Racial and gender discrimination are by far the most widely discussed topics in the recent past. Various authors have dedicated their effort to address this issue, needless to mention the widespread media coverage. Although addressing the same issue, Peggy McIntosh and Stephen Farough do it from two divergent points of view. While Mackintosh discusses the privileges that being a white male brings by default, Farough rather sees this privilege as having impacted negatively on the male character. This paper looks into the two papers and draws a comparison between the arguments they put forth.
McIntosh draws an interesting discussion about being a male, white. He addresses the denial that protects this class from the condemnation of segregating upon the others to their advantage. Particularly, he notes that the upcoming generation of this class are taught to ignore the existence of such and live like it doesn’t exist. Generally, they live unconscious and unmindful of the existence of such privileges. The book offers an account of the unearned privileges that this class enjoys. Despite acknowledging the fact that the white males also experience some of the things that the others do, he blames society for failing to eradicate the default existence of racial and gender superiority. He blames society for the default privileges rather than the individual who finds enjoys the same. As Peggy puts it, the action of a person protected with the ignorant bliss of unconsciously (or deniably) unearned privilege is a kind of action that oppresses others.
Stephen Farough on the other hand takes an entirely divergent approach. He questions the justification of stripping the male gender of all privileges just by virtue of being male. Today every privilege is directed towards the female gender for allegedly being the neglected gender. This is perhaps the most ignored aspect by proponents of gender quality. Is society gradually being adjusted to the male gender in its quest to create equal opportunities for both genders? Such is the question that Farough seems to center his argument on. Would it be true to say that women have it somehow easy? This is a question that Farough’s book adequately addresses.
It is important to mention that both authors raise valid points, which are relevant to modern society. Men and more especially, white males have for a long time enjoyed privileges of which they don’t actually choose to enjoy but rather find themselves enjoying it. However, the efforts by modern-day society to bridge this inequality have seen more females gaining mileage over their male counterparts. This is witnessed through the affirmative actions adopted by various governments. Rather than allow women candidates to fairly compete with their male counterparts, positions have been reserved for them. Isn’t this in a way inequality? However, proponents of the same would quickly point out that women have limited access compared to males, an argument that has probably been overrun by time.
In conclusion, it is true that white males have for some time enjoyed various privileges. However, this position is gradually changing more so in the developing world. Both authors though raise valid points which are critical to understanding modern-day society’s functionality. While Macintosh highlights the unearned privileges assigned to the male while whites, Farough stresses that in a bid to eradicate this privilege, society must be careful not to transfer them to other groups instated of building an equal society. Perhaps it would be summarized that while Mackintosh addresses the gender and racial status that has existed over time, Farough revolves his argument around the transition from this status to perceived equality.
The Barbie dolls market has undergone drastic changes as the world has posed new beauty standards. Especially gender and sex issues were put forward with the influence of feminism and other movements. In the given picture, a Barbie doll is wearing a suit, a tie, and a bowler. She is holding a microphone, and her look reminds that of a jazz singer. Back then, it could have seemed controversial as no woman would wear male clothes. On the contrary, nowadays, it is common for females to look elegant even in a suit. Gender stereotypes have evolved since the beginning of the last century; however, some individuals still judge what others can wear based on their sex. Therefore, the Barbie image is still used in marketing to address such biases and show that the world is changing.
The first image addresses the same characteristic – regardless of gender, people can wear anything they like. In addition, it concerns same-sex marriage, which is gradually becoming a new standard these days. Further, the second image also addresses women’s right to choose their clothes and outfits regardless of society’s opinions. What is more, the second Barbie also shows that females are encouraged to select a profession or hobby they want – even if it is seemingly a men’s sphere.
In the third picture, a gender-neutral Barbie doll represents the same feature but in a different way. Unlike female and male Barbies, the neutral gender shows the tendency to choose one’s own sexual identity. Finally, the fourth image demonstrates the same product, but it is manufactured for a different target audience – rich people who collect dolls and couture clothes miniatures. Whereas the previous samples were created for mass consumption, the last one is costly and may be limited in production. Therefore, one item can demonstrate the same characteristics in multiple ways and be intended for miscellaneous audiences.
Scholars’ study of various subjects is shaped by different factors. Studies on two or more written articles based on a similar subject have shown completely dissimilar results. An article written by one scholar may vary totally from one written by another scholar on the same topic. The readers of the different articles written about one topic most probably may have varied views on it (Vaughan 80). Some readers may accept and believe an article that appeals to them more than the one that doesn’t connect with their views. Perception either by the society surrounding the scholar or their own perception, plays a critical role in their writing. These are the factors we seek to highlight in this paper, regarding issues that contribute to scholars’ view of their subjects (Tompkins 108).
Societal bias
Society has what it perceives as right and wrong, in its eyes. These are the unwritten rules that everyone in society needs to be loyal to, in order to be in sync with society. Scholars from the not identical societal background may view their subjects through such angles. The society of the American Indians, for example, viewed captives differently than the Europeans. They killed infants upon capturing them. They did that since they viewed them as weak and unable to keep up with their pace. Writing an article from this society’s background may seem like the strategy for not getting captured. From the European background, the slaughter of infants may be seen as total insanity (Tompkins 101).
Gender bias
There is the general view of depicting males as superior to the female. Scholars seem to be affected greatly by this view. In the case of analyzing the human reproductive system, strong character is depicted on the male organs while female gets to be shown as passive and feeble. Studies have shown the sperm to be weak and the female egg sensitive to pricking (Gergen and Gergen 30). Articles written that suggest male sperm prickles its way into the egg are quite not true. Mutual work by the sperm and the egg helps get the fertilization through. This labeling of organs is purely influenced by gender bias (Martin 3).
Societal assumption
The early inhabitants of America were Indians. They had some cultural practices that were quite different from the European settlers. History scholars observed their lack of proper clothing and unsophisticated way of life, to mean they were of insignificant value. This fact influenced what was written concerning them, they had an assumption regarding their culture. Such an article if read by today’s society reflects on the author as being racially biased. However, that isn’t the case as the scholar would have judged by the same standards, persons of his race had they been adorned in cheap clothing. Different societies have various views on the factors that give someone a high social status. To some, it may be land, clothing, animals, or money (Tompkins 118).
Different interpretations
During early migration into America, some scholars who had studied the Indian culture encouraged Europeans to migrate. They praised the nature of hospitality that the natives had. The assimilation into their families, sharing their food, was among the various praises they had about the land’s inhabitants. At the same time, some different scholars who had learnt about their belief practices gave a horrific story. He talked about the child sacrifices that the Indians offered and their worship of the devil. A closer look reveals that the latter scholar was a missionary condemning the Indian cultural practice, while the former was encouraging migration. Such different interpretations of the same land bring out completely separate messages in their articles (Tompkins 115).
Conclusion
By reading different articles regarding the same thing, more often than not the reader judges in his mind which one to believe. One may choose to borrow a few facts from one story while ignoring the rest of it. The need to capture the background from which the scholar wrote is of utmost importance to the understanding of the material. Different authors write articles but they are influenced by bias, different interpretations of the subject, or by their own assumptions. It’s important to factor in such scenarios when reading various articles.
Works Cited
Gergen, Kenneth J, and Mary Gergen. Social Construction: A Reader. London: Sage, 2003. Print.
Martin, Emily. The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles. Signs 16.3 1991: 485-501. Print.
