How do men and women see gender equality differently?

How do men and women see gender equality differently?

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential. Let’s face it. Without women, the world wouldn't go around. From birthing and raising children to provide financial stability and preparing a clean and healthy home, women are still treated as “less than”. Most of the negative impact of rigid gender norms and roles are faced by girls and women. Having fewer opportunities to choose how to live their lives, they may experience extensive levels of violence and harassment across the globe as well as restrictions in their freedom and mobility. 

Although it sounds like gender inequality is all about the unfair rights of women, boys and men suffer too. Ideas about what it means to be a man force boys and men to behave in very limited and stereotyped ways which can be harmful.

Most people still view gender issues as simply women’s issues, even though the strict definition of gender encompasses male, female and other gender identities. Emma Watson’s HeForShe campaign calls on men to become allies for gender equality. 

GENDER EQUALITY AFFECTS MEN TOO

Fighting for women’s rights has become “synonymous with man-hating,” as Watson put it in her speech. Despite that statement, gender equality benefits men as well. Taking a step toward breaking down those expectations of both genders would be to bring men into the conversation. As Watson said in her speech, “It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, not as two opposing sets of ideals.”

Gender equality is often framed as a responsibility of women, and that they ought to be more outspoken or assertive to climb the career ladder, but men too benefit from a more egalitarian society, says one observer from AWARE. 

While the #HeForShe movement worked to a degree to engage men and boys in gender conversations, there is still a long way to go.

Such a gender-equal fictional world starts from the premise that equal access to wealth and opportunity will remove the divide between men and women.

EMPLOYMENT:

Some professions are stereotypically considered to be more male or female-friendly with social and biological reasoning to back that up. For instance; nurse, scientist, engineer, astronaut, mechanic. It's easier for one gender to succeed in such roles, and more difficult for the other. Nowadays there's a push to have more females in male-dominated fields, especially around STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths), which is a fantastic upswing. This gives to show that it has been understood in society that stereotypes should be broken and men and women can freely and comfortably vary their choice in interest and career. Despite all that, I feel that for any job, the person that should be hired is the person who is the best fit and best qualified, regardless of gender. Even with a higher educational level, women earn, on average, less than men do. Although the difference between men's and women's earnings has declined in recent years, in 2016 women still received the equivalent of 76.5% of men's earnings.

EDUCATION:

In the civilized world/countries, education is rightfully balanced between both genders. In third world countries, there is a bigger focus on educating the young boys so they can go out and start working, whereas the girls are left to do household work and become wives, potentially leading to the olden-day, stereotypical household. In areas of low-economic structure, people living in poverty figure the birth of a baby boy equals a better chance for wealth. Girls and women deserve the same chance to receive an education as their brothers do. For the betterment and improvement of the lives of the men and women who grow up in these societies, these little steps are necessary. Girls who receive more education are less likely to marry as children and to become pregnant and young mothers. 

HEALTH:

There's more variation for girls between first world and third world countries. Some places put plenty of effort into educating women about their bodies, while other places (usually third world countries) prefer to keep the women ignorant. Awareness of sanitary and cleanliness especially when it comes to girl's menstruation is a major barrier we need to overcome. Although girls go through a tough time, they receive a considerable amount of comfort in each other. Men are more or less the same everywhere in terms of health education about their bodies. From a mental health perspective, I think women are freer to discuss and be open about their issues and receive a better response, whereas with men there's a certain expectation to be fulfilled. The most common forms of such pressure are being told to "be a man" and deal with things alone, without professional help. Such pressures influence mental health in a drastic way, and as research shows, men have a higher rate of suicide in comparison. According to a survey of 809 teenage boys that AWARE published, nine in 10 teenage boys reported facing pressures to be “manly” through experiences of harassment, bullying, teasing, social exclusion, and psychological and physical violence.

Denying people the freedom to choose their path in life because of their gender prevents them from fulfilling their full potential. There is lots we can do to help build a more gender-equal world. Understanding the deep roots of gender inequality and challenging discrimination when we see it are the first steps.