English Version | Riddle me this, riddle her that

In the context of Vogue and its mostly female audience, it may not be difficult to guess the answer, but most of those inquired are puzzled by the conundrum, because they cannot conceive of a chief of surgery who is not male. The right answer: the professional is the boy's mother. The solution is as obvious as it is (not) surprising how many people fail it, because it still seems like a utopia to have women in positions of power. And this is also due to the fact that women's entry into the job market - or rather the visibility of women in the job market - was a relatively recent achievement: it seems commonplace, having a career and a vagina, but we also know that inequalities in this field are common; being an emancipated woman in developed societies may seem commonplace, but we also know that it is usual to still having to bear with prejudices that have not followed this evolution. The path of achievements that women have already taken in the business world seems commonplace, as much as it is commonplace to continue to demand of them the same social role as it were 50 or 100 years ago. We have evolved (speaking here in a scenery of democratic and Western societies, knowing that the disparity is even more pronounced in authoritarian and deeply patriarchal communities), it's true - but how was this evolution made, and where is this emancipated woman heading? Forward or backwards? And what are we still missing? Because there is still some things missing.

It's important to note, first of all, that what is being addressed here is not the beginning of women in the job market, but rather their valorization and visibility as active population. “Women have always worked and this applies not only in Portugal but also in other countries, such as France. The historian Michelle Perrot, in the book entitled Le Chemin des femmes (Paris, Robert Laffont, 2019) emphasizes this idea”, begins by contextualizing Anne Cova, historian and researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ICS-ULisboa). “What happened is that women's work was not always valued, remunerated and accounted for in official statistics and we have to have a critical reading of these statistics. In this sense, we can talk about the invisibility of women because they were not counted, particularly in activities in rural areas”, the expert explains. “The year 2023 celebrates the 75th anniversary of the release of the book by Maria Lamas [writer, journalist, political activist, Portuguese feminist, 1893-1983], Mulheres do meu país (1948), which showed, through the journey she began in the 40s of the 20th century, in Portugal, that Portuguese women worked in all sectors of activity and peasant women occupied a prominent place, Portugal being, at the time, a rural country. Maria Lamas insisted on the hard work in the fields, but not only, and the hard work carried out by women is transversal in the women of my country through the different professions carried out by them in all sectors – from industry to mines – denouncing precariousness and lower wages than men. Maria Lamas asked for women to have the right to work in good conditions.” Sound familiar? The fight is an ancient one and, although some battles have been won, the war is far from making the female side victorious in this issue of parity, an issue that we will also discuss further. First, it's imperative to understand the time when invisibility stopped being interesting for society, a change that was not made in a linear or permanent way, but in peaks and valleys closely linked to other historical socioeconomic changes. Revolutions, such as the Industrial Revolution, wars and the creation and development of public education, as well as the fight for women's rights and even inflation and the consequent increase in the cost of living, created favorable conditions for women's role in the workforce to increase and to become not only necessary, but desirable. For example, many of the statistics related to the sexual revolution are also a reflection of the industrial revolution, whose emergence of an industry that enabled the mechanization of agricultural processes forced women out of agriculture - a job they performed, although unaccounted for by society of the time - for other jobs that also emerged with the advent of this revolution of the 19th century and with the expansion of the service sector. At first, this “official entry” into the job market was made in a non-threatening way, for lack of a better word, for service jobs that were not physically demanding (those, more reserved for men's virility), as well as hierarchically less preponderant, such as teachers, nurses, seamstresses... professions with a job description very close to their role as caregivers, well-rooted in society at the time. In fact, opportunities arose, but they were scarce and poorly paid (with significantly lower salaries than their counterparts men), and their value as an element of the community remained undermined: throughout the 19th century, the majority of middle and upper class women did not work with a salary and those who did, were expected to stop when they married. Furthermore, access to certain professions, such as lawyers and doctors, remained closed to women for several decades. In fact, in 1913, just a bit over 100 years ago, in the United Kingdom, the Law Society refused four women from taking the Bar exams, and the female quartet then took the case, Bebb v The Law Society, to court. The legal decision remained in favor of the Law Society and it was established that women were not considered “persons” within the relevance of the Solicitors Act of 1843 (part of a larger process of regulating the legal professional field). It was only in 1919 that this clause was revoked, in the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act, allowing women access to this profession.

