The Gender Inequality Issue
We all have that annoying aunt who wants us to get married ASAP. She wants you to find a guy who is well settled, is taller than you and earns more than you.
While literally everybody I have met is taller than me, my question is why are all the parents looking for a guy who earns more than their daughter?
Now, of course, there can be many variations to this question. May be the girl doesn't work at all, may be she doesn't earn that much but what if she earns well? What has money got to do with anything?
For some reason, our society cannot stop reminding us that men are supposed to be superior than women. Men can have all the ego and pride in this world about their success and career. On the other hand, women, are always supposed to put their family before their career.
But why?
Because we are women and we have reproductive parts in our body that give birth to a new human?
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And it doesn't just stop at aunties. Last month, I had an HR call me for a full time job opportunity and she asked me if I 'plan to get married in the next two years'. My only reaction was - 'Would you ask a guy the same question during a job interview?'. She of course said no and went on about how women need to relocate when they get married. That was the point when I told her I wasn't interested in the job because I wouldn't want to work in an organization that was gender bias.
The problem is - this is probably not the only organization that is gender bias. When women take on jobs, they have stupid clauses in their contract like - they cannot get married for a given duration or they can't get pregnant. All I want to know is - do men have to go through all that?
On top of everything else, men like to assume that gender inequality doesn't exist in this world. That stupid AAP Leader Ashutosh went on and on about how women are not allowed to worship at Shani Shignapur.
What about the fact that women still cannot join armed forces the same way men can?
While men can directly apply for the Indian Army forces after school, women atleast need a bachelor's degree just to get qualified to apply. After that, they need a good rank in UPSC or join NCC for atleast two years. For Indian Air Force you need to clear AFCAT and get a medical degree. So basically, you won't be flying planes like the other men, you would just be a doctor.
But Indian Navy has to be the worst of all. The service only allowed women on temporary basis when Supreme court finally intervened in September 2015 and called it 'gender bias'.
And even after all that, when women finally enter armed forces, they are sexually assaulted and their complaints are never heard.
All I want from people is to acknowledge that there is gender inequality in the world today. Because in order to solve a problem we need to accept the fact that it exists. We need to start talking about it and do something about it because if we don't, our generations to come will be dealing with the same damn question.
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Your voice is heard and hope it created ripples somewhere :) We all got problems, both men & women equally. Take care ;)
ReplyDeleteNope, not true.
DeleteProblems are not equal
There is gender inequality, no doubt. But the brave ones have broken out of the man-made structures.
ReplyDeleteThat's true but some continue to hide behind and pretend like inequality doesn't exist
DeleteI completely agree with you Ritika and it’s disheartening to see that some people still believe that there are no gender issues and people (read feminists) like us create them in our mind.
ReplyDeleteTrue Manisha and then they like to pretend that women are just trying to grab some attention
DeleteThank you for your voice. I;m wondering if we need to change the direction of the issue, however, from voicing our outrage at gender inequality in the workplace, to moving more confidently and powerfully into our roles as women and, yes, as mothers? Maybe our potential to mother is not something to be discriminated against, but honored and maybe we should be fighting for our societies to create and support systems that support and protect and value mothering as the superpowerful and life-creating/sustaining endeavor that it is? We have been fighting for too long to have "equality" in the workplace and it is never going to come. Why? Because women mother. And instead of fighting that fact and continuing to insist we are "just like men" maybe we need to own our potential to mother, and all the enormous adaptive advantages that come with being female, and begin to argue for changes to honor us in that regard.
ReplyDeleteSo you want women, who are getting paid less than men, for doing the same work, to completely stop fighting for it, and instead devote their life to being a mother????
DeleteBut that is the difference you know - not every woman wants to be a mother, not every woman is a mother.
Saying that all women are mothers, is just like saying all men are self-centered chauvinists, which they are not.
Hello 1980's? You left your double-standard, male-hating, self-centered female sexists in our century, could you come pick them up...or is that offensive to say? Should the term be, "...cater them into your custody for transport to the previous century?"
ReplyDeleteHello Internet? You left a troll down here.
DeletePS - I will reply to your comment when you decide to post it with your own name.