Discrimination Of Women - Essay Example

?Running head: Discrimination of Women Discrimination of Women s This research analyzes the problem of ‘discrimination of women’ in contemporary society and how it came into being. Being a woman can be an overwhelming thing, especially in a male-dominated society; where women are viewed as the ‘weaker sex’ and are bound by numerous cultural taboos and shackles. The substance of this prose carefully analyzes and discusses the problem in great detail, and the arguments are supported by statistical evidences. It assesses the cultural differences and beliefs according to regions, and highlights the birth of feminism and how successful it was in tackling the problems faced by the contemporary woman. Discrimination of Women I. Introduction: As we all know, global society is divided across many epidemiological variables and out of all these variables “gender” is the most primary one; as gender and equality has been the subject of many heated debates over the years. There are certain lines that are drawn according to one’s sex and these restrictions are particularly imposed upon women. Women all over the world; be it a developed or a developing country, all women endure the problems of harassment, discrimination and ill-treatment. Discrimination of women surfaces in the society in many forms; however in the workplace such occurrences are more ostensible and occur in the form of unequal pay, lower workforce participation, and a major disparity in the access that is given to all the male and female employees in the workforce. The problem has been a scourge and as mentioned earlier, it exists in facet of the society. There has been numerous where women were subjected to intense discrimination; in many circumstances were looked down upon and deemed inferior to men. (Delamont, 2003) The bigotry involved in the view of women is a multifaceted phenomenon and its existence gave birth to the concept of “feminism” that subsequently led to the birth Women Empowerment movements. Its dynamics and prevalence in the society will be discussed in greater details as the substance of the prose progresses. (Paludi, 2010) II. Literature Review Sex discrimination is a phenomenon that has been around for ages, as it is stated earlier; women were often deemed as the weaker sex and men were at the forefront all activities. This is also largely due to the fact that since women have ability t procreate, they were required to restrict themselves to domestic chores. This led to widespread domestication of women and they had a very restricted role in the society. This was fundamentally because of the physiological differences between men and women, but there were plenty other factors that contributed to the disparity that will be discussed in greater detail in the following parts. In the past, women were treated as “articles of trade” and were used to settle disputes between two tribes. There was widespread objectification of women, men viewed them only objects of pleasure and they did not have any real position in the society. Indian societal dynamics epitomizes this aspect of the subject and is perfect to further elaborate and compare the role of women in ancient and contemporary society. In India, female infanticide and sex-selective abortions are highly prevalent. (Weisner, 2001, p. 108) Incidents of female infanticide and feticide are particularly common in the rural India, where people are vastly hardwired to their religious and cultural values that are often considered to be quite misogynistic in their teachings. In India, the birth of a female child is considered a bad omen; an aspect that is similar to the Chinese society as well. However, in case f Indian societies there is an economic reason as well due to the widespread trend of dowries and the high costs that are associated with it have often led to disparity between males and females. Sex selective abortions were so prevalent in the early 70’s and 80’s that there were appalling advertisement slogans such as: “Invest 500 Rupees (for a sex test) now, save 50,000 Rupees (for a dowry) later.”(Patel, 1996) However, it is not just the fact that female children are an economic burden on the already impoverished Indian families but the widespread ‘Son mania’ is also one of the key factors. The belief that a male child will help support the parents in their old age, is not just embedded in the mindset of people in the Indian society or develop but many developed nations alike have the same view on the matter. They prefer to have male children over female ones as an attempt to carry their family name on. (Patel, 1996 & Weisner, 2001, P.p 119-121) Up until the World War II, women had a very restricted role in the society; however, the war revolutionized the way everything functioned in the society. As recession had gripped the entire world, many women had to take up jobs in order to support their families. Women became independent and self-subsistent; this can be deemed as an enlightenment period for women, because they became aware of their rights and realized that they are equally proficient in carrying men’s job; hence they no longer felt dependent on or inferior to them. (Delamont, 2003) Before, this revolution took place many women were victims of domestic violence and only after their awareness regarding their rights they began this