Gender Discrimination

Gender discrimination, or sex discrimination, may be characterized as the unequal treatment of a person based solely on that person's sex. While females have historically positioned claim to the cry of unequal behavior of society, modern civil rights laws banning sex discrimination have been construed to protect males as well, especially in the area of employment, education sectors. (Gender rights Law)

Gender discrimination is one of leading problem of the world. With regard to gender discrimination some exception a side, men have imposed subordinate status on women in societies_ both eastern and the western world. In Pakistan the situation is same especially in interior Sind, Balochistan, Frontier province and remote areas of southern Punjab. In Pakistan there is no value given to women in front of men. Moreover, their occupational and educational favorable or suitable occasions were severely limited. From history it was commonly believed that a woman's place was in the home, raising children and tending to domestic affairs.

In Pakistan women are not allowed to come out and face the society bravely, because a social environment does not permit women, and finally remain restricted to houses. In Pakistan the ratio to working women is very small, either they don’t prefer to work or they don’t have access to the opportunities. An authentic prove of discrimination in Panjab region of Gujranwala that it was discovered out of 25% allocated seats of women are vacant in said district. In rest of the countries the case has been same. This is only one proved statement but when we explore rural areas of Pakistan mostly all cities are male dominated and we will found men are superior to women.

Its true women have from end to end belonged to the category of the weaker section of humanity. As such, a society that struggle to betterment the status of women and to glorify them, looking after their welfare and making provisions for their protection can be considered a just society. At this juncture, while we are preparing to equip ourselves for a new year 2010, would it not be worthwhile to examine, in short, whether we have tried to grant women the rights that may lead them to a better future, to a more peaceful just and dignified coexistence with all human beings?

The modern world may unmistakable be much concerned about women and make very fair promises to them for freedom, from male-domination, from slavery even from the marriage established institution, from the boredom of being a housewife to a much more glamorous world. It also promises them independence from the burden of birth pangs, and the cares of educating a family. But instead, what does it actually have in amassed? Nothing but exploitation, aggression, injustice, oppression, harassment, neurosis and indignity. In the name of liberation, today women have to put up with, mutilation, discrimination, rape, inequality, abuse, and harassment.

Equality and Sensitivity from religious perspective

The distinction between equality and sameness is of paramount importance. Rober Jmaes says in his book that Equality is desirable, just, fair; but sameness is not. People are not created being same but they are created equals. With this difference in mind, there is no room to draw picture that woman is inferior to man. There is no floor to imagine that she is less important than he just because her rights are not identically the same as his. Had her position been equal with his, she would have been simply a duplicate of him, which she is not.

The role of woman prescribed in the religious doctrine is not meeting the role of woman in society. The interpretation of the religion is unluckily in the hands of the so called religious representatives like Mullahs. The average mullah neither are well educated nor the mental capable to interpret the teachings and doctrine of the Quran in an open and balanced manner. The role of the religious institutions in our society has dominated the perception of the ordinary public on defining the individual gender roles. Concepts like "Chotarfadivar and Chader” have been enforced rules by these mullahs. Such orders have been questioned by many woman activists but by and large the perception of the usual public is still colored by what they hear repeatedly at Friday prayer sermons delivered by mullahs who criticize every form of female independence and importance. It is unfortunate that this misrepresentation of the religion by the Mullahs in our Islamic countries and the recently removed Taliban regime has given the western powers a huge opportunity to justify their violence against the Muslim countries.

The degradation of the female in the rural areas is definitely shameful, but the fault does not lie in religion, instead with the power given by society to men to allow them to distort religious facts to suit their own purpose.(Rais Rasool Bux) Rationally and factually speaking women have played a very important role in Islamic history. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) married the top most businesswoman of his time, Hazrat Khadeejah, who helped him in learning the business of trade. She was years older than him (s.a.w.w) and also asked for his hand in marriage. Similarly the prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) did not have a male issue and had one daughter Hazrat Fatima who took the responsibility of carrying forward the message of Islam. Women fought battles alongside men and played the roles of advisors, supporters, and nurse on the battlefield.

