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Feminism involves a commitment to equality with the emphasis on gender. Throughout the world inequality persists but gender is not the only factor shaping people's life chances and opportunities.

The twentieth century witnessed a shift in mentality towards the issue of gender in the West. Women entered the labour market on a large scale and were given the vote; the 1960s saw the sexual revolution and the advent of the pill, empowering women by enabling them to exercise control over their own reproductive system. Gender inequality still pervades Western society most notably in the kinds of jobs that women have; often of lower status and lower paid than the jobs that men do. Even when women do the same jobs as men, women are often paid less, whilst women also bear the onus of looking after children. However, these issues seem rather slight compared to the issue of suffrage which had managed to galvanise support for the women's movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

As a result, feminism does not appear to be a driving force in helping women to obtain equality as much as it has done in the past. From the 1970s the recognition of other social determinants eroded the solidarity which had earlier provided momentum for the liberation' of women. Class and ethnicity came to be regarded as decisive factors in perpetuating an unfair, unequal society.

In the West, at least, feminism seems to be a rather outdated concept. People of the same class, race, and age tend to have much in common, regardless of gender. Gender is not the most influential factor in a person's life, and consequently it is harder for people to have a commitment to equality on the basis of gender. However, this may not be the case in the developing world and in Middle Eastern countries.

In such areas the divisions between men and women seem to be much starker. Women are denied full access to an education, often do not have equality before the law and are subject to an arbitrarily patriarchal system. These societies seem to have more of a requirement for feminism as women have fewer rights and gender issues seem to have more prominence, thus providing more opportunity for women to unite around a cause than in the West.

Overall, though, inequality still exists throughout the world and will continue to do so. Gender contributes to this inequality but it is not as significant a factor as a person's class, status, income, religion or race in determining their life chances. It would therefore prove extremely difficult for women to unite under the banner of a universal sisterhood when so many other issues continue to divide us.

Learn more about this author, Ollie Jonson.
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