Little by little, women also began to conquer more physically demanding occupations, reserved for the “stronger sex”, a feat greatly enhanced by the explosion of war(s), a reality well mirrored in the poster that resides in the collective imagination of women as a workforce: the 1943 poster that shows the character Rosie the Riveter with her arm flexed under the slogan We can do it was originally conceived as an advertisement, by J. Howard Miller, for the electric power company Westinghouse to promote the morale of its workers, during the effort that World War II required, and the illustrated character became iconic, as a representative of the workers involved in that effort. The fact is that the recruitment of many men for battle, both in World War I and II, left a gap in industrial jobs that led to women beginning to fill them, an argument that was not unique, nor even the first, in a set of conditions that facilitated this recognition of the professional role of the female population. This conquering of heavy jobs did not translate into an unshakable or even linear change: the truth is that the fight for the right to employment had advances and setbacks. “Wars in general with the participation of men at the front in combat meant that women at the rear replaced them and carried out all types of work. However, after wars, there are generally periods of decline for women who are ‘called to return home’”, explains Cova. “For this reason, chronology is always essential to analyze changes and see whether they lasted or not”, highlights the historian. This does not necessarily mean a total regression, since on several fronts, whether due to the social context or the will of those who acted, this opposition to a dated social norm regarding the female role was emerging. Complex social movements contributed to this multitude of victories, such as the feminist movement, legislation for equal opportunities, the expansion of the service sector as well as knowledge, the increase in the cost of living and an increase in access to education became the perfect cocktail. for the rights - including voting rights - that have been acquired to date.

“As far as feminists are concerned, the demand for work for women was a constant for the majority, aware that it was important for their financial independence. Feminist movements emerged in several countries at the end of the 19th century - as movements, because there were always isolated acts of feminism (for example, in France, Olympe de Gouges wrote a Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens, 1791). In Portugal, the CNMP [National Council of Portuguese Women], which brought together more than twenty women's associations, was founded in 1914, in Lisbon, before the outbreak of the First World War. Feminists hoped, thanks to the commitment of women in the most varied professions during the conflict, to obtain rights after the end of the war, namely the right to vote (but this would not happen in Portugal)”, explains the historian and author of Comparative History of Women (2008) and Women and Associations in Portugal, 1914-1974 (2023). These obstacles did not deter women's journey towards professionalization, with many other factors driving female advancement in the workforce in general, even when the end of the war heralded a return to the usual conventions of each gender's social role. These feminist movements that emerged more vehemently at the beginning of the 20th century and which battled more or less violently for women's rights were one of its drivers, alongside the implementation of mass public education. “Women’s education was one of the great demands of the Portuguese feminist movement whose first and second congresses were organized in Lisbon, in 1924 and 1928, by the National Council of Portuguese Women – Maria Lamas was president of the CNMP between 1945 and 1947, when she was shut down by Estado Novo –  they were called: feminist and educational”, says Cova. “First wave feminists were aware of the importance of educating women so that they could have paid work. It is worth remembering that the illiteracy rate was very high in Portugal at the beginning of the 20th century and even higher for women than for men: in 1900, more than 80% of women were illiterate and this percentage was around 65% for men. men. These percentages decrease over the decades, but remain high (…) Currently (2021 general population census), 2.1% of men and 4% of women are illiterate. Therefore, there continues to be a gap between men and women to their detriment. In Portugal, today, the employment rate (2022) is 52.6% for women and 60.9% for men, which also illustrates an asymmetry”, says the researcher. “In terms of academic training, if we look at the general population censuses available at the National Institute of Statistics, we see that in the second half of the 20th century, there was, in 1960, a date on which 'the employed population was for the first time characterized according to the degree of instruction' a gap between the sexes with regard to the number of men and women in higher education, that is, there were fewer women than men. This gap persisted even after April 25th, 1974, but the situation progressively changed and there was an increase in the education of Portuguese women, especially in higher education. Nowadays, there are more women than men who complete university and polytechnic education: in 2021, 54,910 women compared to 38,439 men (pordata.pt). Therefore, in the job market today we find more female graduates than male graduates. Of course, it is always worth taking into account the differences that exist between urban and rural centers and in different regions, but this large presence of women graduates has repercussions on the job market in terms of the qualification of female human resources”.

