HILI CHAKANSURI

WHY IS GENDER EQUALITY ESSENTIAL?

"If you want to go forward, you have to give education to girls. And once you educate girls,
you change the whole community. You change the whole society." –Malala Yousafzai

We are living in 21st century. The question on “gender equality” shouldn’t be even an issue
now. We as humans have progressed so much but still are bounded by a regressive
patriarchy mindset. Patriarchy has no single religion or culture. It is a disease that needs to be
eradicated from the world. It rears its head in all nations and all cultures. It’s a sad reality that
two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women. Only half of the world's women are
employed, compared to three-quarters of the world's men. In most developing countries,
female employment is even lower, at around 25 percent. Yet, women spend two and a half
times more time and effort than men on unpaid care work and household responsibilities.
Most importantly, I do not want to reflect on the prevailing debates on the concepts of
“Feminists” or “Feminaziz”. My agenda on gender equality means “equal pay for equal
amount of work.” If a man or a woman doing same amount of work they should be rewarded
with same amount of reward or compensation.

The vision that every human being should follow is men and women should be treated
equally in social, economic and all other aspects of society and should not be discriminated
based on gender or colour or race. In sum, every employee has the right to feel comfortable in
the workplace. When employers adopt a mindset of acceptance and inclusion, gender equality
finally becomes a possibility.

Women and girls represent half of the world’s populace and therefore half of its potential.
Hence for any economy to flourish, both genders need to work and live at par. This clearly
does not mean than women should have a higher degree, more privilege than men, more
opportunities. The scope for both men and women should be same.

Lack of access to education is one of the reasons why we need gender equality. Women are
unable to access critical information and are disempowered from changing their own lives,
making them more vulnerable to regressive cultural practices and distorted religious
teachings. All these act as fundamental barriers not just to the advancement of women, but to
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the overall economic development of entire societies. If women are given more opportunities
to education, work environment. They will be an accomplice in enhancing any country’s
economy. If a woman is educated she will bring up educated children. She will educate her
kids and inform them about the importance of gender equality.

It is a myth that women are a weaker sex. However, I would like to cite that though women
may look weaker from outside, they are way stronger from inside. In the real world, girls go
to school, get jobs, build careers, get married or otherwise partnered, have children, get sick,
grow old, and die. In the real world the legal, social, cultural, and professional landscape
women confront is different from, and significantly more hostile than, the landscape
confronted by men. In the real-world women need equality. This includes, among other
things, equal opportunity, equal pay for comparable work, equal access to affordable care for
their dependents, and equal freedom from intimate violence. Because the real world is where
women live, and women are human beings, just like how men are, and are entitled to all the
same rights, responsibilities, and privileges that you have.

We need equality in a corporate world. They say corporate world is a “man’s world.” This is
because the mindset of people working there. They kind of atmosphere women have to deal
with in the corporate world is quite saddening- a women’s promotion is not perceived as a
result of her hard work or her determination but rather it is perceived as a result of her “being
a woman” or a mere result of sexual favors she gave in order to get promoted. Gender
equality is important for removing this poor mindset and empowering women and praising
them for their hard work and their determination.

Moreover, promoting gender equality makes good business sense. The truth is the companies
that embrace gender diversity perform better than those that don’t. A McKinsey January 2015
report found that gender-diverse companies are 15 percent more likely to outperform
companies rated in the bottom quartile of diversity. Despite what many people assume,
gender equality is not strictly limited to creating advantages for women. "Gender equality"
means simply that every employee has access to the same benefits, which is why equality is
an "everyone" issue.
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Even at home, the women are responsible for doing all the house chores, including cleaning,
washing, laundary, feeding everyone while she is working. It is the woman who has to juggle
work and home more than the man. Thus, couples should practice equality for their kids to
see that would help them to become better adults.

There have been numerous surveys that show girls are losing to boys when it comes to
education. In many developing countries such as India, Afghanistan. Families usually send
“the boys” to schools and girls are left to sit at home to learn the house chores. Gender
equality not only gives women their inalienable rights, but it benefits humanity as a whole. It
can help tackle the crippling poverty, illiteracy and abuse that have afflicted nations across
the world.
Mlambo-Ngcuka stated that “if women farmers had the same agricultural tools as men, they
would be able to feed as many as 150 million people. According to her essay, women make
up two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population.”

Gender equality will also help break down rigid gender roles that afflict us all. Men will no
longer have the pressure of being strong caregivers and protectors. They will be free to
express sadness and sensitivity without being seen as weak. With gender equality, a man’s
emotions will no longer be seen as a ploy to get a girl or signs of a weaker man; it will be
seen as human expression. Men will also no longer have the pressure of proving themselves
or of being the strongest or the best. With gender equality, everyone can pursue any career,
dress in any way and act on any emotion without being seen as too feminine or too
masculine.

At the end of the day, oppression for one means oppression for all. If women are forced into
certain social roles, men are thereby forced to fill up the vacant space that some women could
have filled. Without gender equality, no nation will see the full capacity of its economy or
education. No nation can operate at its fullest when half of its population has no voice and no
rights.

