Those differences are not easily dismissed… however those differences do not condone gender discrimination in society, and certainly not in the workplace.” (Malkin, 2005) Women mostly have unequal access to health services and education, face glass ceiling at work place. Social customs that force or encourage girls into early child bearing and teenage marriages have dangerous and direct consequences for their health. There are much high levels of brutality and violence against women almost in all nations around the world. This could be among their families where it is treated a normal custom. Violence, in the span of armed conflict, is used to humiliate the rivals and also to undermine resistance and
Feminism is certainly not a new word that has suddenly popped up with Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In. It is a concept that has been trailing on for decades. According to Sandberg, feminism is the equality between men and women such that there is advancement of women’s’ rights and their societal position so as to even the playing field for both genders. However, Bell Hooks argues that this description is too simple and was long ago challenged by visionary feminist thinkers, in particular women of color. “These thinkers insisted that everyone acknowledge and understand the myriad ways race, class, sexuality, and many other aspects of identity and difference make explicit that was never and is no simple homogenous gendered identity that we could call women struggling to be equal with men” (Hooks and Bell 673).According to Hooks and Bell, feminism is all about putting an end to sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.
Men have often stereotyped women as incapable of the same work or career choices, even though women are just as capable. In more recent history, we have had many women in leadership roles or jobs, for example, Alberta has a female Premier and Obama stated in his essay, This is What a Feminist Looks Like, that the States has had female Army Rangers. Women fought and continue to fight to have the same careers and pay scale as men. As Obama said in his essay on Feminism, women often face a ‘glass ceiling’ in the workforce. They are faced with obstacles and limitations as they try to move up in the workforce even though they can see the potential advancements.
In our present time, with equality being a prevalent topic, it seems traditional societal values are shifting. However, our society isn’t evolving at the rate certain groups are satisfied with. Although progress has been made in past decades, women are still facing the same inequality now as they were sixty years ago. Make no mistake, those who face oppression have risen up. Females have managed to challenge the world’s conscious, by demanding equality to their male counterparts (qtd.
INTRODUCTION. Sexism towards women in the workplace also known as occupational sexism is one of the oldest form of discrimination against women. Despite increasing campaigns on gender equality and feminist movements worldwide, working women continue to fight for equality especially in white-collar setings. Though there has been profound progress through the years, working women continue to face more challenges as compared to men both in the western as well as developing countries. Studies now show that the Equal Pay Act passed in the United States in 1963 to abolish gender based salary differences is not being enforced as women continue to earn less than their male counterparts in the same field (Campos,2015).
Since the beginning of time, women have been viewed as the weaker sex; because of this, women have been cheated of their basic human rights. These are the same rights that men have always seen as a given for the male sex. These rights include: the right to education, to work, to have a voice, to vote, and many more. Throughout time, women have always had to fight for the same basic human rights to make them equivalent to man. In Mary Wollstonecraft’s book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman her argument is that woman have always been viewed as the weaker sex.
The issue of gender inequality has been around and debated for decades now. In the West it is mostly considering the wages and job opportunities as in the developing countries the problems are more about lack of women empowerment, their access to services, power of deciding within their family life and breaking traditions and norms that are demeaning and/or undermining. With this issue there is a dilemma of whether the Western views and beliefs on gender equality and women empowerment can and should be applied to developing countries. As seen in the paper, policies and projects that are designed to reduce the problem, can backfire and create even more issues. One of the reasons why women empowerment today is so important is overpopulation, families with more than 3-5 children are still very topical in developing countries.
Inequality between the sexes has been a moot point even since the evolution of the modern era. According to UN Women, the definition of gender equality is “the equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of women and men, girls and boys”. Gender inequality is a global issue: women lack adequate access to education, are underrepresented in political arenas and different arenas; face discrimination in the workplace and wages. Exponents of gender equality argue that both the sexes should be treated equally. It is not only a fundamental human right but an imperative foundation for a peaceful and prosperous society.
However, it is important to note that on the surface Zimbabwe appears dedicated to empowering women but the reality on the ground tells a different story. In spite of the vast international, regional and national laws that Zimbabwe is a signatory to, women are still not recognized and given rights to participate in politics like their male counterparts. Consequently, women participation and progress still lags behind men (Nebolisa, 2009). In response to the above, NGOs have since played a pivotal role and tried to fill this void by capacitating women as well as providing relevant civic education in order to instill confidence in them that they have the aptitude to hold leadership responsibilities in a similar manner as
Discrimination is not only an issue that everyone has concerns about but also a serious problem affecting women mainly. Why is discrimination directed towards women? Discrimination against women is not just discrimination against a person; it is discrimination against families as well. Who would want a mother, a wife or a sister to be discriminated at work, at school or at any other place for no reason other than her gender? The status of a girl starting from her early life is the key for her success in the future, but this status is not formed by her own because of discrimination.