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Insufficient data representing gender-based discrimination in public and private sector businesses in South Africa with a lack of understanding of employee perceptions of gender based discrimination and employee functioning perpetuates gender inequality in the work place. According to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), women are severely underrepresented in the labour force. Statistical data represented in the report for 2013-2017 reveals that women only make up 20.7% at top management level in the private business sector, and 30.8% in public sector organisations (Human Rights Commission, 2017, p. 15).
Get original essayFurther research holds that between 2016 and 2017 men constituted 73.3% of the private sector, in local government sectors even more with 76.3% and 62.6% in national government sectors (Human Rights Commission, 2017, p. 15). Gender-based discrimination has been at the centre of equality talks across all economic and educational sectors globally in pursuit of eradicating the institutional pillars upholding inequality and perpetuating indirect and direct discrimination women face on a daily basis in the workplace. “Indirect discrimination refers to policies and practices that do not explicitly distinguish between on the basis of any prohibited ground, but nonetheless have a discriminatory effect on particular groups or individuals” (van der Walt, le Roux, & Govindjee, 2012).
South African legislation outlaws any form of discrimination as described in the Employment Equity Act (EEA), which holds that “no person may unfairly discriminate, directly or indirectly, against an employee, in any employment policy or practice, on one or more grounds including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, family responsibility…” (van der Walt, le Roux, & Govindjee, 2012). Earlier data gathered regarding gender equality in the South African workplace found that on average, women only made up approximately 12% of senior and top management level in the private business sectors (South African Human Rights Commision Equality Report, 2012). This was especially observed in mining and technical industries (South African Human Rights Commision Equality Report, 2012). Occupational Mental health has been shown to be significantly related to productivity and other desired organizational outcomes such as commitment and satisfaction. In particular, many studies have found a close link between mental health and job satisfaction.
Although there were some companies that presented various methods and measures designed to promote gender equality such as “leadership training, mentoring and coaching programmes and remuneration as measures”, the SAHRC found no supporting evidence of these efforts actually being implemented and effectively so (South African Human Rights Commision Equality Report, 2012, p. 27). This study presents a research opportunity to explore the different perceptions of gender based discrimination between managers and employees regarding perceptions about gender-based discrimination in the workplace. Existing research have shown some short comings and gaps in available information around this topic. The importance of this research is highlighted by previous research as there seems to be a lack in available in-depth exploring and analysis of gender-based discrimination including various perceptions help by employees and management (Steyn, 2014). To achieve gender equality in the workplace we need to understand the main challenges involving gender based discrimination which have been highlighted by pervious researchers as the “lack of effective implementation of existing laws and the lack of effective monitoring and application of appropriate sanctions in cases of poor compliance or lack thereof” (South African Human Rights Commision Equality Report, 2012, p. 26).
The broad area of organizational psychology this study focuses on is occupational health, labour law and employee relations. The variables concerned with this study include occurrence of unfair discrimination, employee perception of discrimination in the workplace and the perception of interpersonal injustice. It is vital now more than ever for I/O psychology to aid in transforming the workplace to be a safe and non-discriminatory environment for all social groups and groups that are marginalised and previously disadvantaged groups in society. The main research question for this study considered, is there a relationship between employee’s perceptions of gender based discrimination and employee functioning? Sub questions relating to this are does gender based discrimination have a greater effect on women? Moreover, how are high levels of gender based discrimination related to the well-being of working women between ages 18-35 in South Africa?
The fight for women’s rights and non-conforming persons is being brought to the forefront across all employment sectors globally. Previous research conducted has yielded great information which indicates that gender bias typically occurs during recruitment processes, interviewing, hiring, and when determining employee salaries (Steyn, 2014, p. 10). This study investigated 1 740 different employees and 145 managers from 29 companies in South Africa. The results showed that 12.1% of the employees reported incidents of being discriminated against based on their gender and 19.3% of managers reported witnessing gender-based discrimination (Steyn, 2014, p. 121). Managers’ general perception of consequences of gender-based discrimination were associated with “promotions, job applications and receiving training” in contrast to employees that viewed the effects as primarily being associated to pay received as well as benefits and promotions (Steyn, 2014, p. 124).
Experiencing unfair treatment in the workplace can lead to different negative outcomes including decrease in job satisfaction and organizational citizenship according to (Miner & Cortina, 2016) that found a direct linkage which poses important questions on perceived justice and the implication and effectiveness of the Employee Equity Act. Empirical evidence produced from the study argued that “perceived unjust treatment may directly lead to an employee's discontentment with the organization” (Miner & Cortina, 2016, p. 2). .Interpersonal justice is an even that poses a threat to ones’ self-esteem and in effect can lower an individual’s self-esteem (Miner & Cortina, 2016). Further studies similarly found that collectively department-level perceptions of interpersonal injustice were related to lower levels of supervisor satisfaction and affective organizational commitment, and higher turnover intentions among hotel employees (Miner & Cortina, 2016)
Till this day, gender conflict in society is an on-going concern. Through generations men and women have been limited to their ability based on society’s labels that are attached to each gender in which the narrator experiences these restrictions through her household. For instants, the narrator enjoys the work of her father much greater than her mother’s. However, when her father introduced her to the salesman as a “new hired hand”, she was told by the salesman “I thought it was only a girl”.
Get original essayThe comment made by the salesman was one of the many ways the narrator was struck down by her belief and was nothing but a girl. Due to society’s guidelines, men are portrayed to be greater than a girl in which women feel the need to let the men handle men’s work. The narrator is constantly told by her mother “wait till Laird gets a little bigger, then you’ll have real help”. Once again, the narrator is told she doesn’t belong in the position she desires and that it’s temporary, being that the helping hand should be her brother whereas she will be forced to complete the tasks of the household like an ideal girl would carry out.
Generally, when women take upon manly conduct or services many individuals point out and frown upon their originality in a negative way and take it upon themselves to remind them their side of the line.With the pressure of gender role, those who go against society’s guidelines have trouble finding their identity being that they rejected the one that was set for them when they were born. When you think of a girl, you think of someone who generally takes interests in feminine activity such as household cleaning, cooking etc.
Although, the narrator choses to break these chains bounded to her gender, and attempt at creating her own identity. Being that the narrator’s perception on the mother’s work was “endless, dreary, and peculiarly depressing” shows that she has no interests in what a typical girl carry’s out. Her mothers work is far more boring compared to her father’s work which was “ritualistically important”. “These stories were about myself, when I had grown a little older; they took place in a world that was recognizably mine”.
In addition, through these dreams you can see she’s inspired to be someone and not what her reality wants her to be. Despite, that these were based on a fantasy, her braveness that lies within her character allowed her to want more for herself.When individuals are forced to accept certain norms, they tend to do the opposite. The narrator experiences multiple incidents in which the female role in society is constantly being forced upon her.
Something as simple as, when her grandmother told her “girls keep their knees together when they sit down”, is a direct suggestion on how to be a girl. In our society being a girl involves many aspects and something as little as our posture can change people’s assumptions on you. “I can use her more in the house” although, this may not seem big, for the most part of the narrator’s upbringing she religiously had remarks thrown at her by her mother. Whether it was trying to teach her a women role in the household or putting her brother on a pedal stool. “She was now plotting to get me to stay in the house more, although she knew I hated it”.
When were children, believe it or not we have more liberation and people tend to turn a blind eye to things that aren’t considered right in our conduct however, as we grow older our parents try to shape us and feel like it’s their responsibility to show you how to be a proper girl or boy in society.Growing up, the narrator experiences firsthand the fine line in society’s damaged system on gender separation roles. Whether we agree or not, generations will always have defined norms that shape the way individuals live their life, however, it is up to you to separate right values from wrong values.
David Malouf’s Ransom explores the power dynamic between men and women, and despite the obvious role of men in the text, women, too, are significant as they have influence over man’s presence on earth. Traditional gender roles, as defined by the expectations of a patriarchal Ancient Greek society in which the novel is set, often force women to take a passive, secondary role to men who occupy positions of power such as the king or the warrior. However, an alternate reading of the text challenges the black and white portrayal of the two genders, suggesting that females have a strong presence as the caregivers and protectors of men. The presence of women at the beginning and end of life acknowledges the significance of maternal creation as well as rites of passage that men in the text can neither understand nor emulate. Furthermore, it is the goddesses in the novel that instil the idea to ransom in Priam and evoke a softness in Achilles (which gives way to a truce between the male protagonists), thus highlighting that it is through the females that the transformations of the Trojan king and the Greek warrior occur. It is in this way that the female characters in Ransom are shown to have power and influence in their own right and play an integral role in their society.