Tompkins, Jane. Indians: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History. Critical Inquiry 13.1 1986: 101-119. Print.
Vaughan, Alden T. Another Look at the Causes of King Philip’s War. The New England Quarterly 61.1 1988: 79-100. Print.
In her brilliant novel, The Jewish War Tova Reich relates the story of Jerry Goldberg, or as he later called himself Yehudi Hapoel. This man is a leader of Jewish zealots’ band and he aims to form a new independent Jewish state in the West Bank. During all the story development one of the most considerable issues Tova Reich discusses is a gender-related question. The author pays a lot of her attention to the revelation of the sad situation of women in Jewish society. Tova Reich depicts the life of Jerry Goldberg’s three wives: a conflicted divorcee, a Barnard-educated English literature scholar, and a mail-order swindler. In the following paper, I have my goal to observe the issue of uneasiness about the political, spiritual, and even material fate of the women in the Jewish settler community and the world of the ultra-Orthodox depicted in the Jewish War novel by Tova Reich. The events related in the novel vividly prove that women face serious bias and prejudice problems as to their political, spiritual, material, and family fate in Jewish society.
Women and their lots in life in Jewish society are often addressed by Tova Reich in her novel The Jewish War. The most remarkable and well-developed characters in The Jewish War are women and especially Yehudi’s wives. A lot of the main events of the novel are connected to women or exercised by them. The novel’s main protagonist Yehodi first marries Shelly Kugel.
Shelly Kugel is Yehodi’s sweetheart since childhood. She is the daughter of Hy Kugel, the owner of Catskills hotel and the well-respected rich man. She is a good wife raising children and primary doing all the work about the house including the most difficult one. Shelly gives all herself to her husband and family however she does not feel satisfaction and happiness in her marriage. This woman’s life is the embodiment of some of the most vivid gender problems in Jewish society.
Formidable Carmela Yovel becomes Yehudi’s second wife. “Carmella had become his true helpmeet, a formidable tigress, the zealous, passionate spokesperson for the movement” (Reich 103). Carmella is more like Yehudi’s business partner; she helps him with his works as to organizing protests and other projects related to creating a new Jewish country. However, she is of no help to Shelly, the first man’s wife. She hardly does any housework and is very rarely at home. She mostly spends her time with her husband protesting and sabotaging work. Whenever it comes to solving difficult problems arising in Yehudi’s political affairs Carmela comes to help. We read about her achievements any time the author speaks about Yehudi’s political activities. It is also remarkable that Carmella never figures out as a leader though she is to solve the very difficult problems, she is always an industrious and capable helper for her husband, but nothing more than this. Women cannot occupy principal positions in Jewish political affairs.
Eventually, Yehudi’s third wife is Malkie Seltzer, the passionate admirer of the novels of Collette and the very tender home-related person. Malkie Seltzer is a divorced woman, she has five children from her first marriage with Zelig Seltzer and she regularly visits them traveling to Jerusalem in secret. The woman is very beautiful and she is more loved by Yehudi than the other wives.
Although the author was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home and descended from a long line of Rabbis, The Jewish War exhibits uneasiness about the political, spiritual, and even material fate of the women in the Jewish settler community and the world of the ultra-Orthodox. This uneasiness is primarily connected to a sad lot of being a part of a polygenic marriage, doing a lot of hard and non-prestigious work about the house, and in general and limited opportunities in the areas of politics and business for women in the Jewish nation.
Let us consider each of these uneasy situations. First of all, speaking about a sad lot of being a part of polygamy marriage Shelly’s example comes to mind. Her situation depicts the very essence of the problem of polygamy. She understands she is not as beautiful as Malkie and Carmella and sees that she is not a beloved wife. Shelly compares herself to the first wife of Jacob the Hebrew patriarch whose story is told by the prophet Moses in the Bible book of Genesis: “I’ll be like Leah, the less beloved wife, the weak-eyed one from weeping, who does her share of childbearing but still gives her maid Ziphah to her husband, Jacob as a concubine. It’s so Old Testament” (Reich 104). This is what Shelly has to face in her marriage. She is unhappy and unsatisfied in this marriage. And it is no wonder as sharing something that is supposed to belong only to you by all the laws of common sense is a very sad fate. In addition, Creator who is considered to be the originator of the Hebrew nation as the descendants of hid faithful servant and “friend” man of faith called Abraham, marriage is supposed to be the union of only two people: “This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one will be called Woman because from man this one was taken. That is why a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh “(Genesis 2:23, 24, New Jerusalem’s Bible). Here the first man Adam comments on the conception of a marriage developed by the human Creator: marriage is a union of one man and one woman.
As far as I am concerned it is highly inappropriate to be a part of a polygamy marriage for both the man and his woman. They all will suffer certain difficulties: the women will have the constant completion forth approval of their husband thus creating serious tension and the man will be affected by the negative atmosphere of this tension and the constant spirit of bitterness in the house. Children will also suffer: the children of a more loved wife will be more valued by the father thus causing the unhappiness of all the other wives’ children. So the situation with the allowance of polygamy is sad in Jewish society to my mind. I believe a worse situation only exists in the Arab Muslim world. Their rules and principles on polygamy marriages are even more cruel and unjust than for women.
The other prejudice regarding the matter of polygamy marriage is that they are only allowed for men. A man can always add another wife whenever he wishes to do so (Reich 104). However, this is impossible for women. Again, women’s rights and freedoms are limited in Jewish society as compared to the rights of men.
The next sad situation for women to be considered is doing a lot of hard and non-prestigious work about the house and in general. Women are likened to donkeys doing a lot of very hard works. Shelly had to work actively even during her late months of pregnancy – she had to carry heavy things (Reich 83). However, her husband who is a representative of the stronger sex and thus is predestined by nature for doing hard work does not help his wife even if he cannot be busy at work. My opinion is that this problem is very severe in Jewish society. This mistake of improper treating of women can lead to the situation which is now observed in Arab countries; women live short lives and die within thirty or forty years of hard work thus establishing a severe demographic problem of lacking females.
And finally, women’s opportunities are very limited in the areas of politics and business in the Jewish nation. This came historically. Women in ancient Israel had the only primary task which is giving birth. They were also to do all the necessary work about the house. However, occupying responsible positions in the areas of politics, science, medicine, education, and business was forbidden for them. This situation continues to be unwavering within the centuries to pass. Tova Reich devotes a lot of her novel’s pages to the depiction of the problem. Women’s lot in Jewish society is connected with a lot of sadness. The author describes the life of one of the female characters with these thought-provoking words: “When Emunah closed her eyes she saw – what? The entire grinding panoply of her anxieties and worries awakened her like a prod to the heart in the hours before the dawn. For Emunah, disaster was always threatening, the days were indescribably exhausting and heavy with underlying, impending catastrophe. The work, too, was never completed, physical labor, and the next morning she had to start all over again” (Reich 103). Speaking about this discrimination I have to notice that this is probably the worst thing about women’s situation in Jewish society. Numerous women are gifted with outstanding thinking abilities and ingenious skills. Why waste these valuable recourses? Human society will benefit from women’s achievements in different areas apart from housekeeping and childbearing. This truth was many times proved by numerous successful women scientists, politicians, people of art, and so on.
