Does gender discrimination contribute to poverty and other social problems among women?
Introduction
From time immemorial to date, gender discrimination has been the order of the day among many countries, with women being the most oppressed or discriminated in most of the government settings across the globe. Controversy, however, exists on the actual definition of gender discrimination, with many researchers each voicing out their perspective. Gender discrimination occurs when one is denied the privilege, the opportunity, or rather a reward on the grounds of gender. Literally, it is the practice or the idea of making substantial decisions basing on the gender aspect.[1] Gender discrimination entails the action whereby one is unfavorably treated basing on gender.[2] It is believed that gender discrimination and, more specifically, women discrimination is an enemy of progress since the lack of access to many social aspects such as good health and education impacts negatively on the economy of the country. In a male-dominated society, women are perceived to be inferior and are denied privileges and priorities that are enjoyed by their male counterparts as of the case with Vasanti from Northwestern India.[3] A woman seeking justice explains that for long-time women have been undermined in as far as social aspects such as education, health, and jobs are concerned, and this has generally led to poverty and other social problems.[4]
While many people perceive and support the status quo, claim that gender discrimination does not necessarily and primarily promote poverty and other social problems among women research, and other pieces of evidence point out that gender discrimination largely contributes to poverty and other societal problems.
The body of the paper presents substantial evidence on the association between gender discrimination and poverty. The paper will have five paragraphs four in support of the claim or rather in defense of the thesis and one counterclaim. The conclusion part highlights the multiplier effects of gender discrimination and affirmative actions that governments should assume in a bid to contain this menace. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Discussion
There are various ways in which gender or sexual discrimination contributes to poverty as well as social problems in many countries, such as India. First is that the lack of access to quality education in not only India but also in the rest of the world to women as opposed to the male counterparts have proved to be the main cause of poverty among women. Quality education has been perceived to be the steering wheel that can easily break the vicious cycles of poverty, and therefore undermining women’s desire for quality education directly or indirectly translates to increased poverty and social problems rates in the society. In the article creating capabilities argues that since Vasanti was a woman, she was not privileged in terms of educational opportunities as well as access to good health facilities as were is brothers, and that is what literally promoted his poverty status.[5] “Girls have fewer opportunities than boys and seem less important to the wellbeing of the family.”[6] This phrase in the article gives a clear picture of how females were treated in India, for example, as opposed to the males. Vasanti’s story, which seems to be a reflection of the current society, implies that the discrimination present as at now is what largely contributes to the societal problems such as poverty among women. With the lack of quality education for most women, the poverty rates have continually increased.[7] Expanding upon his research study, he further claimed that in a study that involved 100 sampled women in Nepal who were relatively poor in a bid to ascertain the relationship between education and poverty rates, the results showed that 95% of these women lacked quality education either willingly or due to given circumstances. The article further points out that “a woman as intelligent as Vasanti never learned how to read or write.”[8] Finally, as of the article, it is illustrated that in India, 75.3% of men are literate, whereas 53.7% of women are literate, and this disparity is associated with how gender discrimination affects the literacy levels of women.[9] This apparently portrays how education is a key aspect.
Secondly, the lack of access to good health as well as poor nutrition in early childhood is another factor that has greatly contributed to poverty in women. A larger percentage of women lack or are denied a chance to proper medication, and poor nutrition ends up being poor.[10] Krieger, on the other hand, further claims that women as compared to men are less well-nourished and taken to the hospital in case of an illness, which prompts some of them to end up being poor. The article, for example, asserts that Vasanti’s nutritional deficiency was due to gender discrimination, which resulted in poverty later in her future.[11] This, therefore, creates or instills a clear picture that gender discrimination can result in poor deficiency among women at childhood level, and its effects can be compounded and carried on into the future, which in one way or another promotes poverty. Moreover, the article illustrates that the Indian government, for example, treats the health issue as a state issue rather than a federal issue which makes it hard for marginalized communities and more specifically women to seek medical attention that is available in the country and this, however, result in serious societal problems among women.
Most notably, increased women’s economic inequality has massively contributed to poverty and poor welfare conditions for not only women but also everyone. For instance, since education is the avenue of economic opportunity, the idea that women should not be educated or rather should not have access to a good education system has encouraged economic inequality.[12] In addition, in most developing countries, for example, gender inequality costs women close to $9 trillion yearly, and ideally, this total sum would not only encourage a higher spending power but would also promote the economy as a whole too.[13] In countries with a reasonable level of gender equity consequently portrays high-income levels, and research studies point out that a close in gender discrimination or inequalities gaps directly leads to a corresponding reduction in poverty. This, therefore, sheds light on the huge contribution of gender discrimination to poverty increase in most countries. To sum up, it is needless to affirm that improving women’s as well as increasing their economic empowerment is vital in the fight against poverty among women. This presumably translates that increased gender discrimination relatively contributes to increased unemployment, which results in poverty more especially among women as of the case with Vasanti, “we are likely to notice that women as intelligent as Vasanti often have had fewer employment options.”[14]
Lastly, gender discrimination impacts negatively on women in the labor market, and it is for this that women have high employee turnover. The turnover, for example, subjects women to unbearable external pressure, which often leads to poverty. Since gender discrimination impacts negatively on one’s happiness and health, the rate of employee turnover among women is relatively high.[15] He further points out that men compared to women have a low turnover, and therefore the disparity is attributed to gender discrimination, and this often promotes poverty among women. As of the article highlights that “all nations are developing nations in that they contain the human development problems and struggles in ensuring that adequate quality of life, dignity as well as justice are offered to all citizens[16] In a nutshell, the article points out that all countries have failed in ensuring opportunities are fair to both genders. Therefore, women are obviously the most disadvantaged, and it is for this reason that they record high poverty rates.
