The U.S and Namibia- Gender Equality

On our second unit in our MDGs & You class we focused on grasping a total understanding on gender equality and inequality for women all around the world. Whether the inequality is women getting an education, getting paid the same as men, or having an equal amount of representatives. I really enjoyed this unit because it really helped me see that the United States can be considered one of the most developed countries in the world and yet its gender equality can't compare to lower developed countries that have existed for a shorter amount of time.

"Rosie-the-Riveter" (SBT4NOW) October 2011

50.8% of the the United State’s population are women, and yet women take up only 19.3% of the House of Representatives and 20% of the Senate(catalyst.org). All genders should have equal rights all over the world whether its employment, education, or being in government. Women and girls all over the world are treated unfairly and don’t have the same resources and opportunities as other people because of their gender. The United States is one of the most “developed” countries in the world but doesn’t have nearly the same ratio of women to men in government compared to a country like Namibia. Namibia also focuses on completely equal opportunities for both genders that aren’t divided in anyway like education and equal pay. I plan to teach you about how different and alike Namibia and the U.S takes on the idea of gender equality in the ways of Employment pays, and Government positions.

Being a woman in a government position can really help people see the difference in the way the two genders live and help make a lot of decisions like fixing the gender pay gap really affect women and girl’s lives. As of 2015 the 535 members of Congress consists of 104 women and 431 men (Catalyst.org), which seems pretty little to make life changing decisions to be fair and strong compared to one side. Women need better positions and more room to make decisions that will change the country. There is a very clear pay gap between genders in the U.S, for every dollar that a man makes a woman makes 20 cents less (Kevin Miller). The pay gap happens for a lot of reasons, but they all mostly rely on the idea of a woman's work is less useful than a man’s, especially when it comes to age. The gender pay gap grows with age. Women earn about 90 percent of what men are paid until they are 35, after the age of 35 women are paid 76–81% of what men are paid (Kevin Miller). Most people can agree that the pay gap is a completely unfair way to pay different genders and a man and woman doing the same job should be paid the same amount.

Namibia is a very different country than the United States, from the non existing pay gap and the completely non gender related constitution. The large South African country is home to over 2.4 million people and 51.47% of the population is women (tradingeconomics.com). When Namibia became a country in 1990 a constitution was written and had no words related to any specific gender to sustain national equality. This constitution seems to be working so far considering In August 2001 there were 94 males for every 100 females in the government system (Brigitte Weidlich). That is a pretty close number, especially when it comes to comparing it with the United States. The equal amount of women to men in the Namibian government is quite equal, and is the perfect amount to get and effect decisions of both genders if one is experiencing more inequality than the other. Like the lack of education, which is one of the biggest issues facing the world today, Education is a right for all people in Namibia and isn’t separated in anyway.

The U.S and Namibia are two very alike countries, they both have complete equal opportunities for both genders, but still have major differences in many ways. The U.S and Namibia share the idea of equality between both genders but express it in very different ways. The U.S has a huge pay gap for women compared to men because apparently a woman’s work isn’t valued the same as a man for doing the same job. Namibia pays both genders the same amount without any extra pay for one job over another for doing the same job. The United States also needs to even out the amount of women to men in the government just like Namibia. The U.S’s congress has 535 members any yet only 104 of them are women. While Namibia has an amazing 94 males for every 100 males in the government (Brigitte Weidlich) . Women in the government can help be the voice and make sure there is more equality if there is more equality in the their own government.

The U.S is one of the most “developed” countries in the world and has been a country for 240 years and yet has less gender equality in the government than A 20 year old country in southern country of Namibia. The U.S has a lot to learn from Namibia, from the equal education to the equal better gender positions in the government and how important it is to maintain equality. Namibia doesn’t have much to learn the other way around in the terms of gender equality.

Works Cited
Aauw.org Accesed 10/17/16
http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/

Catalyst.org Accesed 10/17/16
http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-government

flickr.com Accesed 10/21/2016 https://www.flickr.com/photos/midgro22/6299926854

Genderindex.org Accesed 10/18/16
http://www.genderindex.org/country/namibia

Ipsnews.net Accesed 10/18/16 http://www.ipsnews.net/2010/12/politics-namibia-numbers-of-women-in-government-declining/

Iwpr.org Accesed 10/17/16
http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination

Theguardian.com Accesed 10/18/16
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/05/america-growing-educational-gender-gap

Tradingeconomics.com Accesed 10/18/16 http://www.tradingeconomics.com/namibia/population-female-percent-of-total-wb-data.html

Wikigender.com Accesed 10/18/16
http://www.wikigender.org/countries/sub-saharan-africa/gender-equality-in-namibia/