Gender inequality is undeniably a grave social and
global concern which has become part and parcel of the human existence in the
society. Ironically gender inequality begins from no other place but the home;
a place which is supposed to be of peace and tranquility. This inequality eventually
creates discrepancies between men and women in various spheres like education,
political and economic empowerment. Men historically have dominated and as a
matter of fact, are still dominating areas of politics, law, education,
economics and religion while the only institution women have had a central role
is the family, however, women are still subordinated in this institution (Acker
J., 1992). Even with the modernization theory which permits the rise of the
modern individual, the woman is still unable to freely partake in the market
force because women could only do so if it is compatible with their principal
role as homemakers (Kabeer N. 1994).
In typical African settings for instance, gender inequality is established right from birth where a girl is given a name like Nutifafa; a name in one of the local dialects of Ghana which symbolizes peace and a boy given a name like Afelete which directly translates as ‘a firm, strong or secured home’ and that symbolizes power. Discrepancies as these are seen not just at the naming stage of both sexes but throughout their entire growing process, where the male child is made to partake in extracurricular activities like martial arts or karate and to play with toys like guns and huge cars while the female child partakes in activities like knitting and is made to play with dolls and cooking utensils. All these ideas have contributed in the formation of the rigid view where the male is portrayed as strong and powerful and the female is portrayed as weak and just a caretaker. It had made many boys to grow into thinking that anything feminine is associated with weakness. Hence the woman cannot make nor partake in critical decision making.
Men in quite a number of cases tend to use their
strength and favor gained from the society in harassing and molesting women.
Growing up in Ghana, I have seen many cases where society has the guts to
question the dressing of a woman who reports a rape case. This is to justify
that, she wouldn’t have been rapped if not for her indecent dressing. Unfair
right? Adding to this, a woman is physically abused at home and it is because
she provoked the man to hit her. Statistics from WHO (2021) reveals that 1 in 3
women around the world, that’s approximately 736 million women, are subjected
to physical or sexual violence by a partner.
Law enforcement and religious institutions often times
discourage women from pressing charges and rather encourage family
reconciliation reminding women of their purpose in the family which is obey and
serve her husband. This again leaves the man unpunished and unchallenged by the
laws.
References
Acker J., (1992).
From Sex Roles to Gendered Institutions. Contemporary Sociology, Vol.21, No.5
Kabeer N. (1994)
Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. London; verso
1994
World Health Organization (2021). Devastatingly Pervasive: 1 in 3 Women Globally Experience Violence. Retrieved From URL: https://www.who.int/news/item/09-03-2021-devastatingly-pervasive-1-in-3-women-globally-experience-violence
Thank you, Maureen, for this think piece. In as much as the socialization process has instilled and reinforced prescribed gender norms, I totally attribute the flourishment of these norms to religion. My argument absolutely stems from the Ghanaian perspective, especially, witnessing how most of our values, conventions and statutes are formed around religious doctrines and beliefs. The concept of gender roles and norms have been extremely internalized to the extent that there are overtly problematic situations that have been taken for granted. One of those situations which you have already mentioned in your post- the issue of being blamed as the victim of rape. Regardless of how the concept of modernization has evolved over the years and the emergence of fighting for and promoting women's agency, it seems religion will always slow down the process of achieving this goal. Religion, especially Christianity supports the subordination of women and patriarchy.
ReplyDeleteI remember few months ago, a story of a young college student (female), who had been gang-raped by six (6) boys of the same institution was circulating on all media platforms. After a few days, I saw a post on twitter calling out the victim and blaming her for the incident. I was utterly dismayed! Under the post were comments about how the "freakiness" of the girl could have led to the rape. Also, comments of others blaming her parents (esp. her mother) for not raising her the "right way". This is a typical scenario of how society constantly sides with men and how deeply rooted the concept of patriarchy is in Ghana. Even though the woman was the victim, the society was still finding ways to justify the actions of the offenders.
This is a great topic to shed light on Maureen. Domestic violence has always been a topic of concern in the society. Let me add that in as much as there are many cases of violence against women recorded, there are men who also go through this but don't have the courage to talk about it because of the way society portrays men and the system of male domination or the patriarchy.
ReplyDeleteOften times it is women who report domestic violence cases, whether it be she physically or verbally abused. I once heard a woman say if your husband is beating you, check yourself and assess what you did to provoke him. As if to say the man cannot do anything wrong unless the woman causes him to. I've heard stories of women who literally have to hide from their domestic partners because they don't know what triggers them to be abusive. The society makes a lot of excuses for men and how they act and doesn't give any leeway for women at all.
This is what has created the system of gender inequality from days of old, and even still persists in today's 'modern' world.
Thank you, Maureen, and I think your topic is quite interesting. Gender inequality is one of the most pressing social issues in Ghana. Gender inequality has been the focal point in law, education, and politics, as you have rightly indicated in your short piece. My question is, have we seen much improvement in those areas recently? In my candid opinion, the answer is an absolute yes. Ghana is one of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that has championed women's empowerment in various areas, from politics, education, and law. For instance, for the first time in its history, the University of Ghana had a female vice-chancellor, a female chancellor, and a female council chair. The University of Cape Coast, in the year 2008, appointed Professor Naana Opoku Agyeman as their first female vice-chancellor. This shows how men dominated academia at the highest echelon and how gradually women broke the barriers.
ReplyDeleteMaureen, this is a great piece. Gender inequality has been one major issue faced by most countries in the world. In education, health, law there's inequality in all forms. Women and men are often denied opportunities because of their gender. Even though many countries are/have championed the women empowerment agenda there's still much to be done as many are still facing inequality in all forms.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is so relevant to many norms in my home country. It reminds me with an incident happened when a woman was sexually harassed by dozens of men in 2017 in the city of Zagazig in Lower Egypt, it was another incident that reveals how the vast majority of Egyptians link women’s clothes to sexual harassment, and further blame them for not respecting men walking on the streets.
ReplyDeleteWhile the main incident was a mob sexual harassment case insulting and harassing a woman on her way back home from a wedding, several newspapers found it rather compelling to describe her clothes, even stressing the fact that she was “wearing a short dress”, when in fact, it was not relevant.
It is rather common in Egypt to blame girls for being sexually harassed and to refer to their clothes as the reason. If a girl is sexually harassed, then she was either asking for it, or wearing revealing clothes. In the absence of constructive and honest discussions on sexual harassment, men are always exempted in Egypt and given several excuses for sexually harassing, starting from “everything is rather expensive, and they can’t get married and have needs to he was seduced by the revealing clothes”. While, according to Egypt’s penal code, sexual harassment is a crime, Egypt still witnesses thousands of harassment cases.