Even so, in the labor market itself, fundamental discrepancies remain, even after centuries of exploring and conquering ground, namely that of salary disparity: “An important idea that we must always keep in mind is that the labor market does not it is neutral, that is, there are asymmetries between women and men”, highlights Anne Cova. “Within these asymmetries, one is related to the lower salaries that women earn compared to men. This pay gap between men and women still exists today and varies depending on the sectors of activity, but is around 20%. Within the great changes that took place in Portugal in the second half of the century. In the 20s, in the sixties, men participated in the colonial war and emigrated. Consequently, the presence of women in the job market increased and there were fewer and fewer women who only worked at home”. In fact, across the globe, female participation in the economy continued to increase throughout the 20th century and mainly in the last 70 years, with a focus on the increase in the number of married women and the emergence of real changes in the workplace, with women increasingly occupying positions of power and considered masculine. The visibility of female employment was gradual and carried out hand in hand with other social changes, promoting the expansion of women as an added value for the workforce, since these historical milestones also made the dated convention of a woman consigned to the home evolve, by creating the need for - and the possibility of - a female workforce outside of it. But these paycheck differences took longer to surpass, in part because market needs were quicker to precipitate the filling of this gap than to bring about a change in mentality. When some acceptance of women in the job market began to happen, the prevailing belief was that men (still) had to receive more because they were the breadwinners of the family, at the same time it was assumed that single women did not need to earn a lot, because they only had to support themselves, while married women, since they had another source of family income through their husband, also did not need a salary at the same level as that of a man in the same position in an office. Perhaps here lies the main trigger for this differentiation to continue today - we are victims of outdated cultural norms, but still in force, even if residual or disguised: “Yes, there are still gender inequalities in the job market”, confirms Anne Cova. “It is necessary to fight back stereotypes, such as the idea that men are the main source of family income and that women's salaries are just a supplement. Prejudices mean that women are associated with care and men with providing for their families.” But not only that: studies point out that organizational managers tend to promote someone similar within their 'organizational culture', 'one of their own', and as the majority of managers are men, they tend to assume that other men are more suitable to perpetuate the job description. On the other hand, women's slower career progression compared to men is also linked to cognitive issues: there is research that shows that women tend to evaluate themselves more harshly than men, which generates the assumption that the male goals are often better achieved than female's.

It's not only here that we self-sabotage: many times, prejudices are fed, unconsciously, by the woman herself, by being complicit in a social role that was attributed to her centuries ago and which, although outdated, seems to be maintained by the social pressure of continue to respond to the role of yesteryear and its modern narrative. This “entry” into the job market was made, on the one hand, at the expense (but also as an accumulation) of family life: “with the entry of women into the workplace, family life was the one that suffered the most impact, and it continues to suffer”, points out Joana Canha, clinical psychologist. “Currently, this impact is not so much due to the fact that women work, but rather to the working hours required, little flexibility with unforeseen family circumstances, respect and care for personal and family time and the constant and growing pressure to reconcile a world with the other. Women continue to be required to be able to juggle more roles, more demands and be present in a variety of situations. However, more flexible structures are not created to enable more harmonious articulation between both sides. We see the need to rethink how we work in Portugal, promoting greater equality in roles and responsibilities (personal and professional) for both women and men. Managing family life should be a partnership, thus allowing time and space for individuality. The increase in working time is proportional to the increase in the time that children are at school or ATLs and, consequently, families have much less quality time together, essential for development and emotional balance; They all live together, but sometimes they don't know each other. It’s not because of lack of interest, but because of the enormous pressure, speed and tiredness with which we live today.” Which is curious, because along with this professionalization of women, maternity protection policies also emerged to allow women to reconcile, in the most comfortable way and without harm to their family life, the two roles.

