Sex – refers to the biological
characteristics which define humans as
female or male
Gender – refers to the culturally based expectations
of the roles and
behaviors of men and women
– Gender & Elections, BRIDGE
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when we say
gender? Are gender issues just about women? If it is not, then why are most
issues about gender related to women?
Well, let me share my opinions with you. When we talk about
gender, the two words that come to my mind first are equity and women. Now I
know, one of those two words is women, but gender issues are not just about
women as most seem to think ( at least most people I have met seem to think
so). The following are some statistics that might interest you.
|
Female
|
Male
|
Local Leaders
|
5%
|
95%
|
Parliamentary Representation
|
14%
|
86%
|
Dzongdags
|
5%
|
95%
|
Unemployed
|
65.9%
|
34.1%
|
Illiterate
|
65.6%
|
34.4%
|
(Some of these data’s are old and may have changed)
(P.S: I had originally made a beautifully colored graph to
make my stats look more attractive but I just couldn’t figure out how to get it
in my blog. So I guess the table will have to do to get my message out…. J)
Looking at the table above, it’s easy to understand why
gender issues are mostly about women. And this is not just Bhutan’s problem. Women
occupy 17% of parliamentary seats around the world and out of the 180 heads of
Government, only 12 were women as of April, 2007.
If we look at the
table, for the first few bars which shows parliamentary representation,
leaders, etc., the male percentage is very much high. But when it comes to
disadvantages, the percentages are sadly reversed.
I don’t know whose fault it is. It’s something that has been
bred into us, if you know what I mean. For thousands of years, we have believed
that the male are the superior of the two and it’s not easy to just wake up one
day and change all that. I am someone who believes there should be gender
equity but I have also been stereotyping, although unknowingly. I always bought
my daughter something pink, with flowers and princess print on them and
Barbies. And I bought blue for my nephew and trucks and Ben 10 stuffs. You may
think that these things are very subtle and hardly matters but now when they
talk, they say that pink is for girls and blue for boys, Barbie for girls and
trucks for boys. It was not intentional on my part but sadly I was the one who
shaped them that way – I bred it into them.
So if you are reading this, begin your journey with me.
Doesn’t matter how small your step, just take it. Buy your daughters guns and
trucks and boxing gloves. Tell them they are inferior to no one, so that one
wonderful day, we may be able to change the statistics that I have just shown
above.
I can’t say that I will change the world overnight, but I
sincerely believe that I have begun my journey……
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