“A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view.” – Henrik Ibsen

To what extent are Ibsen’s words still true today?

A lot has changed since the early days regarding women’s rights. However, in certain countries especially in developed countries, there are still issues that have to do with women’s rights. In the modern world, women are viewed more as strong and independent, however, during Ibsen’s time, women couldn’t stand up for themselves. In Nepal, women are very dependent and they won’t do anything that is outside of their norms. Women will still not go to school whereas man is allowed to go wherever they want whenever they want to. When women are on their periods, they’re too afraid to go to school because it’s considered “impure.” Their parents and their families are forcing them to practice this tradition so they can’t stand up for themselves. Women’s right is also an issue in Saudi Arabia. Women can’t travel anywhere unless they have permission from a man. They have 56% pay gap between women and men.

There are still countries where women tend to be looked up more than other countries. An example would be in Canada, women have an equal vote as men. Women and men have equal rights to education as well. Abortion is legal in some countries such as Singapore and China, however, it is also legal in some countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Ibsen’s words can still be considered true for some countries: “A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day…” This can relate to what’s been going on in Nepal with women’s menstrual cycle. His words still describe the issues that pop up once in a while, however, they are improving day by day.