The issue of gender discrimination has been widely discussed in philosophical literature and mass media sources. The issue is portrayed by mistreating of individuals, especially women, and not valuing everyone as one. We always debate, speak about the equality rights for men and women are not equal. We still face many issues of individual being discriminated based on the gender differences which are culturally associated with male and female identity. In any democratic society, gender equality is considered to be an important moral principle that should be followed by this society. Gender equality is a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, sustainable world.
According to Cady Staton lecture, “Subjection of Women” she believed that a wide range of reforms that she considered crucial to achieving equality for women. The matter is our society fails to realize that we are not restricted to traditional gender ethics which were disillusioned to this society. In this era, there are many type of gender discrimination that faced by women in their workplace, education life and also social life.
There are many types of gender discrimination that faced by women through their workplace. Gender discrimination start from women choosing their career until getting paid. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for men is 80.1 percent while women only 54.7 percent. Men are higher than women in workplace. The major problem that occurs in workplace because of gender discrimination is pay gap. Men and women often get paid differently and men always held higher position than women. Men’s career choice, working experience and hours worked are the few reasons why they get paid more than women. But women have few barriers to do so because they have a lot of responsibilities apart from their work such as taking care of their children, house chores and so on.
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Then, women also discriminated by their pregnancy at the workplace. This is because during their pregnancy period, women need to take leave frequently because of their health issue. So, the management assume that they could not perform well if they assign big task or project for them. Because of this, they mainly prefer men to do the tasks and men are getting paid more. Again, women are getting affected. They not able to show their ability or talent in their organization. Plus, many young women experiencing sexual harassment in workplace. Moreover, they were not reporting their sexual harassment issue because they fear of losing their job and not knowing how to make a complain. A report also noted that it is very difficult to fire a complain of sexual harassment in a male dominated workplace because women hesitated to share this kind of problems with a man too.
Woman’s are discriminated against through education life because they are lack of basic material and opportunities to pursue it in any way. There are multiple obstacles that stand in the way of a girl’s right to education. Poverty is one of the main issue in gender discrimination against girls based education. Question to parents, “Why your daughters dropped out of the school ?” most of their answers are related to the cost of schooling such as pocket money, school fees and stationary cost. Low-paid family less resources to their children’s education.
In this case, they are forced to stop their daughters education life therefore they could support their sons education. From the other hand, girls are forced to take over family responsibilities since they are young. They are assign to cook, take care of their younger siblings, clean the house and more which lead them to quit school in the early stage. Once upon time, girls are compulsory to get married after their puberty. There are no chance for them to step on to school after their marriage also; men just consider women as a baby carrier and maid who can take care the house and family. They are not even given a chance to voice out their fundamental right on education. According to Emma Watson, education is a fundamental right, which should not be restricted to a certain gender, every human being, male or female has a right to education.
Gender discrimination in social life can be show in some examples around the world. For example at restrictions on clothing. More countries restrict women’s ability to wear religious symbols than require women to dress what they want. Failure to comply can lead to harassment or acts of hostility directed at women by private individuals, organizations or social groups. One of the cases involved a young Muslim woman in Spain who finished near the top of her university class in pharmacology but found it difficult to find a job because she did not want to remove her veil. In France, two men attacked a pregnant Muslim woman in the Parisian on June 13, 2013, kicking her in the stomach and attempting to remove her headscarf and cut her hair; she subsequently suffered a miscarriage. Next, women are not being allowed to travel.
No country restricts the movement of its female population more than Saudi Arabia. Women cannot apply for a passport or travel outside the country without their male guardian’s approval, restrictions the Interior Ministry imposes and enforces. In practice, some women are prevented from leaving their homes without their guardian’s permission and guardians can seek a court order for a woman to return to the family home. Up until the age of 40, single women are required to ask their father for permission. For example, Niloufar Ardalan, the Captain of the Iranian Women’s Soccer team was banned from taking part in the Women’s Futsal Championship of Malaysia in 2015 by her husband as it was in violation of Islamic Law. Other than that, women have no equal rights in marriage and family life. Women’s human rights in marriage and family life in Pakistan is horrifying. Women are passing a life of subordination and men are ultimate authority to make decisions regarding the fate of women.
Women are unable to enjoy their basic rights, to choose their marriage partners, seek separation at their own initiatives and make decisions during married life regarding children and property. Women are denied these rights at the name of religious and cultural values and family honour. Different cruel practices are prevailing in the society to enforce men’s authority over women like, honour killings, domestic violence, and child marriage. I also would like to give an example of gender based discrimination that occur in my state in Sabah. The government in Sabah decrease the minimum age for a girl to marriage at 14 years old. This issue is very unfair to women, where they should study at that age but be allowed to marry.
Gender discrimination is widespread around the world and girls are not allowed to pursue education, denied good healthcare and their social relationships and social behavior is also controlled by men. Study explores the various cases women face in their daily lives in health care, social relationships and decision making in context of gender discrimination. In many developing and under developed nations of the world, women are not considered worthy of education and better medical treatment. They have no rights over property and although they may be more capable then men, they are not allowed to use their potentials and talents. According to Wadesango N (2011), gender discrimination in everyday experiences is common in the developing countries.
Pakistan is one of such countries where gender discrimination is common, in fact when it has been ranked as the second worst country in the world (143 out of 144) by the World Economic Forum in the gender inequality index (2016). One basic reason for gender discrimination is the rigid culture and strict customs that keeps the women suppressed and unaware of their rights. Insecurity, illiteracy and misinterpretation of Islamic values are other reasons behind injustice and discrimination against women according to Gul Mohammad M (2016). Low education, poverty and low development have affected every aspect of people’s lives and its strong influence on people’s mindset is evident by the manner in which women are treated.
Women are considered inferior to men both physically and mentally and their lives are totally controlled by men. The birth of a son is considered a blessing and is celebrated while a daughter is burden. Wife beating is common and is considered a method of keeping women under control. Daughters are married off at an early age to men much older than them. The family honor is associated with women and their actions and movements are monitored so that they do not bring shame to the family. Women are confined to their houses and can only go out when escorted by a male member of the family. Women are generally considered weak not only physically but also mentally. They are never included in decision making and often the consent of the girl is not sought when her marriage is arranged. Mroczek Z (2015) believe women are considered naive and their approaches to problems immature and therefore their opinions are disregarded. Positive attributes such as intelligence, smartness and strength are associated with men.
In a nutshell, the type of gender discrimination that faced by women through workplace, education and also in their social life should be overcome soon. Its not going to happen in overnight. Its might be take few years or even few decades to formally stop the gender discrimination. It will not going to be easy, but women have been fighting for decades and will not stop until there is not more gender discrimination and gain more freedom in the modern society. Not only women, everybody should take their part to solve this issue as soon as possible. A way to stop gender discrimination is treat women as important as men. Let the women also contribute to economic growth and development of the country. Say no to gender discrimination.
References
- National Center for Biotechnology Information – Gender Discrimination and Self-Rated Health among Chinese Women in Hong Kong: A Contextual Analysis
- European Institute for Gender Equality – Gender Mainstreaming Tools: Status Indicators
- National Center for Biotechnology Information – Intersectional Discrimination against LGBTIQ Youth in Healthcare Settings: Perceptions of LGBTIQ Youth and Service Providers
