Gender Bias

Women constitute one half of humanity. God created everyone equal. God wanted to see equality flourish across the seven seas. But as we all know that’s not what’s happening. Why? What has gone wrong?  In modern society women are dominated by men in almost every sphere of human activity so much that they are given inhumane names such as weaker or secondary gender and are treated unfairly in workplaces often receiving less money than their male counterparts. How and why has it all come about? It is a direct result of gender bias which has been in practice since time immemorial.
Society has inculcated us with the notion that women are incapable of providing for their families and that their role in society is as caretaker. This notion is the root cause of gender discrimination in India. In workplaces males employees are given better position than women as most employers believe that their women employees are not up to the task. However, in reality women are as intellectually capable as men, with Sarah Palin serving as a prime example. Girls born to family in poverty are unfortunately denied the right to education, healthcare, and most cases even food by their own parents. They treat their daughters like bad property, refusing to invest in them, fearing that they will receive no returns as they believe that their daughter cannot financially help the family. But in most cases, they’re not even lucky enough to be born.

A holistic approach is required to end this malaise. A lot depends on grooming children right from the time they are born. Children have to be treated equally and assigned equal work and responsibilities for them to feel equal. Once they imbibe the quality of equality, they take it even into adulthood. Work environments, schools, colleges, and society in general will be free from gender bias as they begin to treat everyone equally. So, gender equality should be given utmost importance even in education. Parents should assign work for children, disregarding gender. Only then can we see a transformed world.
Hope the day when people are judged by who they are instead of their gender is not far away.
RAM MUNAGALA-9H