“You should marry the man the parents point to.” “A wife should obey her husband/brother/father.” “Dress modestly.” “In business negotiations, let men do the talking.” “A woman should not be a boss.” “A good wife thinks about family, not career.” Does that sound like a familiar set of unspoken rules? I think each of us has received such warnings from “well-wishers” and guardians of tradition at least once in our lives.
Is patriarchy strong in our society? Yes. Is it difficult for women in Uzbekistan to develop and take an active position in society? Yes. Are we alone in this? No.
No country in the world has yet achieved full gender parity (equal numbers of men and women in certain spheres). This is the data of the Global Gender Gap Index for 2023, which is calculated by the World Economic Forum. Iceland, Norway and Finland look the best in this respect. The worst off are the women of Algeria, Chad and our neighbour Afghanistan (Uzbekistan, unfortunately, is not included in the index).
It is clear that women from leading and outsider countries face disparate challenges, but there is one fundamental one: wage inequality. According to various global studies, the gap between the salaries of women and men working in the same positions ranges from 5 to 70 per cent.
Finding the causes of this phenomenon was the basis of Harvard professor Claudia Goldin’s work. Last year she won the Nobel Prize in Economics for ‘deepening the understanding of the role of women in the labour market’. Goldin’s research confirms that gender equality is still formalised.
Uzbekistan can be proud of its daughters: talented, intelligent and determined. But there are many factors hindering women’s professional development, and one of them is domestic duties. It is no secret that our women, as they call it, carry two shifts: at work and after it, raising children and doing housework.
Nevertheless, it has been proven that the involvement of women in the life of society ensures increased productivity and economic growth. Uzbekistan, at the highest levels of leadership, was aware of that fact and was endeavouring to change the situation. In recent years, the country has done much at the level of legislation and concrete steps to reduce gender inequality, as the heroines of our magazine detail. For these inspiring examples to multiply, women need the support of men: only an equal partnership leads to prosperity.
