The Concept of Gender and the Inequality - Essay Example

Introduction: Gender is in essence a social construct by virtue of the fact that the difference between a man and a woman are primarily biological- an imposition of these biological differences on the social and economic plane have been construed in the society around the world. The concept of gender and the inequality that is precipitated through the concept in society is the theme of feminism and feminist theory. Despite decades of awareness of gender issues and evidence of change in some areas, instances of gender inequality and discrimination on the basis of gender remains widespread the world over. Contrary to popular perception, gender inequality and discrimination is not a problem that plagues the lesser educated and the less developed countries of the third world. Even in the most advanced industrial nations, women’s share of the labor force is lower and levels of unemployment are higher in case of women than it is for men. Abstract Keeping this basic background in mind, the following paper will look at the various factors that are responsible for the marginalization of women in the workplace and the reasons for this kind of discrimination. The fact that discrimination is a reality of everyday existence for most women is testified by the fact that there is a need for legislation and guidance in most countries to protect the right of the ‘fairer sex’ not just at the workplace but also at home and in society as a whole. The ILO in its gender equality mandate for example states in no uncertain terms that universal and lasting peace can develop only in the presence of social justice. It sates that “women workers’ rights constitute an integral part of the values, principles and objectives that are at the core of ILO’s mandate to promote social justice”. In the light of this given background, the essay will try and analyze the social constructs that justify this discrimination and the legal steps that have been taken to protect women against this discrimination. The essay seeks to do this by identifying first the discrimination types that plague society, and then analyse the various parts of the lifecycle where the discrimination can be identified as being most manifest. The key areas of concern: These include education, employment and wage discrimination. The essay will conclude by identifying the changes that have come about in the situation over the past few decades and the efforts being made the world over to combat the issue. The reasons and the implications of gender discrimination: in most societies and cultures round the world, women are seen as the homemakers. In most cases, the women are regarded as being responsible for the personal space and the men as being charge of the public space. One of the primary reasons for this is the fact that women have traditionally kept away from the political space and politics has in turn kept women out of the ambit of political power and legislation making and influencing authority. Even when women at actively involved with politics they are responsible for the softer aspects of the administration like tourism, information and health. Hardly has the world seen a woman at the helm where the matters of decision making relate to defense. It might be argued that the world has witnessed people like Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton in one of the most powerful positions in international politics; these however are aberrations and not the norms. The world’s oldest democracy has not yet date had a woman as the president and the world largest democracy is still fighting to get a reservation bill passed in parliament that would ensure a 33% reservation for female candidates. Despite the fact the noises are made from time to time for the support of women’s rights, there are never concrete steps taken by virtue of the fact that the men in the world do not want to let go of their dominance. The first recognition of the problem became official as late as the decade of the 1970s. The International woman’s Conference was thus held in Mexico City in 1975 and the UN designated the decade from 1976-1986 as the women’s decade. The 1995 occurrence-and impact-of the fourth world conference on Women in Beijing was a step made in the right direction as it reflects the increasing attention that is being awarded to gender issues around the world in the contemporary era. The problems of discrimination are not just related to the political but also the economical. A systematic and organized concern with the economics of gender equality is new even in the lightly industrialized countries (HICs) where women’s issues did not come to the forefront of the public agenda till the later part of the twentieth century. Even to this date, the debate in these societies about the proper form of gender equality is far from settled. It is thus not surprising that some newly industrialized countries have only recently begun paying attention to women’s issues. There has been public reverberation of the subject of gender inequality since decades and it has been seen that the issue if inequality in employment is the greatest of the problems. For examining this situation there is a requirement of reaching out to the core of the problem and of understanding the sociological elements which are responsible for the women having this difficult time in getting equal advantages, salaries and job opportunities as men. Education: Women have faced abject discrimination in the field of education and the preference given to the girl child while prioritizing access to education in a given family. This trend arises from the simple fact that the perception of the society is such that the role of the woman is seen as being at home, taking care of the husband and the