Get original essayMalouf suggests that women in Ransom give sanctuary to male protagonists, whose insecurities and grief diminish at the comfort they are able to seek in their female counterparts. Priam’s diffidence and isolation in the overly ceremonial royal sphere is softened in the presence of his wife, Hecuba, who serves as his sole companion with whom he is able to speak and reflect freely. Their shared journey, in which both have aged - Priam fondly notes his wife’s ‘veined hands’ which ‘like his own’ is ‘mottled… with liver-colored spots’ – and (despite their antiquity) their portrayal as children highlights the innocence and ‘tenderness’ of their relationship and suggests that both are heavily dependent on each other. Thus, in declaring that ‘nothing… is hidden’ from Hecuba, the king displays his utmost trust for the wife he considers most fondly, and despite being a ‘ceremonial figurehead’, Priam is able to satiate his need to be understood by someone in her presence. In being the confidant of the king’s personal desires Hecuba shares her husband’s burden of being king, and her understanding and final acceptance of his wishes gives Priam confidence in his plan, thus rendering her role as quintessential. Furthermore, Somax’s grief over the demise of his sons are eased by the presence of his female relations, who are the last living connections he has to them. The anecdotes of Somax’s sons are told in a “lively manner” and are “so full of emotion”, implying the tender love which underpins the relationship between the carter and his children. Whilst reflecting on his grief, Somax asserts his sons are “tied [to him] this way”, symbolically pointing to his heart, suggesting that they are at the crux of his being. Thus, in proclaiming that ‘all [he has] left to [him] now is the daughter-in-law and… [his] granddaughter’, Malouf suggests that they are the last connection to Somax’s sons, and by extension, his sense of being.
Similarly, in exploring birth and death, which are significant events to the Ancient Greeks, Malouf identifies females as both givers of life and safeguards of the soul when journeying to the afterlife, thus rendering their roles quintessential in the life cycle of men. Hecuba’s raw anguish and rage towards the ‘noble Achilles’ is a testament towards the strength of motherhood. Her declaration that it is ‘her flesh being tumbled on the stones’ is a reminder that it is the women who give birth to the warriors and the kings of the novel, suggesting that despite their secondary role throughout the war, the war itself is being fought by sons who have been ‘[yielded]…up to the world’ by their mothers. Moreover, Hecuba’s detailed recollections of her sons and Priam’s dispirited reaction to the ‘women’s talk’ suggest that the children were primarily raised under their mother’s affections, whilst their relationship with their father was merely ‘formal and symbolic’. Thus, it is highlighted that women, as mothers, are a significant part of society given their role in bringing children into the world. As reflected in Ransom, the Ancient Greeks laid heavy emphasis on respecting the dead, thus rendering burial rites of utmost importance. Achilles reflects on Hector’s ‘last commerce with the world’; that the ‘humble but necessary’ rituals are ‘women’s work’. Despite the work being ‘common’, he acknowledges it is ‘not for the eyes of men’, and the strength of the ‘women’s presence’ indicates that the ethereal nature of crossing to the afterlife is completed under their guidance. In remembering the ‘smell of dried herbs cut with lye’, the warrior realizes that ‘this is the first world [man comes] into… and the last pace [man passes] through’, highlighting that the life of man begins and ends in ‘the hands of women’. In this way, Malouf suggests that it is the females who control the entrances and exits of a one’s existence, and thus their roles take precedence over the male protagonists, given that they are the gateways to life and death.
Moreover, the goddesses in the text introduce the notion of ‘something new’ which facilitates the reshaping of the male protagonists and personify the archetypal feminine qualities which combat the rigidity of man. After being in ‘ceremonial stillness’ for days after Hector’s death, it is the goddess, Iris, which makes a ‘dangerous suggestion’ to Priam which impels him to take action. The immortal woman’s words which ‘[continued] to drop directly into [Priam’s] thoughts’ had cleared his mind from reticence thus allowing him to transcend his kingship in a search for ‘something new’. In this way, Iris had not only implanted the idea which restored Hector’s body in its rightful place, but moreover, by sending Priam on the journey to the Greek Camp, the goddess catalyzed his transformation from a mere king to a ‘man [and] father’, who, through his change, had returned triumphant. Thus, the king’s journey had stemmed from the idea of a woman, highlighting the significance of female roles in the events of the text. Moreover, it is the qualities of Achilles’ immortal mother, Thetis, which softened her son and allowed the formation of a bond between the two previously antagonistic men. A juxtaposition between the fluidity of Thetis’ element and the earthly element of man is made which starkly highlights the violent nature of the ‘rough world of men’ in which the Greek warrior falls victim to a dangerous thirst for vengeance. When shifting into his mother’s element, Achilles is under ‘her shimmering influence’ and the ‘suspension of his hard, manly qualities’ allows the warrior to consider Priam without his overpowering adversity. Achilles envisions Priam as his father due to the feminine qualities he is possessed with, and thus in feeling ‘tenderly vulnerable’, the ‘warrior in him… is subdued’. In this way, Thetis’ influence enables the Greek protagonist to transcend the fixity of his role, and in connecting with Priam, Achilles has found his ‘something new’, resulting in their amity taking precedence over their enmity.
Despite the ancient society being driven by male hegemony, Malouf asserts that the role of women in Ransom underpins the functioning of society as one’s life begins and ends in their hands. In this way, it is suggested that their duty, as guardians of life, transcends the rigid expectations imposed on women. Furthermore, it is suggested that females not only provide security for the male protagonists, but significantly, they are able to influence the events of the text, highlighting that similar to men, the female characters fulfill substantial roles.
Feminism or gender equality, a current hot topic that is all over the media and that every day we heard something related to it. However, what we understand with Feminism?
Get original essayTo answer this question, I personally prefer to define it as: equality in the social, political and economic environment among sexes. This definition comes from the one of Feminist that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave in the “We should all be feminists” TED talk, in which she said that: “Feminist: A person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes” (Adichie, 2012). Nevertheless, a lot of people still do not understand this term as it is usually mistaken with the contrary of sexism.
With this essay, I am not only intending to show how we can measure gender equality and why it is important, but also, proved wrong the popular belief that developed or high-income countries are the most equal ones and that culture, or the social environment has an important burden in this topic.
Before, describing why all countries should aim to achieve gender equality and the importance of the female role in the economy, I would like to begin with this speech: “Human rights are women´s right and women´s rights are human right once and for all. Women must enjoy the rights to participate fully in the social and political lives of their countries.” (Clinton, 1995)
To ensure that all countries contribute to that and that gender equality is achieved, in 2015, the 193 members of the United Nations, adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which included 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The goal number five is Gender Equality, which aims to empower all women and girls, by:
Gender equality is not just the fight for achieving full human right for women and girls but also, fighting for the huge waste of human potential that is cause by the denial of those rights to women. Reaching female political, economic and social equality will provide enormous benefits for the whole society. As the Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said in 2014: “All economies have savings and productivity gains if women have access to the job market. It´s not just a moral, philosophical, or equal-opportunity matter. It just makes economic sense.” This Fourth Industrial Revolution offers an unprecedent wide range of opportunities and new challenges. To reach the full potential of this new technologies, we need also the full human potential, so we cannot afford to leave out the ideas, skills and perspectives of half of the population.
Even though women and girls have gained ground in the economy and society, gender equity is not achieved, and gender inequality prevails as important setback for human development. Some sources of inequality are health, education, labor market participation, political representation… which all have negative impact on their freedom of choice.
The representation of women in politics (as ministers, parliamentarians or heads of state) is determining for accomplishing gender equality. It has been proved that greater number of women in leadership positions increases the investment on health, education, community infrastructure and ending poverty. Therefore, empowering women will affect the way the world works today, which improves development. However, economic development itself cannot achieve gender equality in all dimensions and not until like-minded men join this cause, there will not be a decisive change.
A greater proportion of girls in the educational system, and therefore higher female literacy rates, contributes to women´s economic empowerment. It not only provides more upskilled labor force to keep up with the fast-technological developments, but also, offers better income-generating opportunities and participation in the labor market, which improves their wellbeing and their access to health and other services.
Empowering women, through education and higher participation in high income positions, will improve children´s welfare as they tend to invest a greater part of their income in their families’ health, nutrition, education and overall wellbeing. This will imply that newborn girls will have better opportunities than their mothers to earn and control their own income. Also, there will be higher levels of female school enrollments which would imply smaller educational gap between boys and girls. It has been found that there is significant positive relationship between female education and output per worker, what means that there is an increase in productivity and so, an increase in economic growth. Therefore, educational gender gap is one of the most important obstacles to economic development. According to Klasen and Lamanna (2008), lower female education and employment rates are the cause of a 1.6 percent differences in annual growth rates between South Asia and East Asia. Moreover, half of the economic growth of the OECD countries can be linked to the increase in educational attainment during the past 50 years.
Greater gender inequality is associated with higher GDP per capita, rising economic growth rates, which indeed leads to greater income inequality, and better national competitiveness and economic diversification, which all contributes to economic resilience.
Gender inequality persists in some low-income countries where there are discriminatory social institutions and norms that hamper women empowerment. In India, the Middle East or North Africa, there are still cultural practices or norms, like the preference for sons or the concern for women´s “purity”, that limit opportunities for women or their freedom of choice. However, economic development is expected to change these cultural norms which would improve gender equality.
Western Europe, North America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, are the regions with the highest level of gender equity. While South Asia, and Middle East and North Africa the ones with lower gender parity. However, it is expected that the gap closes in 61 years in Western Europe, 70 years in South Asia, 74 years in Latin America and the Caribbean, 124 years in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 153 years in Middle East and North Africa, and 165 years in North America.