Numerous works on literature, history, and sociology examined the gender problems in Jewish society topicality throughout history. The issues about Jewish society, its organization, principles, laws, and tendencies are very complicated as always. Nations have always had difficulties in understanding Hebrews. Numerous efforts were made to explain at least some complicated issues regarding Jewish people. One of the latest and very successful efforts was performed by young hopeful Sarah Glidden in her autobiographic novel “How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less”. Sara Glidden a Hebrew descendant living in the United States relates her traveling experiences about the different reality she visits and its quirks. Her story is well focused politically and historically. She carefully tries to deconstruct the long-lasting conflict of organizing the Jewish state and the other related issues. Sara Glidden’s novel throws light on important questions of politics, gender, religion, and history. Sara explains what she saw and related in her novel “did open up the whole situation for [her] and make [her] realize just how complex it is” (Glidden 15).
After seeing everything with her own eyes Sara Glidden explains her vision of the situation in the West Bank in the next words:
“You grow up being told ‘Israel is your country, you can go there, you can live there, it’s for you. We have to support Israel, we have to plant a tree in Israel.’ No one ever told us about the conflict when we were kids. So then you get older and you find out about the conflict and it feels like it’s something that your family’s doing that you don’t like, like ‘This is my country? But I don’t want them to do this! I don’t them to hurt people. I don’t want anyone that I’m affiliated with to hurt anybody.’ When you try to put it in the context of self-defense, or the reasons why Israel would do these things, it just got so complicated and so upsetting that I just almost had to ignore it and just kind of read the paper, but not think about It” (23).
She has ascertained that along with a row of the other difficult problems in Israel the gender problem is of great concern in Jewish society. Women face serious bias and prejudice problems everywhere: within the family, at school, at work, and many more. “It’s more complicated than that,” is a phrase that readers will see throughout the “How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less” novel. And it is also related to the difficult issues of women’s discrimination and their poor treatment in Jewish society. Sara who got accustomed to feministic values and victories in American society states: “Clearly you’re not going to ever understand such a complicated place in such a short amount of time, but I wanted to try. So this book is about that attempt at trying to figure it out because when I got there, I realized it was a lot more complicated than I thought” (50). Definitely what Sara Glidden witnessed in the modern Israel society as to the attitude to women motivated her to express her notice of appeal in the novel “How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less” where she expresses a lot of discontent about gender-related issues common in the modern-day Israel society.
Reflecting on all the concluded facts it should be stated that the gender problem is rather serious in Jewish society as is evident from the novel by Tova Reich. Women have to cope with serious bias and prejudice problems as to their political, spiritual, material, and family fate. They have to tolerate polygamy marriages, they also do a lot of hard work about the house which is only anticipated to be done by the stronger sex, women are discriminated against in the areas of business and politics. Considerable gender problems are also confirmed by Sarah Glidden in the autobiographic novel “How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less”. Her observations related to the novel prove that the gender problem is always on the front burner issue in the West Bank.
Works Cited
Glidden, S. How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less. United States: Vertigo, 2010. Print.
Reich, T. The Jewish War. Syracuse: University Press, 1997. Print.
Experts from human rights organizations note widespread violence against women in Mexico and frequent cases of gender discrimination. Although the country has adopted a federal law aimed at strengthening women’s rights, the situation remains challenging. Although inequality has tended to decrease throughout history, it continues to persist in many forms, including inequalities in women’s political representation and participation and gender gaps in many aspects of life. Jean Franco, in his book, raises the issue of gender prejudice against women in Latin America. The book under study is a re-evaluation of Mexican culture, which asserts gender as an integral part of Latin American literary studies.
Jean Franco is a British academic, and literary critic known for her pioneering work in Latin American literature. The critic is currently a Professor Emeritus at Columbia University (Rogers, 2001). Jean Franco’s research and works are extensive and well thought through. She was among the first English-speaking Latinos to write seriously about Latin American literature. She has focused on writing about women and their rights and is a pioneer of Latin American cultural studies.
Jean Franco explores the struggle of Mexican women to gain power in relation to aspects of life such as religion, nation, and society. The author also examines the works of women whose works had the opportunity to appear before readers only through famous male writers’ names. In the book, Jean Franco uses a large number of feminisms found in clearly harsh and unpleasant situations. This book provides the basis for a new view of the theory of feminism, as more comprehensive and less ethnocentric.
The book “Plotting Women” is a detailed and, at the same time, fascinating study of the introduction of Mexican women in a world dominated by men. The central part of the given texts in the book is a study of the works and lives of writers trying to take an honorable place in the world of men (Franco, 1989). Along with women writers, Franco explores non-traditional genres, such as seventeenth-century nuns’ autobiographies, the art, and the writing of controversial female figures in history.
However, despite the use of historical works and materials from the Mexican archives, the book cannot be called historical. The critic does not consider the significant changes in the role of women in the literary and public spheres. At the same time, the author emphasizes the continuity of the problem of the gender gap among women from the seventeenth century to our time. In the work, Franco points out that she is “not trying to write a history of women and writing in Mexico” (Franco, 1989). The author, in turn, refers to the moments when dissident subjects appear in the world of literature and when the struggle for a change of power breaks out.
I believe that Franco’s work is valuable because it examines the specifics of Latin American feminism in its relation to the social and religious context. To support the arguments and the point of view expressed, the author uses examples from Latin American history, making the book more exciting and valuable for readers. Franco’s point of view is fascinating when describing religion as the dominant discourse in analyzing the women’s discourse of New Spain in the eighteenth century (Franco, 1989). The critic says that the gender gap appeared because women were excluded from religion because of their emotionality. In his book, the author also asks about the role of mysticism in society under consideration. The existence of this aspect was controversial since the society of that time was dominated by religious discourse. The paper examines whether mysticism was a sublime modality or a religious sentiment that helped women integrate into a religious society.
Of particular interest in the book is also the part that describes the outstanding female figures of the twentieth century. Here, the author explores two leading women, Antonieta Rivas Mercado and Frida Kahlo (Franco, 1989). Even today, the names of these women are widely known and cited as examples of people who have made a great contribution to the feminist movement. Despite the very different stories of the two women, Franco sees the close influence of men on the events of their lives. In the case of Mercado, the author sees the reason for her death as an attempt to separate herself from the male world, and Frida, who managed to do this, on the contrary, flourished in terms of artistic life.
Jean Franco’s book is a scholarly, original, and provocative work that, however, cannot be called purely historical. In the research, the author considers the importance of the role of women in full-fledged formation in society. This work is of great value, as it may be of significant interest to students who study Mexican culture and its history. Franco’s work is a valuable source, as it provides information about women’s struggle for a place in the world of men since the seventeenth century and helps to understand the essence of the problem in more detail.
References
Franco, J. (1989). Plotting women: Gender and representation in Mexico. Columbia University Press.
Rogers, V.D. (2001). Jean Franco’s Lifetime of Critical Passions. American Quarterly, 53(3), 511-517. Web.
India is the second-most populous nation in the world, but the dynamics of daily life are not understood by many people from the west. Indian life is conditioned by certain rules of kinship, social organization, the position of gender, and the construction of identity. Gender discrimination which is caused by centuries-old traditions is a burning issue of the Indian government. India lags behind other developing countries that have overstepped their ancient traditions and now they are on the way to a modern development while Indian women and men still become unequal. What are the main reasons for this problem?
