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al GENDER AND SOCIETY – GE 23
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Lesson 7 – GENDER EQUALITY AND INEQUALITY
“*Gender Equality what I want to see in the world”

Introduction

Thomas Jefferson penned in 1776 the quotation "all men are created equal”
this is to imply that everyone has its own rights. May it be political, economical and all
the things important for a person to live equally. Black men have fought so hard for
them to have equal rights as the white men. Today, we still struggle to fight for
equalty, this time in terms of gender rights.

Many countries until today are still not that open-minded to pass a law on
gender equality especially if such would run contrary to their beliefs and cultural
orientation.

I. WHAT IS GENDER EQUALITY?

According to Johannes Jütting & Christian

Morrisson & Jeff Dayton-Johnson & Denis
Drechsler, (2006), Gender equality is women and
men have equal conditions for realising their full
human rights and for contributing to, and
benefiting from economic, social, cultural and
political development.

This is a process of being fair to men and

women. Also it requires equal representation of
men and women. It does not imply that women
and men are the same, but have equal value and
should be accorded equal treatment

Why Is Gender Equality Important?

 It stimulates economic growth, which is crucial for developing countries.
(Sustainable development)
 It makes individuals value ourselves more

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 Organizations with gender diversity practices, attract and retain the best talent
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Us History
e Over the years and even until now in some other countries, women were seen as
inferior to men; that women couldn’t stand up for themselves.

“Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,

Thy head, thy sovereign . . .”

The Suffragettes (a woman seeking the right to vote

through organized protest.) were not welcomed.

In 1918 Women finally got the vote, but not fully

until the 1920s – and still not everybody agreed with this.

A 1920 anti-
Suffragettes
postcard

After The Vote

1920: Women could become lawyers
1922: Women could inherit property
1929: Women became ‘persons’ by law
1970: Equal Pay Act makes it illegal to pay women at different rates

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1980 : Women allowed to borrow in their own name
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1994: It becomes illegal for a husband to rape his wife
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Some Statistics
Are we equal?
• The workplace:
• Women earn less (10% for full-time and 34% for part-time work)
• 70% of minimum wage jobs are done by women
• 55% of women take part in the labour market
• One area of gender equality - body image :
• Feeling bad about their appearance made 16% of girls avoid going to
school and 20% avoid giving an opinion in public
• 20% of boys are extremely concerned about their weight, leading to
depression and / or drug use (increasing use of steroids in young men
leading to many side effects)
• Education:
• 20% of girls put off science because it’s “for boys”
• 90% of nurses are female (but men earn 5% more)
• Sexual violence:
• 1 in 3 teen girls experienced sexual violence from a boyfriend
• 1 in 3 girls experience sexual bullying in school on a daily basis

Link :
Gender Equality ppt.
https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/departmental/wideningparticipation/
globalcitizenshipchallenge/powerpoints/5-Gender-equality-powerpoint.pptx

The United Nations regards gender equality as a human right Haris. (2013).
Gender Equality. Retrieved 21 July 2020, from
https://www.slideshare.net/HarisDozz/gender-equality-25774079

Johannes Jütting & Christian Morrisson & Jeff Dayton-Johnson & Denis Drechsler,
2006. "The Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base," OECD Development
Centre Policy Insights 16, OECD Publishing.

II. WHAT IS GENDER INEQUALITY?

This acknowledges that men and women are not equal and that gender affects an
individual’s lived experience. It is experienced differently across cultures.

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It is quite the opposite of gender equality. In simple words, it is defined as
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discrimination against women based on their sex. i.e. women are considered as the
Us weaker sex in the society.
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The situation

Men are not just paid much more than women, but their earnings are also
increasing more rapidly, leading to an even wider pay gap. The average pay for women
in 2017 was $12,000, compared with $21,000 for men.

There hasn’t been any real improvement globally in terms of earnings over the
last 10 years, and things are moving in the wrong direction, as seen clearly in the graph
above. And although there are differences between nations, practically every country
shares the blame.

It’s also worth noting that a portion of the pay gap persists even once factors
such as experience, industry and job level are accounted for – women still earn about
2% less.

The situation

From about 90 countries, women spend roughly two and a half to three times as
many hours in unpaid domestic and care work. Unpaid work hours restrict the time
women have to spend on paid work. Typically, women also spend more total hours on
paid and unpaid work than men do.

