Gender Inequalities

GENDER INEQUALITIES:

MECHANISMS FOR THEIR REDUCTION AND REPRODUCTION

Assistant professor, phd student, Mariana Hr. Petrova, e -mail:[e-mail]

South-West University “Neofit Rilski”, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

Abstract: This article analyzes the efforts and mechanisms for promoting gender equality incorporated in the policies and key documents of the UN and the European institutions.

Key words: gender inequalities, discrimination, gender legislation

For the purposes of the current analysis gender is defined as the socially constructed unity that is based on the sex and assigns certain social norms, roles and behavior to men and women, explicated in masculinity and femininity . The term becomes especially relevant in the

In Bulgaria and other former socialist countries the emancipation of women has become a major challenge in the first half of the 20th century. The Marxist project linked the idea of equality between men and women with the doctrine of the class struggle and the idea of removing the exploitation in societies and the utopia of creating a classless society. According to Georgi Fotev the project does not problematize the ontological differences between genders, but thematizes the elimination of legitimate social inequalities on the one hand, and equity and equality, on the other hand . In the second half of the century, research on gender issues are provoked manly by research on women related problems, woman studies. The most notable event in this respect is the conference devoted to the study of women in London in 1975. In the coming decades thematic twist occurs turning the problem of equality into that of gender. After the nineties, with the destruction of the Eastern bloc, the globalization and the enlargement of the European Union, the problem of gender inequality becomes paramount and today occupies a key position in the policies of global humanitarian, economic, social and political

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This is an integrated approach, since it is not a replacement for the equal opportunities policy but aims to be its complement, and does not focus solely on women, but on the relationships between women and men for the benefit of both sexes . It is of crucial importance that the tools of gender mainstreaming are applied in the early stages of preparing the policies of states and not later as an amendment.

In Bulgaria there is a clear legal framework regulating the equality of different groups in society. The Discrimination Act is considered sufficient to ensure overall inequality in different social, ethnic, gender or other groups.

Evidently, in today 's globalized world, incredibly huge efforts are made in the pursued of a policy ensuring gender equality. Antidiscrimination legal guarantees maintain constructive pace, becoming part of national politics in more and more countries worldwide. But a question arises that seems to be avoided or rather overlooked and underrated behind the many declarations, conventions, agreements and laws. To what extent real gender equality exists and is it really possible beyond the formality? Different methods for the acquisition of empirical data for measuring gender equality show not so desired results as regarding to the participation of women in government, occupying leading positions, equal