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Hannah Sheerin

Mrs. Davenport

English 9 Honors

18 March 2017

Ambition in Womens Rights and Gender Equality

One of my best friends, Finn, is gay and transgender. I like to think of him as an

ambitious person. It is difficult to say that you are different than how you were born and tell your

parents and friends about it and know that they would support you and to change your entire life.

The thing about his choice was that it was entirely his. He has the right to come out and be who

he is in public. After Finn started to act and dress more masculine, he struggled with being called

his old name or referred to with the wrong pronouns. Even family members would confuse them,

including Finns uncle who wasnt very supportive. He would purposely call Finn by the wrong

name or use the wrong pronouns. However, Finn just corrected his family members and moved

on. He didnt let anyone discourage him, and that is why I find him ambitious.

Ambition is positive, and only the person with it has the power to make it negative.

Ambition plays an important role in womens rights. It drives change for women around the

world. International Womens Day was on March 8th; many women participated in rallies for

equal rights. The fight for gender equality is continuing everywhere, even in the military. Women

in the military are brave, strong, and ambitious. However, they are not always treated with

respect. For example, a recent scandal in the army involved inappropriate pictures of female

soldiers posted on the internet by male soldiers. If these women were respected, the men

wouldnt have behaved this way. Women are sometimes treated unfairly, but more people are

standing up for them in order to make a change in their role in society. More women are being
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recruited for the military. As of 2011, women make up 14.5% of the active force, and they are

being allowed to fight in combat situations. Men and women are gradually becoming more equal

as a result of the aspiration in people willing to make a difference.

The ambition of women in the military relates to A Separate Peace in the idea that it

takes ambition to fight for what you support or believe in. The boys who enlisted in the military

fought for their country. Leper fought for his insanity. Finny fought for his beliefs. Women are

fighting for equality. Gender equality relates to Macbeth because of Lady Macbeth. During the

play, she states unsex me because she wanted to become more masculine in order to carry out

the murder. There is also an example of gender inequality in Shakespeares writing. When the

visitors to Macbeths castle found Duncan dead, Macduff told Lady Macbeth that the news was

not for a woman to hear. The irony here is that Lady Macbeth was not acting like a lady, at least

to their standards, when she convinced Macbeth to kill Duncan. However, she was portrayed as

weak and fragile because she was a woman; she was brought down instead of being encouraged.

Now, that was during Shakespeares time, but women are still being discouraged today. The UN

secretary general said that the only way to protect womens rights is by empowering them.

Gender equality has been expanding in countries around the world. According to the

World Economic Forum, Iceland currently has the lowest gap between genders and Yemen has

the highest. Scandinavian countries lead in gender equality worldwide. However, some countries

like Rwanda are a surprise to see in sixth place, based on their level of development. The World

Economic Forum bases these levels of equality from 0.0 to 1.0 based on a countrys wage

equality, life expectancy, and members in parliament for both genders. Now, what does all of this

have to do with what I think about ambition? Everyone has their has own view of ambition. A lot

of people believe that it is negative. I disagree. I believe that the positive and negative aspects of
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ambition are changed by the people themselves. For example, Macbeth had positive ambition to

become king. However, it became negative when he transformed into a greedy and selfish

person. Therefore, the attitude of the person altered the attitude of their ambition.

Ambition is a large aspect of the fight for womens rights. Without it, we would never

advance; women would have never attained the right to vote or the chance to make a difference.

Its a big part of who we are. By using our ambition positively, we are able to achieve our goals.

So I leave you with this: how will you choose to use your ambition?

Works Cited

Ekeanyanwu, Ogechi. Empowering Women Is the Only Way to Protect Their Rights, Says UN

Secretary-General. TheCable, 9 Mar. 2017, www.thecable.ng/beboldforchange-its-2017-yet-

womens-rights-are-being-eroded-further-says-antonio-gutterres. Accessed 20 Mar. 2017.

Haines, Gavin. Mapped: The Best (and Worst) Countries for Gender Equality. The Telegraph,

Telegraph Media Group, 3 Nov. 2016, www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/mapped-

the-best-and-worst-countries-for-gender-equality/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2017.

Knowles, John. A Separate Peace. New York, NY, Simon and Schuster, 2003.
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Mackintosh, Eliza. International Women's Day: Rallies for Equal Rights Take Place around World.

CNN, Cable News Network, 8 Mar. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/03/08/world/international-

womens-day-2017/index.html. Accessed 20 Mar. 2017.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Language of Literature. McDougal Littell.

Evanston, IL, 2002. pp 328-419.

Staff, CNN. By the Numbers: Women in the U.S. Military. CNN, Cable News Network, 24 Jan. 2013,

www.cnn.com/2013/01/24/us/military-women-glance/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2017.

Starr, Barbara, and Steve Almasy. Military Looking into Reports of More Nude Photo Groups. CNN,

Cable News Network, 10 Mar. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/03/10/us/military-nude-photos-

scandal/index.html. Accessed 20 Mar. 2017.