Indian social life is characterized by interdependence. People are born in different groups – families, clans, castes, subcastes, and religious communities and they become an inseparable part of these communities for their whole life. A person’s greatest dread is to be left alone without social support. This interdependence is explained from the theological point of view: the very shape of a person’s life is observed as being greatly influenced by divine beings with whom an ongoing relationship must be maintained (Chakraborty, 2009).
Social interdependence belongs to the highest priority for Indian people; social bonds are expected to be long-lasting. Even economic activities that might involve impersonal interactions in Western countries are embedded in a social nexus in India. Western visitors to India are sometimes shocked to find that important business and government officials have left their works for many days to participate in religious activities or attend cousin’s weddings. It is not explained by laziness or hedonistic recreation, the main reason is the maintenance of social ties with relatives, caste fellows, and God (Uberoi, 1993).
In every activity, there is the belief that social ties can help the person. Indian children are taught from their childhood that their fates have been written by divine forces and their lives will be shaped according to the plan decided by more powerful beings (Agrawal, 2004). As the result, whatever they do, their actions presuppose the other people’s support. When a child eats, his mother puts food into his mouth, when a boy climbs a tree to pluck mangoes, another stands below with a basket to receive them. When a student applies to a college, he hopes that his relative puts in a good word for him with the director of admissions. At the age of marriage, young people hope that their parents find the appropriate bride or groom and organize the marriage with all necessary formalities. If they die, they are sure that their relatives bury them with all ceremonials. Indian people get accustomed to hopping on the relatives’ support (Agrawal, 2004).
These groups of relatives belong to certain groups of kin. Subsuming the family is patrilineage. It is also called the khandan, Kutumba, or kul in Central and Northern India. Patrilineage unites the group of males who belong to the common progenitor a few generations back including their wives and unmarried daughters. The clan is larger than patrilineage including males tracing common ancestry to a mythological figure. Clans are hierarchically ordered. Some Indians also belong to more formless groupings which are known as Sakha and vansh. Belonging to a certain class defines your social position in society. This inequality of clans has been traced from Indian ancestors (Agrawal, 2004).
These groupings are exogamous, so that a person who belonged to this clan may not marry or have sexual relationships with the member of the same clan. It is considered to be incest. In North India, the marriage between the person and the members of his mother’s lineage is also forbidden. On the contrary, in South India, such marriages are encouraged.
There are also kinship groups larger than family among Muslims. Here belong such groups as the khandan which is also known as patrilineage and the azizdar which is also called kindred. The azizdar group includes all relatives of a person connected by blood and marriage. Cooperation in specific rites is one of the main indicators of the kin group for Hindus. The males of the same patrilineage participate in rites with their wives. Unmarried daughters do not participate in such rituals and do not eat special foods. They are spectators of such ceremonies. After the marriage, a woman belongs to her husband’s patrilineage and takes part in worship ceremonies of his clan. Kin also join together to celebrate birthdays, marriages, and religious holidays. Various fictive kinships among neighbors and friends can be formed by informal agreement.
Cast-based discrimination and oppression have been a pernicious feature of Indian society. The caste system, which is based on the notions of purity and pollution, hierarchy and difference, has despite social mobility, been oppressive towards the Shudras and the outcastes who suffered the stigma of ritual impurity and lived in abject poverty, illiteracy, and denial of political power. The origin of confrontational identity politics based on caste may be said to have its origin on the issue of providing the oppressed caste groups with state support in the form of protective discrimination (Agrawal, 2004).
In all, caste has become an important determinant in Indian society and politics, the new lesson of organized politics and consciousness of caste affiliations learned by the hitherto despised caste groups have transformed the contours of Indian politics where shifting caste-class alliances are being encountered. The net effect of these mobilizations along caste identities has resulted not only in the empowerment of newly emerging groups but has increased the intensity of confrontational politics and possibly led to a growing crisis of governability (Agrawal, 2004).
As we can see, kinship in India plays a very important role. The belonging to certain kin may decide the fate of the person and his further life. Women in Muslims belong to the patrilineage of their husbands as in every patrilineal society. In such a system, there is a high value placed on the male offspring and men largely inherit properties (Agrawal, 5). Women are treated as temporary members of their natal household and their incorporation into their husband’s household is always fraught with uncertainties. Their fates depend on their husbands. According to the rules of Manu written in 200 B.C.: “by a young girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house”. “In childhood, a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent” (Gender Inequality, 2001).
Women’s lives in India are shaped by customs that are centuries old. Women have less freedom of choice than men. The most important decisions are a husband’s duties. Is it gender discrimination or religious traditions which have been followed for centuries?
Indian males significantly outnumber females in India and this imbalance has increased over time. The sex ratio according to the 2001 census report stands at 933 per 1000 males (Gender Inequality, 2001).
As the result, the role of women in the family is underestimated as well as her role in the labor market. Gender discrimination in the market reduces the quantity of skilled and talented workers and as the result has negative economic consequences as compared with most well-developed countries where women have more possibilities to use their talents (Esteve-Volart, 2004).
Gender discrimination has deep historical roots in the Indian culture and it leaves women out of the economic mainstream. This kind of discrimination is usually identified with differential wage rates. Female labor participation in India is still low: it accounts for 28 percent according to the National Sample Survey (Esteve-Volart, 2004). Women from the middle classes do not tend to participate in the labor force; on the contrary, women from poor households have to work to feed their families.
Most women from well-to-do families where a man is considered to be a breadwinner do not seek to work. On the other hand, this inequality concerns those women who have to feed their families themselves and have low wages in comparison with men.
According to the 2001 census report, 120 million women live in poverty. The deaths of young girls in India exceed the deaths of young boys by over 300,000 every year and every 6th infant death is reasoned by gender discrimination (Gender Inequality, 2001). Five million girls were eliminated between 1986 and 2001 because of fetal sex determination done by unethical medical professionals. The rate of extermination continues to increase after the census of 2001. Sex determination and sex-selective abortion become the burning issue in India.
Indian women face discrimination from their childhood. Gender disparities in nutrition are observed from their childhood to adulthood. Malnutrition is one of the main reasons for most deaths of girls below 5 years old and these deaths are caused by gender discrimination. Girls are breastfed less frequently than boys. On the contrary, males are always fed first and better in Indian families. According to some estimates women consume approximately 1,000 calories less than men (Gender Inequality, 2001). There are a lot of diseases among Indian women which are caused by nutritional deprivation. As the result, most of them suffer from anemia and women never reach their full growth in India. These conditions complicate childbearing and result in low birth weight infants. Women receive fewer healthcare facilities than men. Most parents neglect their female children even if they are ill. Male offsprings are the wealth of Indian families. Many women die during childbirth because of some complications which may be prevented. All these deplorable statistics have been caused by gender discrimination which has been rooted in India for centuries.
The Government of India tried to improve the status of women as workers with the help of certain acts: Maternity Benefits Act (1961), Equal Remuneration Act (1976), Contract Labour (1970), Inter-State Migrant Workers Act (1979), and others (Gender Inequality, 2001). Over one million women have been elected to local panchayats despite deep-rooted biases according to the result of the 1993 amendment to the Indian Constitution requiring that 1/3 of the elected seats to the local government structures be reserved for women (Gender Inequality, 2001). Nevertheless, this problem has become more and more topical. Inequality remains, men are more likely to get promotions than women and have higher wages for the same work compared to female workers.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stated, “Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance” (Gender inequality, 2001). There is a need for new kinds of institutions, incorporating new norms and rules that support the equal and unbiased relationship between men and women in India. Although Indian women organize a lot of organizations to fight for their rights, it is quite difficult to get out those traditions that have been deep-rooted for centuries. It is necessary to rebuild the whole social system including groups of kinships and the construction of identity. If the Indian government has success in such kind of a great reconstruction, India will start the new phase of its development.