If “gender equality” is implemented properly, then gender equality has just pros
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Companies feel pressured to fill gender based hiring quota as opposed to hiring people solely
based on their suitability for the job: in few countries such as India, few of the companies
such as IT companies are facing pressure from the media to hire women. I feel this is a bit
unfair because there is very high probability that undeserving people would get the job
because the companies are required to fill in the quota. This ideology cannot lead
development. It is only fair, that the deserving person get the job.
Girls being trafficked and sold into sex slavery is a problem. Women being assaulted in
public/at home is a problem. Qualified women being rejected from jobs is a problem. There
are hundreds of other things that women face which are real problems that need to be solved.

“The UN's Arab Human Development Report points out that in Arab countries, the high
rates of gender inequality coincide with a lack of economic opportunities among women.
Female labor force participation is slightly less than 24 percent, and among young women,
less than 18 percent - the lowest rate among all regions. The share of women in GDP in the
Arab region is only about 29 percent, against 50 percent in all developing countries. And the
poverty rate is 31.6 percent among women, but 19 percent among men.”

The Muslim world must understand that not supporting women’s empowerment by not giving
them enough opportunities for their development is among the biggest barriers to a country’s
economic advancement.

“The World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Gender Index reveals that fully 23 of the bottom
25 countries with the widest gender gaps are all Muslim countries which are also OIC
members”

There is major misunderstanding in the Western world that Islam oppresses women and Islam
does not believe in equality. But the reality is gender equality in Islam is part of its
jurisprudence and fundamental teachings

“O mankind! Fear your Lord Who (initiated) your creation from a single soul, then from it
created its mate, and from these two spreads (the creation of) countless men and women.”
(al-Qur’an, 4:1)
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This Verse clearly says that man or woman are created from a single entity and are basically
equal genders. As a gender, one is not superior to the other.

“And according to usage, women too have rights over men similar to the rights of men over
women.” (al-Qur’an, 2:228)

This Verse denotes that rights enjoyed by men are the duties of the women and the duties of
men are the rights of women. This implies a similitude between both the genders. There is no
right conferred on man that woman may be deprived of because she is a woman.

Allah has created us differently, our minds are different, our physic is different, our emotions
are different. In Islam men and women are equal but there are certain things that are different.
In Islam equality means we have equal axis to our creator, we have equal opportunities to
gain closeness to Allah. But there are certain things that women specialize in that man cannot
do and some things where a man specialized in and women cannot do- that’s how Allah
created us but this does not mean the difference in our physic, and emotions can give us the
window to oppress women or deny them with their rights and duties

Both genders are dignified and are trustees of Allah on earth.

“We have honored the children of Adam, provided them with transport on land and sea;
given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special favors above
a great part of Our Creation.” (Qur'an 17:70)

Men and women have the same religious and moral duties and responsibilities. They both
face the consequences of their deeds:

“And their Lord has accepted of them and answered them: "Never will I suffer to be lost the
work of any of you be it male or female: you are members of one another ..."(Qur'an 3:195)

Both genders are recipients of the "divine breath" since they are created with the same human
and spiritual nature

“But He fashioned him in due proportion and breathed into him something of His spirit. And
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He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): little
thanks to you give” (Qur'an 15:29)

Islam is very clear on granting women’s right to education. Women are allowed to have
education provided it with dignity and within the norms of Islam. Moreover, if a woman
wants divorce for legitimate reasons, she is allowed to go to the court and file for divorce.

The “Shariah” recognizes the full property rights of women before and after marriage. A
married woman may keep her maiden name. Furthermore, greater financial security is
assured for women.

One more reason for importance of gender equality is crime against women has shown an
upward trend in all the parts of the world. These crimes include “rape”, “dowry deaths” or
“honour killings”. Such crimes perpetuate because of the socially prescribed gender roles that
hold women back. The dowry cases in India- where the daughter-in-law’s family are bound
to pay a substantial amount of money in order to get their daughter married and if in case they
fail to pay. Many incidents like these end on tragic notes where the girls are killed by her
“new family”, or harassed till she suicides.

Cultural institutions in India, particularly those of patrilineality (inheritance through male

descendants) and patrilocality (married couples living with or near the husband’s parents),
play a central role in perpetuating gender inequality and ideas about gender-appropriate
behaviour.

The dowry system, involving a cash or in-kind payment from the bride’s family to the
groom’s at the time of marriage, is another institution that disempowers women. The
incidence of dowry payment, which is often a substantial part of a household’s income, has
been steadily rising over time across all regions and socioeconomic classes.

This often results in dowry-related violence against women by their husbands and in-laws if
the dowry is considered insufficient or as a way to demand more payments.
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These practices create incentives for parents not to have girl children or to invest less in girls’
health and education. Such parental preferences are reflected in increasingly masculine sex
ratios in India. In 2011, there were 919 girls under age six per 1000 boys, despite sex
determination being outlawed in India. “Child marriage” is one of the biggest reasons for
gender equality. The main victims of child marriage are girls who are married off to older
men for money.

There is clearly a need for policy initiatives to empower women as gender disparities in India
persist even against the backdrop of economic growth. There is also a need to monitor these
cases. False dowry or rape cases are registered by women to take revenge on men thus
outlawing men’s right. However, the truth of such cases should be checked and deep
investigation should be conducted before declaring the result. Hence, protecting the rights of
both men and women.

Advancing gender equality is critical to all areas of a healthy society, from reducing poverty
to promoting health, education and well-being of both girls and boys.