Now, in this section, we are going to examine why women equality is important for the economy and how gender equality boost growth and promotes economic stability.
Lower gender inequality increases female participation in the labor market which contributes to a strong, sustainable and balanced economic growth in the long run. Greater presence of women in the labor market allows a better use of the available talent pool plus a more efficient allocation of resources and an increase in productivity that leads to a higher GDP growth. This female incorporation to the labor force is due essentially to the increase in the service sector, the technological advances in the domestic and private sectors, and the reduction of childbearing risk and frequency. This inclusion into the labor market improves women’s and girls’ personal autonomy. The increase of the labor force is key important to fight the aging of population, it can soften the negative effect on the shrinking labor supply. This positively impacts the sustainability of the pension system as it ensures stable economic growth by including more skilled labor as a result of higher female education.
According to the OECD, increasing the participation of women in the labor market can rise the GDP by 12 percent during the next 15 years. Moreover, gender gaps in the labor market can be directly attributable to a 27 percent decrease in the GDP per capita in some regions. In addition, if no women were in the labor market, it is expected that GDP per capita losses would be of 47 percent in the short run and 50 in the long run. According to Cuberes and Teignier there are some public policies that can boost the gender equality in the labor market: promoting gender neutral legal business frameworks, equal access to finance, relaxing administrative burdens and redundant regulatory restrictions, and guaranteeing fiscal, financial and legal advice and training.
It has been discovered that economic growth originated by reducing poverty and increasing opportunities have a significant positive impact on gender equality. Moreover, it has been discovered that the positive relationship between gender equality and growth goes beyond education and it is different depending on the countries’ income level. It is expected to hold better in low income economies than in high income ones.
Greater gender equality is positively related with lower income inequality. Reducing gender wage gaps directly impacts income inequality, which contributes to a sustainable growth. It is expected that closing this gap could increase female per capita income in 23 percent in the OECD countries.
Higher female participation in the labor force lowers earning inequality between sexes, contributing to less pension’s inequality in the future. However, women tend to work in the grey economy which is associated with lower wages that contributes to the aggravation of income inequality. On the other hand, the unequal access to health services, education, financial markets and resources also contributes to greater income inequality. The differences in opportunities for men and women are strongly related to gender wage gaps. For example, in most developing countries, there are still gender gaps in education and financial access. The first one unbales women to access to higher income remunerated positions which contributes to greater income inequality. The second one impedes women to have their own financial independence to start a business or to attain university or other educational institutions. This exacerbate inequality of opportunities, which in turn contributes to increasing income inequality.
It has been shown that greater employment and leadership opportunities for women and girls are associated with higher organizational effectiveness and growth. Greater share of women in senior managerial level or in corporate boards is positively related with higher profitability and low-risk corporate investments. This is due to the different and improved decision-making that women bring to firms’ boards, as they tend to be more creative, innovative, better problem solving and more emotional involved. This gender-diverse broads guarantees a wider range of points of view which improves the overall corporate productivity and reduces the possibility of a growth slowdown. It is expected that the inclusion of one more woman into a high decision-making position, can increase return on assets in 8 to 13 basis points.
Female presence in higher organizational levels is also associated with a better use of the available talent pool and a better representation of the current labor force. Moreover, female owned companies are expected to be better positioned in more orientated customer markets and a more people emphasis leadership. This all means that there would be an improvement in the nine business dimensions (Culture, Governance, Methodology, Stakeholder Management, Skills, Technology, Data, Workforce Experiences and Business Outcomes) However, it has been found that in Europe and United States is three times harder for a woman to get into a higher organizational positions than to a man.
Finally, reducing gender gaps in entrepreneurship is positive associated with a more effective allocation of resources and therefore higher productivity of small and medium size firms. It has been proved that no women in this type of business is related with a 10 percent decrease in worker’s income in the short-run and a 11 percent fall in the long-run.
Greater economic diversification increases growth, reduces volatility and increases resilience to external shocks. It has been discovered that gender inequality is negatively associated with output and export diversification in developing countries. Therefore, greater gender equality reduces the risk from export specialization.
Higher presence of women in banks boards is positive related to greater bank stability. It has been discovered that greater share of women in banks are positive associated with bigger capital buffers and lower non-performing loans.
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Get custom essayTo summarize gender equality has a lot of benefits to society, especially in the economic field.
What a piece of work is woman!
Get original essayIn form, in moving, how express and admirable!
In action how like an angel.
In apprehension how like a God!
And at the same time it is also said.
Frailty — thy name is woman.
- William Shakespeare.
The status of women involves equality between men and women. Women are viewed to be the second sex. Equality and status are closely associated with power. The changing status of power involves the sharing on equal footing with men in decision-making and its accomplishment, to intimate and reputable extents. The societal value framework plays an important role in determining the changing status of power equations. Hence, the status of women involves the distribution and redistribution of power.
A woman is not accepted on her terms by the patriarchal structure. Gyno -Critics have considered the kind of divide between a father language and a mother language. If he or she wants to be accepted anywhere, he or she has to know the rules of the game that they have to play, then he or she has to use what is called `The Father Language.' It is the language that is expository pertaining particularly to scientific discourse and involves talking down to and does not seek any particular response. If one speaks the father language, he or she gets absorbed into the patriarchy. Mother language, on the other hand, sheds intellectual authority.
During the last two or three decades, women's studies have become popular and this study deals with women in the Indian situation. When we go back to the Vedic period, one could find that the status of a woman was equal to that of a man. After the Vedic period, a flat position for women in society was presented. After independence, there has been an improvement in the status of women. Today, we are critically analyzing the position of women. Questions are being raised regarding a woman's position in every walk of life. Actions are being proposed to change the situations and solve the problems that are being faced by women.In a male-centric society, the institution of marriage is the fundamental consideration for all the problems connected with women. In India, a culture has been created which has denied the existence of women except as daughter/sister, a wife/daughter-in-law, and mother/mother-in-law. It has also denied women the possibility of being a 'SHE,' a person capable of achieving individuation. She is seen as an insignificant creature and as her status is described in Raja Rao'sThe Serpent and the Rope: 'Women should not be'(45). A man's relationship with woman is most often the bond that exists between a master and a slave. A woman is an object and she is essential to man because only through her that man hopes to attain self-realization. It is in such a culture, in recent times, that voices of dissent are heard in the form of feminism.
One of the primal and seminal concerns of feminism is to declare that a woman is a being. She is not an object in the hands of man. A woman is not the 'other'; She is not an addition to a man. She is an autonomous being capable of finding her own way to salvation, through trial and error. Some feminist writings say that there must have been a time in the cradle of humanity when there were no different issues for men and women. Over the movement of civilization, issues have tended to be different for women and they never remained at the center of anything. Women have become marginalized and men have remained at the Centre for many centuries. It is women alone who are caught in the interface between production for the needs of human existence and the reproduction of new human beings themselves. This has been the universal situation about women.
Problems like the deterioration of their social status, and the perpetual insecurity in a squatter settlement are important considerations in determining the social status of women in India. In the Patriarchal Indian Social System, the difficulties faced by women are: They are not treated equally, there is less endowment for women, women are subordinated through violence, the media's negative portrayal of women, and the support systems for women sometimes prove to be trapped for women. Women play multiple roles such as school teachers, typists, clerks, telephone operators, midwives, and ayahs. While married women have a low social status and security because of her family situation and poor economic background, unmarried women are ill-treated where she lives. Sometimes in the absence of sons, some daughters stay unmarried to support their old parents.
The enhancement of the position of women requires a change in the opinions and roles of both men and women. Women's initiation and empowerment should not only be contemplated as an issue in social development but also should be seen as a significant part in every dimension of development. Equity, sovereign equality, interdependence, common interest, and cooperation among all states should be the basis for the betterment of the position of women.
There were different phases of rise and fall in the position of women in the Indian situation. It is remarked that in the Vedic period women get involved in all the fields like men and took an active part in every province of human life. A woman has been a man's friend, his co-worker, and never his inferior. She has enjoyed property rights, an approach to the property of her father and husband, and also she has scuffled against the political as well as social problems generously with man. During the Vedic period, women have been occupied high positions in society and have been allowed to enter the societal province.
It reveals that women have equal rights with men in choosing a life partner in her marriage. Marriage is well established social and religious institution in the Vedic period. It has prevented sexual immorality to a great extent. In the middle ages, women's social position declined remarkably. The male child is considered to be more important in the family compared to daughters because religiously and economically they are given more preference. Not only does the son perform funeral rites necessary for salvation, but also he is a potential wage earner. He has been seen as a supporter of his parents in their old age. He is also considered to be an economic asset. The daughter, on the other side, has no economic importance, and she has been derided for taking money from the family in the form of dowry during her marriage. In recent times, education, especially formal education, has played a very significant role in the social status of women. It is a major path of ascending social mobility. “Education is the key that opens the door to life which is essentially social in character.'
