Responding to Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen stated that “A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society,” in 1878. His words still ring true in our present day, as there are still many ongoing cases of inequality within our world. We have definitely progressed as a society and there are improvements being made, however, we are not yet equal. For example, in the United States Congress House of Representatives, only 104 of the 535 members are women. Additionally, in the United States Senate, only 21 out of 100 members are women. The fact that women have entered the judicial system is a significant improvement, however, there are many more steps to take before it can be acknowledged as equality. Many judgments made regarding legal actions to be taken regarding women’s health are made by men. Ibsen stated in his quote that we live in an “exclusively masculine” society which is something that has changed from the 1800’s to our current time. In our present day, there are many women rising to fame and proving to be extremely motivational role-models for the younger generations. Some examples are Malala, Beyoncé, Hillary Clinton, Emma Watson e.t.c. The future is looking very promising as there seem to be many girls and young ladies that are inspired to take action for their own rights. Men are also being more open-minded and families are encouraging their children to break out of the stereotypical mould that society had once built for girls and women. Even within my family, my parents are extremely different from the older generations who previously saw more value in their sons than in their daughters. My relatives are all extremely supportive and believe that I can achieve great things. This is something that would have been highly unlikely to happen even fifty years ago. There are still many conservative societies that are yet to appreciate the talent and potential that every individual possesses. I personally believe that there is a lot to look forward to in our developing communities, and the issue of gender inequality will soon cease to be a massive problem.