Informative Speech about Women’s Rights (CU) PDF

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Informative Speech about Women’s Rights Introduction – 30sec Good morning class! For those of us in this room today, let's first start out by admitting that we're lucky. We don't live in the world our grandmothers lived in, where career choices for women were so limited. And if you're in this room today, most of us grew up in a society where we have basic civil rights, but, amazingly, we still live in a world where some women don't. Today I will inform you about women’s rights. I will be telling you: First, about the male-dominated world. Next, about the unfair gender gap in the workplace. Last, about the women’s movement. Body Main point 1 – the male-dominated business world - 2min Let’s begin with talking about the male-dominated world. (SLIDE) For a long time, this was the image of American manhood that dominated advertising and media — a tough, masculine man in control of his own environment. A few years ago, the Marlboro Man was retired and replaced by this (SLIDE) parody of American manhood, and that's what we have in our commercials today. I hate to break it to all of you but this is not 2017’s stereotypical man. As much as we all want to rid ourselves of these typical stereotypes, it’s hard to do that when it’s all that we’ve known for generation after generation. Even in 2017, some still perceive a woman’s role as being inside the home, raising children without equal significance, while the man is working. The fact is men dominate almost every industry from software engineering to teaching. Women must work ten-times as hard to compete in the workplace as they are told to act and think like a man. Women need to give firm handshakes, juggle topics such as male-dominated sports, talk cars and drink beer, and say “bro” a lot to be accepted in business settings. Think about it. The phrase "first-born son" is so deeply ingrained in our consciousness that this statistic alone shocked me. In American fertility clinics, 75% of couples request boys and not girls. Even more surprising, is in countries such as South Korea, India and China, there is no longer a strong preference to have a first-born son.

Main point 2 – the unfair gender gap in the workplace- 2min The problem with a male-dominated society is that women need to identify with male behavior and psychology in order to have a chance at making it to the top of any profession. Women’s success is unfortunately tied to how well they’re received by their male superiors. This leads to my second main point. There continues to be an unfair gender gap between men and women in upper and senior management in the workplace. More than 75% of CEOs include gender equality in their top ten priorities, but gender outcomes across the largest companies are remaining stagnant. The numbers tell the story quite clearly. (SLIDE) Of all the people in parliament in the world, 23% are women. That is an increase of only 11% in 21 years. The numbers have barely moved since 1997 and are going in the wrong direction. As a result, the higher you look in companies, the fewer women you see. In the corporate sector, women currently hold 27% of senior/executive jobs or board seats. And even in the non-profit world, a world we sometimes think of as being led by more women, women at the top: 30%. (SLIDE) This graph shows the gender pay gap in the US divided by ethnicity. The blue bars show women’s earnings compared to white men’s earnings in red. This graph shows that in every ethnical category the average earning for women isn’t more than 50-70% of what a white man earns. Main point 3 – the women’s movement - 2min A male-dominated world and the struggle for equal opportunity among women in the workplace have raised many ethical questions. But the difference is that, today a very passionate feminist movement is trying to project its own agenda. Let’s explore main point #3: the women’s movement. We are now going through an amazing and unique moment in history where the power dynamics between men and women are shifting very fast. The 200,000-year period in which men have been top dog is nearing its end with the support of equal rights for women around the globe. Their unified message can be heard loud and clear. (SLIDE) The Women’s March occurred on the 21st of January and the movement focused on rejecting the “systemic violence of an economic system that is rapidly leaving women behind.” On this day, there were calls for women to withhold labor, paid or unpaid, from the United States economy to show how important their contributions are. (SLIDE) The organizers of the Women’s March on Washington describe the march as a “women-led movement bringing together people of all genders, ages, races, cultures, political affiliations and backgrounds … to affirm our shared humanity and pronounce our bold message of resistance and self-determination.”

The strike organizers hoped to channel the anger on display at the women’s marches around the world into action on behalf of some of the country’s most economically vulnerable women. This strike is a way of connecting feminist and labor movements and educating new activists from the Women’s March about how they can make a change. Ultimately, the goal of the strike was to build a movement of women who stand for equal rights and earnings, and to promote women’s rights around the world. Conclusion – 30sec Now that you know: About the male-dominated world. The unfair gender gap in the workplace. And about the women’s movement. You can see that our society does not guarantee equal rights for women. Faced with these challenges women are committed to improve the economic, political and social conditions. Hundreds of thousands of women and men around the globe work against the male-dominated world, to embrace values like equality, inclusion, hard work and modesty. And most importantly, will work to defend them....