The Gender Gap: What the World Economic Forum got wrong | FACTUAL FEMINIST
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"Rwanda is beating the U.S. In Gender Equality" That is a headline from a recent news story in the Washington Post. Well, could it be true? Let's check the facts. Subscribe to AEI's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/AEIVideo... Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AEIonline Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AEI For more Information https://goo.gl/ChiQYD Third-party photos, graphics, and video clips in this video may have been cropped or reframed. Music in this video may have been recut from its original arrangement and timing. In the event this video uses Creative Commons assets: If not noted in the description, titles for Creative Commons assets used in this video can be found at the link provided after each asset. The use of third-party photos, graphics, video clips, and/or music in this video does not constitute an endorsement from the artists and producers licensing those materials. #feminism #feminist #politics #news #economy #economics #genderequality #equality © American Enterprise Institute Transcript: The Global Gender Gap Report is a yearly study sponsored by The World Economic Forum. This is a prestigious group that meets in Davos Switzerland each year. It attracts more than 2500 of the world's leading figures in business and politics—people like Bill Gates and German Chancellor Angela Merkel show up. So do celebrities: Bono, Mick Jagger, and Angelina Jolie. The purpose of the gathering is admirable: to brainstorm on ways to make the world a better place. One way the Forum hopes to improve the world is to highlight “role models” of gender equity around the world. Since 2006, the Forum has produced yearly reports ranking the world’s nations on gender—equality in key areas such as Economic opportunity, political empowerment, health and education. The just-released 2015 findings are typical of earlier reports. Rwanda, the Philippines and Nicaragua somehow get higher equity rankings than the US, Australia, Canada and Denmark. Journalists, with few exceptions, have been electrified by the Gender Gap Study. Many have praised it for showing just how backward we are in the United States. The Factual Feminist has concerns about the soundness of the gender gap study. The researchers are well-intentioned, but their study shows a lack of common sense. This is strictly a study of gaps between the sexes. If men and women in nation X are equally illiterate, disenfranchised, and just as likely to die at an early age—that all but guarantees a high ranking. No gender gap—no problem. But that isn't always true. Gaps favoring women are just fine. If women turn out to be better educated, more likely to vote, less vulnerable to violence or early death—those gaps can actually help a county in the rankings. Look at Russia. According to the Davos study, Russian women enjoy 11 more healthy years of life than men. That is bad news for Russian men—but great for Russia's standing in the studies “Healthy Life Expectancy” A Davos report that honestly showed the burdens and benefits of women and men around the world would be far more useful than this quirky, one-sided study. This 2004 chart from the World Health Organization shows men throughout the world at vastly higher risk for injury and violence. Gender gaps are complicated—but the World Economic Forum disguises that. It’s giving an over-simplified and distorted picture of what's really going on. There are other troubling features: the study does not distinguish between free societies and dictatorships, and it greatly rewards countries that use gender quotas in allocating political positions. Countries that combine dictatorships and gender quotas (Cuba, Rwanda, Burundi) are almost guaranteed “role model” status in the category of political empowerment. Again, that is misleading. Rwanda’s 2003 constitution establishes gender quotas for the lower parliament. Women now occupy 64% of the seats. But that same constitution gives the current president close to absolute power—including the right to dissolve the parliament. The human rights watchdog group, Freedom House, gives Rwanda’s failing grades where political rights are concerned. In Mozambique and Burundi, almost everyone (male and female) is in the full-time labor force. That improves their Davos ranking, but is it a sign of progress and opportunity—or even true equality? These countries are not bastions of gender equality—what they are is desperately poor and nearly everyone is forced to work—men women and often children too. In wealthy countries like the U.S. and Germany lot of mothers choose to work part time, or even leave the workforce when they have children. But that creates gaps that get penalized by the Davos metrics. The Gender Gap: What the World Economic Forum got wrong
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you are missing, that they want equality of result.
