Imagine a country full of stereotypical males with archaic views on gender differences and superiority of the male sex. Not a country favourable for a woman to grow in. That's the country we live in. Sounds scary? Female infanticide, acid attacks on women, physical abuse in marriages, dowry. Sounds familiar doesn't it. What many of us thought is the old school of thought and doesn't exist anymore in this more educated and mature generation is wrong. Education and maturity is not the issue and will not help us eradicate the sentiment of male superiority over women.
Biologically it has been proven that men and women are different and this difference is evident right from our conception. Men and women have 22 identical pairs of chromosomes but the 23rd pair makes all the difference, while women have a pair of 2 X's and man possesses 1 X (dominant) and 1 Y(weaker). This is why when children are young the males tend towards playing with trucks and cars and females towards dolls.
All said and done, the differences stop right there, biological. Nature makes man and woman different but nurture should not. Due to certain gender stereotypes that exist, women are nurtured into a more feminine and submissive role in society as compared to their male counterparts. Research by renowned psychologists prove that women can perform equal, and sometimes better, than men in academics if they are tested in a pseudo sterotypical free environment.
So why then do men treat women with prejudice and authority. I know most of y'all, men and women alike, will disagree with me by saying we now have a women president and women are now travelling to space. I ask you, in our population of close to 1 billion, how many women are free to live the lives they want to without being submissive to man and without being prey to physical and mental abuse. Nature built us differently for a reason, so man and woman would complement each other. Not for man to dominate women. Nature made man strong so he could look out for woman, take care of her and treat her well. Not to use that strength against her with violence and abuse. Nature made women caring and understanding so they could be nurturing and also excel at a workplace in areas man would fail. Not so she could be submissive to man and take his abuse without a word said.
Stereotypes of the weaker sex are as harmful as stereotypes of caste and race.
Education cant help this country but HUMILITY can.
Monday, August 27, 2007
GENDER BIAS
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Very true..
ReplyDeleteAlso if see the way women and men are brought up in the society.. "gender roles" define a lot of our actions..
Women can be good atheltes , ride bikes and cars ..but its always a "man's job". Men are not supposed to express their feelings easily or cry.
Crying is act as natural for any human ,as it is for an organism.. But our society has created such "gender roles " and "gender stereotyped behaviour" that an act so natural as "crying" seen in the male species of any other organism is not found much in human males..
So it is when a human tries to beautify himself/herself. IF a male uses cream , and other products.. he is considered "gay". Now sexuality also gets a hit because of these "gender roles"
SExuality to a level is biliogical as to how we feel ourselves to be and what "sexual preference" we choose. But environment shapes it a lot .And forces a lot of stereotypes rite from family , siblings , friends, public.
"gender stereotypes and gender roles " are interesting concepts to learn..