For eons, men have (because they still do) ruled the world and governed civilizations. Men in power shaped the narrative we know about our ancestors today. They manufactured our objective history without really throwing light upon the subjective intricacies, mindset, life, and the actual opinions of the people they ruled over. We hardly ever hear about women in our history books apart from their relations with men or their life in the domestic sphere. It’s almost as if women didn’t have a unique, complex identity of their own.
Even today, whilst there has been a growing awareness about women’s rights, men still continue to lead the world and — ironically — dictate women’s bodily rights.
Let me spill out some facts, the proportion of female CEOs in the Fortune 500 Companies is only 15%. Globally, India ranks 148th out of 193 countries in terms of the electoral representation of women in the parliament.
One Redditor asked women what would be the first law they’d make if they ruled the world, and their answers are why we need more women leaders today.
1. “People will be required to obtain the approval of psychologists before having children or animals.”
2. “Nobody is allowed to hoard wealth over 900,000,000 dollars. You get an award for the achievement and everything after that goes back to communities in need and good actually helpful charities in the home country.”
3. “Free menstrual products, free contraception, healthcare, education and equal access everywhere.”
4. “Free legal abortions, birth control and sex education for all!”
5. “I’d make it compulsory for schools to teach students stuff that one would actually need to apply in life. You know, things like self defence or how to pay your fucking taxes. Sure other stuff like trigonometry will be there too but one doesn’t NEED trigonometry in Day to day life as much as one absolutely fucking NEEDS TO KNOW HOW TO PAY TAXES AND PROTECT THEMSELVES.”
6. “Universal access to basic human rights. Housing. Food. Healthcare. Education. I’d also tax the fuck out of the wealthy.”
7. “Make gay marriage legal. Where I come from same sex relationships became legal in 2019 but gay marriage is still something we fight for. I can tell you it’s fucking hard to accept your own sexuality when there’s a law that tells you who you can or cannot love. Love isn’t a political statement. It’s a basic human emotion that no one can put a ban on.”
8. “No easy access to guns (law enforcement the exception) and universal basic income to get people off the streets. Get the weapons off the street and get people shelter and food.”
9. “My laws would be to protect the earth 🌏 because we are doing a really bad job at it and are resistant to the change required”
10. “Death penalty for people who rape or harassed or abused others.”
11. “Removal and destruction of all nuclear weapons and ban any form of dictatorship.”
12. “Each law to be implemented has to be reviewed and approved by an ethics committee of representatives of different age groups, different genders, different religions, different sexualities, and different socioeconomic backgrounds, before being implemented.”
13. “Redistribution of food so that no one starves anymore. We already produce enough food every year to feed the whole world and THEN some. Famine doesn’t need to exist, but it does.”
14. “Mental Health Support will be provided for all.”
15. “Mandatory education for all children in the world, with classes that actually teach you how to be a part of society. Things like taxes, mortgage, how to take care of a child, how to make a nutritional meal, how to change a tyre etc would be on the curriculum”
16. “Full owner and pet classes/training for 1/2 years for both experienced and non experienced “new” pet owners. This includes all types of pets, not JUST cats and dogs, EVERY pet. I just hate how cruel humans can be to pets, with and without realising.”
Look around you. Take notice, and you’ll find that in our self-acclaimed ‘progressive’ society, women are still struggling to get adequate representation in several spheres. Casual sexism is everywhere. Gender-based reservations, if not forthrightly, do operate very subtly. The fact is, the world needs more women leaders, especially when decisions are made on issues pertaining to them.
My women readers, if you were to rule the world, what would be the first law you’d make?