For women, the greatest achievement is motherhood. After achieving it, everything is rewarded for fulfilling her destined role. Whether Jain, Buddhist, or Hindu, Dharma is a salient pedestal on which the entire structure of society is built. It has meanings at different levels, though the overall impact of the word gives Hindus the dictum to follow a religion-oriented way of life. This fundamental body of moral behavior, related to the continuity of the universe as a recognized scientific reality which gives a woman as the sahakarinior worldly protector of her husband's life and the one who holds things together. What is important in the life of Indian Women is a form of endurance, which is difficult to define.
When Hindu women marry, they must bear sons. Then only, they become blessed. It is believed that the father’s soul may reach heaven only when a mother begets the son. It is interesting to note that, in the Indian social set-up, women still glorify only male children above females. This has created sex determination in family life, and it is intact for over five thousand years because of women’s ability to cope with the harsh realities of life in Indian society. Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, has seen this loathing situation and has tried to bring a solution to their problem. He has stated thus:
Women are not abala...weaker sex. You can change the face of the country today. You must have the courage to use the great strength to suffer without inflicting suffering and to resist wrong so that you would break but not bend…, God has a blessed woman with the strength of faith in a measure that is not given to man. So long as we cannot dispel the ignorance which makes women put male offspring above female, it won't be well with us.
Further, Gandhiji's philosophy is that a woman has a right to get an education. According to him, education expands and sharpens women’s intellect and increases their capacity for doing well. Though men and women are considered as equals, in existing practice when it comes to the question of giving education to girls, there is a liability among the parents to prefer a boy's education than that of a girl. The illiterate mother, in particular, has very little chance to perceive that she should guarantee better education to her daughter at least. The National Committee on the Status of Women observes that the Constitutional directive to provide free and compulsory education up to 14 years has remained unfulfilled till now.
In India, activities to enhance the status of women have been initiated in the 19th century. They are known as 'reform movement.' This has helped women to take part in the nationalist Movement. Women have acted as vehicles for National Independence. With the blossoming autonomous women's groups, things have started changing. A process of transformation has begun in the field of women's social status. Three major movements are noticeable in this process of transformation. First, in the social economic sphere, the continuing absorption of women into the workforce has continued. Second, science and technology in relation to birth control and reduction in their drudgery will minimize the present imbalance in capacity for personal decisions and actions between the sexes. Third, the present redefinition of the moral and psychological assumption that a single-parent family as the only legitimate form of sexual cohabitation is likely to continue. These three emerging trends in Indian society are likely to generate specific and continuing courses of action, particularly on the part of organized women's groups, governments, and large private corporate organizations.
The extension of equal treatment to women and equal consideration would go a long way in ensuring equal social justice, the struggle for which has been a basic theme of political and social movements for the past several centuries. For a long time yet, this goal has be achieved by organized women's action. The social values of the people change with changes in the economic structure and ideology. The Committee on the status of women in India observes that patterns of Women's activity are greatly affected by social attitudes and institutions, which stem from the social ideology concerning the status of women. These may differ according to the stage of economic development. On the one hand, a woman has been kept out of occupational activity as a bread earner and on the other hand, on the pretext of the biological ground, she has been compelled to become a wife and mother. The responsibility of nurturing a child has always been allocated to the woman. Margaret Polatnick has argued that child-rearing 'is no sacred fate of nature, but a social policy which supports male domination in the society and in the family'.
Men, as the subordinate group, don't want childrearing responsibility, so they assign it to women. Slowly the working woman has taken over part of the bread-winning activity but the man has not as yet taken over the child-rearing activity. Social reforms and economic developments are gradually changing the man-woman relationship and the fixed nature of roles has been allocated to them by the prevalent social structure. Education plays an important role in the social status of women and has offered them job opportunities in new fields. From time to time, Indian women, have been showing their talent in each and every discipline of knowledge. Man boasts and brags, domineers, and dominates over women only because a woman has come out from man, she is one of the ribs of a man. In the Hindu religion, the social value of women is not certain, sometimes upgraded and sometimes degraded.In modern times, women have shown their determination in every field. If one probe into the history of Indian authors in English, one can see that Indian women have shown their talent both qualitatively and quantitatively and are displaying their value endlessly.
Indian women writers through their works have brought out well on women's struggle for freedom, identity, marital problems, and so on. This happens because of gender bias and cultural estrangement. Men have freedom in a tradition-bound society. They have their own views, and feelings and can express them freely and fearlessly. On the other hand, women are expected to be mute and passive. They have to shape themselves according to the wishes, needs and instructions of the family. In other words, they are viewed to be the private property of the male. In such a scenario, Indian women writers in English are against the subjugation of women and through their works they project freedom for women.
Most of the Indian women writers including the chosen writers for the study are against the chiding of women in a tradition-bound society, where women are viewed to be the inferior sex. Women writers are against the sadism of men, which ruins their life totally. Man’s dominant psyche, these writers know pretty well, may spoil women’s economic and social independence. Indian women writers do not like women to be treated with prejudice because this kind of existence does not take them as human beings. Interestingly, most of Indian women writers do not allow their protagonists, either their body or mind, to be dominated by the male ego. The protagonists of these women writers do not allow themselves to be marked by despair or frustration. Also, they know pretty well if they allow despair or frustration, they may gnaw their soul.
Further, it is observed that most of the protagonists of Indian women writers adhere to modern view. To them sex is not a taboo. Though the protagonists experience emptiness, at every step in their life, they try to swim across this without pent-up emotions. Most of the Indian women writers have brought out lesbianism as a sort of elite. To them it is not a curse or a sort of hindrance to attaining an individualistic identity. They have the guts to break the social taboos. The protagonists of Indian women writers are educated and long for career-oriented life. They have their own dreams. Through their protest and resistance, they save themselves from victimization.
They attempt to assert their individuality and confront in search of freedom because they do their best to redefine human relationships. The cultural and social background may help them to realize their need to live in the family. But, they dare to reject their respective role if there is any harm to their existence. They work to achieve self-identity and independence with their gouging tendencies. Discard, in their marriage, is a real problem to them and if it surmounts, they struggle to find a solution to the problems. In fact, they strive very hard to uphold family and societal norms. To their heedful behavior, at the same time, they are not ready to lose their identity because of their awareness their rights and duties.
They also have illicit sexual passion and bank on an independent autonomous existence. Though the readers may think that a careen between tradition and modernity, they want their existence to be felt and recognized by all those who come into contact with them. In other words, it seems they refuse to stoop to tradition, convention, and oppression. So, they show sign of being far from the conservative hold of Indian society. These protagonists of Indian women writers have a circle of their own. They do not care for virulent critics about their opinions. They don’t bother for anyone and they try to bring the world at their feet. Also, they believe the sky is the limit for their progress. Truly they are modern women with enthusiasm and creative energy.
The Post–Colonial Writers, at the beginning, have portrayed pain, hardship and struggle in their writings at the beginning. They show life of dependence. Also, they show how their protagonists live at the mercy of the patriarchal man in their lives. In fact, they have shown their heroines with less dignity, identity or individuality. Later, writers like Anita Desai and Ruth ParawerJhabvalaproject their protagonists as independent and how they live life of their own. They have inner struggles and with it they try to discover the real self through their inner natural potential to show they do not want to submit themselves to anyone’s injunctions. They want to assert their position as human beings equal to men. As a result, they show a scuffle between age old traditions and emerging new ideas. Most of the Indian women writers have brought out how the family and society are responsible for deteriorating relations. But, the fierce protagonists of Indian women writers struggle to attain selfhood to show that they are non- conformist.
In fact, the protagonists are projected not as an object and they go ahead to attain their goal with their strident endeavors. Though the double standards of patriarchy may give them mental trauma, they try to overcome their agony with their audacity. Most of Indian women writers talk about Liberal Feminism. Its aim is to achieve equality between man and woman; it stresses more on the strength of an individual to change biased practices against women. It works within the framework of society to bring women into it. Liberal Feminism has its saying to focus on the individual who uses her abilities not only to help but also to help women thereby becoming equal with men in society.
Indian women writers,who fall into Liberal Feminism, work for an individual woman who has the ability to determine her role in family and society with freedom to attain selfhood. It, therefore, aims to remove the historic structure of patriarchal law that has denied women’s rights. The major stress is on the equality of women. In short, it helps to bring equality between women and men in the framework of existing social systems.
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Get custom essayThe history of Indian women writers in English begins with KrupabaiSatthianadhan, Cornelia Sorabji, and Sarojini Naidu. They are the pillars of feminism during the colonial period in their dedication in helping the marginalized women of India. Although all three have separate careers and have been from different backgrounds, they have converged because of the same ideal: the belief that the treatment of many women subjected to social practices needed reform, and female education has been necessary in the reform. Satthianadhan, Sorabji, and Naidu have become the aid for women who have felt oppressed within society, often symbolically and literally becoming the voice for these women. They have been truly women of ambition on a mission, a mission to rewrite history for the future of India’s women. Naidu, who has been on the forefront in protesting against the British for the
Gender Equality has changed over the years. Today women mostly have no opportunities to improve in life. Women don't have the same power or rights as men do. They're mostly restricted in their education, work, financial, opportunities and much more. The women's society is not as equal as the men's society. This has been a huge problem for decades. Gender equality is a human right that every person should be qualified regardeless of the sex, race, or race. The roles of women and men play two different roles in our society. Women were always known as those who would stay home, cook, and clean while men would be working making money. Gender Roles in society are constantly changes over the decades. Today in the world, there are many different types of people. Different genders, backgrounds, cultures, races and more.