But what changes in politics does not always change in mentalities: the embryonic legislation on paternity leaves, defended by the International Labor Organization Maternity Protection Convention, of 1919, and gradually implemented throughout Europe in the following decades, had as its main purpose the protection of maternal health at the time of the birth and development of the child, emphasizing, in a certain way, the traditional role of women as wife and mother in a patriarchal society. Of course, the decades have dispelled this emphasis, placing leave for fathers on an equal footing, and relieving the mother's role - at the beginning of the century. XXI, most high-wage countries (the Nordics were pioneers in this matter) had put in place a list of parental leave policies and family benefits with the dual objective of promoting gender equality as well as benefiting child development. . The advance is not, however, global, nor even transversal to all Western societies; Stereotypes persist, even if not explicitly, implicitly - for example, absence due to leave issues and other social prejudices mean that many employers continue to neglect hiring women. And, even for women, it remains a psychological battle to aim for everything: career and motherhood/family. “The deterioration of mental health in general is indisputable”, begins by highlighting the psychologist. “The fast pace of life, the demands of work and the enormous difficulty of reconciling private and professional life are major factors in mental health being ‘in crisis’. The pressure of responding to both family/home and work, without neglecting one or the other, poses a risk to emotional stability. This juggling act is often done at the expense of a few hours of sleep (essential for good psychological and physical functioning) and few or no hours of enjoyment and relaxation (also essential for increasing creativity, productivity and well-being). Women, as a general rule, have higher levels of anxiety and pressure in reconciling the various roles they have (worker, mother, caregiver) and often feel obliged to hide the emotional impact of this management, otherwise they risk becoming victims of prejudice against know how to manage or be 'complicated'”, highlights Joana Canha. Anne Cova also states that “Portuguese women in general have fewer and fewer children: the fertility rate is currently less than two children (1.23) and this figure can be related to several reasons such as the difficulties in reconciling work outside and inside from home, but not only; It also has to do with many other variables, such as, for example, the aspirations of women who want to have a profession and progress in their professional career. (…) However, women who are mothers continue to face difficulties today in reconciling work with motherhood despite important legislative advances, particularly after the 25th of April. Thus, inequalities persist and we are still far from the desirable parity. Laws are fundamental, but they must be well applied, which is not always the case. For example, if today it is illegal to penalize women who require maternity leave, in reality in terms of career progression this could harm them. Feminists of the past and today call for good application of those laws that are progressive and are vigilant in relation to setbacks that may always arise. No right is acquired forever - we saw what happened with abortion legislation in the USA where since June 24, 2022 the right to abortion has ceased to be constitutional after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade case that guaranteed it. Still, feminist activists demonstrated on January 22, 2023 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roe v Wade.”

Riddle me this, riddle her that? It's a riddle why women are in a constant fight, though not sequential and, probably, with no end in sight: as long as there are remnants of stereotypes and social prejudices from other times that persist in a systemic way, this is a war that has many battles won but continues with much terrain ahead to explore, as well as a lot of conquered ground to protect and safeguard. “Changing mentalities is a slow process. Laws are fundamental but they are not always well applied and there may also be gaps and setbacks. To change mentalities, there is a long way to go, which involves combating gender stereotypes”, assures Anne Cova. To achieve this, the contribution of society as a whole, in general, and women in particular, is needed. “The fight against gender inequality would greatly benefit if women were able to be more united, if they were more tolerant and less critical of themselves and especially of each other”, says Joana Canha. “The creation and experience of a system of support and unity among women, where they would be more empathetic and supportive of each other, would (greatly) boost their empowerment. This would make it less difficult to combat gender inequality in the labor market. To this end, it is urgent to normalize and support mental health care, give space to enjoy free time, respect workers' time (not everything being urgent and/or not normalizing overtime) and create policies to protect life balance familiar with the professional”. And is there hope for that to happen? The clinical psychologist believes so: “when we look at the journey made since the time women started working outside the home until today, it is indisputable that achievements have been made (even if they are insufficient). We need to believe that this is a path that can and should continue to be followed in order to (at least) reduce prejudice and eventually (very eventually) put an end to it. To do this, it is necessary to change the way we see women in the world of work and to do this it will be necessary to educate for change. It is not (nor will it be) a simple path without obstacles, but we need to believe that it is possible. We owe this to the women who started this journey and to future generations”, concludes Joana Canha. The psychologist and the investigative researcher would certainly get the opening riddle right.

*Originally translated from The Coming Back Issue, published September 2023. Full credits and stories in the print issue.