Gender inequality is the disparity that occurs among individuals because of their gender. Gender inequality is as old as the world itself, it is reported all over the world; from America, to Europe, to Asia, Africa and the middle east. Although, the incidence is higher in third world/developing countries, where countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East come into focus. Also, gender inequality has been recurrently reported in countries where Islam is the dominant religion as seen in the Middle Eastern and North African countries. Though, both sexes could lay claim to gender inequality, but women are affected more. Consequently, their fundamental human rights are trampled upon. Freedom of speech, expression, assembly and press are routinely violated. Women are relegated to the background in matters relating to their immediate families, their locality, their immediate vicinity, and social, spiritual and political matters. They are treated as legal minors under the perpetual tutelage of their male counterparts. It is believed that a woman’s place in the society is in the kitchen, to cook for the family and ultimately to rear babies. Men are expected to go out in the morning and fend for the family while the woman sits at home, cleans the house, take care of the kids, cook and await the return of her husband to come and perform his bedroom rituals.
For a long time, Islam has been hugely unfair to women. Going by the teachings of the Holy Quran and also by the prophet’s way of life, in Islam, women have no rights. They are seen as minors who have to be dependent on the man for everything. There is no place for informed choices and personal decisions. Everything has to be on a man’s orders and discretion.
An Iranian woman, Marjane Satrapi, in her book 'Persepolis ‘recounts the effects of gender inequality in Islam on the Iranian women and how the new Islamic revolution is reshaping their lives. In Iran, veils are handed over to the girls and they are commanded to wear it. There were no explanations to that effect. They had to comply because they had no say in decision making and also they belonged to the inferior gender. The girls confided in Satrapi that they resented wearing the veil. A militant group named Lashkar-e-Jabar in 2001, decreed that all Muslim women in Kashmir must wear burquas;a garment that covers their clothes from head to toe in public. Those that defied their orders risked being attacked. Two women were bathed in acid by men for non compliance.
Also, during the wide demonstrations in Iran, women were not allowed to join. Those who attempted it were either detained or marked for execution. Satrapis participated in the demonstrations; she was recognized and marked down by state agents. She only escaped after disguising her identity. Furthermore, gender inequality has resulted in practices where the accepted norm is men becoming medical doctors, engineers and university teachers while women are restricted to lesser professions like nursery school teachers and nurses.
In situations where both genders work in the same place, there seems to be issues of wage disparity whereby men receive more pay than women with the same workload and work hours.
Of note is the way women are portrayed in the media. Drs Amy.D . Grannados and Dr. Stacy L. Smith discovered that women are highly underrepresented in the media. They are also portrayed as being skinny and sexy, passing a bad message that if you are not skinny you are not beautiful. Another interesting aspect is that women are often portrayed as sex symbols in movies and adverts. Quasi-nude girls are used to market musicals, movies and beauty products.
The ills against women are very numerous. In some countries, men can divorce their wives at will, but women are not entitled to do so. A lot of times, they stay in unhappy marriages so as to save face and due to poor financial status even when the husband is deep in marital infidelity. In Lebanon, battered women are not entitled to file for divorce without an eye witnesses testimony. Though in Egypt, women can now sue for divorce, but she has to repay her dowry and forgo her access to the family coffers.
In countries like Libya, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Morocco and Yemen, married women must obtain their husbands written permission before they can travel abroad.
Infanticides have been used for female infants in countries like china where the one child policy is being propagated. Also, female infants are abandoned, neglected
In conclusion, gender inequality is a part of mans wickedness towards the other gender. It should be discouraged in its entirety and totality. Advocacy groups and Nongovernmental organisations need to increase their campaign against this social ill.
(2008)http://listverse.com/2008/11/20/10-extreme-examples-of-gender-inequality/