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I was lucky, I didn't even know what gender inequality was when I was younger. In the Philippines gender is basically low on the priority list. Filipino parents tend to give the most resources to the child who is most promising future, if they have limited resources. They don't really care much about gender, it only plays when it's about passing the family name (they try to at least have one son, and if they already have a son, they want to get a daughter; people generally want what they don't have); parents would go through everything to ensure all their children have decent lives. I was lucky enough to even ask ''why is there a women and children's desk ?'' in police stations etc. as a little kid I grew up that being treated equally (salary, leaves etc.) was the norm, that I didn't even know what gender inequality was; I only encountered the term when I was taught about it in school, I didn't really give it much thought cause I really wasn't affected; Mom was the boss at home, and my grandmother is pretty much the big boss of the clan. The phenomenon of battered husbands are as prevalent as battered wives, it can appear in any class, it's just the matter of the person, gender means nothing. A bad person is still a bad person. Children were raised to get what they wanted to have and what they wanted to achieve, gender was rarely a thought. Trying to stay out of poverty is more important to most, as well as aiming as high as one can. Class difference is more of a problem here than gender inequality. Our language is generally gender neutral, excluding loan words it also depends on the dialect. Those who carry on old colonial ideals in isolated communities and very traditional or by the book religious families may experience inequality, but even then, those children are generally treated much more equally, and tend to value modern views on gender, some parents may not accept it but they don't enforce it to a reluctant child. (And when I mean isolated communities, I am not pertaining to local tribes, pre-colonial philippines cares more about the family you were born into than your gender; warrior class, slave class, free class, ruling class; I did say that the Philippines has more of a class problem)You can reach opportunities made available to your class, mobility is a bit more lax but it requires effort to go to a higher class, especially if you belong to the poorest of the poor class. The world needs to minimize the damage done by 'bad' people, cause if you 'get rid' of them that is still 'bad'. What I would like to call as the state of being 'Bad' is generally due to circumstances, experiences etc. Hopefully minimizing the bad things minimize... I'll stop that thought as it would be a different topic altogether.
The reason why some countries outrank the other can possibly be rooted from the culture. Philippine history, shows signs of such equality among both sexes during pre-colonial times, although such rich trading history and culture cannot be studied as much because the 'Kastila' pretty much burned records or perished in time, writing systems were modified to fit the colonizers l angguage etc. Colonization brought, somewhat 'Victorian' gender roles, (Coudn't find a proper term, I'm getting lazy with how long this comment is 😴) and women maintained power through controlling the 'home' while men thrived on the outside (not sure if it was purely at face value, some men refer to their wives as 'commander' , sometimes as a joke or cause they rule the household.
I'm not expanding certain topics cause I'm not writing some article, and I teens like me still need sleep (I still find it funny that as a child most didn't appreciate sleep and as we grow older we actually learn to love it cause school pretty much explains it😂😂😂). I still have a lot of things to learn.
When I saw how my country ranked I wasn't surprised, if you asked me if it is really true then I'd say yes,, I was surprised at how other developed countries ranked, I was confused, then I read about wage inequality between gender and all I could really say was ''Seriously?''
Isn't it suppose to be the first one fixed when reaching gender equally etc. ???
Although it might be cultural? historical? norm differences?, I just can't get my mind around it.
Is the Philippines really deserving to be called one of the most gender equal countries? I say Yes.
Class mobility(upward)? Not so much, It really depends on certain factors.
Instead of thinking about filling gender quotas, think about giving both sexes more choice and ability to have such choices, the quota would eventually fill itself, if it doesn't then it's generally a choice by most not to.
Both sexes have a choice available by the families one is born in here, Upward mobility is probably much more of a concern here.
I won't check for spelling errors, wrong puncuation, etc. this comment was longer than what I wanted to say. Some points weren't expanded or even mentioned, this comment is too long as it is 😂😂😂😂😂.
Good luck with your advocasies, I wish everyone well.
Most would probably do skip reading, this comment is waaaaayyyyy tooooooo long 😂😂😂😂. -
did you notice that the difference in pay between men and woman for the same job in that report is just a perception? it was based on a survey, it even says so right next to the item.
I can't believe a survey is enough to determine true inequality... opinions can be truly wrong and far from reality. That forum is really misleading. -
I bet a US man wrote this for her, and she's just reading it : ). If y'all stopped working only 20hrs a week max and trying to quit asap by your only tactic, getting impregnated by the first man you meet on the job in hopes of collecting maternity leave and never coming back to work, then maybe there wouldn't be a gap!
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That's because US women don't know how to work hard, and women in Rwanda do know how to work hard. DUHHHHHHHHHHH
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do you publish your sources somewhere?
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So in eastern coutries such as Turkey the patriarchy oppresses women to become coders whereas in the free world they're free to become stay-at-home moms? Sounds plausible.
