REYNALDO PAREJA
We are witnessing today women being elected as presidents or prime ministers, women that have been awarded Nobel prizes, that perform exceedingly in sports winning Olympic medals, women that excel in art, that have defended the rights of the oppressed, that have gone to space, that are active in politics and are CEOs of businesses and corporations. Women today are found in the most di¬ cult jobs such as urgency paramedics, workers in heavy machinery factories, and in the construction of skyscrapers; they are in research laboratories or as members of toxic materials management teams. is was not the scenario 175 years ago. On the contrary, women since the cave times until the dawn of the twentieth century have been oppressed by the fact they were born as women. Social, cultural, economic, and political roles defined by men in those times obliged women to stay at home raising children, without being allowed to aspire to play a significant role in the development of the economic, civic and religious life of their communities. The explosion of women participating today in the social, political, and economic arenas of the advanced countries might give the impression that this was their situation in the past. Not true. is modern movement of women engaged in a tenacious struggle for equality with men has given them unquestionable victories, and a powerful consciousness of their role in the unfolding of a new and powerful history. Their victories, in many occasions, were acquired in open confrontation with men who did not want to accept they had inherent rights. It has been a slow process that has demanded extraordinary e ort from women all over the world. We are just beginning to witness the potential that women have, and we can foresee the brilliant future they are going to create for humanity. Appreciating, defending, and promoting this evolution is an invitation to participate with them in this extraordinary journey destined to be a magnificent stage of evolution for the benefit of all of humanity.
