It is agreed by all that man and woman are different. In addition to the differences in physiology they also differ in their thoughts and sensibilities. But these differences have been conveniently termed by society as gender
inequalities. Gender inequalities are prevalent in societies which are patriarchal. A patriarchal society is one in which men are privileged over women. Feminists argue that societies all over the world are patriarchal. Thus gender inequality is a world-wide phenomenon.
In a patriarchal society, women are discriminated against and are subjugated. This discrimination starts right from or even before the birth of a child. Female infanticide is quite common now, especially in rural areas. The female fetus is eliminated in the womb itself. Nobel laureate Prof. Amartya Sen. calls female feticide ‘the high-tech’ mode of discrimination. Technology is used by man so as to eliminate the female fetus. Though pre-natal sex determination has been made illegal, this continues to take place followed by the abortion of the female fetus. This has led to the alarming reduction in the sex ratio (Which is the number of female per male). This makes the life of women even more dangerous as their exploitation will increase. In certain rural areas of north India, there is such a scarcity of women that women are bought from neighboring villages. These women are used by all the men in the family. The price of a woman is Rs.2000 there; a buffalo costs as much as Rs.5000. This is the ugly state of affairs to which the world is rapidly moving.
Even during childhood, the female child suffers. She is given less food than her brother, leading to malnutrition. In rural areas, it is considered useless to send a girl child to school. Instead she is trained to become a housewife while her brothers are sent to school. Even if a girl child is sent to school, higher education is often denied to her.
Marriage and child bearing are presented as the focal pints of a woman’s life. The girls are constantly schooled in the thought that they do not belong to their house. They are trained to give priority to the needs of others and ignore theirs. All this assists in their subjugation.
Even professional women suffer from inequality. Often higher posts in employment are denied to them. Furthermore many women do not go for promotions as they have to think of their family. Promotions invariably mean transfers. So in order to be with their family, women often sacrifice their desires for professional advancement. Furthermore, life of the working woman is all the more difficult since she is expected to balance her profession with her family life.
Though gender inequality is said to be more prevalent in South Asia, it is present even in the advanced countries of the world. Many South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Srilanka, have had, or even now have female heads of government. But this has not been the case with other advanced countries.
Coming back to the position of women in a patriarchal set up, this is where women are most discriminated against. Women occupy a pivotal role in the family in such a society, but it is the men who dominate. Right from childhood, a definite code of conduct binds the women. Their talents and capabilities are suppressed in the interest of men’s ego.
Amartya Sen. also points to the consequences of discrimination against the girl child. Nutritional discrimination leads to severe malnutrition in girls. When later in life, these girls become mothers, this affects their children too. The children are often born underweight. Studies link many adult diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart problems to the low weight and severe malnutrition during childhood. Thus in the end, men suffer more than women due to the discrimination against women which seems to come back like a boomerang and haunt them with a vengeance.
Violence against women is also on the rise. Often the oppressors go unpublished. The times are so bad that neither a small girl nor an old woman is safe. Society is more interested in victimizing the woman than in punishing the oppressors.
Different aspects of gender inequality have been eliminated-But some are still on the rise. Women from the corner stone of human civilization. It is essential that she be treated equal with man. Furthermore, she should be respected for what she is. Feminists argue that the difference between man and woman is one of kind and not of degree. It is high time both men and women realize the exploitation of women and provide a discrimination free existence for them.
