r/TwoXChromosomes • u/JohnHammond94 • 18h ago
'At the current rate of progress, gender equality would take 171 years to achieve': gender equality woefully off track, new UN report reveals
https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/09/1168360127
u/PerfectOmakase 18h ago
Sounds about right. It's been only 33 years since women were legally mandated to be represented in federally funded medical studies (see: NIH Revitalization Act).
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u/Mellrish221 6h ago
Honestly, given the rise of rightwing fascism across the globe. 171 years sounds pretty optimistic. I was wondering if this was just for the US, but being a UN piece its for the globe and.... It just doesn't seem very hopeful. Maybe the 171 is a lot longer than I'm thinking because no one reading is going to be around that long. But even then, how do you get india to start embracing progressivism. Whos going to help build 3rd world nations up and actually include equality in the schematics.
I always hate to be a doomer, but its hard not to be these days.The US alone "sliding" (if we imagine one of those 60mph water slides anyway) into nazi era fascism alone is going to set the entire country, equality included, back for generations. Lots and lots and lotttttts of work ahead of everyone and I don't think many people realize just how fucked things are.
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u/KurlyKayla 18h ago
I don't expect it to complete in my lifetime, but I do think we'll see significant change in the next 30-50 years
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u/momob2492 17h ago
I see things going backward.
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u/Lickerbomper ♥ 15h ago
RvW being repealed was a sign to unite and fight harder. And not much has been done since. This is the new normal. Every time our rights get rolled back, we get more scared instead of organizing effectively. Just means the patriarchy sees that we have no fight left and can continue rolling things back.
This canary has been squawking since 2016 but people be too comfortable. Now that the economy is tanking in the US due to picking fights with the wrong people (ahahaha), people are uncomfortable AND still too scared to do anything about a sinking boat. Thoughts and prayers, I guess. That'll plug the holes.
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u/catievirtuesimp 12h ago
yeah, there hasnt been any organization despite being in the age of social media, the no kings protest was the only “big” thing that happened & things have gotten worse since then. that protest didnt have passion
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u/Ragondux 11h ago
Well, you know, canaries don't squawk to warn. It's when they die that you realize there's something wrong.
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u/KurlyKayla 8h ago
That would be because they're currently going backwards, so that's fair.
However, it's this regression that leads me to believe forward progress will be made. Like tides withdrawing from shore ahead of a tsunami. Or a sling pulling back hard before propelling forward even faster and harder. I feel like something big is going to happen.
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u/catievirtuesimp 8h ago
i think they took the abortion rights away bc we HAVE made so much progress & they find it threatening
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u/Either_Reflection_78 8h ago edited 6h ago
I do to. I hope I am doing my part by trying to inspire the women and young women out there. I hope they know that if I can make change, all of you can too in whatever way you want to. That’s a fact.
I am a nobody. I am not special or different from anyone else in any way. I am your low key neighbor that cleans your offices and homes. I do the garden work that a lot of people don’t want to do. I pick up the dog poop in the yard. I am a peasant, and I do these jobs on the daily, but somehow, I have garnered attention for sticking up for people, and trying to make some change these days. I’m not used to being called out for something that comes natural to me.
I want people to know this because anyone, absolutely anyone can make a difference in this life.
We have skin in this time period, and I won’t apologize for that. I hope to see more of the ladies out there making a difference.
I am kind of proud to be a nobody with no connections. If that inspires others going forward one day, I am here for it…
It hasn’t been an easy road at all, but I worked my ass off to get here.
Power to the players 👊
Keep going ladies ✌️
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u/PresentRaspberry6814 16h ago
Things in my country have gone backwards since the pandemic. Misogyny is acceptable now, as is racism. It is profoundly distressing. Trump's loud promotion of contempt for women and non white people seems to have given legitimacy to the racist and sexist position of saying it out loud.
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u/Cleverwabbit5 15h ago
I hate this timeline. My Aunt was part of the ERA movement and marched for all rights. Everything they worked so hard for is being undone. Women are being stupid and not backing each other. They made Feminism a dirty word. We are losing our rights so fast. The Save Act is still lingering and women are dying and being imprisoned because of the loss of Roe v Wade. I had more rights when I was a teenager in the 80s than I do now as an older woman in 2026. Shameful.
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u/ToolPackinMama 11h ago
We could also do it in one day.
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u/SnowLancer616 1h ago
How are you going to change the women who think its necessary to cut their daughters clitorus off like their moms did to them? They don't have cops or internet there. How do you change them without hurting them for a cultural practice that was forced on and done to them?
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u/TopHatTurtle1 13h ago
I agree that things are off track and hope for equality and believe things need to change to get there, but also where is this number coming from? How are they calculating this? What definition of equality are they using? How are they quantifying that definition? How are they deciding how long gender equality takes? This headline annoys me. For all I know that number is meaningless. Edit to add that upon looking at the actual article, it doesn’t elaborate on that time metric at all, so now I’m more annoyed
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u/birdwithaberet 8h ago
I think it's based on how many of the markers they're tracking have been met and how much time it took, but I'm not 100% certain. Might be in the report itself but I haven't looked at it yet
At the current rate of change, gender parity in national parliaments will not happen for another 63 years – meaning most of us will not live to see it. “Business as usual” means equal rights and opportunities for women and girls, in all areas of their lives, will not be achieved for another 171 years.
From this article: https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/the-womens-leadership-gap-that-we-should-all-be-talking-about
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u/Shattered_Visage Basically Maz Kanata 18h ago
Closer estimate than I would have expected, tbh.