Gender Discrimination:
Nature has always maintained a balance in the objects of this world in order garnish it with a
beauty, and so it produced a balancing factor for each and every object. These balancing factors
vary in the proportion of the support they provide to their counterpart. In the same context men
& women are considered as the supporting counterpart for each other, but the major conflict in
this systematic support is the term ‘gender discrimination’.
Discrimination is a sociological term referring to the treatment taken toward or against a person
of a certain group in consideration based solely on class or category. Discrimination is the actual
behavior towards another group. It involves excluding or restricting members of one group from
opportunities that are available to other groups. The United Nations explains: "Discriminatory
behaviors take many forms, but they all involve some form of exclusion or rejection."
Discriminatory laws such as redlining have existed in many countries. In some countries,
controversial attempts such as racial quotas have been used to redress negative effects of
discrimination.
Though gender discrimination and sexism refers to beliefs and attitudes in relation to
the gender of a person, such beliefs and attitudes are of a social nature and do not, normally,
carry any legal consequences. Sex discrimination, on the other hand, may have legal
consequences. Though what constitutes sex discrimination varies between countries, the essence
is that it is an adverse action taken by one person against another person that would not have
occurred had the person been of another sex. Discrimination of that nature in certain enumerated
circumstances is illegal in many countries. Currently, discrimination based on sex is defined as
adverse action against another person that would not have occurred had the person been of
another sex. This is considered a form of prejudice and is illegal in certain enumerated
circumstances in most countries.
Sexual discrimination can arise in different contexts. For instance an employee may be
discriminated against by being asked discriminatory questions during a job interview, or because
an employer did not hire, promote or wrongfully terminated an employee based on his or her
gender, or employers pay unequally based on gender.
In an educational setting there could be claims that a student was excluded from an educational
institution, program, opportunity, loan, student group, or scholarship due to his or her gender. In
the housing setting there could be claims that a person was refused negotiations on seeking a
house, contracting/leasing a house or getting a loan based on his or her gender. Another setting
where there have been claims of gender discrimination is banking; for example if one is refused
credit or is offered unequal loan terms based on one’s gender.
Another setting where there is usually gender discrimination is when one is refused to extend his
or her credit, refused approval of credit/loan process, and if there is a burden of unequal loan
terms based on one’s gender.
Socially, sexual differences have been used to justify different roles for men and women, in
some cases giving rise to claims of primary and secondary roles. While there are alleged non-
physical differences between men and women, major reviews of the academic literature on
gender difference find only a tiny minority of characteristics where there are consistent
psychological differences between men and women, and these relate directly to experiences
grounded in biological difference. However, there are also some psychological differences in
regard to how problems are dealt with and emotional perceptions and reactions which may relate
to hormones and the successful characteristics of each gender during longstanding roles in past
primitive lifestyles. Unfair discrimination usually follows the gender stereotyping held by a
society. The United Nations had concluded that women often experience a "glass ceiling" and
that there are no societies in which women enjoy the same opportunities as men. The term "glass
ceiling" is used to describe a perceived barrier to advancement in employment based on
discrimination, especially sex discrimination.
In the United States in 1995, the Glass Ceiling Commission, a government-funded group, stated:
"Over half of all Master’s degrees are now awarded to women, yet 95% of senior-level
managers, of the top Fortune 1000 industrial and 500 service companies are men. Of them, 97%
are white." In its report, it recommended affirmative action, which is the consideration of an
employee's gender and race in hiring and promotion decisions, as a means to end this form of
discrimination. In 2008, women accounted for 51% of all workers in the high-paying
management, professional, and related occupations. They outnumbered men in such occupations
as public relations managers; financial managers; and human resource managers.
Gender and socialization
It is generally accepted that early gender socialization is one of the most pertinent issues in early
childhood, affecting both boys and girls. The foundations for stereotypes in gender roles are laid
through early gender socialization.
