Week 7 - HOW INFORMED ARE YOU ABOUT GENDER INEQUALITY?

INTRODUCTION 

In the article "When will the society be gender-just", the author points out that gender inequality results in disputes in a community, he further makes a clear cut between gender and sex which is a biological term [1]. He also describes how social norms impact gender roles and various opinions about gender just [1]. In the article sexism, authors present various views of society on "sexism” and their experiences in gender stereotypes [2]. Is Srilanka considered an individualistic society? How does an individualistic society highlight gender inequality? This article intends to answer these types of questions and also aims to  differentiate biological gender from the social “gender”.

ROLE OF GENDER IN A SOCIETY 

What does it mean to have a gender? Gender is a social category that interprets oneself either as a male or as a female? But is it only these two categories? Gender is how you identify yourself in society. Someone who doesn't insist on identifying himself as a gender type is known as "Agender". Some are considered gender-neutral. This identification depends on one's owns feelings and self-identification. It is important to identify what gender is before looking into gender issues. The social roles assigned for males and females are indeed influences by social and moral norms [1]. But there can be other factors influencing these roles that women and men are involved with. The author points out that a mother worries and cares about her children than a father does. Think about animals that show parental care. It is evident that mothers show more parental care than fathers. A mother bird incubating her eggs until the eggs hatch is a good example. It is unlikely that the mother bird has a social influence from the bird community. According to science animals do not have reasoning skills as advanced as humans. So, I believe that a mother’s care for children has some influence from biological aspects. The hormones and neurological systems work in mechanism programming mothers psychologically to protect their young ones. Thus, roles for males and females are influenced by society and biology.

COLLECTIVISTIC SOCIETY VS INDIVIDUALISTIC SOCIETY 

Throughout the article, authors divide the society based on the goals of the people as individualistic and collectivistic cultures [2]. In a collectivistic society, a group of people works for a common goal whereas in an individualistic culture, a person would work for himself and his success depends on his performance. Can Asia as a whole be considered a collectivistic society? Asia is extremely diverse. Thus, it is more accurate to divide cultures based on country. The author believes that an individualistic society shows greater gender differences than a collectivistic society [2]. What makes more females work as teachers in Sri Lanka? There can be different answers to this depending on individuals. It can be due to motivation gained by individuals during childhood. For a woman, this can be due to respect from society and is a safer occupation compared to occupations involved with hard-working and competition where she might even face harassments. Men would avoid choosing such an occupation due to economic force. So even the few male teachers will tend to do more private classes. As an individualistic society, Srilanka shows gender differences. 

I believe that balancing gender roles starting from the smallest unit of the society- family,  will help in overcoming gender injustice which can be achieved through mutual understanding. It is important not to underestimate yourself based on gender and discover your true capabilities.

REFERENCES

[1] Robeyns, I.A.M., 2007. When will society be gender-just? Browne, J.(ed.), The Future of Gender, pp.54-74 

[2] Sibley, C.G., 2015. Julia C. Becker. Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination, p.315.