Get original essayWe all live in a world of diverse people. People would think that living in a diverse world would create unity and cause us to all be equal. But today I am not talking about the inequality in races but in gender because that is an issue today. From the years there has always been separation of females and males, by the way they are raised. Gender equality is still an issue today but has changed ever since the 20th century and we are getting closer to achieving gender equality between both men and women. The United States is finally able to progressively treat both masculine and feminines equally the same little by little. Both women and men shouldnt be stereotyped in no type of way. Overall, gender should not define a person who a person is. Everyone is a human and men should be inferior to their female.
Going back into the early 1800's and 1900 ?s gender equality was a bigger issue than it is today. Women were mostly seen as those who would stay home and take care of children, cook, clean the house, and were not able to work but stay home. The males had it easier they would go to work and come home to a clean house and food. Not only weren't women able to work but they also couldn't vote nor they had rights either. Men had more rights they were able to vote for their laws. Women had basically no type of opportunities to improve their lives. Regarding the women's wealth or power they still weren't able to have a decent job or vote. If a woman was able to work the only place was a factory. World War 2 gave women jobs while men were fighting in the war but as soon as World War 2 ended women got back to being like slaves.
In the 1900 ?s laws were passed and gave women better working conditions. Women's rights have improved drastically throughout the years and now have some equal opportunities as men. Women were finally being able to go to have an education and go to college and get a degree. The number of women who would attend college would slowly increase into a large number. As this happened women were able to get better jobs than they were able to and some positions that would usually be done by mostly men. In 1920 women were finally able to vote for their rights. In 1923 The Equal Rights Amendment was passed as well to gain equal rights for women. Now women have more power than they did before.
Feminism is a belief that both genders should have the same opportunities and equal rights. Naina Lal Kidwai once said, “True feminism empowers anyone to be free and to have equal opportunity and access to equal legal rights and the rule of law. But it doesn’t dictate what that free person should be doing with her or his freedom.” Females should have the power to be free and have equal rights as the rule of law says it. Gender equality is an issue that affects both genders worldwide. Our future relies on very young women of today. Our world needs to be able to change things and bring both gender rules close together and make a change. I agree with Kidwai statement because those who are feminist understand what her point of view is but many of us dont undertstnad it at all. The world should be able to come together as a group and fight for gender justice in the world. All women have leadership skills according to Kristof, a New York Times writer who speaks on women's rights and feminism, he grew up with women only and had mentioned how women have power and realized that men would always speak up on things rather than women because they were mostly scared to. They see women as more gentle human beings that if a women were to speak up upon a problem no one would pay attention to it, unless a male makes a statement it would turn big. An example would be how we had only had all males as presidents so far. It was shook to everyone when Hillary Clinton was running for president. Nobody really believed she would have gone that far. Males are mostly seen as the “smarter” people in the world shouldn't base that on gender. We are all equal and should be treated the same as every human being. Hillary Clinton had stated “women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights.” This shows that all humans should have rights and gender equality will forever be a right.
The world lives in a place full of stereotypes and most of us don't even realize this issue. People are mostly used to seeing boys wearing blue or dark colors versus girls wearing pink and light colors. Every babyshower when it is a boy or a girl we are disillusioned to dress our daughters up in pink, and sons in blue. We shouldn't feel the need to be able to agree with this and this shouldnt identify what type of human being we are. In his article “What's so bad about a boy who wants to wear a dress?”, Ruth Padawer claims that families are very upset because some of their sons like to play feminine wise and dress up as princesses but other parents or people don't find this right at all.
Ruth supports his claim about boys wearing dresses with anecdotes and specific examples that show that boys should be allowed to wear dresses and shouldnt be judged by it because it is normal. His purpose is to support those boys who decide to go by the opposite gender. He seems to have an intense audience in mind because his tone is critical and he suggests that before hitting puberty children have the right to choose who they are in their own bodies. Gender equality is not just an issue for women but it is also an issue for boys and males. Males are also stereotyped by their type of gender roles. No matter the gender, in this world there should be rights to gender equality. Women are given the opportunity to believe that they are able to accomplish things men should also feel the same. It isn't fair for those to feel like they belong somewhere just because the world believes something is for one person, it doesn't work like that. Yes, people might not be happy by these decisions but its life.
People Believe that some people should stick to their gender, some people are against it, some people give dirty looks, talk bad, or do worse things to the point where they disrespect them making them feel bad.Not everyone understands that those who are born girl or boy don't usually want to be considered of what gender they are born as. It may not be right for people because some say that they should just be who they were born as but then it's their body. I agree with the author because not only do women feel like they don't have rights so do boys and males. Parents out there who support their kids of who they are shouldnt be made fun of or ashamed for that. Nobody should stay silent, this shouldn't be an issue in society, we shall all be comfortable in our own bodies.
People may argue that the world is no longer in sane with all the issues that were going on back in the 20th century. People face violence because of what they look like, love, or who they are. Gender identity is an acceptance of ourselves and this hsould never lead to hate, discrimination or abuse. Human rights are considered of being lesbian, gay, transgenders, and bixesual should have rights as everyone else. There has been documentation of those part of the LGBT community who have been tortured, killed, even under arrest because of their identities.
There should be laws and policies to protect everyone in this world no matter of what they identify as. Sexuality and gender across the world is a big issue today. Those parts of the LGBT community shouldnt be scared to come out and express who they truly are. They should happily show the gender they want to represent themselves as. Audre Lorde a African American lesbian teacher, writter, and poet stands up for those in her article. She believes that silence shouldnt be an option because it allows for words to go unheard and people will have more power over those who don't speak up. In her article “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Act”, Audre Lorde claims that nobody should remain silent.
Audrey supports her claim about those who part of the LGBT community with anecdotes and specific examples about her life that makes her regret being silent and that made her realize that silence was very successful and will get you nowhere especially from your fears. She seems to have a sad and quiet audience in mind because her tone is cautious and he suggests that her audience shouldnt remain silent whatsoever because its just hurting you. Lorde speaks up on the difficulty for some to stand up for themselves because they fear of standing up or speaking up. Silence will not protect you from who you are and no one should feel like they should stay silent whatsoever. Speaking up may be life changing like it was for Lorde. She was silent about her tumor, this caused her to examine herself more and mentions how her life experiences taught her that important issues are always better discussed then left unexpressed.
There are many miscommunications between men and women. Both genders have different types of preferred communication. Neither of them are wrong if they communicate differently. To address this both languages are understood. There is a problem in our society that both men and women have different perspectives. During a conversation women are most likely to take other people's feelings or feelings in general into account, while men like to be more in control of their conversations and don't bring feelings into it. Not only do women bring their feelings into this but women more often apologize and use more ritual apologies. Women always believe that they're the one who does something wrong so they mostly take the blame most often. Women also tend to be more gentle while criticizing. It is also known that women mostly use the word “thankyou” or “thanks” after a conversation.
Men always express their ideas through their words. If women don't receive praise they will jump into conclusion meanwhile men aren't that dramatic. In the essay, “But What Do You Mean”, Deborah Tannen states that one women told her that “she would frequently initiated what she thought would be pleasant complaint-airing sessions at work. Shed talk about situations that bothered her just to talk about them, maybe to understand them better. But her male officemate would quickly tell her how she could improve the situation.” In this situation, males believe that they can always solve things and have that type of mindset. Deborah mentions in this essay that conversations is a ritual. She shows seven areas of miscommunication between females and males.
African American women only get paid about 62.5% of what men make and I have solutions on how to fix this problem in this world. African American women's rights have improved over the years whereas before they were not able to have jobs, vote, nor allowed in certain areas just because of their skin color and same goes to the African American males, but black women haven't been able to move that much in an area and it's getting paid fairly for their type of work. According to a study in 2016, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found out that black women were only getting paid 62.5% of what makes make.
The world always seems to forget about the ladies as Abigail Adams said in 1776, but John Adams had said “know better than to repeal our masculine systems.” If you take this into consideration women have been fighting for equal rights since forever and that includes being paid equally as men. This is why we have an equal rights amendment that was passed in 1972. According to Areva Martin, in the article, “ Despite Progress, Black Women Are Paid Only 62.5% of What Men Make. Here's How to Fix That”, she provides the audience with details and evidence that women have been fighting to be treated equally and till this day we are still fighting for that.
The only solution to this is to take this into consideration and take this all the way to the government.I disagree with all those who still believe that all of our problems have been solved, if today gender equality is a big issue in the United States. It's time for all of us to stand up for ourselves and stop remaining silent. We should contact our representatives or catch their attention to change this issue.