Gender socialization starts at birth and it is a process of learning cultural roles according to one's
sex. Right from the beginning, boys and girls are treated differently by the members of their own
environment, and learn the differences between boys and girls, women and men. Parental and
societal expectations from boys and girls, their selection of gender-specific toys, and/or giving
gender based assignments seem to define a differentiating socialization process that can be
termed as "gender socialization". There are numerous examples from varied parts of the world
confirming that gender socialization is intertwined with the ethnic, cultural, and religious values
of a given society. And gender socialization continues throughout the life cycle.
Gender socialization is the process by which people learn to behave in a certain way, as dictated
by societal beliefs, values, attitudes and examples. Gender socialization begins as early as when
a woman becomes pregnant and people start making judgments about the value of males over
females. These stereotypes are perpetuated by family members, teachers and others by having
different expectations for males and females.
Imagine the following scenario: a young pregnant woman is about to have her first child. When
asked whether she wishes to have a girl or boy, she replies that it doesn’t matter. But, sitting
next to her is an older relative who says “Oh, hopefully it will be a boy.” In small, but
meaningful ways such as this, gender socialization starts even before birth.
Children start facing norms that define “masculine” and “feminine” from an early age. Boys are
told not to cry, not to fear, not to be forgiving and instead to be assertive, and strong. Girls on
the other hand are asked not to be demanding, to be forgiving and accommodating and
“ladylike”. These gender roles and expectations have large scale ramifications. In many parts of
the world, girls face discrimination in the care they receive in terms of their access to nutritious
foods and health care, leading them to believe that they deserve to be treated differently than
boys. The degree of gender differences observed varies in all cultures in respect to infant,
toddler and young child health, nutrition, care developmental activities, education, hygiene and
protection.
Feminism
Feminism is a political, cultural, and economic movement aimed at establishing equal rights and
legal protection for women. Feminism includes sociological theories and philosophies concerned
with issues of gender difference. It is also a movement that campaigns for women's rights and
interests. Nancy Cott defines feminism as the belief in the importance of gender equality,
invalidating the idea of gender hierarchy as a socially constructed concept.
According to Maggie Humm and Rebecca Walker, the history of feminism can be divided into
three waves. The first wave transpired in the nineteenth and early twentieth century,
the second occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, and the third extends from the 1990s to the present.
Feminist theory emerged from these feminist movements. It is manifest in a variety of disciplines
such as feminist geography, feminist history, and feminist literary criticism.
Feminism has changed traditional perspectives on a wide range of areas in human life, from
culture to law. Feminist activists have campaigned for women's legal rights— such as rights of
contract, property rights, and voting rights—while also promoting women's rights to bodily
integrity and autonomy, abortion rights, and reproductive rights. They have struggled to protect
women and girls from domestic violence, sexual harassment, and rape. On economic matters,
feminists have advocated for workplace rights, including maternity leave and equal pay, and
against other forms of gender-specific discrimination against women. Although the
terms feminism and feminist did not gain widespread use until the 1970s, they were already
being used in public parlance much earlier; for instance, Katharine Hepburn speaks of the
"feminist movement" in the 1942 film Woman of the Year.
During much of its history, feminist movements and theories were led predominantly by middle-
class white women from Western Europe and North America. However, at least since Sojourner
Truth's 1851 speech to American feminists, women of other races have proposed alternative
feminisms. This trend accelerated in the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement in the United
States and the collapse of European colonialism in Africa, the Caribbean, parts of Latin America
and Southeast Asia. Since that time, women in former European colonies and the Third
World have proposed "Post-colonial" and "Third World" feminisms.
General Situation of Women and Government Policy on Gender
According to the Commission of Inquiry for Women, laws on adultery and rape have been
subject to widespread misuse, with 95 percent of the women accused of adultery being found
innocent either in the court of first instance or on appeal. However, by that time, the woman may
have spent months in jail, suffering sexual abuse at the hands of the police, and the destruction of
her reputation. The Commission found that the main victims of the Hudood laws are poor
women who are unable to defend themselves against slanderous charges. The laws also have
been used by husbands and other male family members to punish their wives and female
relatives for reasons having nothing to do with sexual propriety.
As many as 40-50% of the women in jails in cities like Lahore, Peshawar, and Mardan await trial
for adultery, but according to some human rights monitors, 80 percent of all adultery-related
Hudood cases are filed without any supporting evidence. But even when acquitted, the trauma
for the woman may not end, because they then become vulnerable to attack for a so-
called "honour killing", where male relatives murder women they accuse of immoral behavior.
