Programme Title |
Business Management Foundation |
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Module Title |
English for Academic Purpose |
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Programme Level |
Foundation |
Turnitin Submission ID |
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Academic Year |
2021-2022 |
Term |
1 |
Assessment Title |
Gender Equality: A realistic Ambition or a Dream. |
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Student Name |
Savga Elena |
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LSME ID NO: |
ES012223316FBM |
UoC Reg. No |
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Tutor Name |
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Due Date |
29.03.2022 |
Word Count |
2043 |
Student Signature: Savga Elena
Date: 29.03.2022
Gender Equality: A realistic Ambition or a Dream
Introduction
Gender equality in the current scenario is considered to be a prime concern especially for all the female populations within the world. It is because, in many areas it can be noticed that females are underestimated and dominated that further lead to the rise of gender equality. In this respect, the current essay will be highlighting the aspects of gender equality through a case study depicting Gender Equality: A realistic Ambition or a Dream. Women, men, and children of both genders are said to be equal when they have the same level of control over their own destinies as well as those of the rest of society. Equitable distribution of power and influence is a matter of social justice. In addition to this the importance of gender equality alongside pros and cons of gender equality will also be stated in the study below.
Thesis statement of the study includes the fact that gender equality is highly important to implement equal rights and living standards to the male and female populations within a society.
Discussion
Background of the case study
The current case study is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals related to gender equality. The case study mainly aims at mitigating discrimination that mainly occurs against the female populations. It also aims at eliminating violence against the female population, harmful practises that include a forced marriage, early child and others. In addition to this, the current case study also helps in ensuring proper participation of the female population and recognising their value in every aspect of life. It also helps in undertaking reforms that further provides the female population with equal rights in terms of economic resources, property, natural resources, inheritance and others (UN Women, 2022). From the case study it can also be observed that 49 countries in the global scenario still lack the aspects of implementing proper laws that protect domestic violence of a woman. On the other hand it can also be seen that 39 countries also lack the equal rights of women in terms of inheritance (UN Women, 2022).
However, eliminating gender based violence is considered to be a priority that helps in processing equal human rights. It is because from the analysis of 87 countries it can be seen that one out of five women under the age of 50 experiences physical or sexual violence. This tends to steal the childhood of the female population for approximately 15 millions of girls under the age of 18. Moreover, it can be observed that 52% of the female population globally are free to make their own decisions in terms of contraceptive use, health care and sexual relations (UN Women, 2022). However, as per the case study, it can also be noticed that the equality between male and female populations have created several unorganised actions that are effective in harming the society. Henceforth, it can be analysed that gender equality causes fashion pros and cons based on the situation.
Importance of gender equality
Gender equality is considered to be the action of providing equal rights to the male and female populations within a society. According to King et al. (2020), gender equality includes providing equal rights alongside opportunity and responsibilities to the male alongside female populations. It tends to affect every gender within a society including men, women, transgender, diverse people, children and families. As per the opinion of Roseboom (2020), gender equality helps in preventing violence against the female populations within a society. In this respect the aspect of gender equality can be considered as highly essential for economic prosperity. It is because, from the current reports it can be analysed that societies that tend to value men and women populations equally are considered to be healthy and safer than other societies. In addition to this, as per Agarwal (2018), implementing gender equality also helps in creating a better workplace, better society that further results in proper collaboration among each other. Henceforth, it can be stated that gender equality is considered to be highly important in achieving proper cultural change, empowerment, safety, freedom, economic prosperity, well-being and others.
Pros of gender equality
Gender equality in the current scenario leads to several benefits for the female populations within a community. According to the illustration of Robinson et al. (2019), proper gender equality reflects providing proper rights to the female populations that are mostly being dominated by the male populations in the society. Among the several benefits of gender equality, one is fairness. As per Breda et al. (2020), fairness, justice and equality are considered to be the foundation of rights of human beings. This idea tends to generate high equality among genders and is being circulated among most parts around the world. Benefits of gender equality also depict economic prosperity. As stated by Obradovi? et al. (2019), the current impact of covid-19 pandemic in the community results in the aspects of economic hardship and unemployment that further leads to food insecurity, violence faced by women and others. In this respect advancing the aspect of gender equality can be effective in mentoring prosperous countries and unlocking economic potential.
Other than that, health and happiness is another benefit provided by gender equality. It is because, as per de Looze et al. (2018), equality is considered to be the foundation that leads to fulfilling a happy and healthy lifestyle. If discrimination is eliminated alongside eliminating harmful stereotypes that mainly create gender based violence then the quality of life of every populations will be enhanced. This further will contribute to a healthy population towards the world’s economy. Another benefit that can be gained from the implementation of gender equality is peace and security. It is because as illustrated by Eklund and Lundqvist (2021), equality in terms of gender tends to process the power of creating a peaceful world. It is because through the aspect of gender equality women alongside diversifying genders can be included in the process of decision making that further will create peace in operations and will help in executing targeted goals. Besides, as opined by Psaki et al. (2018), including all genders within the decision making process also helps in providing various insights and thus helps in achieving sustainable and long term peace.
Another benefit of gender equality reflects limitless possibilities. It is because everyone in a community is capable of deserving an opportunity for fulfilling their potential goals and every individual within a society possesses different talents. In this respect it can be stated that providing equal opportunity to all the gender within a society provides the scope of getting high talents and limitless possibilities. In addition to this, as per the opinion of Mejía-Dorantes and Villagrán (2020), gender equality consists one of the most important benefit of eliminating discrimination and violence against women. It is because, due to the implementation of gender equality, nation is being ruled by certain laws that does not tolerate any kinds of violence against women in any area. For instance in the case study it has been stated that discriminatory laws needs to be changed alongside proactively advanced equality needs to be adapted by the legislation within a nation. This will be effective in providing women with proper protection and will also help in mitigating gender based violence.