family. This requires the family to ensure that in case of a situation characterized by limited resources, the channelization of these resources would be tailored to ensure educational facilities to the boy even if it is at the cost of the girl. Gender discrimination is characterized by the belief that men are better at certain things as compared to women. For example, it has traditionally been accepted by the society and most of masculine supporters that men make better engineers, doctors or lawyers than women. This phenomenon, of girls not getting enough education and schooling years, is not at all times a result of a lack of places in schools but a manifestation of the expectations, attitudes, and prejudices that exist in societies and families around the world to this date with regard to the male in the family. Due to financial problems, societal trends, and religious and traditional rituals there is a limitation to the educational opportunities that females receive. Whatever the major reasons behind the phenomenon may be, the result of so many girls not being a part of formal schooling system leads to major problems in development and these problems are experienced by the current as well as the coming generations. The impact is felt on individuals, whole families, societies and countries. Problems at the workplace: There are wide differences in employment opportunities and pay due to gender in various developing areas (Klasen, 2002). Other than this great gender differences exist in education, and this is especially the case in “South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub Saharan Africa” (Klasen, 2002, p. 345). If one was to understand the interplay of the growth of the lesser developed economies with the kind of development that is allowed to the men and in proportion to the men in the country. In most NICs, there are a number of variations of policies of development that are primarily driven with the help of exports oriented growth. This kind of a growth strategy has implications for the development of the two sexes in a given economic environment. In a number of economies like Korea, Taiwan and Singapore the exports are based primarily on the availability and growth of the labor intensive units like textiles, clothing and electronics. In other countries, like Hong Kong and India, the growth is driven through the development of service based industry sector units like BPOs addition to the high tech goods exports. This particular strategy of growth has led to the rise in the requirements for labor force development, leading to the formation of preferences. What we witness today is the rise of the female sex in the workplace due to the system of preferential hiring in case of women (Rives and Yosefi, 38). The problem however is the fact that the rise ion the female labor force has not translated into the hike of the wages for women. The discrimination arises from the fact that in most such LDCs, the women are paid a lesser amount for the same amount of work that they do compare to the men. Problem indicators also exist regarding the fact that in most LDCs and developing countries of the western Hemisphere, there is no actual relationship between a country’s Human Development Index rankings and the sex segregation index. This is also proof of the fact that a development of the economy an s whole is not really translating into the development of the women in the economy despite the fact that they seem to have found the much needed indices of independence. Those nonworking moms' non wages are supposed to bring down women's average wages. But that's not how the wage gap is figured. As Percgeski writes: “The wages of women who are staying home with the kids or working part time are not counted in that official Labor Department average: Only full-time workers' wages are added in” (Percgeski, 2008,  p. 7). It is definitely true that an investment into human capital happens to be the most efficient manner through which there can be a reduction in poverty and sustainable progress can be maintained. However, as has been seen in the above section, women in developing nations are not given the same education as is received by men. Furthermore, normally the women are not given as many employment opportunities as the men receive. Is here that the problems of stereotypes needs to be discussed and understood. The first feminists questioned the existence of the deifications of the “man job” or a “woman job”. There are those that perceive men as “powerful, aggressive, and built for physical labor”. They should thus be given jobs like pilots, fire fighters and plumbers (Newman, 2008, p. 388). Women are supposed to be “like grace, beauty and balance” according to Newman (2008, p. 388). These stereotypes have always been present, and more so in the military. Women have fought for years to be able to join the military during peace times. Before 1972 the only job that women could get in military was that of a nurse.  Historically, men did not want women in the military. Women were considered to be weak when compared to men and it was assumed that they could not do all the physical tasks as a man.   However, now there are more women in the military than ever before. The reason is “tooth to tail” (actually combat troops to the number of individuals needed for administrative and technical support) (Williams 1989, p. 45). There are a small number of males that make up the population in traditionally female occupations. The majority of men would rather be unemployed than do a job that is designated as a “woman job”.  Women on the other hand believe that they are more than able to do “man work”  and willing to show everyone that they can.  