[Author]
Sen, Ostlin and George (2007) claimed in their report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health that girls and women had been viewed as less capable than boys and men. Women tend to hold different kinds of jobs as men (Correll, 2001), and experience double standard in the delegation of assignments. A study noted a 50 percent tendency for people to display distinct female role expectations (Lafky, Duffy, Steinmaus & Berkowitz, 1996). Real inequity exists in many areas of the woman’s work life: “equal pay for equal work, protection of working mothers, fairness in career advancements, equality of spouses with regards to family rights and the recognition of everything that is part of the rights and duties of citizens in a democratic State” (Pope John Paul II, 1995). The phenomenon of unequal expectations is difficult and complex, embedded in social, political, cultural, and economic institutions in any society around the world.
The problem, however, in the feminist perspectives is the erroneous attempt to put “a competition between women and men” (Bowman, 2014). The issue is beyond women being equal or not equal to men; neither of men denying women equality as human beings that has “rights and duties of citizens in a democratic State.” The issue goes back in history. All people, including women themselves, are heirs to a history that believed in the inequality of gender; that conditioned people to an extent so remarkable it can be found in every fabric of society. The Unconscious Bias Theory suggests that people have unconscious prejudices and, left to their own devices, will automatically discriminate. In a society dominated by women, will the same discrimination against men exist?
The distinctions that feminists placed between women and men aggravated, rather than helped, resolve the problem. That is why the feminist movement failed. The contributions of women in history are vast. As educators, they have demonstrated an ever readiness and willingness to give themselves generously to others, particularly the weakest and most defenseless. As healthcare providers, they had demonstrated a spirit of service that even bordered on martyrdom, in precarious circumstances and in the poorest countries of the world. In these two fields, men had failed to single their selves out as a group.
The problem with the issue of unequal expectations is the expectations placed on the women by feminists. Tessa Bowman (2014) aptly asked: “But do I, a woman, want to? Do I want to do different things? Am I ashamed of my female strengths Do I not have unique qualities, which, when accepted, separate me from men, and foster my and society’s relationship with men?” And, if it may be added, do women want to “compete” with men in areas requiring male qualities, ignoring the qualities that nature endowed her, in the misguided attempt to be “equal to” or “better than” men?
The key to the resolution of the problems of unequal expectations is for women to appreciate her natural uniqueness and the strengths that flow from it, avoiding the misguided determination to be women in men’s clothing. Constructively, women have two choices to correct the problem. First, cherish their strength and uniqueness, and seek works in areas where their strengths play far above that of men (Daft). Second, enter a male-dominated area and change the state of things from within. The former placed her in the most advantageous situation to win. The latter pits her in a supremacy struggle against men. In either choice, there should be no complaint. When the gender demographic reverses, men too have the same imperative choices to resolve unequal expectations placed on them.
References
Bowman, T. (2014, September 30). Emma Watson’s empty performance at the U.N. The
Catholic World Report.com. Retrieved from: http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/3399/emma_watsons_empty_performance_at_the_un.aspx
Daft. Chapter 11: Developing leadership Diversity [Attachment]
John Paul II (1995, June 20). Letter of Pope John Paul II to women. Libreria Editrice
Vaticana. Retrieved from:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_29061995_women_en.html
Sen, G., Ostlin, P. & George, A. (2007, September). Unequal, unfair, ineffective and
inefficient gender inequity in health: Why it exists and how we can change it. WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources.csdh_media/wgekn_final_report_07.pdf