revolution that was dictated by a philosophy that came to be known as the “feminist movement”. Feministic philosophy largely stood for equality between the sexes and larger independence for women. It was similar to the suffragette movement in Britain that fought for voting rights for women. III. Discussion Considering the history of gender discrimination it is obvious that discrimination of women have pervaded societies for a very long time. In most cultures; particularly Asian, women are often associated with ‘evil’ and most of the demons were also female. It is an undeniable fact that misogyny and sexual oppression has been a part of our society and there were times when women were deprived of basic education. However, there have been major changes in the way people think now and the position of women has been subsequently improved. Women are actively seeking employment and education; on top of everything else, women have access to better healthcare facilities. The following table includes statistics obtained by the UNESCO that depicts the youth literacy rates according to regions, and data from both developed and developing parts of the world between the years 2000 and 2004. (UNESCO. 2004, Table 2) As it can be seen, men and women in North America and Western Europe enjoy 100% literacy rate and it also has the lowest number of illiterate people, out of which 46% of the women remain illiterate. The highest amount illiteracy exists in South and West Asia, which constitutes almost 65% of women. And comparing the literacy rates of men and women, there is an ostensible disparity between men and women. As women literacy rate is only 63% whereas, men literacy rate is at 82%. On the other hand, the next table will depict, how women have established their own place on a professional front and even though, many women are now working side by side with men, but none of the countries; neither developing nor developed, have attained parity. (United Nations, 2005) The aforementioned table presents statistics obtained by United Nations that shows women have a lower workforce participation rate in professional fields. Whereas, women acquired a large portion of ‘unpaid family workers’, whereby women constituted 61% and men were only 39%. This shows the vast domestication of women in the contemporary society and how restricted they still are. In case f employers, men acquired a staggering 79% percent whereas, women were only 21%. Therefore it can be clearly established that there is a huge disparity between men and women. And it is ostensible through the data representing the employment and literacy rate of men and women. Equality between the sexes can only be achieved, if people are educated properly and taught about individual and human rights. As the problems and cultural stigmas that are attached to women, as it is highlighted earlier in the prose and they can only be resolved if people are educated. (United Nations, 2005) Women need to be more aware of their rights and should demand access to basic education; however in the vastly patriarchal society that exists in developing nations it will be difficult task. Women are trained to take up a passive role and are more subservient to men, proper education can help break these barriers and become equal to men. However, it would also require support from the male members and these are the major barriers in the eradication of gender discrimination. (Delamont, 2003) IV. Conclusion In conclusion, the prose explored the problems faced by women all over the word and the how these problems originated. The fact that there are several differences between the physiological functioning of men and women, but that does not mean that women are in any way inferior to men in performing tasks, which are considered to be largely jobs for men. Women are equally capable and with proper education they can prove themselves to be worthy candidates and can make substantial contributions to the society. And despite the It is a known fact that for a society to flourish there needs to be equity between the genders because even researches have shown that women are naturally endowed with the ability to manage things effectively. Therefore, if women and men work side by side, they can be a huge asset and eradicate the disorder caused by society’s narrow-mindedness, as both sexes can co-exists, without demeaning each other. Hanging on to values that propagate inequity and other social evils such as infanticide and feticide; and strong attachment to such values was the fundamental as to why feminist movements have been unable to achieve complete parity between the sexes and establish a more peaceful and flourishing society. Hence, education is of primary importance and can result in greater accord in the society. (Weisner. 2001. P.p 119-121) References Delamont, S. 2003. Feminist Sociology. SAGE. Patel, R. 1996. The Practice of Sex Selective abortion in India: may you be the mother of 100 sons. Carolina papers in International Health and Development. Paludi, M.A. 2010. Feminism and Women’s rights worldwide, ABC-CLIO UNESCO. 2004. Global Monitoring Report 2005: Education for all, the quality imperative. Statistical Annex: Table 2 United Nations. 2005. The Millennium Development goals report. New York: United Nations Wiesner, M.E. 2001. Gender in History. Wiley-Blackwell: P.p 108, 119-121 Read More