Gender Inequality
What is Gender Inequality?
Gender inequality refers to the unequal treatment of people based on their gender. This can manifest itself in many different ways, including professional opportunities, physical violence, lack of access to education or prescribed gender roles. Gender inequality is a problem that effects everyone. Living in a community that oppresses one gender or limits their potential threatens not only the dignity and wellbeing of that gender, but the social fabric of that community.
Key Terms
androcentric
equal rights
pay gap
abuse
harassment
rape culture
patriarchy
control
gender roles
misogyny
internalized misogyny
objectification
male gaze
Use The Following Resources to Develop Your Understanding of Gender Inequality
The Unending Assaults on Girlhood, The Atlantic
This is a powerful article that reviews Melissa Febos book, Girlhood. In this piece, the author condemns society's passive attitude towards rape culture and shares the tragically common stories and experiences of women who are taught to normalize harassment and abuse.
Nawal El Saadawi: Feminist firebrand who dared to write dangerously, BBC
This article pays homage to the late Egyptian intellectual and feminist, Nawal El Saadawi. It briefly describes El Saadawi's rebellion against the mistreatment of women that she witnessed in her community. This is a good introduction to El Saadawi. I recommend researching her work further.
Explained: Why Women Are Paid Less, Vox
The gender pay gap is a hotly contested phenomenon. This video explains the gap quite well. It shows that the pay gap isn't a result of companies paying women less on the grounds of their gender, but it does show that prescribed social roles have a huge impact on the ways women can compete with men for jobs.
UN experts condemn Texas abortion law as sex discrimination ‘at its worst’, The Guardian
This article reports on the human rights lawyer and UN expert, Melissa Upreti's condemnation for Texas's new, extreme abortion law.
What Does Misogyny Look Like?, The New York Times
This New York Times article explores the history of the term misogyny, and some of the different ways in which it permeates through society.
Subtle Sexism
Just because someone isn't being consciously hateful, doesn't mean that they aren't being sexist or contributing to a culture that treats women unfairly. Check out these two links to see how sexism could be hidden in language, established work cultures or mistaken acts of benevolence.
Benevolent sexism: a feminist comic explains how it holds women back,
The Guardian
The Guardian
