GWANGSEOK LEE WMNST 001 Professor Wagner-Lawlor Decency, Rationality, and Practicality When I was in elementary school, I didnt

want go to college and wanted to be a firefighter. To be honest, I cant remember whether I even thought about college, and probably I didnt. When I was in middle school, I was fascinated by Hip-Hop culture and wanted to be a greatest rapper ever born. So, I was trying to produce some music with my friends. I had fun time and I still think that was one of the best times of my life. Soon after, I was in high school and somehow I wanted to be a financial analyst. Therefore, I was facing a standardized exam, such as the SAT; if I wanted to be a financial analyst, I was supposed to get college degree to prove myself being an expert in Finance. I didnt need college degree to be a fire fighter or a rapper, but I might need a masters degree in a finance major to be respected by society.

Our society is a tough place to live in. Endless competition, and day-to-day change in technologies are ones of the symbols of our society. In this environment, the survivors must have their power of voice to survive or prove the value of existence. Its pretty harsh and this trend has asked us to specialize in a specific area so that we would be competitive in the market and therefore, most of us decide to go to college. However, a college degree could not solve the problem for a specific group in our society: Women. Why are CEOs predominantly male? Why do fewer women get hired for some prestige jobs? And, why do men get paid more than women for same position? There are numerous questions to bring into our society and I found an organization that has been

thriving to strive womens equal rights in our society. International Federation of University Women (IFUW) is an international network linking women graduates from all cultures, all fields of study, all professions and all generation. To be heard, we need to speak; to speak, we need to study; to study, it is better to go to college. IFUW understood this point, and it tried to gather all women graduates from all countries to raise their voices and, ultimately, to be heard in our society.

IFUW was founded in 1919 after World War I by women graduates who believed in the importance of working together for peace, international understanding and friendship. At the beginning, Dean Virginia Gildersleeve of Barnard College (USA), Professor Caroline of the University of London and Rose Sidgwick of the University of Birmingham (England) launched the general idea of creating the organization. IFUW started its movement in Europe then speeded out to achieve its specific goals in the global society: Promoting lifelong education for women and girls; promoting human rights in international society irrespective of ones gender, age, and race; encouraging and

enabling women and girls to apply their knowledge and skills in leadership and decisionmaking in all forms of public and private life. The reason why this group is working effectively toward its goal is that its volunteers are all experts in their subject, therefore, they can practice their expertise in a wide-range of community projects, such as, literacy and vocational training program, free medical and legal clinics, programs to prevent domestic violence, campaigns to increase womens awareness of their rights and to promote womens participation in the political process, and leadership positions.

Furthermore, IFUW didnt stop its movement in personal levels but it reached out to other respected international institutions, such as the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nation, and etc. Especially, I was fascinated by IFUWs rigorous efforts made by IFUW and UN through out decades. IFUW has been speaking issues about women and employment at UN conferences; by attending a meeting, such as, UN conference, IFUW was not only recognized as a respected organization but also given a chance to raise issues of womens rights throughout the world. Moreover, IFUW inspired womens right activists to initiate their own movements, such as the foundation of the University Women of Asia (UWA) IN 1986, and other organizations in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, as well as new group from Zambia. By affiliating with United Nation and promoting others to initiate their own movement, IFUW has raised various sensitive issues globally, such as, equal pay rights, unpaid work, women and employment, and trafficking and exploitation of women and children, womens leadership.

There are hundreds of organizations that work for improving womens rights in our society. Since there are so many, they seem to be redundant, and not progressing. Even though I have taken Womens studies course in this semester, I still have some negative perspective towards feminist movements when I see some extreme feminist who implies the idea, we dont need men. Those extreme feminists attempt to devalue men instead of elevate womens status in our society. Their radical activism only causes the society to ignore and forget not only their irrational movements but also other good

feminism works to be forgotten. However, overall, I was very impressed by the efforts of the IFUW in past decades. Regardless of any topic, if a person wants to argue, then the person needs to prepare for the argument; a person needs to be educated and trained. In this sense, I believe IFUW made a smart move to raise the concerns for womens rights in our society. IFUW understood the importance of education, the power of voice of person who is reputed as an expert, then IFUW made a right move to approach to the sensitive issues that our society still has; IFUW was trying to suggest its ideas with rationality and practical solutions instead of raise their voices by keep crying about how women were treated in the history. I admit that there still are various issues of womens rights; however, I believe all the problems will be solved eventually as if we see more organizations like IFUW work toward their goals with rationality and decency.

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Reference

International Federation of University Women http://www.ifuw.org/