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Get custom essayIn conclusion, the equality between both male and female is a matter of social justice. The interests between both genders should be taken into consideration because these issues need to be solved. Nothing should only be male or only be female because we all have potential and it is not based on gender. Society should balance up their minds and judgements to compare to the 20th centuries and see the changes that have happened and that we all have value and we could make drastic changes to gender inequality. I believe that gender diversity would change the future. Gender equality has mostly been achieved but not fully, there are still some issues and as a society we can all improve that and we can all happily say that there is no more gender inequality. Nowadays humans are more focused on gender equality and the fair treatment that everyone should receive. Males and females should change the old concept, system, way of thinking, and approach a new living style.
"The term gender is commonly used to refer to the psychological, cultural, and social characteristics that distinguish the sexes" . From the idea of gender such notions as gender bias and stereotyping have developed. Stereotypes have lead society to believe that a male or female should appear, act, or in more philosophical terms, be a certain way. What these gender stereotypes are and, whether or not they really exist, will be discussed further so that they can be examined in reference to the plays Mother Courage and Her Children and M. Butterfly. In Mother Courage and Her Children "motherhood", and what it should be, is challenged as a result of the actions and qualities of the character Mother Courage. M. Butterfly gives us a great depiction of a stereotypical male, and uses the female stereotype against him. Both of these plays invert, modify, and even glorify the gender stereotypes.
Get original essaySociety has females and males alike type casted into roles which have basic characteristics that are the reverse of each other. Although this has begun to change over the past thirty years, typically the man was seen as superior to the female. This superior image is one that today, is slowly on its way to being reduced to one of complete equality between the two genders.
Before the feminist revolution began, the female was traditionally in charge of taking care of the children and household. Her image in life was that of the wife, mother, and nurturing person. Some of the traits that were thought to be uniquely feminine were; " emotional, sensitive, gentle, quiet, nurturing, interested in personal appearance and beauty, focused upon home and family " . Generally the image of the woman was quiet, submissive, and dedicated towards the well-being of her family.
"The stereotypical role for women is to focus their lives on marriage, home and children. They rely on men for sustenance and status. The expectancy is that women will engage in nurturing and life preserving activities through childbearing and caretaking behaviors. Additionally, there is also emphasis on personal appearance and prohibition on direct expression of aggression, assertion, and striving for power."
The stereotypical male image was the complete opposite to that of the female one. Men were seen as the leaders of the household, the money-makers, and rational thinkers. Their characteristics were seen as; " aggressive, unemotional, objective, dominant, competitive, logical/rational, decisive, assertive, analytical, strong, sexual, physical, successful. . ." . Men were the protectors of their families and were responsible for providing the strength which the family would need to survive. They did not like to have their judgement questioned or be instructed how to act.
"The stereotypical role for men includes emphasizing physical strength and achievement, restricting emotions (except anger), avoiding emotional intimacy with same-sex peers, and providing sustenance and protection for women and children."
These ideals for what men and women should be certainly left men with more power and women with a responsibility to keep out of the way. As it was briefly touched upon earlier, the plays Mother Courage and Her Children and M. Butterfly reverse or glorify these stereotypes that have been attributed to the two genders.
The character of Mother Courage in Mother Courage and Her Children has personality traits that are far from those stereotypically defined as feminine. In fact, if her characteristics and actions are examined closely, she seems to have assumed those of a male. She tries to help her children survive the thirty years war. While looking after them is typically a female quality and responsibility, doing so by running a small business and welcoming a war rather than running from it, is much more masculine. She received the name Courage, after driving her cart of bread straight through the middle of a military bombardment because she was broke and her bread was going moldy. This is hardly the action of someone who isn't supposed to be assertive or strive for power. Women aren't supposed to be responsible for generating money for the family to survive on, but Courage did so ruthlessly. At one point she was so pre-occupied with trying to save money that one of her sons, Swiss Cheese, ends up being executed because she tried to bargain with his captors. Even then, his death doesn't bring out any feminine emotion in her; she just keeps on pushing, trying to survive. At the end of the play, when the last of her children are dead, Courage still keeps on going. She picks up her cart without a second thought and moves on by herself. Whereas conversely, the typical woman would be drowned in emotion, Mother Courage's reaction is that of a stereotypical male.
Mother Courage is a character who very matter-of-factly makes a statement. Women are capable of achieving exactly that which men do. Women and war are images not traditionally related. Perhaps, if any relation can be drawn during a war, it is that women are waiting for their men to come home from defending their honour. Mother Courage shows us that if a woman is put in such a situation of conflict and disparity she too can survive; although by doing so she takes on those ideal masculine qualities. These qualities are displayed throughout the entire play, and the only time we see the true feminine motherliness in Courage is when a recruiter tries to get her boys to enlist. She immediately tries to convince him that he ought to ignore them. Her boys aren't up for trade. This motherly protectiveness is supposedly typical of women. As quoted from Cook, ". . .women will engage in nurturing and life preserving activities. . ." . However we quickly see Mother Courage revert to her male characteristics as the recruiter decides to keep pressing the issue of her sons enlistment. She suddenly pulls a knife on the man and says: "Go on, you kidnap him, just try. I'll slit you open, trash" . Protectiveness is one thing, but sheer aggression is categorized as a male trait. Mother Courage is a physical force to be reckoned with and that force is not a quality indicative of a stereotypical woman.
M. Butterfly depicts a man, Gallimard, as a possessor of completely typical, ideal masculine qualities. He is the male stereotype. In this play the female stereotype is what destroys him. The girl Gallimard meets and falls in love with, Song, portrays the ideal female so perfectly that Gallimard can't fathom the idea, or at the very least deny that she could be a spy; let alone a male actor.
The male actor knows exactly how to get Gallimard to pursue Song. He creates a girl who is so fragile that Gallimard immediately finds a desire to protect her in his arms. Song starts to draw Gallimard in when she calls him at 5:30 in the morning and tells him "I waited until I saw the sun. That was as much discipline as I could manage for one night. Do you forgive me?" (Hwang 1.9.76-77) She is appealing to Gallimard's sexual and dominant characteristics because the stereotypical man enjoys the idea of a woman who is desperate for his attention. Song plays on Gallimard's need for dominance, and puts him on a pedestal. She acts quiet, and frightened. She even tells him that she has never invited a man into her flat before - which spurns Gallimard's interest as to whether or not she's even been with a man before. His dominant and competitive traits make him want to be her first sexual partner. The male actor has achieved exactly what he wants with Song when Gallimard states that he thinks she feels inferior to him (1.10.90).
Gallimard stops calling and seeing Song as he wants to make her even more desperate for him. The male actor, Song, plays right along and after six weeks begins to write a series of letters which finally end with telling Gallimard that she has given him her shame - what else could he want? Gallimard's stereotypical male reaction is a feeling of power from the process of ignoring her. " I stopped going to the opera, I didn't phone or write her. I knew this little flower was waiting for me to call, and, as I wickedly refused to do so, I felt for the first time that rush of power that absolute power of a man" . Never does Gallimard find this a little too simple, or his Song too perfect. In fact her perfection encourages him to brag that he found the perfect woman . Of course his perfect woman turns out to be a cross-dressing, male, Chinese informant.
The illusions are destroyed and Gallimard's dream shattered when he learns the truth about Song, and consequently the mythical existence of "the perfect woman". Instead he only realizes the reality of the stereotypical male qualities he possesses. Near the end of the play when Gallimard laughingly points out that he finds humor in the amount of time he wasted on ". . .just a man" it's really quite ironic that his attitude for the entire play could have been summed up as "just a girl." He obviously didn't find her to be a challenge, he openly decided that she was inferior to him. It would have been much more logical for him to shake the actor's hand out of masculine respect when the truth was revealed.
Mother Courage and Her Children inverts the stereotypical female ideal and gives the character Mother Courage glorified male characteristics. This play creates a glimpse of gender equality. Mother Courage is capable of exactly that which men are. She becomes even more powerful than the typical man by retaining that motherly quality of looking out for the children and by doing so in an aggressive, masculine manner. So aggressive that she ends up losing her offsprings. Mother Courage and Her Children raises the question: "what would happen if both genders possessed male stereotypical traits?"
The male stereotype, Gallimard, is destroyed by the idea of the"Perfect Woman" (1.3.5) in M. Butterfly. The play shatters the illusion of the female ideal. The character Gallimard discovers that it doesn't really exist. However, the stereotypical male all too real. It is glorified to its absolute extremes in this play.
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Get custom essayThe one conclusion that can be drawn between these two plays and gender stereotypes, is that stereotypical masculine characteristics are quite genuine. Conversely, those qualities that create the female ideal, are merely a figment of male perceptions.
At the beginning of the movie, during the song “Honour to Us All,” Mulan is shown being pampered with makeup and new clothes to meet the matchmaker. A few lyrics in the song that stood out were, “Men want girls with good taste, calm, obedient, who work fast-paced. With good breeding and a tiny waist, you'll bring honor to us all.” These are the words that were being sung to Mulan as she was getting pampered, which imply that in order to be seen as a good enough candidate for a bride (and therefore bringing honour to her family), she must adopt all of these traits. Mulan herself does not seem too interested in the quality of her appearance, however, she is not given much of a choice during this scene, and ultimately, her gender is being constructed for her through the makeup and clothes that were being put on for her. Later on in the movie when Mulan disguises herself as a man named Ping, she changes her appearance. She cut her hair short, removed her makeup and spoke with a lower voice. Although it was a disguise, she still constructed her gender in a different way from the beginning of the movie.