Reference List
Agrawal, A. (2004). Social Construction of Gender. Foundation Course: Human Rights, Gender & Environment. USA: University of Delphi.
Chakraborty, T. (2009). Kinship Institutions and Sex Ration in India. USA: Washington University in St. Louis and NBER.
Esteve-Volart, B. (2004). Gender Discrimination and Growth: Theory and Evidence from India. London: London School of Economics and Political Science.
Human well-being is a multi-dimensional construct arising from a mixture of what a person owns, what they can do with those possessions, and how they think about the potential of those possessions. Therefore, the three core dimensions of well-being are the material, the relational, and the subjective. While the material element focuses on living standards and practical welfare, the relational and the subjective aspects emphasize social and personal relations and values and perceptions, respectively. Although they are different, the three well-being components are in a closed loop with fluid boundaries. For this reason, contemporary issues such as inequality – which can affect what a person has and how they use them – are crucial facets of contemporary society. They are at the forefront of today’s public and policy discussions and remain linked to some of the most significant events worldwide. Income, gender, and educational inequalities are three common forms of inequalities now at the forefront of contemporary debates and require effective definition and measurement to understand their consequences.
Income Inequality
Income inequality is one of the most prevalent forms of inequality in contemporary society. It refers to differences in the distribution of personal, household, or any other form of per capita income. The situation of income inequality is worsening by the day. For example, today, the world’s wealthiest 10 percent earn nearly ten times more than the poorest 10 percent, yet they earned only seven times more than the poorest in the 1980s (Buttrick and Oishi, 2017). Similarly, during the COVId-19 pandemic, the fortunes of the top 1,000 billionaires took only nine months to recover to their pre-pandemic highs (Solt, 2020). However, for the world’s poorest, it is likely that recovery would take more than a decade. Apart from that, since the epidemic began, the wealth of the ten richest people on earth has increased more than enough times to pay for the immunization of all individuals and prevent any living person from falling into poverty due to the coronavirus. Unfortunately, most of the world’s wealth is in the hands of a few individuals, meaning that income or economic inequality is pervasive and prevents most people from living their desired lifestyles.
Causes
Various factors ranging from institutional issues to personal attributes contribute to the prevalent income inequality problem. Chief among them include globalization, lack of education, gender, laws and regulations, poor financial management skills, and the shifting balance between labor and capital (Patel et al., 2018). Globalization has led to income inequality in that it has created an increasingly integrated economy where there is extensive competition. Globalization has increased the flow of information and technology, international trade, finance and investment, production, and international migration. In this mix of various activities, some people lost their income while others gained, leading to income inequality. A lack of education also contributed to income inequality because access to economic opportunity has traditionally depended on a person’s education. The present economic system favors individuals with education as capitalists equate higher education with better knowledge and skills to create sustainable value. Unfortunately, acquiring the knowledge and skills to improve one’s chances of economic empowerment requires some significant initial investment. For example, education requires a significant investment of capital, and those without enough money are unlikely to get access to quality education. As such, breaking the poverty circle is a difficult undertaking.
Consequences
The consequences of economic inequality vary depending on the extent and nature of the problem. In extreme cases of income inequality, one of the consequences is a lack of access to resources and information that can improve one’s quality of life. In other words, income inequality can be so extreme that it causes abject poverty or destitution. Another consequence of income inequality is a generally reduced quality of life (particularly among the disadvantaged groups) (Schneider, Hastings, and LaBriola, 2018). For example, due to income inequality, some people have access to better education and healthcare while others do not. Income inequality may also lead to tension between and among communities as people fight for control over vital resources. In many parts of the world, civil wars are primarily caused by a disagreement on how to share or distribute such natural resources as land, oil and gas, and minerals. Notably, in politically unstable countries, formulating and implementing effective policies is a challenging undertaking, which explains why such countries have high levels of poverty. Income inequality is a serious problem that governments must address by developing appropriate policies and giving all members of the population equal economic opportunity.
Measurement
There are various ways of measuring income inequality among different groups and individuals. One of them is determining the level of income per month or annually. Ranking households or individuals depending on their monthly or annual income from the lowest to the highest can provide a clear picture of the income distribution (Chancel and Piketty, 2019). From such statistics, it would be easier to measure the dispersion of income between the wealthiest and the richest individuals or households within a given area over a specified period. Dividing the standard deviation of the income distribution by the mean gives a measure of income inequality. If the income inequality is lesser for a given group of people within a specified period, then the standard deviation will be smaller and vice versa. Income inequality can also be measured by looking at people’s standards of living. Often, people with higher incomes have access to more opportunities and lead to more comfortable lives. On the contrary, those with fewer economic opportunities tend to struggle to meet necessities like food, water, shelter, and clothing. High-income inequalities exist in countries where the majority of the population struggles to acquire such necessities as food and shelter.
Gender Inequality
Gender inequality is another common type of inequality in the contemporary world. It refers to the treatment of men and women as unequal primarily due to their sex. The distinction between men and women may be made by looking at a person’s biology, cultural norms, or physiology (Batz-Barbarich et al., 2018) Gender-based inequality may lead to lower economic opportunities, and less educational attainment, and reduced quality of life overall. Gender inequality has been one of the most prevalent forms of inequality because, since time immemorial, societies have placed women under men. As a consequence, in most parts of the world, women had fewer opportunities compared to men (Czymara, Langenkamp, and Cano, 2021). Today, while the world has made significant progress in addressing the issue, a lot remains to be done to ensure that both men and women are treated equally. One way to do so is by availing the same educational, political, economic, and social opportunities to men and women. The legislative arm of global governments can formulate and pass legislation that encourages gender equity to help address the problem. In some cases, education and public engagements may be needed to change people’s perspectives on men, women, and children.
Causes
Gender inequality has various causes that range from individual factors to cultural issues. For example, in most parts of the developing world, communities still view women’s roles as childbearing and homemaking. Therefore, they have cultural practices that discourage women from attending school and pursuing a career like their male counterparts (Heise et al., 2019). New legislation in such parts of the world is shifting the dynamics by encouraging more women to go to school. In the next several years, cultural practices that prevent women from attaining positive educational and career outcomes will reduce or disappear completely. In addition to the negative perspective on women, another significant cause of gender inequality is the social and economic setup. Because most current processes were developed by men at a time when women had limited roles in society, they tend to discriminate against women. For example, most high-income jobs such as engineering and medicine did not favor women. Personal characteristics such as failure to push harder for equity have also caused gender inequality. For example, in many parts of the world, many women have been okay with the status quo rather than pushing for more gender equality.
