Does individualism in American society keep American women from attaining better quality of life?

Those powerful nations also have stronger affirmative action policies in place.  Maybe individualism does have something to do with why we lag behind.

Sit in family court for a day and get an education.  Men get the short end of the stick.

I don't think it's individualism itself.  I think it's selfishness that could hinder heartfelt connections with people ,and that prevents a good quality of life.  Women can still be free, equal individuals and have a decent quality of life.  We all have to give a little.

Sweden - "all public power in Sweden proceeds from the people...and that of the Swedish Parliament."  In 1921 suffrage was extended to women. (the US passed the 19th Amendment in 1920).
Norway- Democratic parliamentary constitutional monarchy.  Women in general were allowed to vote in 1913.  Before that only women of "prosperity" were allowed to vote and then only in local elections.
Denmark- "constitutional monarchy with a representative democracy based on a unicameral parliamentary system."  In 1909 women were only allowed to vote in municipal elections.  In 1915 they were finally allowed to vote in the parliamentary elections.

Do you see a pattern here?  All of these countries ARE individualistic and value individual rights.  The beginning of the suffrage movements for all of these countries were within ten years of one another. (full voting privileges).  My point in bringing this up is that while you claim these countries have higher gender equality scores we all have the same foundation, so it can't be "individualism" and it certainly can't be the suffrage movement or equal rights...so what is it?

Culture and Statistics.

You are not factoring in the cultural differences between all 18 countries that precede the US in gender equality.  The countries that precede the US (1-10 were the only ones highlighted) are: Iceland (first openly homosexual President), Norway, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Ireland (this was a shock), Denmark, Lesotho, Philippines, and Switzerland.  How can a tiny South African nation like Lesotho surpass a sophisticated modern nation like Switzerland?  Statistically they have more females in the labor force (due to population differential) and more female literacy (again, statistic differential).  The US came in at #19.

The US rose to #19 while France (of all progressive countries) fell to number #46!  The report stated France fell so far because of fewer women in ministerial positions.  Statistics.  

On the US:  "The climb reflects the higher number of women in leading roles in the current administration and improvements in the wage gap."

I guess we are pretty great after all since we are #19 out of 134 economies scored.  Either that or you can't trust the numbers because they use very subjective material to gauge the gap.

Or maybe women can attain better quality of life on their own terms, and not on the basis of one government policy or another. Individualism can help if you let it.

No, I think the strong foothold that Christianity still has in America is the reason women in America are in many ways worse off than some of our European sisters. Many parts of the US have strong conservative streaks where people believe that men and women have separate "roles" in society, and that women are better suited for being home raising kids than having careers and independence. Socially, we're just a decade or two behind some of the more secular industrialized countries.

What more do you want than what you already have?  If you think Scandinavian countries are better than the USA, perhaps you should try living in one.  You might find there are things about life in the USA that you would miss.  I don't know.

You make the bad assumption that America still operates under an individualist system... it in fact does not. American currently operates under a collectivist system where the majority, or the ruling oligarchy, dictate the degree of everyone's rights.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"There can be no social system which is a mixture of Individualism and Collectivism. Either individual rights are recognized in a society, or they are not recognized. They cannot be half-recognized.

What frequently happens, however, is that a society based on Individualism does not have the courage, integrity and intelligence to observe its own principle consistently in every practical application. Through ignorance, cowardice, or mental sloppiness, such a society passes laws and accepts regulations which contradict its basic principle and violate the rights of man. To the extent of such violations, society perpetrates injustices, evils, and abuses. If the breaches are not corrected, society collapses into the chaos of Collectivism.

When you see a society that recognizes man's rights in some of its laws but not in others, do not hail it as a ?mixed ? system and do not conclude that a compromise between basic principles, opposed in theory, can be made to work in practice. Such a society is not working; it is merely disintegrating. Disintegration takes time. Nothing falls to pieces immediately?neither a human body nor a human society."