Introduction to Gender Issues - Essay Example

Running Head: INTRODUCING GENDER Introducing Gender Name Institution Date Introducing Gender Introduction Gender is a variety set of characteristics which differentiates between a male and a female member of species. This ranges from the biological sex in animals to a gender identity or social role, thus it entails a variety of meanings depending on the concept used. For example, in the ordinary speeches it is used to refer to sex or distinguish between a male and a female while in the social sciences it refers to the activities, attributes and behavior considered by the society to be appropriate for either women or men. Race or racial group is a community of humans on ancestral groups or populations classified on various aspects of characteristics which can be heritable (Hudson & Bolton 2000). The idea of intersectionality looks into the manner in which patriarchy racism and economic disadvantages and other systems of discrimination lead to development and widening of the gender inequality gap. It also addresses the way that the specific policies and acts create difficulties among the intersecting axes effectively contributing to develop a dynamic of disempowerment. Ways in which gender and race intersect According to the report of the conference held by the committee of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in South Africa in August and September in 2001, there are some problems associated with the discrimination of the racially disadvantaged women world wide. They also discovered the analytical and systematic issues in approach to intersectionality of gender and race leading to inequalities in the experiences of gender and races. The approach of gender and race intersectionality aims to involve all participants in the system of human rights and particularly to emphasis on the fact that all people belong to a certain race and gender although they may be obscure where the classification is wide, for example, when it is based on the complexion or the skin color or if gender is looked in from the perspective of sex (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 2001). According to the report of the researcher of the Gender Sector of the Movimento Sem Terra (MST), which works towards prominent agrarian reform in Brazil, she had difficulties when she visited the MST sites in Brazil because the area seemed to be dominated by men. She was diminutised and sexualized by men while in the process of the research and she adds that even the other nations like Australia are also affected by the same. This information is used in the analysis of the research on transnational alliances in the global justice movement. She also says that most of the men did not believe that she was a doctoral student because she was a woman and very young; they believed that women would not go to the universities or anybody else4 who is not rich or living in the city (Mcmetcu-Rolonsan 2002). In Australia the intersection between gender and race entails the experiences of the indigenous women and those from the non-English speaking backgrounds. The disadvantaged and the privileged races correspond with the common whites or blacks classifications or colonizer and colonized if it is viewed from a wide world wide based angle. The superiority or the minority of a certain class of gender depends on the level of perspective. For example, if the assumption is based on the whole world, the white women are considered to be more advantaged than those of the blacks while in a small geographical area those from remote areas are considered to be less privileged than those in the developed areas. Due to gender discrimination, the indigenous Australians are desperately struggling for survival either economically, socially and economically. This is especially with the Aboriginal women; they are subjected to too much violence which has reached to epidemic proportions and comprises of a continuing abuse of human rights. The problem of violation against the Aboriginals is associated with the minority of these people: the unequal access of the resources of the society and the unevenly development of the native communities. All social and economic aspects suggests that the Aborigines are the most disadvantaged Australians and within these communities the women fare worst as their counterparts also consider them to be minor hence deny them the opportunities to exploit some of the local resources or services offered in some of the local facilities like education. Their place is always assumed to be at home with children hence should have little knowledge compared to the men or should not be independent. When the colonizers came and abolished the social and economic practices of the natives, they introduced industries in which they recruited men for manual work before the evolution of the schools which offered the skills of working with machines. This denied women chances of working together with their counterparts and most of them depended on men for survival. The first schools concentrated on teaching men the skills of working in the foreign industries thus a privilege for men to access the power of knowledge before women and since then it has been assumed to be a stereotype that men are always superior to their counterparts (Hudson & Bolton 2000). The autobiographies of the Aboriginal women announce their differences between their cultures and those of the dominant whites. The white Australians have known the indigenous to be lacking agency from the reports of the explorers, the albums of the philanthropists and the testimonies of the white officials. In their life writings the indigenous women narrate how they related with other women, their families and community at large. They assumed men to be the head of everything and their women would always be at their service, this was worse when the colonizers came because they did not spare the native men neither did they have mercy on their men. Indigenous women were oppressed by the pressure of their men and that of the colonizers (Deslandes 2009). The causes of gender discrimination among the Aboriginal women are complex and enhanced by various factors. The leading is the subordination which initially was limited to the Aboriginal society but later spread to the large Australian society. The perception of the colonials to the Australian differed with the society of origin and the differing roles of each sex and the status in the indigenous society highly contributed to subordinate status of the Aboriginal women. The other factor is the breakdown of the traditions by the foreign practices which for example, results to the inability of the elders to control the cultures of the younger men hence they abandon the values which could guide them on how to