Gender Inequality - Research Paper Example

Gender Inequality Despite being fully aware of gender issues and its implications, we have still been unable to eliminate gender inequality from our modern society. Unfortunately, sexism whether juvenile or benevolent, still remains one of the major integrated problems of today’s technologically and economically advanced world. Women’s share of the labor force is still smaller than men’s share even in the world’s most industrially advanced nations such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, women have a higher rate of unemployment than men and on average women earn less than men. Nonetheless, the issues of gender inequality might not be the same in many ways as they were three decades ago but still they continue to plague our society. Our society has emerged out from its cocoon to the extent of being able to objectively and extensively discuss issues such as date rape, benevolent sexism and sexual harassment but we have failed to devise ways to effectively remove these ingrained menaces from our society. Despite the awareness of the need of provision of equal social rights, gender inequality is still there plaguing the roots of modern society. (Blau et al 1997). Ironically, modern society has created its own set of gender issues, some of which have more debilitating effects than the combined effects of gender atrocities of the previous generation. In the United States of America, gender inequality is mirrored by every major statistical measure whether it is wealth, social status or power. Each of these statistical measures reveals that women occupy a lower level than men. Gender inequality in the workplace particularly has disastrous effects on the overall organization because the more stressful the working environment is the less efficiency is exhibited by employees. Between the years 1940 to 1995, a large number of women entered the labor force but unfortunately their exposure resulted in a whole new set of inequality problems. Unfortunately, inequality is also prevalent in the US government where men hold more than 85% of the elected positions and about 95% of the corporate executives are also males. On the other hand, women occupy two thirds of the poor adult population. (Karsten 2006). A substantial amount of the women population is still insecure because problems such as sexual violence, occupational inequalities and feminization of poverty, continues to threaten them. We have encouraged women to pursue occupations once reserved only for their counterparts yet we have not encouraged men to follow traditional roles performed by women. Therefore, women continue to withstand the burden of undertaking family up bringing which inevitably limits the role they can play in the outside world. Therefore, it signifies that women are capable of contributing extensively towards economic and social development but their traditional responsibilities limit their capabilities. Despite the gender disparities that exist in our society, most of us do not consider it a serious problem and this is the very reason why the paradoxical legacy of inequality continues to plague our nation. (Rhode 2000). Our youth and adults feel comfortable discussing certain sexual issues such as sexual preferences, sexual relationships and sexual deviance but we feel uncomfortable discussing sexual inequality and its implications. In most conversations, the topic of sexual inequality is treated as an intruder which in most cases us unwelcomed. Ironically, most women’s rights activists fail to realize the fact that it’s about time we stopped discussing inequality, instead we need to act now and wage a war to eliminate it. On the other hand, we have only a handful of activists working to elevate the position of women which is another reason why the problem of gender inequality is so deep rooted. Despite the fact that women are continuously subjected to juvenile and benevolent sexism, only a quarter of the American women population believes that gender inequality issues are a serious problem. Moreover, only a minor percentage of the women population is part of any organization whether governmental or non government which is dedicated to work for the betterment of women. Therefore, women themselves are not interested in making the world a better place for themselves this justifies the silence of their counterparts on women inequality issues. The lack of women interest is reflected by a statistical measure which reveals that only 250,000 women out of a 90 million adult US women population enroll in the National Organization for Women. (Rhode 2000). Denial of Gender Inequality: I believe that we do not deny gender inequality intentionally or overtly, rather we deny it because of selective perception, unconscious biasness or due to stereotypical assumptions. A large number of individuals simply fail to understand the extent of problems women have faced and continue to face even today. On the other hand, some individuals believe that women are inferior because they are less capable of achieving worldly success than their counterparts. Such individuals consider women as emotionally and mentally weak creatures. A third group of individuals consider that they are not responsible for eliminating gender issues because they do not take part in activities which favor gender inequality. A majority of the American population responds to gender inequality by denying its dimensions and believe that women were once discriminated but now that era is history. Many believe that the problem of gender inequality no longer exists because women now enjoy equal status to their counterparts. If gender inequality has really been eliminated, then why do women continue to suffer sexism? Why do women feel insecure even in today’s medically and technologically advanced world? Why are a large number of women unemployed? These are some of the questions that we need to ask ourselves if we believe that gender inequality no longer exists. (Rhode 2000). Interaction and Gender Inequality: Goal oriented interaction is the interaction that takes place because of work and it quite relevant to understand workplace interaction in order to understand inequality among men and women. The workplace constitutes a social arena which is utilized for the decision making process for the distribution of material resources and power. Therefore, it provides a perfect opportunity to analyze and evaluate the extent of gender inequality in our modern society. To explain traditionally deep rooted gender inequality we need to consider the intermediate level of interaction which is often neglected by most scientific efforts made to analyze the problem. Interaction is very important because it forms one of the most influential mediating mechanisms through which the macro structural dimensions of gender inequality emerge. Therefore, understanding of gender stratification can only be accomplished through thorough