The mullahs are only ranting and shrieking about the right of men to marry innumerable times without explaining the reasons behind it. They are never highlighting the progressive roles women have played in Islam.

This may explain why a married woman must protect her husband's approval if she wishes to work, unless her right to work was mutually agreed to as a condition at the time of marriage.

However, there is no rule in Islam that prohibits women from seeking employment whenever there is a necessity for it, especially in positions which fit her nature best and in which society needs her most. Examples of these occupations are teaching (especially children), medicine, nursing, and social and charitable work. Moreover there is no restriction on benefiting from women's talents in any field. Some early Islamic legal scholars, such as Abu-Hanifah and Al-Tabari, uphold that a skilled Muslim woman may be appointed to the position of a judge. Other scholars hold different opinions. Yet, no scholar is able to point to demonstrate text in the Qur'an or Sunnah that categorically excludes women from any lawful type of employment except for the headship of the state. Omar, the second Caliph after the Prophet (s.a.w.w), appointed a woman (Um Al-Shifaa' bint Abdullah) as supervisor of a Marketplace, in our world a position that is equivalent to "director of the consumer protection department."

In a few countries where Muslims are a marginal, some Muslim women, while identifying the importance of their role as mothers, may be forced to seek employment in order to stay alive. This is predominantly true in the case of widows.

Discrimination in deferent classes

In our society role of Women is definitely attributable to the norms, beliefs, and values of the society. On the basis of historical religious values these beliefs may be formed or observed on future economic needs. In the third world countries where the historical role of women is confined to the four walls of the parents or husband's house, the female member is perceived as an economic burden. Lack of education and earning power makes these societies wish for male off spring since man can share the family economic burden. Limited job opportunities for females that believe parents of that male dominated society and once they (females) are married they (Parents) will stop supporting them. This awareness is colored by religious beliefs and by the pressure of social norms. Realistically, however, according to the World Bank report female employment is much higher in the lower class than in the middle and upper classes. The lower class female works in the fields in remote area, while in the cities they mostly work as housemaids and servants. In many cases the male member’s i.e the females slave away day and night to support their house husband and the rest of the family.

The religious and social values also affect the environment of workplace. To challenge the traditional role by those women who do manage it to set by the society face an almost doubtful environment in the workplace. In the professional world of a male dominated, women are in minority and are only considered competent for lower management positions only. When it comes to the higher management positions there will be little rate of female dominance. This is especially true when women working in the marketing field are supposed as trying to advertise themselves to sell the product. The minute designations like "Public Relations" and "Client Executives" are attached to women the sly and suggestive look on men's face tells the story about how the male mind works. This utilization is not only present in the third world, but the first world countries. The creation of the media has exposed that companies use the female shape to attract attention and action from the potential purchaser. Unconcern of the product or service to market, the addition of an "attractive" female is sure to increase market demand of product. Thus image of the professional female has been stereotyping this belief in nearly all managerial ranks - i.e. that women may be excellent for routine work, but to manage and lead organizations, society need men only. Such discriminatory and biased beliefs will of course be more common in the third world societies, as laws on equal opportunity and sexual discrimination are considered more of a laughing matter than serious legal violations.

There are only two reputable and socially acceptable female careers in our society are that of teaching and medicine. Unluckily here the bias against women has continued unabated and has reached an almost abominable stage.

The new opinion: Political empowerment

No other issue is so contentious and well-debated in the politics of contemporary societies as the question of gender and politics. Women activists all over the country have begun to question political inequality among the sexes. They have raised essential questions about the concentration of male-dominated democratic system where women find themselves formally or informally excluded from power of politics. In recent decades, they have focused on the fundamental concerns of empowerment, rights, social and political equality and discrimination in its all forms. The feminist movement even in a male dominated, socially traditional society like Pakistan has brought into sharp focus more or less the same issues about the social status of the women and their poor representation in the political power and participation in politics.

The feminist movement reaches startlingly around the world with the identical conclusions on the issue of gender and political power.

Change in gender relationships, self-empowerment of women and getting the first principle of democracy and equality accepted are some of the themes that are at the centre of women's political movement. Pakistan is no exception. Their great effort, perhaps as old as the country itself, has not evoked the same reactions and has not achieved the same results either.

