Abstract:
With the continued patriarchal system over ages and prejudice and traditional ideas about gender roles, male dominated culture has developed an absolute edge over the society. These gender based stereotypes have created a false notion of defined gender roles which led to the presumed culture of male dominance and female subordination in the societal structure. The sad part is that females even have to go through a lot of sufferings in the course of their efforts to break the gender barrier. There are many evident examples of gender based discrimination within the domain of education, economic independence, workplace inequality and pay gap, violence and harassment, representation in government etc. It has been observed that there is significant low rate of female participation in matters of utmost importance of public and social concerns.
Although nowadays it has repeatedly been claimed that times are changing and moves are being taken to combat gender disparity. For instance, recently Iceland became the first country to enforce equal pay for women and men. This is an absolutely strong initiative to combat the evil of gender based dominance and it is the need of the hour in every country where gender disparity exists to take such similar steps.
Women’s rights are human rights and fundamental to global progress. There is an absolute need to redouble our efforts to protect and promote women’s rights and dignity. There exists a need for a rapid and radical change to reap the benefits of diverse perspectives by challenging historic injustices.
Keywords: Male dominance, Gender gap, Workplace inequality.
- Introduction:
We have often seen it quoted that modernization and advancement is leading to gender equality and gone are the days where gender biasness existed within societies. People even tend to believe this delusive statement, but the real truth is somewhat different.
Gender disparity still exists and this is one of the sad realities of our society. The main root cause for the existence of gender disparity lies within the patriarchal dominance in the societal structure. Ours is a male dominated society from time immemorial. Male dominance is not something new coming out of the box but the existing patriarchal dominance has its widespread roots across societies from beginning. The continual existence of prejudice about gender roles and gender based stereotypes has led to the emergence and establishment of male dominated society.
Sexual dimorphism[1] between male and female is considered as one of the reasons for the emergence of male dominance and female subordination. Male masculinity owes to their superiority whereas females are regarded as physically weak and fragile. This distinction led to the defining of the gender roles as male dominated public roles and home centered female roles. Women are supposed to be submissive and docile and categorized as homemakers whereas male members are supposed to be the bread earners of the family. One of the biggest drawbacks of this system is that it gives no economic independence to women. This system of societal structure may not display any flaw within it but a close observation of this defined gender roles speaks volumes about the impacts of this system on society.
The prejudice and stereotypes about defined gender roles is being carried since ages and even today women have to strive to earn equal rights. The situation of women in our country has constantly remained grim even after accounting to half of the population of the country.
III. Gender Gap:
Gender gap or gender inequality may sound as common terms used in today’s modern day parlance but these terms have got broader and wider implications leading to various social hurdles. Gender gap basically refers to the significant difference between the ways in which male and female members are treated within a particular society. It refers to the differences between women and men with respect to their economic attainments as well as their participation in social and political matters.
As per the reports of World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2018, India has made no improvement in the overall gender gap rankings so far, as compared to 2017. India stood at a low rank of 108 out of the 149 countries in 2018.[2] India ranked low on the grounds such as – economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. World Economic Forum remarked that “India needs to make improvements across the board, from women’s participation to getting more women into senior and professional roles,”[3]
- Workplace Inequality and Wage Gap:
The stats of gender gap are quite disappointing. Even today women have to strive hard to break the gender gap stereotypes caused as a result of prejudice about gender roles. One of the common practices of gender discrimination as evident is of gender pay gap at workplace. Although appointed at the same work position performing similar job duties, most of the times women have to strive hard to attain an equal status as given to the male members at workplace.
Gender wage gap is evidently high in India, according to a survey, women in the country earn 19 per cent less than men, and wage inequalities in the favour of men are present in all the pertinent sectors.
According to the latest Monster Salary Index (MSI) report, the current gender pay gap in India stood at 19 per cent where men earned Rs 46.19 more in comparison to women. The average gross hourly salary for men in India in 2018 was Rs 242.49, while for women it stood at around Rs 196.3.[4]According to the report, gender pay gap increases with the years of working experience. In the initial years, the gender pay gap is moderate but rises significantly as the work tenure increases. The gender pay gap in favour of men reaches the peak for those with over 10 years of experience, with men earning 15 per cent more than women. The survey contended that, men earn 21% more than women even in those sectors which are notionally identified by women such as healthcare, social work and caring services.[5]
It is a general observation that women are few in number at the higher end of the wage scale. On one hand women continue to be over represented in occupations and low value added industries like agriculture, textiles, handicrafts, domestic services etc. whereas on the other hand women continue to be under represented in posts of higher authority, legislators, senior officers etc.
All these reports and surveys hint towards only one thing i.e. women are underrepresented in most of the sectors which leads to them being treated disadvantageously at workplace. This disparity exists because we’re tied to stereotyped notions about gender roles. Male dominated society has established such an edge that it requires hardcore efforts to combat this social evil. There exists a pre conceived notion of 1950 era that females may not be worthy enough to hold responsible positions at workplace. It is a presumption that women may not do proper justice to their job roles at workplace as they have other household responsibilities as well. These orthodox notions have extended such deep roots in society that even today women have to struggle to earn equal status as given to the men.
