Inequality is defined as,” an unfair situation in which some people have more rights or better opportunities than other people.” Inequality comes in many forms, of which include gender, race, status, religion, wealth and etc. This paper aims to analyze both the ideas of Virginia Woolf and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and utilizing them to understand the origins of inequality and how it grew into dependency. First, a brief summary of the writer’s ideas will be given. Simultaneously, the paper will assess the strengths and weaknesses of each in terms of how they can help us understand inequality in contemporary Egypt and how to combat it. The paper will conclude with a comparison of which writer and how their ideas contribute to the understanding of inequality in the 21st centaury.
This index was designed to capture women’s disadvantage in three dimensions- reproductive health, empowerment and economic activity. It reflects the loss in achievement due to inequality between men and women. An index of 0 implies that both the genders fare equally in all three select dimensions, whereas an index of 1 implies complete inequality. This paper examines the shortcomings of the existing GII and suggests an alternative choice of variables, functional forms and methodology to construct a gender inequality index in the context of Asia Pacific. The choice of countries is constrained by data paucity.
Many critics, including A.M. Roberts and Haydar Ali, have expressed their discontent regarding the sexism in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Feminist writer Simone the Beauvoir explains her theory on the social stance of women in her book The Second Sex. In the chapter Myth and Reality this theory can be applied to several women described in “Heart of Darkness”. Both the intended and the African mistress of Kurtz are examples of a false sense of ‘mystery’ which places them in a separate group in society that de Beauvoir describes in The Second Sex. The most prominent point of The Second Sex is to illustrate how women are segregated from society by men, something which happens a lot in Heart of Darkness.
Jane Austen’s Persuasion demonstrates true-to-life examples of how both women and men accept their “role” in society, accept and expect it. Gender inequality can be defined as a lack of equal treatment between sexes, and the imposition of norms put in place by society (According to definitions in the English Encyclopedia). In Persuasion, the female characters Mary, Anne and Elizabeth are all involved in the complex concept of marriage. Anne, the only daughter that has not married, is faced with pressure by
The formation of this topic begun in ancient times when women were the main target of this negative issue. Some argue that men faced more of the discrimination back in the beginning, but males were looked upon as the superior gender. Even though many forms of gender discrimination have proceeded to end, inequality of the sexes still plays a huge role in the layout of everyday lives. Causes of gender discrimination can range from economic issues or prejudice views to the traditional gender roles. The definition of gender inequality is the unequal and biased treatment between the two
Finally, the micro-level “examines in greater detail the gender division of labour, resources and decision-making, particularly within the household” or individual level (ibid). The first body of literature relates to the levels of inequality in the workplace that provide different insights on the reasons for occurrence of the occupational gender segregation of work in all the three dimensions of inequality. At the macro-level it was highlighted in the report of the ILO on “Responding to Economic Crisis” that the “male-breadwinner, female-caregiver bias” was still a dominant societal thinking (Dejardin & Owens, 2009, p.5) that has spilled over to the world of work. It is reflected in most national policies implemented such as “inequitable access of women to social security entitlements” based on the assumption that women
The researchers described two different barriers, difference barrier and societal barriers. First, the difference barrier is discrimination based upon bias or prejudice. Women are thought to be followers while men are thought to lead. Social role theory defines women as incapable of maintaining control and influence the way men can. Also, supply barrier defines an unfair advantage that men have over women regarding
Horizontal Inequality (HI) is inequality among groups as opposed to among individuals or households (Vertical Inequality). These groups are culturally differentiated and members of these groups share a common identity. Basically Horizontal inequalities are inequalities based on these group identities and these identities are constructed and defined through cultural convictions. Group identities can be spread across three dimensions, Economic, Social and Political (Stewart, 2009). So, Horizontal Inequality can be Inequalities in terms of different group’s access to economic/social/political resources.
Language and Anthropology The interrelationship between language and gender is not only complex, but also diverse. Feminists have been anxious as the term gender entails treating males and females as if they had the same political power, rights, upbringing, access to education and many others. Questions and criticisms of language have emerged due to the concern that language is a powerful medium, which both reflects and constructs the world. Language presents stereotypes of both males and females, sometimes to the disadvantage of males, but more often to the disadvantage of the females. Language has been historically man-made with the male forms reflecting the male’s position in the society and the female forms perceived as deviant.
Gender Pay Gap The wage gap disparity against women and racial groups is extremely important to acknowledge because it is a violation of equal rights. Not only unequal pay disparity against women is discrimination, but it also discriminatory based on race. The pay gap also affects the economy and society. How does unequal gender pay affect society, women would not feel discriminate and the economy will be better. Poverty levels for all working women would be cut in half, falling from 8.0 percent to 3.8 percent (Institute for Women’s Policy Research).