If you look at legislation, you will see that women are equal to men. They have equal rights to go to school, to study at any school, to buy property, to vote, and to apply for jobs. However, in practice society does not expect the same things from women as they expect from men. While men are pressured to be tough and successful and to provide for their families, women are pressured in different ways. Here are some common societal pressures that women experience.

Hobbies

Societal pressures start acting on females when they are born. Little girls are expected to like pink, play with dolls, and like stories centered around princesses and unicorns. They're supposed to want to ride horses, make crafts, cheer lead, and to do better at reading and art than math. Even once a girl is grown, the hobbies she pursues are supposed to be more like scrapbooking and yoga than automotive repair or boxing.

Marriage

Society expects that as soon as women come of age, they begin looking for a male life partner. Even while they are leading fulfilled lives, they're supposed to be wishing they could meet Prince Charming. Their ultimate goal is supposed to be to have a big white wedding. Women are expected to wait for their boyfriends to propose to them, to take his name when they are married, and to allow him to support the family. It is considered unusual for a women to take a female mate, or to refuse to mate for life.

Children

According to society's views, all women should want children. Biologically it's the continuation of the species drive, but socially it's more about a woman's place being in the home caring for the young, not pursuing careers. Much of the pressure in this regard may even come from other women who feel their biological obligations more strongly. Society tends to regard women who don't want children as sad or misguided.

Jobs

Women can no longer be kept out of the jobs that they want, but that doesn't mean society doesn't expect them to want jobs that are traditionally female. Women are expected to take careers as teachers, bookkeepers or nurses, or to stay at home looking after the children and the house, not to be the CEO of a big firm or holding a seat in politics, fly a fighter jet, or repair large engines. Women who do so are often considered a curiosity.