Consequences
The consequences of gender inequality affect individuals and their families. One of them is that gender inequality has led to higher levels of hunger and poverty (Heymann et al., 2019). For example, uneducated women have reduced economic opportunities, which increases their chances of being and remaining poor in their lives. Gender inequality has also led to the overdependence of men on women. Because some women in some parts of the world gave up their pursuit of education and a career, they depend on their spouses for economic empowerment (Heymann et al., 2019). Gender inequality has also led to a less peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world as it is a pervasive form of discrimination. Gender inequality has also led to huge gaps in labor force participation, gender pay, seats in parliament, agricultural land holding, and sexual abuse and violence. Due to gender inequality, women tend to spend a significant proportion of their day time on unpaid work such as caring for children, preparing meals for their households, and maintaining their homes (Heymann et al., 2019). Issues of early marriages, teenage pregnancies, and school dropout are also directly attributable to gender inequality. Luckily gap between men and women is reducing.
Measurement
Gender inequality is measured by looking at various aspects of overall human development. There is less gender inequality if there is uniform human development for both men and women. One way to do so is to look at educational attainment for both genders in a given country for a specified period and compare those statistics with the total population (Huang et al, 2020). The total number of men or women that finish school as a percentage of the total population is indicative of the educational gender gap in that country. Another way to measure gender inequality is to look at employment statistics as a measure of human empowerment. If the percentage of employed men is comparable to that of women, then greater equality exists in that country and vice versa. One could also measure gender inequality by looking at the political leadership and land ownership records.
Educational Inequality
Education inequality focuses on the differences in the attainment of critical knowledge and skills through training in formal learning institutions. Educational inequality suggests the unequal distribution of resources and capabilities that promote academic growth (Bloome, Dyer, and Zhou, 2018). Inequality in education may also mean differences in accessing and utilizing academic resources. Throughout the world, groups of students disproportionately experiencing psychological barriers to achieving success in education exist. Most of these students have suffered as a result of society’s historic inequality (Bloome, Dyer, and Zhou, 2018). Some of the psychological barriers to educational attainment that these students experience include the feeling of social identity threat and a sense of having an identity that is not compatible with the educational system’s current structure. One way to address these issues is to utilize a range of wise psychological interventions that target the student’s subjective interpretation and internalization of their individual and predominant educational context (Bloome, Dyer, and Zhou, 2018). Students most likely to experience educational inequality are those from lower-class backgrounds or ethnic minority groups. Since education is an important predictor of future socioeconomic position and performance, there is a need to address the problem and ensure that all children have equal access to academic resources and opportunities.
Causes
Like the other forms of inequality, educational inequality is also due to personal and structural causes. Some of these causes include poor policies, ineffective implementation of existing rules, poverty, ethnic minority status, racial minority status, institutional biases against certain groups of students, differences in access to quality schools, and poor planning (Jackson and Holzman, 2020). Poor policies can discourage the building and funding of schools in remote areas. Consequently, students may become overcrowded in one intuition of learning in these parts of the world. If better policies existed in those areas, then more schools would be built, and teachers employed to ensure that the students get the highest quality education that improves their chances of becoming successful in the future. In some situations, the right policies may exist but are poorly implemented due to unfocused leadership and similar problems. Fast and timely implementations of effective policies can reduce the extent of the problem and improve educational attainment among individuals. Being a member of a racial or ethnic minority group can also lead to poor educational attainment. Students from poorer families are also less likely than those from wealthier backgrounds to attain positive educational outcomes.
Consequences
The consequences of educational inequality are variable but revolve around negatively impacting a person’s well-being. Therefore, one of the most notable consequences of educational inequality is a school dropout, which spearheads hunger and poverty. When children drop out of school, they are more likely to get unplanned pregnancies, which prevents them from developing their skills and finding a job (Merry and Boterman, 2020). The individual dropping out of school also lacks the essential knowledge and skills to work in high-income jobs. As such, these people are left doing menial jobs and are unlikely to break out of the circle of poverty. Educational inequality also leads to racial and ethnic intolerance. When people go to school, they encounter individuals from different cultures, backgrounds, and geographic locations. Such encounters make one develop a global mindset, allowing one to be more tolerant of diverse views, opinions, and ways of life (Wei et al., 2018). On the contrary, if a person drops out of school, they have narrow expectations and definitions of what constitutes right and wrong. As such, less educated people are more likely to be violent and to cause wars. They may make the world less peaceful or prosperous and more chaotic.
Measurement
There are various ways of measuring educational inequality. One way looks at the availability of educational resources such as schools and teachers in a given geographical location. If the distribution of schools, teachers, and related resources is equitable, then there is less educational inequality in that locality and vice versa (Neidhöfer, Serrano, and Gasparini, 2018). For example, in some countries, wealthy neighborhoods tend to have more high-quality schools than poor ones. Therefore, children living in rich neighborhoods have better educational access than those in poor areas. Another way to measure educational attainment or inequality is by considering differences in school enrollment in different communities as a percentage of the entire population. If there is equality in such data, then no educational inequality exists and vice versa. Comparing enrollment data among different communities can also paint a clear picture of the current status of educational inequality in a given area. Notably, in all the different forms of inequality, measurements depend on the available data. Therefore, there is a need to emphasize the data collection process to ensure that the records are authentic and reliable.
Conclusion
Inequality is a critical component of contemporary society. Because it is closely related to human well-being, it is the main reason for peace or instability worldwide. Communities may fight because they seek control of vital resources in some instances. In others, the circle of poverty continues because inequality leads to poverty, which causes more problems. Income inequality is the most prevalent form of economic inequality. It is measured by statistical approaches, is caused by both individual and structural or environmental factors, and leads to instability, among other consequences. Gender and educational inequalities are also related to income inequality and operate within a closed loop of clearly demarcated boundaries. One can measure the causes and consequences of inequality to aid in decision-making.
References List
Batz-Barbarich, C. et al. (2018) ‘A meta-analysis of gender differences in subjective well-being: estimating effect sizes and associations with gender inequality’, Psychological science, 29(9), pp. 1491-1503.
Bloome, D., Dyer, S., and Zhou, X. (2018) ‘Educational inequality, educational expansion, and intergenerational income persistence in the United States’, American Sociological Review, 83(6), pp. 1215-1253.
Buttrick, N. R., and Oishi, S. (2017) ‘The psychological consequences of income inequality’, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11(3), pp. e12304.
Chancel, L., and Piketty, T. (2019) ‘Indian Income Inequality, 1922‐2015: From British Raj to Billionaire Raj?’, Review of Income and Wealth, 65, pp. S33-S62.
Czymara, C. S., Langenkamp, A., and Cano, T. (2021) ‘Cause for concerns: gender inequality in experiencing the COVID-19 lockdown in Germany’, European Societies, 23(sup1), pp. S68-S81.
Heise, L. et al. (2019) ‘Gender inequality and restrictive gender norms: Framing the challenges to health’, The Lancet, 393(10189), pp. 2440-2454.
Heymann et al. (2019) ‘Improving health with programmatic, legal, and policy approaches to reduce gender inequality and change restrictive gender norms’, The Lancet, 393(10190), pp. 2522-2534.
Huang, J. et al. (2020) ‘Historical comparison of gender inequality in scientific careers across countries and disciplines’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(9), pp. 4609-4616.
Jackson, M., and Holzman, B. (2020) ‘A century of educational inequality in the United States’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(32), pp. 19108-19115.
Merry, M. S., and Boterman, W. (2020) ‘Educational inequality and state-sponsored elite education: the case of the Dutch gymnasium’. Comparative Education, 56(4), 522-546.
Neidhöfer, G., Serrano, J., and Gasparini, L. (2018) ‘Educational inequality and intergenerational mobility in Latin America: A new database’, Journal of Development Economics, 134, pp. 329-349.