According to human rights observers, honor killings are rampant in Pakistan's feudal-dominated
rural and tribal areas.
Although there are numerous reports of women killed or mutilated by male relatives who suspect
them of adultery, few such cases are investigated seriously and those who are arrested are usually
acquitted on the grounds that they were "provoked," or for a lack of witnesses. While the
tradition of killing those suspected of illicit sexual relations in so-called "honor killings", in order
to restore tribal or family honor (which is known as "karo-kari" in Sindh), applies equally to
offending men and women, women are far more likely to be killed than men, and cases have
been reported from every province in Pakistan. Honour killings have also been triggered by a
woman found conversing, or sharing a joke or light moment, with a man who wasn't a relative. A
woman who is perceived as being "disobedient" to her husband or the husband's family may also
fall victim to an honor killing, or may be badly battered, burned by fire, or disfigured by acid
attacks. Human Rights advocates charge that there have been countless instances of such "honor
killings" similar to the two-hundred and fifty women who were burned to death in their homes in
1997 in the city of Lahore, of which only six cases led to arrest.
The Commission of Inquiry for Women cited newspapers from Lahore which reported an
average of 15 cases of stove deaths per month during a 6-month period in 1997; most of the
victims were young married women. The Commission noted that many such cases are not
reported by hospitals and, even when they are, the police are reluctant to investigate or file
charges. Dowry demands are also factors in such killings.
The 1979 Hudood Ordinances abolished punishment for raping one's wife. Thus, marital rape is
not a crime. Since marriage registration (nikah) sometimes occurs years before a marriage is
consummated (rukh sati), the nikah (no consummated) marriage is regarded as a formal marital
relationship..
In rural areas, the practice of a woman "marrying the Quran" is widely accepted if the family
cannot arrange a suitable marriage or wants to keep the family wealth intact. A woman "married
to the Quran" is forbidden to have any contact with males over 14 years of age, including her
immediate family members. In inheritance cases women generally do not receive--or are pressed
to surrender the share of the inheritance they are legally due. Under the Hadood laws, the
testimony of a woman is not admissible in cases involving Hadd punishments, and in other cases,
the testimony of two women is seen as equivalent to that of one man. For instance, a woman's
testimony regarding financial matters is not admissible unless corroborated by another woman.
Hadood laws are also used to intimidate and oppress women sold into prostitution
According to the Parliamentary Commission, women in some tribal areas were intimidated into
not voting during the 1997 elections. Announcements were made on mosque loudspeakers that
voting by women was un-Islamic and women going to polling stations risked having their houses
burned down. As a result, no more than 37 women (out of 6,600 registered to vote) actually cast
ballots in Jamrud, in the Khyber Agency. It is therefore little surprise that only six women held
seats in the last 217-member National Assembly, (up from 4 in the previous Parliament).
Women's literacy trails that of men, and according to some reports, female literacy rates may be
as low as 2 percent in some areas of rural Sindh and Baluchistan. Participation of women in the
workforce is also much lower than in Sri Lanka or India.
Although there is gender inequity and discrimination throughout the subcontinent, the plight of
women in Pakistan can be especially traumatic since not only do women face tremendous social
pressures, Islamic Laws systematize onerous and intense legal burdens on women. Even as
women's rights activists and progressive trade union activists fight a valiant battle for social
change, their task is made much more difficult due to restrictions on political activity and
limitations on the press. Frequent bouts of military dictatorship have made the work of activists
trying to bring about gender equality in Pakistani society especially challenging.
Women are thus paying an especially high price for the US's support of dictatorial regimes in
Pakistan who have cynically allied with the most regressive of the Islamist forces to inflict
highly discriminatory Islamic Hadood laws on Pakistan's hapless women. The perverse logic of
the two-nation theory that has propelled Pakistan towards "Islamic Purity" continues to hang as a
very heavy burden on those trying to bring about greater social justice in Pakistan.
References
http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/index_40749.html
http://india_resource.tripod.com/grpakistan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination
