Gender Inequality in Our Changing World
Jazib Galani
Community College of Baltimore County
Psychology 101
Gender inequality can be best described as the idea of the fact that men and women are not equal. Both males and females receive unequal treatment partly or wholly due to their gender, and this is greatly attributed to the gender roles that are defined by the society (Ore, 2013). Although the 20th century saw major transformations of gender relations in human history, men and women were still viewed as occupying different roles in the society: a woman was confined at home as a wife and mother, while a man’s place was in the public domain (Ore, 2013). The 21st century, however, saw radical shifts in the roles and expectations of women in the society as women were accepted in a male-dominated realm such as higher education, law, science, medicine, politics, business and their worthiness of a vote in the general elections (Ore, 2013). Today, women as better off in the society as compared to medieval times but are still far from being equal to men. Women and men are not equal in the society, and this can be clearly seen in the gender wage gap, health care funding, education and at the workplace (Ore, 2013). In the 21st century a small minority of individuals still hold the view that women should be subordinate to men and while there have been massive changes regarding women empowerment, gender inequalities continue to exist in an entirely different context of political, social rights, traditional rules and cultural norms (Ore, 2013). In this paper, I shall examine the causes of gender differences in health, education and the gender wage gap in our society today and the possible remedies to these problems.
Although male domination is on the defensive and its foundations are crumbling, it still has not disappeared and is still experienced in the society (Ore, 2013). The 21st century has seen work become a more central feature in women’s lives as almost half of them have made it to the workforce. Gender parity is not just about the economic empowerment of women; it is about equity and fairness in the realms of social, cultural and political dimensions as well as it is a moral imperative (Ore, 2013).
Education and Women at the Workplace
In the past decades, there have been noteworthy improvements for women regarding employment with them moving into paid work rather than being confined at home (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012). In recent decades, gender equality in education has made significant strides in many countries across the world. Today, girls outshine boys in some areas of education and are less likely to drop out of school, but still, women continue to earn less than men, and they are not likely to make it to the top of the ladder in their career (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012). Although women are achieving more from education and are actively involved in the workforce than ever before, the public perception of full equity between men and women remains an elusive goal (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012). More women are involved in the workforce, but they are paid less than men either in the informal employment sector or part-time jobs with little or no protection at all and with few rights. The income gap between men and women in the United States stands at 64 percent, meaning that women earn nearly two-thirds of what men make for the amount of similar work done (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012).
Today, the number of women owning small and medium-sized businesses in the United States is estimated to be between eight million and ten million but still fewer than that of their male counterparts owning similar businesses although their number is slowly growing (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012). Women in the formal sector make up about 40 percent of the global labor workforce while 43% are in the agricultural labor force, although the number varies from country to country (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012). The highest held positions continue to be more elusive for women as only seven of the one hundred and fifty elected heads of the world are women (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012). The situation is similar to the local government where women representatives continue to be less represented. Most women in the private sector are on boards of directors for large organizations but their numbers are still small when compared to men but women access to leadership positions in private companies is still hindered by the “glass ceiling” (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012). In the United States, only 23 percent of the 500 largest corporations have a female chief executive (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012). This means that women are still underrepresented at the top job levels of American businesses, although they have made significant gains in the workplace in more recent years (Kesiter and Southgate, 2012).
There are some reasons as to why women are still misrepresented in the workforce and the ever-rising gender pay gap between men and women (Gaag, 2014). The role of stereotypes and traditions reinforced by both social and cultural norms are contributing factors to the misrepresentation of women in the workforce (Gaag, 2014). Traditions and stereotypes may influence the choices some of the choices that we make such as the choice of professional careers and educational paths that both girls and women should make (Gaag, 2014). Traditions and stereotypes also have a tremendous impact on our beliefs about how we should or should not behave. These gender stereotypes, biases and social norms maintain the ever-widening gender gap between male and women thus they affect their lives and careers (Gaag, 2014). Many women believe that men are capable in leadership positions and women being inferior in some way tend to accept this as true especially when they are denied leadership roles or promotions at the workplace (Gaag, 2014). Women are yet to be fully accepted in the workforce as they still bear the burden of daily domestic tasks such as housework and the rearing of children, and in some cases, women are likely to be unemployed or have some form of education or training in any particular field (Gaag, 2014).
Gender Inequality in Healthcare
In the provision of health care and health care related services, women still are faced with gender discrimination. Gender inequality in healthcare presents itself in any forms as both males and females are being confronted with gender bias. Gender disparities in health care can be divided into two distinct groups: (1) the biological specific healthcare requirements of both men and women that are not somewhat accommodated and (2) the inequalities in health care that arise from unfair gender relations and not from biological differences between men and women (Ridgeway, 2011).
