Third World countries

Third World countries are most often defined by political, economical or social differences. Countries that are poorer than some thresholds are considered to be Third World countries. The Third World is made up of countries often characterized by poverty, high birthrates, and dependence on more advanced countries. Women in third world countries are viewed as something that is less than a man-not deserving the same kind of treatment. In the past century the role of women in the world has been established and for women living in a Third World country it is almost impossible to break through and to change that role. While equality between men and women is a matter for society at large, it begins in the roots of the family. The upbringing of a family greatly affects the children in their future life. By growing up in a family that treats women unequally, one is more than likely to continue that trend later on in life. Even though discrimination begins at home with the under-valuing of domestic duties because they do not directly generate income. Yet when women do actually get a regular job, they are being mistreated and underpaid.

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In the past century the role of women has been established. Today women are treated differently than men in almost every aspect of life. In sports, women are told that their lack of athletic training puts them at a real disadvantage in competitions and teamwork. This follows from the fact that women must constantly stay home and look after the family and the household. Women are considered as the weaker sex and are given easier jobs than men (Enloe 13). Their social status and decision making is also a lot lower than of the men in their family and their opinion is almost never considered. Women are expected to stay home to cook, clean and look after the children (Amott 119). An average family in a Third World country has a lot of children. Partly from the lack of education about contraception and partly because of the need for the children to work and bring money and food into the household and to be able to look after their parents at an older age (Aburdene 176).

Equality between men and women is a matter for society at large, but it begins at the roots of the family. One can see discrimination against women by looking at the most general functions of a family. A woman in a country like Mexico has to first feed all the men in the house and only then she can sit down at the table herself (Aburdene 176). In a country like Afghanistan, women are not allowed to learn how to read and write because it takes them away from the household duties and men are afraid that knowledge of literacy would attract women to other aspects of life (Aburdene 176). As well as not being allowed to learn anything for themselves, in some countries women are prohibited to look after themselves because their husbands believe that they should not look good for anyone else and since their husbands love them already, they should not look good for anyone at all. Some countries go a step further by making women cover themselves leaving only the eyes uncovered (Silver 16).

Employers have long tried to separate men and women in the economic field. Women in the work place get paid lower wages and have a higher chance of getting laid off. The main reason women are being laid off is because when a woman and a man enter a factory at the same time, the man will be trained and the woman will not (Davidson 7). When the employers have to lay off workers, of course the unskilled workers go first and the unskilled ones usually happen to be the women. Therefore more women workers are joining the ranks of unemployed and some are turning to prostitution (Silver 17). Their opportunity for advancement and occupation of leadership positions is also much lower. An average employer would rather higher a man to do a job that a woman can do equally well or even better. That is why a growing number of women are forced to look for poorly paid informal work to survive Up to this day there are more men than women in the government or any other high position (Davidson 7). Women in third world countries have a very hard time establishing themselves in politics and the road to presidency is almost impossible.

Third World woman are highly underpaid, under-appreciated and mistreated. Their status in their households and society is practically nonexistent. They are viewed as someone who are not worthy of an opinion, education or even a right for a real job and income. From early age, they are raised to believe that they have no other purpose than to serve the men and look after the family. As hard as it is for women to live this way, it is even harder to do anything about it. Their way of living is so well defined, a breakthrough in a society is practically impossible. Hence they remain the lower part of a population that by most charts cannot get any lower.