I believe that the world has become more democratic and open. Women have become more outspoken, more active and competitive. They have achieved great accomplishments in many fields that were previously dominated by men.
Dalia GrybauskaiteWhile I am a lawyer by profession and have travelled to several countries, working and educating myself, I came from a rural background in a Third World country at a time when women were told what their place was and whose mothers enjoyed even less.
Dalia GrybauskaiteIt was my mother, despite the limitations placed on women of her time by society, who insisted I be allowed to go abroad to study, in sturdy defiance of the male elders of the family, who protested and decided that I should be married off instead.
Dalia GrybauskaiteTraditionally, women have a lot of different roles in society. It is very difficult to balance all these roles and at the same time to compete with men. A leading, successful woman has to put in much bigger efforts to be more competent and faster, more dynamic and organized, than a successful man.
Dalia Grybauskaite