Feminism breaking Gender Stereotypes

A gender stereotype is a generalized view or preconception about attributes, or characteristics that are, or ought to be possessed by women and men or the roles that are/or should be performed by men and women.

A stereotype is harmful when it limits women’s or men’s capacity to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choices about their lives.

In the past few decades, we’ve seen a lot of changes in the society that have positively impacted women’s status in the world. In 2007, considering the employment sector, women accounted for 46.4 percent of all employed workers out of which women accounted for more than half of all workers within several industry sectors like financial activities, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and other services.

However, In the earlier days and even today women are substantially underrepresented in agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing, transportation and utilities, and are faced with discrimination not just in the office jobs but in any field, they want to work in. Women have been given opportunities but recognition is still in the works. Studies state that women are less likely to be hired or promoted even though they have the same skillset as that of a man which is just because of the presumption that they aren’t efficient enough or well, might get pregnant.

We talk about the increasing involvement of women in the society but the question is are they being valued as much as their effort?

Women are denied jobs just because they might decide later to have a child and ask for a pregnancy leave however if a man asked for a leave of the same duration the society would think of it as a much-needed self-prioritizing break. Which is sad, because you see, the reproduction rates have been going down for the past decades which should actually make the society grateful to the women that want to take that extra responsibility of a child!

Moreover, women are not paid equally as their male competes for the exact same job. Removing gender disparity is one of the steps to establish equality and give women acknowledgement. A person’s worth is not determined by their gender or age but their skills and experience.

After all the challenges, Women continue to prove themselves everyday in different aspects of life and outdo all expectations. In the recent Olympics held in Tokyo the percentage of male and female participants was almost equal even though sports is still considered to be for men. Also, women brought home 3 medals for India out of the 7, which is huge!

Even after all that, the society hasn’t changed. Chanu Saikhom Mirabai who won silver medal for India in the Tokyo Olympics has had comments about her physique and how no one would marry her because of how manly she looks. Being physically strong is seen as disgraceful for a woman. A person’s worth is not determined by how many people find them appealing. It takes hard work and dedication to get there but all people see is her worth as a wife to a man. Not just her but other women are expected to be ‘lean’ instead of ‘healthy’ to appease men and if they don’t, they are body shamed but when a man is not fit it’s still seen as attractive and called a ‘dad bod’. This is a perfect example of how the society has set different standards for men and women.

Also, since feminism has been the talk of the town, not just women but men have also been able to opt for jobs they actually enjoy instead of just bearing the burden of being the sole breadwinner of the family. According to data, the percentage of male chefs’ accounts to as large as 76.1 percent, which is a great thing, but when it comes to the daily life it’s considered as a fascinating skill if a man can cook. Cooking is a required life skill to survive as is cleaning but is still applauded way more when done by a man.

We must understand as Tian Wei said, a society which fails to harness the energy and creativity of its women is at a huge disadvantage in the modern world.

~Ruhani Rawal

---