Women in the Work Force

Up to modern times, legal and cultural practices, combined long-standing religious and educational traditions, restricted women's entry into and participation in the workforce. Women were also hampered by being economically dependent on men and limited by their poor socio-economic status. As occupations became more professional in the 19th and 20th centuries, women's lack of access to higher education effectively excluded them from well-paid and high status occupations.

The entry of women into professions like law and medicine was delayed in most countries because women were barred from universities and qualifying for degrees. For example, Cambridge University only fully validated degrees for women late in 1947, and even then only after much opposition and acrimonious debate. Such factors limited women to poorly paid and low status occupations for most of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, in the course of the 20th century, public perceptions of paid work shifted as the workforce increasingly moved into office jobs that did not require heavy labour and women increasingly acquired the higher education that led to better paid, longer term careers rather than lower-skilled, shorter-term jobs. (source: Wikipedia)

That’s why we, as women, can celebrate Worker’s Day knowing that 45% of the working population in South Africa is made up of women.

We are well known for our ability to multitask, to cope with diverse roles as a career woman, a homemaker, a wife, a mother, a militant for social causes and a friend.

Competition in the workplace and the burden of being the sole breadwinner for the family may force many of us to become tough. But we cannot allow the diversity of roles we fulfil in society to make us lose the essence of being feminine.

This is what sets us apart in human kind. We have a special touch, a special approach, the sweetness, the way given to us by God to deal with situations that not every man has.

So, why do we wish to deny this, to lose our femininity only to become more like men?

We don’t need to, believe me! God has made us perfect and He knew, from the beginning, all that we would be able to do. He created us after all.

Let us try not to lose our identity by becoming too competitive in every field.  Let us rather make use of all the tools given to us to make a difference as women, and moreover, as women of God who are strong, creative, loving, disciplined, trustworthy, hard working, sweet, honourable and above all, as valued as any rare and precious gem.

There is a quote that is one of my favourites: “You were born original, why  die a copy”?

Happy Worker’s Day!