When in paid employment, women on average work fewer hours for pay or profit
either because they opt to work part time or because part-time work is the only option
available to them. In both developing and developed countries, involuntary part-time
work is much higher for women compared to for men.

Once again, less hours spent on paid work translates to further inequalities, such as
limited access to social protection and pensions.

Underlying reasons

So, women are still getting paid less than men for the same jobs. But the largest
portion of the pay gap is due to women being more likely than men to be out of the
workforce or undertake part-time work to do unpaid work such as caring for children,
and more likely to work in industries with lower average pay, and less likely to be in
high-paid senior positions. Currently, only 22% of individuals holding senior managerial
positions are women.

Much of it falls back to inequalities in society – especially when it comes to caring

for children. Unless drastic changes take place, estimates usually land between 70 to
over 200 years before the current economic gap between men and women will close.

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Inflexible working hours and limited parental leave are factors that can impede women’s
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career advancements and instead force them into part-time employment. In turn, this
Us exposes them to further inequalities, such as limited access to social protection. Women
e with children are more vulnerable to these inequalities.

Change men’s attitudes towards childcare

Norms, attitudes and behaviours around childcare and household work is the
underlying culprit. Unfortunately, these change slowly over time and are often mimicked
by younger generations. Increased efforts in education and information are needed to
change attitudes.

Women’s responsibility for child care also raises employers’ cost of hiring
women, which leads to discriminating hiring practices. This stems not only from norms
around childcare, but also from legal policies, including for parental leave.

Do You Think Men Experience Gender Inequality?

The answer is, YES. Men experience gender inequality.

Men are facing harmful gender stereotypes, examples are:

• Men as the breadwinner and systematic discrimination ;
• Men cannot allow themselves to feel fear, if they do, they just have to get over
it;
• Masculinity’s source is power and potency;
• Maleness requires aggression and audacity.

Link: Gender inequalities – underlying reasons and the need for change | Sharing
Sweden. (2020). Retrieved 21 July 2020, from
https://sharingsweden.se/materials/gender-inequalities-underlying-reasons-need-
change/

Link: The United Nations regards gender equality as a human right Haris. (2013).
Gender Equality. Retrieved 21 July 2020, from
https://www.slideshare.net/HarisDozz/gender-equality-25774079

III. CAUSES AND SAMPLE OF GENDER INEQUALITY

Causes Of Gender Inequality

• Rigid Cultures and traditions
• Patriarchal society
• Religious matters
• Marriage laws
• Bad mentality

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• Educational level and illiteracy
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• Stereotypes
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Examples Of Gender Inequality

 Forbidden from driving
 Lack of legal rights
 Feminization of poverty
 Access to education
 Right to travel
 Professional obstacles
 Violence against women
 Infant life expectancy
 Representation in government
 Female feticide and infanticide
 Honour killing

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Us EFFECTS OF GENDER INEQUALITY
• Mental health issues;
e • Lower fertility rates
• Increased rate of illiteracy
• Higher suicide rate
• Low standard of living
• Violation of rights

WAYS TO CURB/ REDUCE/ ERADICATE GENDER INEQUALITY

 Education should be provided and accessible for all worldwide
 Gender awareness and analysis training for all
 Financial support for women and children escaping abusive environments
 In the workplace, increasing the diversity of the workforce
 Joining empowerment programmes
 Expanding women’s right and freedom
 Giving proper value to women’s work
 Cooperation

Gender equality must become a lived reality. Excellence does not distinguish
between genders. It will come from the men and women who believe they can make a
difference. We must close the gender gap.
This is a chance to maximize the potential of each and every one of us to boost the
economy and create a society where we are all seen as people regardless of our
gender.

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Us References:
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Johannes Jütting & Christian Morrisson & Jeff Dayton-Johnson & Denis Drechsler,
2006. "The Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base," OECD Development
Centre Policy Insights 16, OECD Publishing.

Links:

Gender Equality Ppt.

https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/departmental/wideningparticipation/
globalcitizenshipchallenge/powerpoints/5-Gender-equality-powerpoint.pptx

Gender inequalities – underlying reasons and the need for change | Sharing
Sweden. (2020). Retrieved 21 July 2020, from
https://sharingsweden.se/materials/gender-inequalities-underlying-reasons-need-
change/

The United Nations regards gender equality as a human right Haris. (2013).
Gender Equality. Retrieved 21 July 2020, from
https://www.slideshare.net/HarisDozz/gender-equality-25774079

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