Women’s Rights By Iris, B2at
The respect we have today is all thanks to the people who have fought for this until the constitutional amendment in 1917, this became the active universal suffrage for men but not yet for women. But women did get the right to stand as a candidate. In 1918, one year after this big change, Suze Groeneweg from the SDAP became the first woman to be in the ´Tweede Kamer´.
We all have experienced it as a girl, because "girls can't play soccer" or other sports. Or being chosen as the last one while making teams for PE. Or being told you're not strong and can't do anything. Or you are a boy yourself and you have said it. As a boy you probably also have heard when you had long hair in 6th grade or when you screamed it sounds like you are a girl or act like one. Is it a bad thing to be a girl then? No, and even though this is just an example, it goes way further than calling each other names; adults are the people who always tell you not to bully anyone but it were the adult men who said women could not vote. Most of the men think they are smart and can do everything but don't even know how to cook an egg or clean a part of a house because a few decades ago it was a women's job. And sometimes it still is. Does it even make sense? Men used to say that they made the money and you need to listen to that because they paid for the house.. Does it even make sense? Just because we have another gender does not mean we are less than others. Does it make sense? That women really needed to fight for their rights to give a vote like the others. A lot of women have protested and walked in parades to show what it meant to them.
In 1919, women also had the active universal suffrage and as you can see a lot has changed since then. But on the other hand, women get paid less in the same job for example being a teacher. A great example of a woman that’s fighting for women’s rights is Hillary Clinton, I think because she is running for president so she can be the first female president. Her husband, Bill Clinton, has already been president of the United States. Even though this is a big step to have a woman to be the president of the United States it doesn’t mean it will change everywhere. There is also a person who is a good example of why we are all the same is Thomas Neuwirth. Maybe you do not recognize this name but maybe you do recognize Conchita Wurst. This is the man who sang in a dress in front of thousands of people at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014. He talks about himself as a man but talks about Conchita as a women. He saw his performance as a promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. I would say he stood up for anyone without rights. It brought him international attention and established him as a gay icon, resulting in invitations to perform at various pride parades, the European Parliament and the United Nations Office in Vienna. Continued on Page 4…
SIXTH ISSUE
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