positions such as president and vice-president, while the girls are either members or holding treasurer positions. Young girls try to justify their worth through hard work and by being responsible pupils. Compared to Filipino men, Philippine women carry the obligation of continuing to support their family financially after their school years and marriage. The man, on the other hand, keeps his salary and holds no obligation to the family. However, current trends in Human Resources Management paved the way in equalizing this perceived notion of inequality. As can be seen by a lot of women holding high ranking positions in both big and small organizations. There are a lot of women holding managerial positions in banks, government and even in multinational companies. Rural And Clan Setting In rural areas, the Filipino woman belongs in the home. The children approach her for money and help. She is the family's treasurer. She supports the childrens educational needs. For non-family members who require support, the wife is the person to be approached. However, the wife is neither the person who makes the final decision or the person who hands out the money. In contrast, however, Juan Flavier, a physician, an authority on community development, and a former Philippine senator, described in his book Doctor to the Barrios, that "whether some (Filipino) men are willing to admit it or not"... "rural women in the Philippines wield consideratble authority," the housewife in particular. This is especially if the housewife, who is often referred to as the Reyna ng Tahanan (Queen of the Home), is convinced of the benefits that will be gained from a certain practice such as the concept of family planning in the barrios. Flavier also mentioned that "In the Philippine barrio, the one responsible for the home" and its management "is the wife... she holds the key to... household... development." Marriage and relationships In rural areas, it is rare for a Filipino female to stay single. Permanent or prolonged single status is not always possible. It is only recently in ethnic communities that men and women have arranged their own marriages. Traditionally, the tribal council of elders and the family of the boy arranged the matches. The woman's family had little say, and the woman herself had no say at all. For example, based on Subanen tribal tradition, men can take on more than one wife, and the women are treated as the property of men. This interpersonal process, however, is already undergoing change. In marriage, rural women, particularly those belonging to tribal communities, do not present their feelings to their husbands, particularly regarding love and sex. This is because traditionally the husband owns his wife and makes the decisions regarding her body. She can neither ask for nor deny her husbands wishes. Because of this cultural mindset, women in Philippine rural areas experience higher rates of domestic abuse than those from urban areas. Women have no control over the number of children they have. As a result, rural communities are confronted with the growing global reality of overpopulation. Socio-economically, there is not enough land or alternative means of living.

Culturally, divorce is viewed as negative and destructive in the Philippines, because of a tradition that stipulates and emphasizes that the family is the core social unit, especially for the Filipino wife. Divorce is not perceived as a solution to any matrimonial-related problem because it hinders the development or progress of the basic community unit. Therefore, husband and wife are obligated to fix problems within the boundaries of marriage. It should always be noted, though, that pre-colonial women in the Philippines enjoyed equal status with men. Prior to colonization, both men and women could get a divorce for the following reasons: failure to meet family obligations, childlessness, and infidelity. Children regardless of sex and properties were equally divided. Since a man needed to pay a dowry to the woman's family, she was required to give it back should she be found at fault. If the man was at fault, he then lost the right to get back his dowry. The pre-colonial society valued offspring regardless of sex. Female children were as valuable as male ones probably because of their economic implications, which was the family getting a dowry from suitors or prospective husbands and their capacity to help in the family's economic, social and political activities. Change, influences and interventions Although the Roman Catholic Church has changed its position on the role of women in marriage, the Filipina as a wife is still secondary to her husband. She is the servant and the "helper". In urban areas, single Filipinas have become liberal due to western influences. Although it is still culturally unacceptable for a single Filipino woman to ask a man on a date or to show interest in a man, Filipinas have learned to use body language to show their interest and openness to a relationship. In rural communities, Filipinas are still not allowed to be too liberal. They are required to stifle their personality and sexuality, and should show a total lack of interest in intimacy with men to maintain reputation and self-respect. Filipino women and work Traditionally, rural and tribal women do all the work. The scope of their functions include cooking, cleaning, teaching the children, washing clothes, repairs, budgeting, and managing the farm. After the husband has finished tilling the farmland, the wife does the planting, the daily maintenance, the carrying of water, and the harvesting. Normally, the husband helps in the harvesting, but the tribal woman has the responsibility to find food for the family. She also acts as the mediator between her children and her husband. She manages practically everything but she does not have control over finances or in decision-making. In general, Filipino women find pride in their work. They do not find themselves alienated from their chores because they work with, around, and for their families. This family-oriented mindset gives them a sense of dignity and responsibility. The family and the children are the primary priority in a Filipina's life.

Filipino women and Philippine politics Despite the introduction of an American-based school system and the transformation of Filipino women into educated and professional members of Philippine society, their participation in Philippine

politics was slow. This was primarily because engagement in politics is considered "dirty," and due to the traditional concept that holds that women cannot take positions higher than their husbands. But this idea introduced by colonization that Filipino women historically and traditionally belonged in the home, the church, or the convent, is also changing. A recent study revealed that there is a reemergence of the empowerment of Filipino women through the political process, just as they were prior to the arrival of the ancient conquerors from Spain. Philippine women are rediscovering their strengths "even if they are not [directly engaged] in the electoral process." Filipino women had been successful in implementing policies by becoming executive staff members, advisers to politicians, and as advocates within non-governmental organizations. Modern-day Filipinas are making strides in electoral politics by initiating more female-oriented programs. They are performing well as leaders, although generally, Filipino women still often earn political seats by having fathers and husbands who are politically connected, a "dynasty system" that hinders other Filipino women from joining the electoral process. Other factors that prevent fullengagement of other well-qualified Filipinas from the Philippine political scene are the expense in politics and the importance of the family name. Participation of Filipino women in Philippine politics was encouraged during the Beijing Declaration in 1995 at the United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women. In February 2005, however, a United Nations review on the progress of Philippine women and their role in politics revealed that despite "an increase in the quality of female politicians, there was not enough increase in" the number of women participants in government activities. From 1992 to 2001, Filipino women had been elected as local chief executives, functioning as mayors, governors, and captains of villages. One influential factor contributing to the increasing number of female politicians, is the elevation of Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Philippine women Presidents.