Get original essayMulan’s agency lies in the fact that she snuck off to war to fight instead of her father, therefore finding a different way to try to bring honour to her family. Despite being the only woman, she performs at the top of Li Shang’s training camp, outdoing all the other men. In most Disney movies, the lead female character’s entire purpose revolves around waiting for a prince to sweep her off her feet and save her from whatever situation she may be in. Mulan, however, is the one who escapes the “damsel in distress” narrative and saves herself, as well as her country. She definitely had more agency as Ping, than she did as Mulan.
Disney’s Mulan was released in 1998 sold $303 500 000 in worldwide box office. Numbers for the amount of digital copies sold were not available online, but based on the box office numbers, this movie reached millions of people across the world. The storyline of Mulan differs from past Disney movies, as it shows representation for a population outside of the previous “norm” of a mainly (or all) white cast. Cultural representation in the media is an important thing, especially for younger kids to see while growing up; this may have been a reason why so many people around the world took an interest in watching this movie. Mulan opened doors for more POC representation in the Disney world, therefore raising the international reach.
With that being said, Mulan’s intersections are different from that of previous Disney princesses. Most of the female protagonists in Disney movies are princesses (usually white), who come from wealthy families. Mulan, however, is Chinese, not a princess, nor is she from a wealthy family; and although Ping was just a disguise, it adds some fluidity to her gender throughout the film.
Mulan/Ping showcases a lot of socially constructed gender identities. Although Ping is a just Mulan in a disguise, her character differentiations are just characteristics/style choices that society decided to put a gender on. Hairstyles, clothing and makeup have all been gendered, even though they are just material things. Pink, fitted clothes, makeup and long hair are feminine, while blue, loose clothing and short hair are masculine. Tone of voice is another thing that can be added to that list because if a woman has a lower voice, she is often made fun of for “sounding like a man” and if a man has a higher-toned voice, he may be ridiculed for “sounding like a woman.” In the opening scenes of the move, Mulan was dressed in a fitted gown and drowned in makeup by her family in hopes of her finding a husband. When she was off to war as “Ping,” all she needed to do to disguise herself as a man was to cut her hair and speak with a lower voice. It was easy to see the difference between the two because society has been conditioned to correlate certain traits with a specific gender.
One can see easily that Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South is a novel that presents us with many dualities, sets of matching or opposing pairs. Not only does the title suggest this, but a quick glance through the chapter headings will say the same: “Roses and Thorns,” “Masters and Men,” “Likes and Dislikes,” “Comfort in Sorrow,” “False and True,” to name just the most obvious few. Of course, opposing or otherwise complexly intertwined pairs figure largely thematically as well. One of the most salient of these pairs is masculine and feminine, but Gaskell joins that with another pair, moral strength versus political strength. These two pairs are embodied in her two protagonists, Margaret Hale and John Thornton. The two are perfectly matched in their diametrical clashing, with Margaret Hale the femininely moral and John Thornton the masculinely political. Through their interactions with each other and Margaret’s personal changes, Gaskell explores the combinations of influences possible between these four aspects.
Get original essayThe identification of Margaret with the moral and Thornton with the political is clear from almost any of their conversations (or debates) with each other. In a pivotal discussion where their two primary ideologies clash, Thornton tries to justify the way he views and treats his workers. He likens them to children that “require a wise despotism to govern” them (120), telling the Hales that “I must necessarily be an autocrat…to make wise laws and come to just decisions in the conduct of my business…I will neither be forced to give my reasons, nor flinch from what I have once declared to be my resolution.” He sees his factory as a primarily political machine; his relationships with his workers is that of governor to governed. There is no personal obligation; he is a God with mysterious reasons that are beyond reproach. On the other hand, Margaret subverts his initial analogy of workers as children in order to argue that Thornton must have a quasi-parental, moral responsibility to them as well. She brings up an example of a man who raised his son up in ignorance, failing to educate him in any way. The son then “did not know good from evil” because his father had tried mistakenly to rule him to “save him from temptation and error” (121). The parallel, of course, is that manufacturers cannot keep their workers in ignorance to “save” them from the economic havoc the manufacturers think they would wreak on themselves and others, but they must educate the workers to know “good from evil.” Though Thornton responds by asserting that he is respecting his workers right to independence outside of the factory, Margaret counters with an argument almost moral in its tone, suggesting that such political talk of “rights” forces “every man has to stand in an unchristian and isolated position, apart from and jealous of his brother-man: constantly afraid of his rights being trenched upon?” (122). In this pivotal statement, Margaret summarizes the opposition. She values the Christianity, brotherliness, compassion, and she sees as obstacles the politically-nuanced “rights” that Thornton stresses.
The waters get muddy, of course, for the point of the novel is not to maintain such clear-cut differences, but to let them clash, interact, and influence each other. Accordingly, Margaret, Mr Thornton and their respective worlds influence each other; as a result, Margaret cross the borders of femininity and masculinity, morality and politics. She does not remain confined to herself; instead, she is a dynamic character that adapts to her environment and plays the requisite arenas. The most gripping scene of the novel is when Margaret throws her femininity out into the political world. The horde of strikers is ranged before Mr Thornton’s house, ready to erupt into violence, when Margaret “made her body into a shield from the fierce people beyond” (177). She explains it as “only a natural instinct” and that any woman would “feel the sanctity of our sex as a high privilege when we see danger” (192). This is the epitome of crossing borders; the feminine has crossed into the forbidden political world to protect a political figure, no less. The feminine sex becomes a possible asset in the dangerous political and masculine world. Ultimately, her gesture fails to prevent violence, for “if she thought her sex would be a protection…from the terrible anger of these men…she was wrong” (177). At this point in the novel, femininity is still relatively powerless as a practical force, though her gesture is still a powerful symbol for her forbidden crossing into the masculine and political arena. In a way, that forbidden crossing is what prompts Mr Thornton to propose to her, for he is “bound in honour” (186) to redeem what he misunderstands as a shameless public display of feminine feeling. Her sexual and moral reputation is compromised because this bold act cannot be interpreted on her own terms; her act cannot be perceived as a political move to protect against violence; because of her sex Mr Thornton must perceive the gesture as a “personal act” (193).
The public in the novel cannot stomach a woman too strongly masculine or too political; neither would Gaskell’s Victorian readership. She must thus take care not to compromise Margaret’s femininity too much; moreover, the vital balancing contrast between Thornton and Margaret would disappear. Margaret cannot be too masculine, or the romance becomes rather absurd, like a romance between Mr and Mrs Thornton. “The opposition of character…seemed to explain the attraction [Margaret and Thornton] evidently felt towards each other” (81). Thus, to make the novel push gender borders subtly, Gaskell masterfully manipulates Margaret’s tears. Margaret gives way to tears, a classic sign of femininity, on an average of once every twenty pages, which seems excessive. However, her feminine tears somehow highlight rather than detract from her strength. She cries over her father’s dissent from the church, over the doctor’s visit announcing her mother’s fatal disease, over her lie about Frederick, and over various deaths of her family and friends. Not one reason is silly or sentimental, and she eventually pulls through all of these dire crises. In sharp contrast, her cousin Edith Shaw’s tears at the end of the book could hardly be more different. When Margaret makes a slightly haughty comment to her, “Edith began to sob so bitterly, and to declare so vehemently that Margaret had lost all love for her, and no longer looked upon her as a friend…”: in short, making such a big fuss over nothing that we feel only annoyance for her (399). Edith’s tears are for show; they are to persuade Margaret to take back her words: Margaret ultimately ends up “being Edith’s slave for the rest of the day” (399). Margaret is always honest about her tears and suffering; her tears are only allowed to “force their way at last, after the rigid self-control of the whole day” (48). Thus, they can never be manipulatively for show or absurdly pitched the way Edith’s are. In this way, Margaret evinces her own strong moral core, being at once feminine and strong.
While Margaret’s morality is her strength, but she is again unique in this trait because she can take moral strength a step further to combine it with practical action. She can be feminine, cry honestly, and still arrange all the details of the family’s removal and her mother’s funeral. Even after her mother’s death, “Her eyes were continually blinded by tears, but she had no time to give way to regular crying. The father and brother depended on her; while they were giving way to grief, she must be working, planning, considering…” (247). While her male family members are rendered incapable by grief, Margaret takes over the practical action, at once reversing gender roles without detracting from her feminine moral sensibilities. The other characters that possess the strong moral core that Margaret does—Bessy and Mr Hale—cannot take action or really accomplish anything in the tangible world. Sick little Bessy dwells on the Bible day and night, longing for death. She is not a fighter the way Margaret is, who encourages Bessy to talk of “something about what you used to do when you were well”(102). Margaret dwells on the positive and the good possibilities, while Bessy is simply resigned to her illness, looking forwards to her death. “‘Spring nor summer will do me good,’” she says upon their very first meeting, and she lives by this dictum of resignation and inaction. Similarly, Mr Hale is strong enough to wrestle with his inner shadowy objections to the church and even resign his livelihood over them, but then Margaret must finish taking care of the consequences of his decision. He is paralyzed, unable to speak to his wife or take care of the details of the family removal. Thus, Margaret possesses both the introspective morality and piety as well as the external capability of practical action. She then seems to be in a unique position to impact the political arena in a positive moral way.
