Gender Inequality - Research Paper Example

Topic: Gender inequality – why are men always portrayed as the bread winner and woman as a home maker in media and advertising. Gender inequality is a reflection on gender roles and stereotypes. The role played by media is very significant in the sense that media can guide or misguide in portraying a non-realistic picture of women in society. It is for the policy makers to see and take steps to promote gender equality within media itself so that media plays a constructive role in fulfilling its responsibility being a pillar of democracy. Gender stereotyping limits the opportunity in different fields for both men and women hence should not be practiced. Stereotyping is drawing a line between the roles and jobs done by men and women. Media portrays men as bread winner and women as home makers although role models have changed drastically due to social, economic and other reasons. Williams (2000) has stressed on the need to comprehend the meaning of the word ‘Gender’. It is no more used in the biological context. Since 1970s after being adopted by sociologists, it has acquired wider meaning to include socially agreed features of both men and women. Gender is ‘the social organization of relationships between men and women, with its implications of power and access to resources, dictated in many countries by race, class, and religion’. Yet the common perception relates it with women and their problems just because the attention has been drawn on their problems, as women undergo and become victim of gender inequality. The two strategic issues are women’s participation in decision making through media and technology, and their non-stereotyped presentation in media. Media companies provide gender-sensitive training to media professionals, proprietors and managers to show to the world the new and different role played by women other than home maker. Producers of media content need to control their enforcement of negative stereotypes. For example aggressive political ways are taken as not suitable to the personality of women political leaders whereas in men it is shown as a merit Media focuses on the physical traits and emotional aspect of women in politics. There is need to regulate content as a matter of editorial policy, as editors determine the perspective of a story on society and within media itself. Editorial policy makers in media and advertisement ignore and underrate gender equality issues. Journalists’ way of presenting news on violence at home and sexual attack encourages myths that women themselves are responsible for the assaults. Advertisements also exhibit the same stereotyping by showing women using household products and showing men for business and finance related ads (Neimanis, 2001) Users of media also provide information that encourages stereotypes such as government agencies. The media should be used to focus on the important role being performed by women in different social, economical, political, and financial fields. The important question remains to be answered, which is why the media and advertising world portrays stereotype roles of men and women (Neimanis, 2001). Communication is going to be the next important tool after education, as said by Sally Burch (1996). As such both men and women’s involvement in gaining reach and control over media within their professions will be intense. Although women have a good representation in media but top ranking editorial posts are held by men. Women should be given equal footing in decision making and policy matters to bring them at par with men to put their opinions forward, which will add value by enlarging the media content. Hurdles on the road to gaining positions of power in media by women need to be removed. Getting media licenses is difficult for women as it requires a lot of money. Generally, women are not equal to men in money matters; they cannot bid for media licenses. Political interference in media is another reason of gender inequality, as portrayed by media. High ranking political leaders have powers to censor media. There exist strong links between censorship and hurdles on the path of gender inequality. Political leaders pressurize media in different ways; one of them is putting limits on gender roles and behavior (Neimanis, 2001). According to Meg Lee (2000), house work remains divided on the basis of gender. Male members devote quite lesser hours to house work than females, about half the time spent by women. As per the survey done by Newspoll in July 2000, two-thirds of men never wash clothes and half of the men never clean the toilet. Even after making legislation on equal pay, women are getting lesser wages than men. Many reasons are attributed to less wages paid to women such as they don’t negotiate, women know that they will be turned down if asking an increase in wages, and in some examples, managers know that women will agree on lesser wages. It seems that these traps are different ways of discrimination. Although law defends women against discrimination but culture is deeply rooted in the behavior, and is difficult to accept change. Such attitude in men is having negative repercussions in the society; women prefer to remain single by choice. In Western countries, less number of women is marrying and less of them are bearing children. They are giving preference to career than to children after marriage. Personal and situation factors are also responsible for gender inequality. Generally, target of sexual harassment are women, not men. The purpose behind is ridiculing by showing verbal sexist behavior. Sexual jokes and remarks are targeted at women. It is equally common in military jobs and blue-collar jobs. Sexual harassment, according to the United States Merit Systems Protection Board (USMSPB 1995) has been on the increase in administration, as revealed through a survey made on federal employees in 1980. It begins with sexual attention to be followed by gender harassment. Gender harassment in contrast happens in isolation from other harassment behaviors. Because it has become a common practice, eye-brows are raised as per the seriousness of the nature of crime. There is no doubt over it that gender harassment happens due to its negative personal and professional results for women. It psychological affects women showing a range of stress symptoms (Hitlan et al. 2009). Media needs to create awareness on the roles of men and women in society. By raising such issues in print and electronic medium, it can create environment for gender equality among other concerns. Media needs to become more sensitive to the issue of gender inequality. Role of women in the social, economical, and technological sphere has changed with the times. Women are getting paid jobs outside. It has created fear in the minds of men that their conservative power base is in danger, especially in African countries like Jamaica (Williams, 2000). There is no doubt about the crucial role to be played by media in bringing women to the forefront of active participation in all walks of life. As per the UN Economic and Social Council Review and Appraisal of the Beijing Platform, ‘media is a powerful tool; and for it to be used effectively, by women and for women, much remains to be done, despite some advances that have taken place. The explosion in the field of communications and technology must be harnessed and its resources made accessible to women so as to effectively ensure impact on public policy, private attitudes and behavior’ (Williams, 2000). There is statistical evidence regarding the roles of men and women in society. Men are paid better than women for the same services. Women possess less properties, physical assets, financial resources, and are not equal to men in education and technology usage. They word harder than men but it cannot be economically proved as they don’t get rewarded for that. Women are not independent in making decisions whether at home or the community they belong to. Cultural traditions and assumptions come in the way of treating women equally to men. They carry higher risk to violence and rape than men. Gender inequality is inherent in society as it is based on cultural beliefs, societal attitudes, power and independence. It is not easy to measure the depth of such factors, which are the actual causes of gender inequality (Dijkstra and Hanmer, 2000). . The media watch-dogs should keep an eye on finding and checking gender stereotypes and partial attitude towards women. They should observe that regulation and standards are adhered to by speaking non-sexist language. Gender issues should be included in the production and use of media so that gender stereotypes no more remain a roadblock in the partnering of men and women in all aspects of life. It is a human rights responsibility also to eradicate negative gender behavior and attitude from all walks of life. Media and advertisement organizations need to be transparent in their policies if they are keen on discouraging gender based discrimination through policy initiatives, and increase their credibility rating. Only media can be the best platform to be used as a tool in empowering gender equality, which will result in economic and social growth (Neimanis, 2001). References Dijkstra, Geske & Hanmer, Lucia. (2000). Measuring socio-economic gender inequality: toward an alternative to the UNDP gender-related development index. Feminist Economics, 6(2) Retrieved November 19, 2009, from Ebscohost Database. Hitlan, Robert T., Pryor, John B., Hesson-Mclnnis, Matthew S., Olson, Michael. (2009). Antecedents of gender harassment: an analysis of person and situation factors. Sex Roles. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from Ebscohost Database. William, Trish. (2000). Gender, media and democracy. The Round Table. Carfax Publishing Company. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from Ebscohost Database. Lees, Meg. (2000). How far have we come? Women, work and politics. Social Alternatives, 19(4) Retrieved November 19, 2009, from Ebscohost Database. Neimanis, Astrida. (2001). Gender mainstreaming in practice: a handbook. UNDP RBEC. Retrieved November 19, 2009, from http://www.unescobkk.org/fileadmin/user_upload/appeal/gender/RBEC_GM_manual.pdf Read More