relate with their counterparts (Sudbury 2005). The stereotypes associated with some of the races highly contribute to gender relations in the society; these are mostly related to the cultural practices and social believes. For example, in some communities and even the religious societies have some believes which differentiate the treatments given to the men and women. Some perceive women to be dormant figures in the society and should always act to the orders of their counterparts. This denies women freedom of expression or of making decisions concerning issues that their men are concern and sometimes women are given unfair treatments in the name of stereotypes. Other races have completely abandoned their cultures including those that useful to ensure good relationships among the residents leading to some crimes or harassment of various groups. For example, initially some duties or roles like those that required much of the muscular energy, for example, the constructing roles were well described for the males. However with the campaigns for gender equality and the freedom of doing things and not forgetting the economic crisis anybody can do anything he or she wishes. Some of these activities results to occurrences of the health hazards especially to the females as they may not be strong enough to undertake them. The relationships between the males and the females in modern societies have ended up in crimes like rapes, lesbianism and so on. This is because there is no clear distinction between the two genders (Russell 2006). Racism can also be looked at in terms of the language, physical abilities, social knowledge and so on. This is applicable especially within women and their various roles in the society. There is an improvement of the care and services sectors which has led to transformation of women roles both in quantitative and qualitative terms. In qualitative terms, reproductive roles such as child care and cooking was predominantly domestic roles. However, in the developed societies which are trying to practice gender equalities there a noticeable improvements in these activities; these duties have been outsourced outside the homesteads to care centers, catering business or cleaning chains whereby women can offer the services in exchange for money. Quantitatively, need for reproductive assistances has highly increased thus most of the women have less time in their homestead or on the unpaid work but concentrates on those that can earn them income like anybody else in the society (Ehrenreich & Hochschild 2003). The above reformation has led to discrimination and oppression of most of the women and especially those from the less disadvantaged societies. For example if one has grown up in the communities where the residents use their first language or are not fluent in the national or official language may be grouped in the category of the illiterates hence unfairly treated. The linguistic backgrounds of the migrant (women who do the reproductive work) may add some advantage. For example, those from the Filipina are in high demands than those from the other countries because of their ability to speak good English hence could teach their employers. This also helps to undermine the authority of the employer because they find it difficulty to command their learned employees in English and others even ends up doing the duties for themselves if they luck words explain what they want their employees to do. This therefore shows that women are entitled respect depending on the status of their origin. Women workers from Filipina feel some sense of superiority over their seniors because they are able to correct their English or joke about the way they speak hence they are released off the tension of the work (Adkins 2005). The migrants find it difficult to work in the domestic reproduction like maids and nannies rather than in institutions whereby the there is no immediate boss to control them or harass them for lack of language proficiency. Some races are assumed to be untidy or in efficient in their cooking hence in the care chains, these women are entitled invisible positions or the unheard mostly of chambermaids. The migrant and the ethnic minority are ranked in the lowest graded positions in the firms. It is like an obvious routine to find all the chambermaids from the same race or migrant group. Due to lack of linguistic proficiency, the skilled migrants mostly face occupation mobility especially in Australia. In health industries, nursing has become the sector for the migrants; the profession is mostly set for those who are considered to be less advantaged and the higher positions are secured for the others who are assumed to be privileged. The same happens in the political sectors, women are not wholly accepted in this field and the few chances given to them are so specified on the race they belong. If the race does not have a good history of politics cannot allow a woman to be the pioneer as many assume that if men cannot make it their counterparts should not attempt. Thus even if much is being done to fight for gender equality, there are many activities taking place in the society portraying women as a disadvantaged gender. For example, the perception of women as sex objects (Ehrenreich & Hochschild 2003). Conclusion The International Human Rights is working hard to provide an empowering point in reference to how human beings work and the equality among the different genders of life. This is highly embraced by almost everyone in the society and this is why gender equality is one of the top listed topics which are discussed world wide. Gender equality can be achieved not through the agreement of the word of mouth but through practice. References Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. (2001). Gender and racial discrimination: Report of the Expert Group Meeting. South Africa: Zagreb. Hudson W. & Bolton G. (2000). Creating Australia: changing Australian history. New Zealand: Allen & Unwin. Sudbury J. (2005). Global lockdown: race, gender, and the prison-industrial complex. Turkish: Routledge. Russell L. (2006). Boundary writing: an exploration of race, culture, and gender binaries in contemporary Australia. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press Adkins L. (2005). Gender work: Sexuality, family and the labour market. Buckingham: Open University press. Ehrenreich B. & Hochschild A. (2003). Global woman: Nannies, maids and sex workers in the new economy. New York: Metropolitan press. Deslandes A. (2009). Giving way at the intersection. Ant colonial Feminist Ethics of Solidarity in the Global Justice Movement. Routledge: Taylor & Francis. 24 (62). Mcmetcu-Rolonsan A. (2002). Tellin’ It Straight: Self-Presentation within Indigenous Women’s Life Writing. St. Lucia: UQP. Read More