However, some sudden turning point in the way Milton society is run does not happen through Margaret’s direct, moral action. Her action at the riot may have prevented a massive amount of violence, but ultimately only its romantic consequences last, and even those are bitter; politically, nothing really changes. In fact, Margaret even risks what seemed to be her strength; morality. Her real crisis concerns the lie she tells the police inspector to buy her outlawed brother time to flee the country. Mr Thornton not only finds out about the lie, but even exerts his political influence as a magistrate to save her from it although he knows nothing about the existence of a brother and believes that she has compromised her morality by lying to protect a lover. Unexpectedly, “She suddenly found herself at his feet, and was strangely distressed at her fall” from “her imaginary heights” (278). He moral superiority and strength evaporate, leaving her prostrate at the feet of Mr Thornton’s political strength. The language of her moral fall is strangely sexual as well, for a “fall” from innocence is almost always associated with sex, and her position at his feet is strangely suspect. Thus, at this turning point in the novel, Margaret loses both her moral power and her pure feminine sexual status. We wonder, then, what Margaret can bring to the clash between herself and Mr Thornton and how, in the larger scheme of things, Gaskell is planning to resolve the issues between the two paired concepts we have pursued.
Victorian novels must have their happy marriage endings, and though the relationship is jeopardized over Margaret’s lie, the two do get together in the end. However, Margaret finally regains the ability to face Mr Thornton not just by regaining her moral reputation in his eyes, but by gaining actual political and external influence. When her godfather dies, he leaves her a significant sum of money that affords her independence in the world and some social standing in the mercenary culture of Milton. In fact, when the economy crashes and Mr Thornton loses his own economic standing, it is Margaret that saves him with her money and marriage. They do not come together in the end in some grand finale of a resolved intellectual argument between morality and politics; no symbolic action happens where Margaret extends her feminine and moral influence into the political arena, as in the riot. Instead, the marriage happens when all hope seems to be lost because of a stroke of luck that is almost deus ex machina: money that wins her direct political influence essentially falls out of the sky. Her final ability to save Mr Thornton and her final power over him has nothing to do with her morality. In fact, “she was most anxious to have it all looked upon in the light of a mere business arrangement…” (424). Their marriage resolution nominally unites the two opposing conceptual pairs, but ultimately they are directly brought together through monetary circumstances.
The whole novel, an elaborate study of clashes between gender identities and opposing ideological paradigms, would have come to naught without the Margaret’s final inheritance. Margaret, the most complex character, is the only person who slips back and forth across gender borders, alternately acting morally, politically, or both, but even though her remarkableness sets up the romance, they would have gone their separate ways and all changes would have sunk into oblivion if Margaret had not had the money. What seems to be a novel that radically enlarges the scope in which pious female figures can play seems to be sending the final message that without the proper political, masculine power of money, all a woman’s potential to extend herself into the political world is of minimal value. Margaret wins the lasting power to affect her society by marrying the manufacturer, and she can only do that through money. An independent woman seems to have little hope of lasting effect, no matter how exceptional.
Ultimately, Gaskell creates Margaret to only bring up the various possibilities that a feminine moral influence like her may have on the male political system. Though Gaskell ends the novel conventionally, Margaret’s existence and spotlight for a few hundred pages just opens up the idea that a woman might make a political difference under different circumstances and that, moreover, she has a unique moral capacity to contribute to it. Love, marriage, and the economic dynamics of both may be inescapable, but a woman and her strengths may have a exclusive place in the system.
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Get custom essayGaskell, Elizabeth. North and South. Ed. Patricia Ingham. New York: Penguin, 1995.
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a prosperous and sustainable world. In this assignment we are going to discuss gender inequality mainly focusing on women. Gender lines are drawn early, starting by birth and exclusions for women continue throughout adulthood. According to UN, a global and a reliable organization, today in 32 countries the procedures that women face to obtain a passport differ from those of men. In 18 countries women need their husband’s approval to take a job. The degree and causes of gender inequality vary throughout the world.
Get original essayResearch on gender inequality shows that a number of teachings in some of the religions are a great cause of gender inequality. Even though religion plays a very important role in every human, there are always some weaknesses in some religions which act as a cage to the women.
Lack of proper education is one of the major causes of gender inequality. This is because nobody can go far without adequate education level in the world of today. Many families do not pay proper attention to girl child. In this case, they end up not getting proper education. Here is a pie chart by UN showing the inequality in terms of education.
Poverty is another factor that causes inequality. For instance, if a female is applying for a job there would be some doubts on accepting her in the company. And if the woman is also poor there will be the lowest chances of her being accepted. Due to credit rationing, the poor often cannot afford the minimum initial investment in education or other investments, or cannot get insurance for their investments, even if they are profitable, since they lack collateral.
According to Selim Jahan, Director of UNDP Human Development Report Office, gender inequality also has an impact on the lives of many women beyond the survivors. The fear of violence can prevent women from pursuing education, working or exercising their political rights and voice. It stops women to think, to do something and forces them to stay quite in the consequences also for the sake of religion and norms.
It is not possible to separate poverty and inequality as poverty leads to inequality. Moreover we can see how there is a difference in the amount of women inequality in different countries with different levels of literacy and growth. For example as per the ‘Express Tribune’, a Pakistani reliable news channel, in Pakistan the multidimensional poverty dropped to 38.8 per cent in 2014-15. And as for America the US Census declared that only 15.1% of the general population lives in poverty and now if we compare them both we can clearly see how the differences matter. According to Felix Naschold who has done extensive research, small changes in income distribution can have a large effect on poverty. A simple arithmetical example can help visualize this. Imagine a country where the share of national income that goes to the poorest 20% of the population increases from 6% to 6.25%. A change in income distribution of one quarter of one percent would barely affect the Gini coefficient, but for the poor this represents a 4% increase in their total income. Such a small redistribution would have the same effect on poverty as doubling the annual growth of national income from 4%, which is the projected growth rate of many African countries, to 8%, which is necessary to achieve the income poverty Millennium Development Goal. Internationally, gender inequality is prevalent in many areas of life, including education, employment, medical care, laws and violence. As per EU, a credible and a globally known political and economic union, in the countries with the highest unemployment rates women’s rate was even wider than men’s rate: it reached 27.2% versus 18.9% for men in Greece, 20.7% versus 17.4% in Spain etc. There are overt examples of inequality, such as a large discrepancy in pay between men and women, and more subtle examples of inequality, such as different interview questions asked of women than men.
As much as my government should stand up for discrimination against women, it is more supporting this idea. For example as per the largest and most reliable, English language newspaper in Pakistan, there are only six female judges in higher judiciary, none at Supreme Court. However there are no female prime ministers expect one in the past (Benazir Bhutto) who actually proved to be very useful for the country. In my opinion, the main reason of inequality in Pakistan is the lack of education. I believe there are not a lot of females working and fighting for their rights due to the lack of knowledge and for the sake of religion or norms. But where there’s knowledge we can see women stand up. As per ‘The News’, in 2019 an ‘Aurat (women) March’ was held in Pakistan. Many protests were held for the freedom of women. This is another step to gender equality.
There are some differences between the rates of inequality globally and in my country. So as per globally there is less inequality over all but my country being a poor one has higher rates of inequality with the issue of religion outlined the well.
As much as I am in favor of this idea, I am a woman which means I am also discriminated and I am also taught the fact that I am no more than man. But I realize that equality is a human right that every individual deserves and I do too. So I am a person who likes to fight for rights and this research increased my knowledge and showed me the statistics and resulted in me questioning my existence and rights as a women and realized how big of an issue it is which needs urgent attention. For example as per ‘The News’ I now know that there are only 6 female judges in the higher judiciary which is an alarming factor for me.
Maybe an organization, a campaign or laws can reinforce this idea. Eliminating all forms of practices against women rights for example fixed marriages and female infanticide. Now in my opinion an organization for example UN, is a big idea that can collect fund, raise awareness and has a council also has divisions in particular sectors, so this is the perfect solution for catering inequality on a global level. Then the campaigns are better for solving this on a national level because the smaller the area that the campaign is focusing, the faster it would be solved. Both of these solutions and actions should not only be taken for women but also for men. And also keeping in mind that these courses of action will take a long time to abolish inequality. Women should be given all rights but in a ways that it does not crossover a person’s religion. A campaign ‘HEFORSHE’ was started in 2014 by UN an intergovernmental organization, also made some changes thus proved as useful.
People should not be afraid of standing up for themselves for if we stay quiet, the wrong gets a way of developing and automatically turning it into culture or a tradition. Based on the information above, there are some governmental structural reasons as to why gender inequality still persists in countries.