In as much as it is evident that gender discrimination promotes poverty either directly or indirectly, some opponents voice out that the effects of gender discrimination on women poverty are negligible. For example, ex that although gender discrimination impacts negatively on women, the fact that it promotes poverty has been overrated.[17] He further argued that gender discrimination contributes close to 2% of the total poverty rate among women, which is negligible and that there are more factors whose magnitude in terms of promoting poverty is high, unlike the gender discrimination aspect.
Conclusion
In view of the above discussion, it goes unnoticed that the effect of gender discrimination can be profound, which in other words implies that its effects go beyond the social aspects all the way to political and economic issues. Furthermore, gender discrimination can not only cause poverty but also can be a hurdle in alleviating poverty. Therefore, in a bid to curb or bring to an end the gender issue, all governments should integrate the post-2015 frameworks that had targets and indicators designed to curb and reduce the existing gender discrimination. Just as the article points out that all governments should take a closer look at the capabilities of everyone regardless of her sexual status, and the article further points out that capabilities are substantial freedoms of everyone.[18] However, despite the recognition of the negative impacts of gender discrimination globally, it is surprising as most countries, such as India, are still practicing gender discrimination. It is believed that fundamental human rights that the fundamental human rights body guarantees equality and inclusivity for all, but even though the approaches are felt in all countries, most governments and, more especially, the developing countries handle the issue of gender discrimination without much attention. Most notably, the effects of gender discrimination on the welfare and economic status of women are well known only that the political class downplays the matter without actualizing the guidelines offered by the human rights body. In a nutshell, gender discrimination is a devastating social issue, and all governments should roll out plans that can fully solve this social problem in the economy.
Bibliography
Husu, Liisa. “Gender discrimination in the promised land of gender equality.” Higher Education in Europe 25, no. 2 (2010): 221-228.
Cleveland, Jeanette N., Theresa K. Vescio, and Janet L. Barnes-Farrell. “Gender discrimination in organizations.” In discrimination at work, pp. 177-204. Psychology Press, 2013.
“1. A Woman Seeking Justice.” Creating Capabilities, n.d., 1–45. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061200.c1.
Khanal, Shaleen. “Gender discrimination in education expenditure in Nepal: Evidence from living standards surveys.” Asian Development Review 35, no. 1 (2018): 155-174.
Krieger, Nancy. “Methods for the scientific study of discrimination and health: an ecosocial approach.” American journal of public health 102, no. 5 (2012): 936-944.
Shastri, Andrey. “Gender inequality and women discrimination.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and social science 19, no. 11 (2014): 27-30.
Bobbitt-Zeher, Donna. “Gender discrimination at work: Connecting gender stereotypes, institutional policies, and gender composition of the workplace.” Gender & Society 25, no. 6 (2011): 764-786.
Birdsall, Nancy, and Richard Sabot. Unfair advantage: Labor market discrimination in developing countries. The World Bank, 2011.
Alam, Anwar. “Impact of gender discrimination on gender development and poverty alleviation.” Sarhad J. Agric 27, no. 2 (2011): 330-331.
[1] Husu, Liisa. “Gender discrimination in the promised land of gender equality.” Higher Education in Europe 25, no. 2 (2010): 221-228.
[2] Cleveland, Jeanette N., Theresa K. Vescio, and Janet L. Barnes-Farrell. “Gender discrimination in organizations.” In discrimination at work, pp. 177-204. Psychology Press, 2013.
[3] “1. A Woman Seeking Justice.” Creating Capabilities, n.d., 1–45. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061200.c1.
[4] Ibid, 3.
[5] “1. A Woman Seeking Justice.” Creating Capabilities, n.d., 1–45. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061200.c1.
[6] Ibid, 5.
[7] Khanal, Shaleen. “Gender discrimination in education expenditure in Nepal: Evidence from living standards surveys.” Asian Development Review 35, no. 1 (2018): 155-174.
[8] A Woman Seeking Justice, 6.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Krieger, Nancy. “Methods for the scientific study of discrimination and health: an ecosocial approach.” American journal of public health 102, no. 5 (2012): 936-944.
[11] A Woman Seeking Justice, 8.
[12] Shastri, Andrey. “Gender inequality and women discrimination.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and social science 19, no. 11 (2014): 27-30.
[13] Bobbitt-Zeher, Donna. “Gender discrimination at work: Connecting gender stereotypes, institutional policies, and gender composition of the workplace.” Gender & Society 25, no. 6 (2011): 764-786.
[14] “1. A Woman Seeking Justice.” Creating Capabilities, n.d., 1–45. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061200.c1.
[15] Birdsall, Nancy, and Richard Sabot. Unfair advantage: Labor market discrimination in developing countries. The World Bank, 2011.
[16] — a Woman Seeking Justice, 6.
[17] Alam, Anwar. “Impact of gender discrimination on gender development and poverty alleviation.” Sarhad J. Agric 27, no. 2 (2011): 330-331.
[18] “1. A Woman Seeking Justice.” Creating Capabilities, n.d., 1–45. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061200.c1.