Patel, V. et al. (2018) ‘Income inequality and depression: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the association and a scoping review of mechanisms’, World Psychiatry, 17(1), pp. 76-89.
Schneider, D., Hastings, O. P., and LaBriola, J. (2018) ‘Income inequality and class divides in parental investments’, American Sociological Review, 83(3), pp. 475-507.
Solt, F. (2020) ‘Measuring income inequality across countries and over time: The standardized world income inequality database’, Social Science Quarterly, 101(3), pp. 1183-1199.
Wei, Y. D. et al., (2018) ‘Neighborhood, race and educational inequality’, Cities, 73, 1-13.
The IT sector boasts of few women compared to their male counterparts. This is mainly due to the fact that women spend a lot of time taking care of the family. Also, lack of work flexibility has made it hard for women to engage in the IT sector. Other than the problems experienced by the women as they juggle between career and home keeping, the IT sector is largely dominated by men. Despite advances in technology, the digital divide between men and women has continued to increase. In both the UK and the U.S, women who join the IT profession are not only a few, but the concern has been that they are leaving the IT sector and following a different career direction altogether. The major concern has been the imbalance being experienced in the IT sector and whether the situation can be reversed. According to Matwyshyn (2003), the disparity between men and women in the IT sector has reduced and the number of women taking undergraduate degrees in IT is less compared to men.
Research statement
There is a disparity between men and women in the information technology sector despite the advanced technology in the 21st century.
Research purpose statement and problem
The research study aims to determine the cause of disparity in the IT sector and the policies that can be incorporated to ensure that women are presented well in the IT sector. By applying the research purpose statement, it will be possible to answer the following research questions: Why is there gender disparity in information technology? Can the current situation be reversed and in what ways can this be realized? This would enable the realization of the objectives of the research study.
Null Hypothesis
There is less than or a third (33.3%) of women in the IT industry in the United States.
Alternative Hypothesis
There are more than 66.6%% of men in the IT sector compared to women.
Therefore, the null and the alternative hypotheses would be: H0 will be 33.3% or less than women in IT and H1 will be more than 66.6% men in IT
H0: p <_ 0.333 (33.3% or less) H1: P> 66.6%
Significance of the study
In terms of academic interest, the study has the potential to contribute to what students ought to know about the existing discrepancies between men and women in schools and the professional arena. The results are highly significant to all the people in society. For instance, the outcome of the study can be useful in implementing policies and practices that can reverse gender diversity in the IT sector. The research will also help in determining the reasons why there has been a low turnout of women in the IT sector despite the advance in and availability of technology. The government and other stakeholders will also take appropriate measures to ensure that the disparity is minimized.
Theoretical/conceptual framework
A conceptual framework is defined as a group of concepts that are systematically organized to provide a focus, a rationale, and a tool for the integration and interpretation of information. In this case, misconception and education impact greatly on gender disparity in the IT sector.
There has been a misconception by society that women do not belong to the IT sector (Information Age, 2008). This has resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of women willing to participate in IT-related sectors. Women participate in technology-related applications such as the internet, but according to Matwyshyn (2003), the number of female technology producers is low compared to men. This can be attributed to the fact that since 1984, the number of women undertaking information technology-related courses has been decreasing rapidly. Matwyshyn (2003) notes that women being awarded bachelor-level computer and information science degrees has reduced and in 2000, the figure stood at 21%. This has been supported by the Department Of Labor, Licensing and Regulations (2010) which indicates that disparity begins at the school level then to the professional world. Therefore, it can be noted that disparity in information technology is acceptable right from high school. A study carried out on women in India by Sahu (2008) shows that although there are many women at the entry-level, the number reduces as they progress. Some of the reasons for the decline include marriage, relocation, children, and family, among other relevant personal problems. In India, the number of women in the IT sector is 18% compared to men. According to EDC (n.d) women tend to take lower-end computing classes compared to men hence the disparity.
In the UK, women are leaving the IT industry in droves. Swabey (2008) note that women comprised 23% of the IT in 2001 but by 2007, the number had reduced to 18%. The manager of the BCS Women Forum says that the number of women exiting the IT sector has increased mainly due to a lack of flexibility at the workplace. This has been reflected in India’s IT sector. It has been noted that women leave the IT sector because of the treatment that they receive while in the sector (Swabey, 2008). This restricts them from climbing the corporate ladder to high positions. Greenhill (1998) observes that attitude matters in determining the career to be chosen. For example, discrimination as a result of attitudinal behavior has resulted in a disparity between men and women in the IT sector. This, for instance, happens in schools whereby students taking sciences have a higher chance of being introduced to computer-related studies than the others. Therefore, there is a lot of literature that supports the research statement in that there is a disparity between men and women in the IT sector. The sector lacks mentors (McCue, 2005) and the culture and treatment women receive in the sector has made some leave even at managerial positions.
Methodology/Design
Participants
The study participants shall comprise both males and females for purposes of ensuring gender equity. This is because the issues under study require the opinions of both females and males. These groups of participants shall be randomly chosen from learning institutions and the IT sector. The proposed number of participants has knowledge in computer skills either at professional or basic levels.
Sampling procedure and the sample size
After consent from both the relevant authorities and the participants has been obtained, the researcher shall then explain to the participants that the research is totally for academic purposes only and that confidentiality would be guaranteed. With a population target of 1000 people, the research plan will use a sample of 100 participants. After getting the names of the participants and writing them alphabetically selection will then be done. Asymmetric random sampling shall be used whereby the population (1000) is divided by 100 to get 10. Therefore, the tenth name on the list will be the first participant. The sequence will be followed until a sample of 100 participants is reached. The participants will be divided equally; 50 men and 50 women. A purposive sampling strategy shall be used because it allows for the collection of attitudes, perceptions, and opinions of the respondents. The common aspect that would be considered is the level of education and whether the respondents have been using information technology, and for how long. A purposive sampling strategy would be applied because it allows an in-depth understanding of the research.
Instrumentation
The study used different methods of data collection. During the course of this research, both primary and secondary methods of data collection shall be used. A qualitative research design shall be applied to obtain the opinions, attitudes, and perceptions of the respondents on whether renewable resources form the future sources of energy. The quantitative research design will also be applied to determine the number of women present in the IT sector. This will facilitate answering the research question.
Reference List
Department Of Labor, Licensing and Regulations (2010). DLLR’s Division of Labor and Industry.
Matwyshyn, A. M. (2003). Silicon Ceilings: Information Technology Equity, the Digital Divide and the Gender Gap among Information Technology Professionals. Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property. 2(1).
McCue, A. (2005). IT industry’s ‘macho culture’ drives women away.
Sahu, M. (2008). New vistas for working women in India’s IT industry. Info Change News & Features.
Numerous news articles, journals, books, and magazines, among others, have come up to explain sex, gender and sexuality. Moreover, various debates have been initiated with emphasis on establishing the science and history behind gender, sex and sexuality. However, this has resulted in more questions than answers. Psychologists, cognitive scientists, and biochemists along with other theorists have failed to arrive at a common ground concerning sexuality issues. Over the years, theorists such as Bill Summers and Maria Trumpler, among others, have tried to establish the science behind sexuality and gender. However, this has proved to be complex as they try to relate it to culture, psychology and biology. The paper will analyze a news article from Yale daily News, concerning the science of sexuality (Bhushan, p. 1).