understanding of the process of interaction. (Ridgeway 1992). Gender inequality and education: The development of a society is hampered by gender inequalities as it leads to defective development of human capital and employment opportunities. Moreover, gender inequality issues significantly slow down the rate of savings and also affect the flow of direct foreign investment. Investment in education is a major component of human capital. Therefore, gender inequality in education has a debilitating effect on the economic development of a society because it has a significant impact on fertility levels and population growth. Ironically, before 1848 women in the U.S. did not have access to higher education, therefore the demands of the conveners of the Women’s Rights Convention were to establish separate higher education institutions for women. However, the signers of the Seneca Falls did not grant the permission for separate women colleges and universities and merely considered female enrollment in coeducational institutions. Women were not allowed enrollment in higher education institutions until after the Civil war. Even then, separate women colleges were not established but women were allowed to enroll in coeducational institutions. Later, ‘seven sisters’ colleges were established, which were adjuncts to the male college. There is a casual link between education and population growth problems because increased illiteracy rates among women signifies higher fertility rate which inevitably leads to growth of the population. Uncontrolled population growth puts an additional stress on the infrastructure and economy of a nation. Therefore, the impacts of gender inequality are not limited to the level of an individual but mediate its effects on a national level. Education women can give birth to the desired number of offsprings because they are well informed about all the available contraceptive methods. Educated women reduce the number infant deaths because they are well aware of their infant’s dietary requirements and are better able to identify disease symptoms at an initial level. Educated women favor fewer children because they know that fewer children reduce the dependency burden on a family. The impacts of lower dependency are widespread. Lower dependency not only leads to a decline in average monthly expenditure but also increases the household’s savings. Higher economic growth and investment is guaranteed when a nation’s saving rate increases. It is imminent that gender inequality has national effects and therefore it about time that we act to effectively eliminate the menace. (Farah 2009). Feminist theories: In accordance with feminist theories, the fundamental components of gender inequality are cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity, gender appropriate roles and responsibilities as well as gender specific privileges. A famous anthropologist Peggy Sandy in 1980 stated that gender inequality prevails in a society that has an outer orientation. This statement signifies that societies which foster harsh war like environmental conditions are more likely to develop deep rooted gender inequality because such environment favors the development of male stress progenitors. Higher stress progenitors result in higher extent of gender inequality. Another anthropologist, Marvin Harris, critically links gender inequality to environmental harshness and warfare. He believes that female infanticide is a direct result of resource shortage and population pressure prevalent during a war. Moreover, Harris states that an important impetus of gender inequality is none other then the population density itself. (Chafetz 1999). Gender as Status: Despite the strenuous efforts of authorities to prosper towards a nation with equal opportunities for both genders, America’s War against inequality and the struggle towards the implementation of equal social rights remained unachieved. Even the world’s most technologically advanced welfare state, has failed to reduce the insecurity of women on being isolated in an impoverished old age. One of the primary reasons for the failure of American authorities is because of the relationship between gender and status. In contemporary society, gender inequality is enacted and sustained thorough various ways. Status beliefs favor gender inequality in more than one way such as through unfair comparisons between men and women. In United Sates of America and many other nations of the world, gender is regarded as a status characteristic. On the other hand, gender inequality becomes even more dreadful in the case of colored women. There is clear evidence that a large number of American African women populations are pathetically poor and simply have no access to medical and healthcare facilities which justifies the large number of infant deaths observed in Black dominated areas such Kansas. Moreover, the weekly wages of women are far less than men which further intensify the implications of gender inequality. Women are the backbone of a society and if they continue to suffer at the hands of harsh policy makers then gender inequality will never be eliminated and it will continue to weaken the roots of our society just as it has up till now. (Eagly 2004). Conclusion: Gender inequality continues to plaque modern society for multiple reasons, the most important of which is that we are not striving hard enough to eliminate it. We are simply not keen on reducing the inequality stresses on women and we lack the desire to reduce the implications of inequality in modern society. Women are still suffering because they are deprived of their birth rights such as the right to have education. The world is suffering the impacts of gender inequality in the form of higher dependency issues and higher growth rate of the population. With imminent food and economy crisis, it’s about time we act to eliminate gender inequality in an effort to make the world a better place for future generations. References: Eagly, Alice H, Anne E. Beall, and Robert J. Sternberg. The Psychology of Gender. New York: Guilford Press, 2004. Print. Chafetz, Janet S. Handbook of the Sociology of Gender. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 1999. Print. Farah, Nadia R. Egypt's Political Economy: Power Relations in Development. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2009. Print. Rhode, Deborah L. Ethics in Practice: Lawyers' Roles, Responsibilities, and Regulation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print. Ridgeway, Cecilia L. Gender, Interaction, and Inequality. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1992. Print. Karsten, Margaret F. Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the Workplace: Issues and Challenges for Today's Organizations. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2006. Print. Blau, Francine D, and Ronald G. Ehrenberg. Gender and Family Issues in the Workplace. New York: R. Sage Foundation, 1997. Print. Read More