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I love the WEF reports because they compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges as Ms. Sommers is doing. Who cares about women's empowerment when you do not have a job, or can put food on the table? This report talks to those issues. She has misinterpreted the data from a slanted imperialistic USA approach and position. It covers more countries than the Pew reports. It has had an impact because even the Vatican is reading this report and we all know they need to know who women are!!!
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Solution for rabid feminists: If Rwanda is so 'equal' and wonderful, then move to Rwanda. Solved.
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In India certainly more women than men represented in local municipalities through gender quotas(50% reserved for women & rest 50% open for both men & women) is openly talked about as progress & women power.
Even public transport like local trains have reserved compartments just for women & the rest for both men & women. Despite the over crowdedness causing over 300-400 deaths by passengers falling off of running trains annually mostly all men the debate is always about increasing women's safety in local trains. Even CCTV cameras are discussed only for women's compartments where the issue often is about women being attacked by other women as men legally are prohibited from entering it no matter how much in a hurry you are or overcrowded the open compartments are with a police constable present to ensure no man gets in but is often helpless in case of women starting a fight with each other coz he's not allowed to touch women(male police aren't allowed to arrest women without the presence of female police who are under qualified recruited with lower standards & often unable to do their jobs making it difficult for male police to deal with female hooligans even in their presence) & the fact that men suffer those same problems on a much higher scale. It's worse with crime where police is legally required to take women's complaints seriously(even if the complaints are trivial or false) but no such requirement for men's complaints(no matter how serious the complaints may be). In complaints against men police are required to investigate assuming men are at fault & in case the complaints turn out to be false no action against the women is taken.
All of this is considered progress by feminists in India while many still demanding stricter & harsher methods claiming that's still not enough. -
Christina Hoff Sommers, your mind is like heaven and you are as hot as hell. Keep rocking this Kasbah.
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I found your videos through TL;DR/Teal Deer and I absolutely love them. Christina Hoff SOmmers, you're an exceptional women and I have the deepest respect for you.
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No, the researchers are not well intentioned. Otherwise, we understand each other.
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Thank you Christina! I always very much enjoy and learn from watching your Factual Feminist videos. Keep them coming!
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Is it possible that people don't talk about how much they make because of a stigma of talking about it? Could that mean some don't have a way to know if they're making less?
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To much American Pride in this Video
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Long-winded rant incoming!
I think one of the major reasons, going off of the information provided by the more thorough study about prosperity, as it applies to gender parity and self-actualization is rooted in the fact that BECAUSE the US and Canada are more prosperous, we're able to play more than survive, because of the fact that poorer nations are giving up on dreams for practical reasons... and I don't blame them. If I lived in a less-prosperous nation, I would still want to be an artist and a potential creative director, but in my case, I'd be forced to rely on my inherent strengths as a means to increase productivity, and I'd only be able to chase my dream as a means of stress relief, whereas in the United States, I'm able to kick back and put some time into my hobby/potential future job, and play around WHILE having a job.
Because I realize that being in a first-world country gives me privileges otherwise unattainable, and I remember the old proverb written by Sa'di (Persian poet ca. 1184-1291) "I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet", I can appreciate and be grateful for that privilege. I rarely use the descriptor "first-world country" out of respect for those in impoverished nations, as I find it insulting to their dignity to put a ranking on my own country over theirs, because I may spend a day without shoes, but some spend their entire life without feet. Every country has its strong points as to why it is great, according to each citizen. I greatly respect people who may hate their situation, but find a way to make the best of it, but I will never pity those who put in the work and strive for a better life.
Sa'di also goes on to say, in that same poem or proverb:
"A roast fowl is to the sight of a satiated man less valuable than a blade of fresh grass on the table, and to him who has no means nor power, a burnt turnip is a roasted fowl"
We in the states could learn from Sa'di and his revelation at the mosque of Kufah, I think. -
It always amazes me how feminists view cilhd-rearing as a sign of inequality
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You can't just say that just because the country is small and poor compared to the us changes the fact that women's right are more represented there than in the usa!!!! 64% of the parliament is made of women; how come that doesn't convince you? isn't this what feminist have been fighting for? to have equal opportunity in decision making? Shame that the great america couldn't grant that; while, a small country like Rwanda did it without its women having to struggle for that like USA women do. Rwanda may not be developed as the US, but at least women's right are strictly respected. Come to Rwanda and see it for yourself; otherwise, you will die without knowing how real equality between sexes feels like.
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Wow...i just discovered this channel. Its like i opened the window to my brain and let the fresh logic and facts blow in. Subscribed...better late than never. ^ ^
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