Gender inequality is widespread on most low-and-middle-income countries, where women have poor access to health services, have little or no complete control over their money and are less educated than men (Brinda, Enemark and Rajkumar, 2015). Most of the children that are dying across the world are varied and are linked to the discrimination of women in the countries that they live in. Increased infant mortality rates in various countries due to gender bias can be related to (1) when the mother is exposed to violence, this increases the chances if the children being born prematurely or with low birth weight, (2)Women’s lack of access to education makes them less equipped to properly feed their children and care for their children’s health and (3) in countries with high gender inequality, women are more than likely to suffer from malnutrition thus increasing the chances of problems to child during pregnancy according to a study published in the online journal BMC Public Health (Brinda, Enemark, and Rajkumar, 2015).
The study has found out that discrimination against women has negative impacts on child survival (Brinda, Enemark and Rajkumar, 2015). The study also discovered that the neglect of female children in f
avor of male children is also common to increased infant mortality rates. (Brinda, Enemark, and Rajkumar, 2015) The study advocated for governments to be better integrate social support services within the health care systems such as support for gender violence within health care systems so as to reduce these cases (Brinda, Enemark and Rajkumar, 2015).
In the United States, gender bias in the provision of heath care and health care related services manifests itself as the variation in which men and women pay for their insurance premiums (Pear, 2012). According to research conducted by Online Brokers, women are paying more than men for the same health insurance coverage (Pear, 2012). This is not only in health care but also in gender-targeted items such as toys, clothes and beauty items. According to HHS (the Department of Health and Human Service), gender, race age, place of birth and disability should not affect the quality of care that an individual receives from any provider (Pear, 2012). Insurers claim that women tend to use health care more than male and women are also most likely to visit doctors for regular checkups. The study also found out that the disparity also varied from insurer to another, and the differences in men and women rates did not take into account the cost of maternity care (Pear, 2012). The disparity is also seen in the case of nonsmoking women who more than often pay more for a HumanOne policy than male smokers of the same age (Pear, 2012).
Although women have made it to the workforce and some of the gender stereotypes are being reversed as today, we have stayed at home dads while the mother out working, women are yet to become equal to women in our society (Pear, 2012). Women are often viewed as objects as popularized in most songs and advertisements and in class they are taught about the achievements of male contributors such as Isaac Newton, but they are rarely informed about the impacts of female scientists such as Rosalind Franklin (Pear, 2012). Our society teaches women from an early age that they are not expected to become innovators, engineers or leaders and this results in most women being underrepresented in most positions (Pear, 2012).
In the promotion of gender equality in almost every aspect for the workforce, there is need to tackle gender roles and gender stereotyping. This implies that both men and women need interventions on how to on how to overcome the societal dictations and norms of what to do and what not to do. In redefining gender roles, women have fought long and hard for their equal representation in the society. Stereotypes do not just hurt women alone; men are also hurt when they choose more feminine roles such as teaching, nursing, and caretaking. They force men into their more predetermined roles of being unemotional, forceful and authoritative. Women, on the other hand, are being forced into being gentle, supportive, caregivers and housekeepers.
The underlying issues of gender inequality are complex and in tackling them effectively means that we have to change the way our societies and economies work. Biologically speaking, women can never be equal to men, but we need to find a common working ground that balances the responsibilities between men and women. Organizations need to eliminate the gender pay gap and the glass ceiling effect when it comes to women in the workforce, and the society needs to challenge some of the barriers that prevent women from progressing. Finally, we also need to have well thought off policies that help create a positive growth in the economic empowerment of women so as to secure a much more desirable future for them. In the creation of policies promoting gender equality, the government should not just play monitoring and evaluation role, but it should also ensure quality opportunities of women in the public domain by acting as role models for other employers.
We must all agree that change is not always easy, and it takes quite some time for some of the fundamental attitudes to shift in response to the ever-changing realities of the world. In the world today, the economy needs all available talent so as to ensure a prosperous and sustainable future for every individual. This can only be accomplished when the right balance is struck between the responsibilities at work and home so as to deliver improved lives for all. Other than joining the workforce, women need to start their own businesses. Better information needs to be provided on how entrepreneurship can be both beneficial for the girls in school and women outside the labor force just are looking for a way to earning an income. Barriers to entry such as women being charged high-interest rates because they have shorter credit histories or less collateral needs to be looked into so as to reduce the gap regarding accessibility to both men and women.
References
Ore, T. (2013). The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality: Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Kesiter, L., & Southgate, D. (2012). Inequality: A Contemporary Approach to Race, Class, and Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ridgeway, C. (2011). Framed by Gender: How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pear, R. (2012, March 9). Gender Gap Persists in Cost of Health Insurance. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/health/policy/women-still-pay-more-for-health-insurance-data-shows.html.
Gaag, N. (2014, September 29). Women are better off today, but still far from being equal with men. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/sep/29/women-better-off-far-from-equal-men.
Brinda, E., Rajkumar, A., & Enemark, U. (2015, March 9). Association between gender inequality index and child mortality rates: a cross-national study of 138 countries. Journal of BMC Public Health; DOI: 10.1186/s12889-015-1449-3