At times, there are some concepts that tend to be controversial or whose understanding is not conventional. These issues need to be addressed with a more analytical eye. The essay below looks at gender equality as one of the issues that are hard to define. The objective is to come up with a proper definition for this issue.
Gender Equality
For quite a long time, the roles of the different genders in the society were well defined, with a clear understanding of the duties to be played by women and those to be played by men. Though the society was quite patriarchal, there was no problem since the different genders had an understanding as to the roles to be played by each. However, due to modernization and the growth in technology, women have come up through what is commonly known as empowerment (Diekman and Murnen, 2004). They call for equal treatment with men in what they term as gender equality. This is quite a controversial issue as there is no understanding as to what gender equality exactly is.
In the first instance, the teachers and parents do not seem to understand what they ca tell their children gender equality is. As Diekman and Murnen (2004) observes, there is confusion between the definition of gender equality and that of sexist or non-sexist. The parents and teachers are left in a wave of confusion as to the definition of these issues.
The confusion spreads on to the work place where the employers do not seem to have an understanding as to what gender equality calls for (Dickens, 1998). Does it imply that the employees both male and female should be treated and remunerated equally, or is it an implication that there should not be roles for specific gender? This is quite unclear given that individuals from the two genders have different abilities. As organizations seek to harness these abilities, it is not clear as to whether they can be said to be going against the requirements of empowerment movements which call for gender equality.
Reinen and Plomp (1997) further stress on the importance of a proper definition of gender equality. They indicate that on the face of it, it might be assumed that gender equality means that all are equal and they have similar abilities. However, if research findings are to be believed, it is clear that men and women have different abilities. For instance, women are said to have more problems with their interaction with computers and other technical issues, while men seem to sail through. How, then, can the two be said to be equal? It is very clear that they have different abilities. As such, equality cannot be based on what women can or cannot do.
With such a deadlock, it is necessary that a valid solution for the issue is derived. This is indicated in Reinen and Plomp (1997). From their account, it appears that gender equality is not to mean that all are the same since they are different by nature. Rather, this term was orchestrated to mean that there should be equal opportunities for all. This can be in educational matters, job openings and the other opportunities that can arise in other fields. If this definition is to be adopted for this term, then there is a possibility that the conflict between the two genders can be resolved.
Dickens, L. (1998. What HRM Means for Gender Equality. Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 8(1), pp. 23-40.
Diekman, B.A. & Murnen, S.K. (2004). Learning to be a Little Women and a Little Men: The Inequitable Gender Equality of Nonsexist Children’s Literature. Sex Roles, Vol. 50(5-6), pp. 373-385.
