O God, let there be peace - Manisha Tulaskar

Gender Discrimination

Gender Discrimination, to this date, has been a hot topic of debate as it is rife world wide. Women today, as throughout history, have the difficult task at hand - they have to prove themselves in what is called, “a man’s world”. For centuries women, it can be disputed, have been oppressed, looked down upon and discriminated against because of their capabilities. Discrimination against genders is so worldwide and takes place in so many arenas; such as in the office, at home and even on the road; that it’s hard not o forgive “feminists.” The “office” – the most hotly debated male/ female arena has, for centuries, subjected the female version of our species to all forms of discriminatory gender degradation. Rude and crass jokes, sexual molestation, victimization and belittlement are just some of the things women have become subjected to over the years. Until about one century ago, according to statistics.com, women weren’t even allowed to work. How many times have we heard, even today, the statement: “A woman’s place is at home with her kids”.

Every woman has to, at some stage or the other, become a child bearer. But because of the negative connotations attached, in the past, to this “condition”; many women today, according to libcon.org, view this “beautiful condition of nature” as a hindrance. To add insult to injury, Matt Mahurin author of the article continues, when women were at last “allowed” to work and support their families some jobs where still being, and are still being, reserved for men. The “Technology, Math and Science” jobs have always been “for men”. Jobs that didn’t need more than “the average amount of intellect” were then given to women. The ‘easy’ jobs like nursing, it can then be said, were “well suited” to women only.

Politics, another historical no-no for women, has only “recently” given way to the fairer sex, according to wikipedia.com. Previously, women were not even allowed the right to vote. The world (otherwise known as ‘man’) has always been unfair to women and has always discriminated against them in such a way that “preserved the status quo”. Men are not superior to women, so why have they been given the rite to decide what was right women.

What about “on the road”: According to Wikipedia.com women weren’t allowed to drive up until half a century ago - and are still discriminated against on the road today. How many times have we heard our fathers saying “women don’t belong on the road”, or if there had been an accident: “it must be a woman behind the wheel”. Men take advantage of frail women in cases and try, as they do in all other areas of life, to bully their female counter-parts.

But, there is hope… In early 20th century, movements supporting the “female cause began. In particular there were two movements.

The ‘First Wave Feminism’ movement, focusing on absolute rights such as suffrage helped to attain women the right to vote. The second, and much later, ‘Second Wave Feminism’ movement focused on economic equality between genders (this now means that women have the ability to have careers and choose not to have children). It also addressed the rights of the female minority. Indeed, these movements have brought the “modern” woman far. Today, there is still a lot of discrimination and victimization against women. Maybe its just men feeling threatened now? We can only speculate. Many women, single and married women, are doing it for themselves - stretching their limits, negating their fears and even excelling in a “man’s world”. The balance between man and woman is coming along steadily. Soon it will reach a point of equilibrium. Let us hope, for the sake of man, that women do not decide to take over the world!

Fast fact: after a lot of survey, it has been decided that women are better drivers than men! Many would disagree, but how many more accidents do men have than women? Its only in the male mental state that they are better drivers.