Summary
The article starts by exuding numerous questions that have arisen concerning the science of sexuality. Among the questions brought up are the definition of desire, its description, and study as well as how it changes over a period in one’s life. Ambika Bhushan, who wrote the article, introduces two theorists, Summers and Trumpler, who are professors at Yale University. Summers is a professor in the Department of History of Science and Medicine, while Trumpler is the director of undergraduate studies. According to Summers, this field of study (gender and sexuality) is still beleaguered with many unanswered questions that try to relate it to biology, psychology, culture and biochemistry. Interestingly, the subject generated an overwhelming response from students at Yale. This is evident in Mathew Adams’ sentiment, which is further confirmed by Summers himself. Professor Trumpler on the other hand believes that this study is hinged on social science than biology. In fact, she argues that gender expression is 90% cultural and only 10% biological (Bhushan, p. 1).
Point of view of the article
This article tries to bring attention to the subject of gender and sexuality. It goes further to include professor Summers’s views on the same. In addition, it includes a response from the participants such as Adams as well as another opinion from professor Trumpler. In essence, the article tries to establish the science behind sexuality and gender. Nonetheless, what comes out clearly is the fact that this topic brings about more questions than answers. In essence, the article argues that the science behind gender and sexuality is still speculative with more emphasis on cultural differences than biology (Bhushan, p. 1).
Point of view of the Author
The author supports the fact that gender and sexuality bring about overwhelming participation from students. In the process, more questions are asked than answers given for the science behind gender and sexuality. In other words, the topic is wide and complex as it involves studying the brain and its response. Ultimately, the author concedes that science behind gender and sexuality can be drawn from many specializations’ areas such as biology, psychology, and culture, among others. In addition, he believes that gender is closely linked to culture than biology (Bhushan, p. 1).
Conclusion
Gender and sexuality are a wide topic and draws explanations from different areas of specialization. It is therefore quite true to relate gender to culture. This is mainly because culture defines masculinity and feminism. For instance, feminism is closely related to the wearing of skirts in most cultures of the world. On the other hand, other cultures such as Scotland, relate masculinity to the wearing of kilts. It is also quite important to note that biology is closely linked to the male and female aspects of sexuality. In essence, the topic draws answers from various fields and continues to attract more questions (Bhushan, p. 1).
Numerous institutions and policies become applicable when violence has been committed. In fact, many tools are available to confront violence of any kind. In 1970s feminist thinking was translated into action against domestic violence and rape. The first refugees and rape crisis centers were established for the victims of any kind of sexual and domestic violence (Zakaras, p. 52). However, they were exposed to certain financial difficulties when offering their help to the aggrieved ones.
Gendered violence is a matter of concern for state. Unfortunately, state services fail to control violence in individual cases, to challenge ‘gender’ and to control violence as gendered. In 1970s and 1980s the state services had little interest and disingenuousness in gendered violence. The cases of Lees 1999, Adler 1987, Temkin 1987 and Lees 1987 are referred in order to specify on the problem. The cases of recent times (Rana Faruqui, Tania Moore, Hayley Richards, Clare Bernal) are also related to show that the problem continues as not solved yet. Over the past thirty years the state services reportedly failed to address the problem of violence as a gender matter and that is why are rather distant from solving the problem. Men go unnoticed. Men and their violence do not feature in the problem discussion. They have been hidden under the failures of state services. For example, there have been no efforts to work with men who abuse their mates and children.
The failure to distinguish men as primary group to commit violence also leads to the failure to specify the sites which are the most endangered by the group: family and the home. Thus it is very important to consider the sites and locations which are affected.
The Family of Man
Numerous family histories under consideration prove that family and close community are the areas to be primary endangered by men’s violence. Familial practices provide convenient grounds for much violent and sexual offending of women. The myth about the unknown offender is disclosed; violence both towards women and children is committed by the family men who see their potential victims on regular basis. Great number of violence cases clearly proves that most cruel acts are committed by fathers, brothers, cousins, uncles, lovers, close friends and husbands.
“An Englishman’s home is his castle”. Men feel more confident in their unquestioning impunity when they are at home. The fact is proved by statistics: in 2000 only 11% of violent acts were committed by strangers while the majority of them were done at home. In 2001, in 90% of calls to Child line regarding sexual abuse the victims knew their offenders for a remarkable period of time or were their householders. In 2002 children sex offenders’ and reoffending cases were researched and the results revealed that the two thirds of children to suffer were within the offenders’ family units.
Men feel secure behind the closed doors of their family houses. Family masculinity is the primary danger for the violence victims. Facts reveal that sexual abuse is mostly done by the offenders with male bodies against the victims with female bodies.
Crimes within family unit offer unconditional proves that women and girls are the victims of men thus indicating violence to be a gender problem. Freud’s family conception shows that psychologically men have a tendency for sexual abuse of women within their family units. He also found out the phenomenon of primary erotic narcissism.
Family security depends on social-economical reasons in accordance with Murray’s statement. Family is a beachhead for men to emphasis “exclusiveness, restrictions, symbolic ordering and control over access”.
The Law, the Courts and Conviction
There exist no other areas where the law fails to show justice on such a serious scale but for the area of masculine violence within the family unit. The law must reflect on women being the victims of men.
Numerous aspects of the law on rape represent women who complain about rape as potentially untrustworthy. There are a lot of aspects in the law on rape that question whether women do not represent their dissatisfaction with particular sexual relations as a case of being raped. The law has too many assumptions on women irrationality and female fragility.
The suggestion that a rape complaint is an easy accusation to make leads to the law’s failure to punish the guilty ones. Due to some defects in the rape investigation legislation it is very easy for men to get away with rape. It is evident that the law on rape is primary written to promote males’ rights and to protect them from the false accusation of committing rape.
The law on rape suggests the idea that women cannot be trusted both in rape and any other matters. Kelly’s investigation of 2000 rape cases clearly proves that women were only trusted when some weapons were applied; the cases when women were affected with men’s strength without any other means are satisfied rather rarely.
The law on rape rests on the idea that the same event can be understood from two sides. Moreover, contradictory cases are handled prioritizing the interests of men thus promoting violence and leaving the problem unsolved.
Embodying Violence: Masculinity, Culture and Crime
Data clearly show that the connection between violence and masculinity is straightforward. Men are more likely to commit crimes. This indicates violence as connected to masculinity. However, the law considers the crimes committed by men both against females and males not from the point of aggressive masculinity nature but from the points of poverty, youth and race. Crime is also considered to be an exercise of power towards weaker ones and thus is connected to masculinity.
One of the reasons why masculinity is still not revealed in the law as crime causing factor is connected to the positions men occupy in society. Despite women’s feministic achievements in the twenty first century men still control the most important institutes to affect law which are politics, journalism, legislation and academy.
Just as in the case with committing rapes masculinity can be seen as a trope to any sort of crime. However, masculinity in itself is not the very essence of crime. Committing crime is closely connected to exercising power. This fact is well proved historically. On the other hand, the fact that power is a patriarchal advantage is also proved historically. Thus it is clear that masculinity has undeniable connection with crime and violence. So, not recognizing the significance of masculinity and gender in committing crimes may have cost a lot. That is why though there is no clear model of the conception of masculinity connection to committing crimes and acing violent it is to be developed and reflected in the law to control crime in society.
