Mandate Gender Equality Education

I recently discovered the following article I wrote on a WebBoard for Gender Equality set up by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs more than a year ago.

Subject:

Mandate Gender Equality Education

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I begin with the last two sentences from the epilogue of a book called “What the Body Remembers” by Shauna Singh Baldwin:
Says Satya,
“I have come so far, I have borne so much pain and emptiness!
But men have not yet changed.”

It is paramount that both men and women be educated to understand and uphold gender equality. So many times I have felt that, as a woman, no matter how hard I work or how hard I try, I will not receive the same recognition and same respect as my male counterpart. Though this difference in treatment and acknowledgement may not be to his knowledge, it is this very lack of knowledge or his indifference that pains me. I feel hurt that he may be completely oblivious to how this treatment makes me feel, and so I begin to harbour a certain frustration. This frustration is not really directed at him, though it may appear to be. Instead, the cause of this frustration lies with our educators, the double standards we are brought up with and our employers.

Having grown up in Canada, but having spent a considerable amount of time in Pakistan, helped me to recognize that the feelings I have shared above are felt by women and girls in both countries and from various backgrounds.

There are distinct differences in the relationships and interactions between men & men, men & women, and women & women. Allow me to generalize a little to illustrate some truths. The male-male relationship tends to be more aggressive than a relationship involving a female. The psyche of men and women are also quite different. Generally, a woman refrains from speaking until she knows close to 100% of the subject matter, while her male counterpart will speak with only 20-30% knowledge of the same subject matter, but he will exude a confidence illustrating 100% knowledge. Although the woman may know more, she is quick to drop her ideas at the first hint of challenge. Women tend to confuse criticism of their ideas with personal criticism, while men take criticism of their ideas for what it is. How many times will men argue with each other over an idea, but 5 minutes later they are still buddies? How many times will a woman and man argue over an idea, or a woman and woman argue over an idea, and 5 days later they are still not on speaking terms?

Now I am not implying that one type of relationship or interaction is superior to the other. My point is that there are differences but instead of trying to change these differences, we should learn from them, take them for what they are and work from there. One of the differences that I have noticed is that, as a whole, women of all backgrounds lack the necessary confidence to excel. For whatever reason passed, the self-esteem and confidence levels of women are generally lower than those of men.

Our teachers, educators, employers, parents and caregivers need to take an active role to educate the growing young generation in matters of gender. Gender discrimination does exist and to deny or disguise it paves the way for greater problems. No work place, no youth group, no society will really flourish until it accepts and equally respects contributions made by both genders. To silence one and give voice to the other is inarguably one of the greatest internal sources of failure.

I believe that it is important for all individuals to undergo some sort of mandatory training in respect to gender equality, not only in schools, but also through the hiring processes in government or private companies. Such type of training will nurture confident individuals with strong self-esteems. These individuals will be able to contribute more and second guess themselves less.

Women should not have to strive to be more like men (or vice versa). Success should not be defined in terms of male attributes and accomplishments. We must observe and respect the behavioural traits in one another. Surely, the differences between us are meant for a purpose.

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Posted: 01 Feb 2005 06:05 PM

~ by nayya on 14 August, 2006.