GENDER EQUALITY: ARE MEN AND WOMEN EQUAL?

Introduction
Before discussing that does gender equality exist or not we first need to understand what the
definition of Gender Equality is. Gender equality is when both women and men enjoy the
same rights and opportunities across all the sectors of society, including economic
participation and decision-making, and when the different behaviours, aspirations and needs
are equally valued and favoured in the society we live in.
The very reason that gender quality is such an important issue in our society from past few
years especially is because it is undermining our social fabric and is devaluing all of us. It is
not just a human rights issue but a tremendous waste of the world’s human potential. By
denying both the gender equal rights, we deny half the population a chance to live life at its
fullest.
Usually gender equality is mistaken as a topic where people talk about the equality of women
in society or about the issues of male dominating society and then there is other argument that
because of the laws that have come into effect for the protection of women, the judgement of
society has become biased against men. These are the two main arguments that have been
discussed below.

Argument 1: Women are not equal to Men

Men and women are not meant to complement each other and not to dominate each other.
They have their different strengths and weaknesses which they could use in different areas of
their life. Living in 21st century where everybody is talking about gender equality and giving
equal status to both men and women but their few facts which still prove that we are living in
a male dominating society, facts such as-
 In the U.S., there are more male CEOs than woman CEOs overall, only 14.2 percent
of the top five leadership positions at S&P 500 companies are held by women.
 According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1 in 5 women have
been victims of severe physical violence in their lifetime, compared to 1 in 7 men.
 According to the National Women's Law Center :Poverty is a women’s issue, nearly
six in ten poor adults are women, and nearly six in ten poor children live in families
headed by women. Poverty rates are especially high for single mothers, women of
colour, and elderly women living alone.
 While many professions that were once male-dominated are now open to women, a
wage gap still exists between the sexes. This wage gap is slowly narrowing, but a
woman still only earns about 84% of what a man makes when performing the same
job.
 In general, personal products for women cost more than equivalent products for men.
This is commonly known as “the pink tax.

Argument 2: Feminism has led to imbalance in gender equality and
diminished rights for men
Feminism is one of the first and most frustrating arguments one might encounter when
debating on gender equality. It is now said that the gender inequality toward men is a direct
cause of this wave of feminism. Those supporting this view say that in today’s date both
gender have equal rights. So now to fight only for the rights of women would be wrong and
that men and women should together run the campaign in order to tackle the highlighted
issues of gender equality.
The stubborn minded and prejudiced movement of feminism portrays women as the only
oppressed gender and that men are the perpetrators of rape, domestic violence, and sexual
objectification. There have been so many cases wherein a minority of men are guilty of major
sex and abuse crimes while it is implied that the majority of crimes are being committed by
them.
Also in favour of this argument, people say that whenever a women achieves any success in
any field that achievement if highlighted while if a man struggles equally to achieve the same
success then it is not equally highlighted. So if we are talking about gender equality both men
and women should enjoy equal fame.

Conclusion:
It is rightly said that “souls have no gender”. So considering both the arguments we conclude
that both men and women were created to complement each other and to accept the way they
have been created by understanding their strengths and weakness as well and to empathize
with each other to walk together and build a society wherein there is harmony and equal
rights for men and women so that they enjoy access to every opportunity.

References:
 7 facts that show women still aren’t equal -http://www.huffingtonpost.in
 Are men and women equal -https://www.themonastery.org/blog