The Changing Role of Women

The Changing Role of Women
         Females from all over our country have struggled with women's rights since the beginning of human colonization and still have been struggling today. They never really got the recognition or the chance to express their true talents to the world. Unlike men, women and young girls had to encounter countless difficulties to fight for equality their whole lives and bring small or big changes to the world. The first European expeditions that came to Canada to explore and trade furs definitely did not include women. And back then, women were not even considered as “persons” and were treated with barely any rights and privileges than men. Canada’s history has been shaped by countless determined women who worked to promote and uphold gender equality in our nation. Without the changing roles of women that impacted Canada, they would not have had equal freedom and rights, authority and permission to vote, and rights according to labour. Women would still undergo the hardships and human rights issues in the independent nation of Canada.

         According to the BNA Act of 1867, as I’ve said before, women were not considered as “persons”. If the word “person” applied only to men, then the requirement that only “qualified persons” could be appointed to the Senate of Canada meant that only men could be appointed. Therefore, this means that women could not participate in politics or affairs of state. But later in 1927, five women, who became known as the Famous Five, launched a legal challenge that would mark a turning point for equality rights in Canada. Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Henrietta Muir Edwards were journalists, politicians, reformers and activists from Alberta. These five brave women firmly debated “the persons case” and that women should be taken into account since they are also persons. After five weeks of an argument with the Supreme Court, they decided that the word “person” does not include women. However, the Famous Five did not give up and was committed to accomplishing the case, and they finally did. With this milestone victory, the Famous Five not only won the right for women to serve in the Senate but also helped pave the way for women to participate equally in all aspects of life in Canada.

         In 1849, all women, regardless of race, religion, or property rights, were banned from voting in all elections. On January 28, 1916, Manitoba became the first province in Canada to extend the franchise to women voters. As a response to the issue of equality for women, Saskatchewan and Alberta followed on April 19; the gender of women was granted the right to vote and stand for election. The most common occupations for women were all menial homemaker type jobs - servants, dressmakers, seamstresses, etc. One of the first major steps toward equality between men and women in the workforce was the declaring of the Fair Employment Practices Act and the Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act in Ontario, in 1951. The Fair Employment Practices Act was directed to eliminate discrimination implementing fines and creating a complaints system. The Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act was aimed to provide women with equal pay for work of equal value. By 1960, the number of married women in the labour force had increased. Despite their numbers, the earnings of working women continued to be significantly lower than those of men: in 1961, women's wages dropped to 54% of men's. Then for the first time in 2009, there were more women in the labour market than men. Women have experienced a lot more than they deserved, but they still did not give up and stood up for injustice.

         During the Second World War, the role of women in Canadian society changed dramatically. Canada needed women to pitch in and support the war efforts from their homes, to work at jobs that were traditionally held by men. Women worked shoulder-to-shoulder with men in factories, on airfields and farms. They built parts for ships and aircraft and manufactured ammunition. They drove buses, taxis and streetcars. This level of female participation in the workplace was a first for Canada; thousands of Canadian women proving they had the skills, strength and ability to do the work that men did. Out of a total Canadian population of 11 million people, only about 600,000 Canadian women held permanent jobs when the war started. During the war, their numbers doubled to 1,200,000. At the peak of wartime employment in 1943 - 44, 439,000 women worked in the service sector, 373,000 in manufacturing and 4,000 in construction. Throughout the war, women extended their charitable work to the war effort. They knit socks, scarves and mitts and prepared parcels for Canadians overseas, gathered materials for scrap collection drives, and helped people displaced by the war by providing clothes and setting up refugee camps. To deal with wartime shortages, women became experts at doing more with less.

         Long before colonization, Aboriginal women had the voice in the decision-making process of their communities. The Iroquois and the Mohawk, for example, were a matrilineal society, where property rights, inheritance, voting rights, and even the arrangements of marriage were held and passed on through the elder women of the community. Women's groups fought hard to ensure that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Canadian Constitution of 1982 cherishes equality for both men and women, and it has been effective in striking down discriminatory laws. Still, 3 out of 4 women over the age of 65 who live alone live below the poverty level. One in 8 Canadian women were battered by the men they lived with and one in 3 females sexually molested before the age of 16. It took us more than a century to realize the fundamental issues of equity and justice for women and act according to it for the improvement of the lives of Canadians. The changing roles of women impacted the development of Canada as an independent country by introducing the rules of equality and justice to everyone; not just men, or not just women. Both men and women. Everyone deserves to be treated fairly in all aspects of life and women have brought forth many changes to Canada.

Disclaimer:
This essay draws on historical research regarding Canadian women's rights and labor history. Specific sources may not be directly cited, but the information is based on widely accepted historical facts.