The Rights: Most constitutions of the world as of 2009, guarantee a discrimination free social structure. This means in essence, that there can be no differentiation made between two people in a workplace, in educational institutions or politics with respect to gender. Change in the Mould??? Fact or fiction:   In 1848 there was a women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York. This was held to examine women’s rights across the world. Women were not looked upon as an equal, but more as subordinate. Back in those days women had no say over financial discussions and were not allowed to speak out against their husbands; “he has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice” (Newman, 2008, p. 379). It was an unwritten rule that men knew what was best for the family.  Because of the gender matter that was used to separate men and women, females did not experience paid labor until World War II. After the war some women returned back to their kitchen and others continued working outdoors. To avoid such discrimination against women, the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963 which supposedly guaranteed equal pay for all for a certain job regardless of gender. Agreed, things are not as bleak as they used to be, but on cannot say in any manner that they have undergone a sea change. The number of female CEOs and USA is as small as 13 out of the fortune 500 companies (Gettings et. al., FactMonster.com). This just goes to show that the levels of discrimination in as much as attitudes and actual progress is concerned are not as high as the Constitution-the highest law of the land guarantees it should be. This then just helps in the clarification of the fact that the women empowerment movement needs to be more focused, more streamlined, there can be no liberalization and the end of discrimination without the presence of women in positions of power. Power cannot be typified in terms of the political or economic or corporate. Concluding Remarks and a reality check: Even with these different obstacles that women have to encounter, they are still able to make it to the top, and make improvements across the world. In the US there is no limit for women; they can own businesses, play professional sports, and even take part in politics. Newton (2008) shows how “in Algeria, women now make up 60% of university students, 70% of lawyers and 60% of judges” (p. 402).       Till the countries have addressed the problem of gender inequality and proposed a solution to it, there would be a continuation of poverty. This is due to the fact that one reason of gender discrimination is poverty and this problem is aggravated because of poverty. This can be proved from the fact that it is normally in the poorer regions and countries that gender inequality is seen prevalent. The females of such kinds of societies who are at the bottom of the social, economic and political ladder, receive further decreased opportunities of having any kind of authority over yielding resources like land or credit.       It is definitely true that women have come a long way from banging pots and pans and making sure that supper is on the table on time. They are now holding jobs in offices and are sustaining them for longer durations than ever before. They have been moving in on job fields that were once considered as “man’s job”, such as the military where women were formerly not allowed to fight on the battlefield. Gaining a sense of pride about their self with their newfound freedom, women are asking for bigger promotions and more money for the job skills that they have obtained. In turn women are making more money now than ever before, not stopping until they are seen as equal in this male dominated society. The roles of men and women in this day and time have shifted from a position of no influence, to one of rising influence, increasing the significance at workplace. Reference: International Labor Organization, ABC of Workers Rights and gender Equality, Gettings et. al., FactMonster.com , accessed August 1, 2009, http://www.factmonster.com/spot/womenceo1.html Klasen, S., & Wink, C. (2002). “A Turning Point in Gender Bias in Mortality?”  Population and Development Review 28(2): 285–312. Klasen, S. (1999). “Does Gender Inequality Reduce Growth and Development? Evidence from  Cross-Country Regressions.” Policy Research Report, Engendering Development, Working Paper No. 7. World Bank, Washington, D.C. Klasen, S. (2002). Low schooling for girls, slower growth for all? Cross-country evidence on the effect of gender inequality in education on economic development. The World Bank Economic Review, 16(3): 345–373. Newman, D.M (2008). In Sociology exploring the architecture of everyday life.  Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press An Imprint of Sage Publications. Percgeski, C. (2008). Opting out? Cohort differences in professional women's employment rates from 1960 to 2005, 73 3, 497-517. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from Academic Search Premier Database. Rives J M and Yosefi M, Economic dimensions of gender inequality, pub, Greenwood Publication group, 1997 Thomas, D. (1997). “Income, Expenditures, and Health Outcomes: Evidence on Intrahousehold Resource Allocation.” In L. Haddad, J. Hoddinott, and H. Alderman, eds., Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Developing Countries: Models, Methods, and Policy. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press. Treiman, D.J. (2007) Women, work, and wages: Equal pay for jobs of equal value. Washington, D.C. National Academy. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from Net Library Direct database. Williams, C. L. (1989). Gender differences at work: Woman and men in nontraditional occupations. University of California Press Berkeley. Retrieved July 19, 2009 Net Library. World Bank. (2001). Engendering Development. Washington, D.C.   Read More