According to Global Wage Report 2018-19 published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), when it comes to hourly wages women are paid most unequally in India. ILO in its latest report which was released in November last year, contended that the wage gap is still a worrying factor in India, though the ratio of increase in pay parity is improving. Experts say what is more worrying in India is that the gender wage gap is visible even among women who are highly educated and emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring equal pay for women and men.
- Gender Equality in Iceland:
Iceland as a country seems to be a role model for other countries to attain this goal of gender equality. Iceland, despite being an island is one of the front-runners towards gender equality. As per the reports of World Economic Forum, Iceland topped the gender gap index list for the ninth time in a row. Recently, Iceland became the first country in the world to enforce equal pay for men and women.
The new law in Iceland mandates every firm with 25 or more staffs to have a certificate to show that men and women in the same roles are being paid equally.[6] Iceland even previously introduced a quota which meant that companies with more than 50 employees should have a minimum of 40% of women on their boards.
Also, Iceland was the first country to directly elect a female president and nearly half its MPs and company directors are women. Iceland’s equality and social affairs minister, Thorstein Viglundsson stated that equal rights are human rights and it is needed to be taken care of that men and women enjoy equal opportunity at workplace.[7]
- Suggestions and Conclusions:
The social evil of gender disparity is one of the biggest hurdles in the development goals of any country. Any sort of technology advancement would not bring what gender equality would bring to a nation. There would be no sustainable development without men and women being on equal footing. Women and girls account for a considerable part of the world population but their educational, economic and political participation is drastically low as compared to men. Women are bestowed with the right to strive for everything that they want but it is only the prejudiced notions of society that tells them differently. The call of the hour demands to break stereotypical views about gender roles. Women’s rights are human rights and it is essentially fundamental for global progress. Historic injustices to women demand doubled efforts to promote and protect women’s rights and dignity. An equal society is where gender does not determine the roles of an individual and women are free to express their views and opinions on an equal footing with men.
Gender based discrimination and stereotyped social norms have also been identified as the root cause of violence against women. Women are subjected to harassment and violence every now and then. However, most of the times efforts are only for the victims and survivors of violence. There is barely any measure taken to eradicate violence from its root cause. One of the best ways to combat this evil is to tackle it on ground level which is often overlooked by public policies and interventions. Young boys and girls should be inculcated with the teachings of promoting respectful relationships and gender equality. The false notion of male dominant society should not be allowed to perpetuate in the minds of youngsters. Young minds should be forged with the concept of equality and men and women both being at par with each other.
Stringent and mandate provisions should be made for protection of women from harassment and other offences against them. It was only in 2013 that ‘sexual harassment of women at workplace act’ was enforced, but even today any specific protection to women seems to be missing in most of the workplaces. Government needs to take more effective and efficient measures to overcome the issue of gender disparity and women’s security. Provisions need to be made on the matters of equal pay for equal work barring gender biasness.
Government and other non-governmental organizations should come together with the aim of increasing literacy rate among women. It is factual truth that most of the discrimination against women is because of lack of education. Most of the women are not even aware of their basic rights conferred to them. Proper education given to girls would certainly work to combat gender disparity. It will lead to increase in participation of women in important social, political and economical matters.
Although every now and then initiatives are taken to curtail the problem of women’s security and gender disparity but most of them lack effective implementation. More effective and efficient efforts are needed to be taken in every such country where gender disparity exists. Need of the hour demands effective and stringent measures to be taken. There should be proper legal provisions so that people would be obliged to abide by the laws and some improvement could be expected. Although there is no magic bullet to curtail the gender gap leading to workplace inequality immediately but sincere efforts towards this issue will certainly bring a difference.
[1] Dimorphism is a biological term denoting the differentiation in secondary physical characteristics.
[2] World Economic Forum’s global gender gap report, released December 2018.
[3]India ranks 108th in WEF gender gap index 2018, ECONOMIC TIMES (Nov. 2, 2019, 2:30 PM), https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/india-ranks-108th-in-wef-gender-gap-index-2018/articleshow/67145220.cms?from=mdr .
[4] Monster Salary Index Survey report, Survey titled ‘Women of India Inc’, released March 2019.
[5] Gender pay gap still high, women in India earn 19% less than men, BUSINESS TODAY (Nov. 3, 2019, 2:50 PM), https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/gender-pay-gap-still-high-women-in-india-earn-19-per-cent-less-than-men-report/story/325378.html .
[6] Iceland now the first country to enforce equal pay for women and men, BBC (Nov. 4, 2019, 9:16 PM), https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/253d8b3e-1891-43ab-8848-4a5110bda171 .
[7] Iceland is the first country in the world to ask employers for proof of equal pay, INDIA TODAY (Nov. 4, 2019, 9:28 PM), https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/culture/story/iceland-first-country-equal-pay-gender-equality-lifest-964771-2017-03-09 .
