gender equality
In this essay I will talk about gender equality. First of all let me explain what gender equality is. Gender equality is the equality of two human genders on dignity, value, rights, opportunities and responsibility in political, economical, cultural, social and family life. It requires both genders to respect each other and share the same rights in social life. As we know, gender inequality is an old problem, I will discuss it from three aspects: the past, nowadays and the future.
Gender inequality has been a traditional problem for centuries. It derives from ancient times, when men had a large advantage over women in manual labor, which was the main form of labor at that time. The economic status brought men dominating social status over women. Women suffered disrespect, discrimination, and were even treated as affiliations of men. This phenomenon didn’t make any better until feudal times was over. The popularization of mental labor made a balance between both sexes in economic activities. Since the feminism movement in 20th century in which women appealed for their rights, social status, access to education and work opportunities, the equality gap between men and women has to some extent narrowed.
However, nowadays the gap still remains, especially in less developed countries and regions. Men still have superior status in work and many other territories. According to a report in 2011, in China the employment rate of women was 71.1%, but the average income of women per year was just 67.3% and 56.0% of that of men in city and in the countryside respectively. From the report we can infer the situation women are in. Not only in China, but also in highly developed countries, women still suffer a lower place in a variety of territories.
Why do all these happen in modern times? The example in china will explain it. First, in China, under the deep influence of feudalism, most people keep in mind the opinion that women ought to pay more attention to family while men take the responsibility to make money. Second, the traditional ethics that men are superior to women has oppressed women for thousands of years. The psychological implication and the external oppression of the idea that women are humble and relevant customs enforce women to be less and less confident, more and more compromised and even willing to be affiliations of men. Today Chinese women are weak in self consciousness, independence, political and legal sense. They are psychologically reliant of men and less-competitive. Moreover, the incomplete legal system and policy make the law about gender equality “sometimes not into practice due to officers ignoring gender discrimination”. Legal and policy incompleteness, lack of enforcement, and weak supervision contribute a lot to the difficulty of the promotion of gender equality.
People appeal for gender equality, but what should we do? First of all, the government and society have to cultivate a good environment for gender equality to become an essential public concept, and construct a sound mechanism for women to enjoy the same access to education as men. Except the respect of women and legal guarantee of women rights, women themselves need to make endeavors for their own status. The more rights and higher status means more responsibility. In the same report mentioned above, the rate of women with a bachelor or higher degree in high educated people was 81.4%, even 8.7 percentage point higher than that of men. It was a good start, indicating that women do have the ability to take social responsibility.。
Along with more and more important roles women will play in our lives, the equality gap between the two sexes will eventually vanish. As a female of the new era, I will try my best to make my contribution to realize gender equality.