In addition to this, as per the case study it can also be noticed that women tend to do 2.6 times more domestic work that is being non paid care as compared to the men. However, despite doing unpaid work, women’s are not appreciated by the male population. Based on this notion the case study states that unpaid care of the women leads to lower earnings and thus lowers the position of women in a society. In this respect as stated by Seager et al. (2021), this is creating low opportunities for women to work besides men and is also restricting their areas of development. On the other hand, it has been also stated in the case study that rights of reproduction and sexual activities are also not considered among women. For instance women are often deprived of education, decent work that further leads to several kinds of discrimination. In this respect implementing gender equality also provides the benefit of development for the woman and is effective in contributing to the nation's economy. Sexual and reproductive rights are important in their own right. Deficiencies in these contribute to other forms of discrimination, such as depriving women of an education and a decent job, for example. Women who are married or in a union make only 52 percent of their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use, and health care. This can develop the nation more.
However, as per the case study In order to achieve gender equality by 2030, it is imperative to eliminate the many root causes of discrimination that still limit women's rights in both the private and public sectors. Discriminatory laws, for example, must be amended and new legislation passed to advance equality.
Cons of gender equality
Gender equality besides having several advantages also consists of several disadvantages. As per the view of Lawless et al. (2021), gender equality is perceived to be a notion that treats people as individuals. Similarly it will create a sense of hate or admiration based on the quality possessed within a person further eliminating the aspects of stereotyping and generalisation. This situation can be disastrous for individuals who believe in patronage, appreciation or favour based on stereotype and gender norms. In addition to this, as per Dashper (2020), through the notion of gender equality an individual may face several barriers while working in a team. This can be treated as one of the most important disadvantages of gender equality because as per gender equality individuals will be getting responses as per their actions. Based on these aspects, it can be stated that gender equality tends to create several issues in society. On the other hand, as per the case study it has been stated that treating every individual equally does not possess the notion of treating everyone the same.
It is because, as per Liu et al. (2018), different genders within a society tend to have different needs and that must be acknowledged by the society. For instance, the need of a girl and the need of a boy are always different and that needs different aspects to be fulfilled. Another instance that is stated in the case study includes the fact that if someone is buying pulled pork tacos for all the members within a office for lunch then that lunch will not be fitting the people having the culture of Jewish or Muslim as they do not eat pork. Similarly another example has also been stated in the case study that states both the genders are not capable of doing physical work properly as a man will be better in doing physical work than a woman. Based on the notion in the case study it can be reflected that gender equality is not potential in every aspect of our society.
However, furthermore in the case study it has been stated that women and men are not likely to sort themselves within the same category if they are being left to do it themselves. But some critics have a different opinion. Treating everyone equally doesn’t mean treating them all the same, according to them. The world must recognise the distinct needs of the sexes in order to better serve them. For instance, if you purchase tacos with pulled pork for an office Jews and Muslims, who do not eat pork, will not enjoy this lunch. The same holds true if you were to do the same thing. While both sexes are expected to perform physical labour, men are more likely to excel than women. These “Equality of outcome is undesirable” because of fundamental gender differences. It is because; from an instance presented in the case study it can be observed that male populations in certain areas are provided fewer chances than the female population. For instance in Scandinavian it can be observed that there are 20 female nurses and one male nurse within the domain. Similarly, the ratio for male alongside female engineers is also the same. This reflects the free choices of women and men equality within a society with the help of gender equality laws. However, as argued by Engeli and Mazur (2018), male population experts in certain areas while female populations are experts in other areas and both the populations are not lagging behind each other. In this respect having equal amounts of both the population in every aspect can be beneficial for the society. Henceforth, these are the negative impacts of gender equality within a society.
Conclusion
From the current essay it can be concluded that gender equality causes certain positive and negative impacts within a society. The aspect of gender equality is highly important within a society in order to implement the goals stated by UN Sustainable Development. This reflects goals of eliminating violence against the female population, providing equal rights to women, and others. Besides the advantages of gender equality depicts fairness, justice and equality among all the women and men population within a society. This also reflects the benefits of health and happiness, peace and security, limitless possibilities and others. However, disadvantages of gender equality reflect high chances to women in certain areas that seem to be creating issues in executing targeted goals. Overall it can be stated that implementing gender equality can be effective in providing women their right place within the society which will be a real life ambition as in many countries like USA gender equality is getting implemented. Henceforth, the thesis statement of the study including the fact that gender equality is highly important to implement equal rights and living standards to the male and female populations within a society is highly justified.
Reference list
Agarwal, B. (2018) ‘Gender equality, food security and the sustainable development goals’ Current opinion in environmental sustainability, 34, pp.26-32.
Breda, T. Jouini, E. Napp, C. and Thebault, G. (2020) ‘Gender stereotypes can explain the gender-equality paradox’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(49), pp.31063-31069.
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de Looze, M.E. Huijts, T. Stevens, G.W. Torsheim, T. and Vollebergh, W.A. (2018) ‘The happiest kids on earth. Gender equality and adolescent life satisfaction in Europe and North America’ Journal of youth and adolescence, 47(5), pp.1073-1085.
Eklund, L. and Lundqvist, Å. (2021) ‘Children's rights and gender equality in Swedish parenting support: Policy and practice’ Journal of Family Studies, 27(1), pp.32-47.
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