What is inspiring is that women in Pakistan are getting more organized, with their campaigners highly educated, skilled and articulate. And all women groups have a clear vision and a influential agenda of more forward-looking politics than that of the males in the Pakistani society. Yet, they need to travel a long distance before they get equal rights or increase their share in different professions or in political power as well. Why very few women compared to their substantial numbers, roughly 50% of population, do exercises or seek to exercise power of politics?

These questions have been a subject matter of many presumptions, supposition and sociological explanations in different countries. Many of the factors that work against equality of women in both developed and developing countries are more deeply ingrained, in our Pakistani society the situation is totally same. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, she was US ambassador explained low participation of women in politics with reference to four hypothetical constraints -- physiological constraints; cultural constraints; role constraints; and male conspiracy. The American political context of this and many other similar studies does not reduce their importance to the developing countries like Pakistan. But in explanation of the low participation of women in the power procedure of our countries we have to account for dissimilarities, relatively greater influence of some factors than others and look for what is unique and so different from other situations. In case of Pakistan, one must fully comprehend the cultural controls and how they have resistant the subordinate social role of women. The social structures that are at the base of any type of political process consist of supremacy relationships, relative positions of individuals and groups, established uniqueness and determined roles.

The superior question about gender and power can only be understood in terms of the social constitutions and how they distribute values in the society. Looking at the general values, social structures and cultural orientation of the Pakistani population, one finds women in the country as the most demoralized social and political class. Dependence, passivity, low self-esteem and denial of even some of the basic rights characterize their general status. But there are enormous variations in the status and roles of women depending on their public circumstances.

Educated and professional women in urban/ rural areas and from upper classes of the society enjoy much better status and rights than illiterate women. It is found that women in tribal areas of Balochistan, interior Sindh, Frontier province and remote areas of southern Punjab survive in more adverse social conditions than women in other parts of the country. Even though domestic violence, honor killings and discrimination by the male members of the families are too common in these areas, they are not confined there alone.

My argument is that exclusion of women from political process or even voluntary low-participation of women are socially and culturally determined behaviors, and that the state in the political culture of traditional male-dominant society of Pakistan has done very little to significantly empower women. The low social status of women because of the customs of largely feudal and tribal culture pose the biggest barrier in the way of women's involvement in public affairs of the society in general and electoral politics in particular.

All women groups throughout the history of Pakistan have time and again suggested that the state must take the lead to increase women's participation through reserving seats for them in the elected assemblies. Another area of women's demands relate to removing or amending discriminatory laws against them.

Conclusion

I believe, it’s time we need to rephrase gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is more of a female subordination than the 'gender' discrimination in truest sense of the word. I fail to recall any society or community where there is any domination of females over males. They call it a 'male-dominated society’; I call it 'male-dominated world'. Because see more it’s not just restricted to any society now.

Women have progressed high and have reached heights of success in areas where men couldn't reach. Look at our own class own class, girls are academically better than us, yes or no? I think yes in some cases. When girls are encouraged to work together in one group, Males euphemistically tell stories to their mates that their female fellows have 'nothing else to do than study', or they have 'no social life'. These statements are bogus and can only be used for self-defense and nothing else.

A women is equal partner of man in the procreation of humankind. He is the father; she is the mother, and both are essential for life. Her role is not less central than his. By this partnership she has an equal share in every aspect; she is entitled to equal rights; she undertakes equal responsibilities, and in her there are as many qualities and as much humanity as there are in her partner.(Hameed ul- Atti)

I think women need rights, not power. At other places, education is being recommended for women's over all development. Some recommend political empowerment. Yet some says that women can only be truly emancipated by becoming economically independent. Whatever be the case, we cannot isolate the various aspects of women's development into different channels and work for any one or the other. We have to devise a comprehensive system which, while recognizing women as respectable human beings, may at the same time lend them confidence, dignity, poise, self-respect and freedom from exploitation of all kind. Only then could the human race become stronger, of superior breed, capable of taking up the responsibility of spreading welfare, love, friendship and goodwill to make this beautiful earth a better place to live in.(waheed ud deen)