Of Men, Women, and Inequality
Of men, women and inequality
The disparity between the two genders and the question as to whether there exists any such disparity is a matter of heated debate ever since the inception of humankind. Proponents on either side of the debate have their own propositions and assertions. To date the question remains unresolved providing forever a fodder for never-ending discourse. Who is right and who is wrong is too vague a topic to be covered in an essay such as the one I intend to take down.
Reader, let me assure you, right from the outset, that I do not wish to side with anyone in this debate. I would just try to elaborate the topic and try to highlight the viewpoints of both sides. In so doing, I shall try to explain how things are misconstrued, knowingly or otherwise, by proponents of either side. From now on, I am going to call the two groups, feminists and male chauvinists, or chauvinists for short, purely for the sake of clarity, even though it be a gross over-simplification.
For the chauvinists, ours is a man's world. Anything that happens here is for the pleasure of man and everything besides men is a means to aid to that pleasure. They have a zillion arguments to put forward to defend their notion that women and men are unequal. For instance, they tell you, had the two sexes been equal, there would have been countless female legends in history--- warriors like Alexander, poets like John Milton and Shakespeare, and the prophets, just to name a few. If women and men are the same, they go on, why can they never beat men in things like swimming, running, football and so on. Why is it that women are so emotionally labile, they further ask. Men, they say, are different in almost every respect, and should never be equalled to women, who are low and inferior.
The feminists' take, as you might expect, is quite opposite. They say women are equal to men, and that is about it. They argue that women have been discriminated against ever since human life took root. It is this perennial discrimination which is actually responsible for whatever differences are visible today. According to their viewpoint, it is not something intrinsic which is missing in women: it is the denial of equal opportunity to women that is the main reason. There are many things in which woman can beat men too, for example learning a new language, being caring, being more tolerant and so forth. There are many examples, they argue, in which women beat their male counterparts in many academic courses. These folks simply do not accept any argument against their rigid viewpoint that men and women are exactly the same.
Now, on a close regard of both these arguments, a keen observer can see how both of them are not entirely valid, even if not entirely absurd. Perhaps it would be a good idea if someone could set forth the facts in front of them in an impartial manner. Perhaps they will both see things in clearer way. Let us try doing so.
First and foremost, men and women are both human, and quite equally so. Both of them have their virtues and their vices--- in quite comparable proportions. They both have similar weaknesses and strengths. Next, men women are complementary, not women being complementary to men or otherwise, they are complementary to each other. Please excuse my language, but may I request you to imagine a man and a woman in the most naughty approximation you can think of, and you will realise how beautifully the complement each other! The chauvinists are true that there have been no great women at par with Shakespeare or John Milton and no prophets, but feminists view that they have been denied the opportunities, also has some bearing in truth.
The fact is that men and women are definitely different in so many fascinating ways: they are, however, not unequal. They both deserve the same rights, the same respect and the same access to opportunity. They do not have to do the same job to justify their equality. To me a woman who consumes steroids to get a manly look is as idiotic as a man who attempts to get pregnant.
Men have to admit one thing. We have exploited the physical weakness of women and have always discriminated against them. It is a fact, and there is no denying it. Before Islam, we all know, how female children were buried, since they were regarded a shame. After Islam, it is a shame that we, in a strong contrast to the injunction of our religion, imposed our self-made restrictions upon women. The west too is not innocent in this regard. Instead of the modest compassion and respect a woman deserves, the western culture tried to take advantage of the female bodily attraction, creating a culture of immoral foundations and lewd values. This is definitely not quite what a woman deserved. Both the east and the west went to extremes.
My humble opinion is that women should just stop making a joke of themselves trying to do everything that men do. Men too should realise it is about time to reconsider our notions. Can life ever exist if men and women do not keep on complementing each other. So let us just compliment each other on being such awesome creatures. Let us say proudly, we are all human beings, and with all the differences that characterise us as men and women, we are still equal.
For all of you who are debating in this forum, did you never discriminate against a single female individual? Ever? "Iff" you haven't then you are truly remarkable human beings because I doubt that a man (at any point in his life) hasn't passed a judgement on a certain woman or the other based purely on her gender.
So some paki friends told you and you watched the documentary and then you made up your mind that it was because people could not interpret Quran correctly this was the practice. Without ever trying to authenticate the veracity of your premises (based on hearsay), you rushed to your conclusion.
Oh, yasir is dead? My God. May his soul rest in peace.
working with me in one of my previous jobs here in Qatar. I also heard that in one documentary film, but I can not recall which channel. Anyways, I have other Pakistani friends who denies that, and I personally think that this exists only in some rural villages in Pakistan and especially in Afghanistan.
About Arafat, he is dead long time ago, and I think you know it already:)
Who told you watching TV is haram in Pakistan? Ever since i remember things, I remember people from your place on the TV with Yasir Arafat a household name. Nowadays, I do not see him that often. Is he still there?
Again, I am sorry. Is there gender discrimination in America?
I think you can ask people who live there..Anyways, you know it and I know it that gender discrimination is almost everywhere. what is your next question?:)
and not to me. Do you think I do not get what is behind your words?, or do you think that I am Jewish or Israeli and you want to pull my legs?:) LOL, I am not so dumb:)I started to like you now:)
Jerusalem in the Holy Land "Palestine". Can you sleep now?:)
By the way, regarding your sentence which you wrote in Arabic, I doubt on that أوج بن عنق makes sense in Arabic. Awj has a meaning and Onoq has a meaning, but Awj Al Onoq, I doubt on that it has a meaning unless it is a name or something in Fusha that I did not hear of.
Do you want to prove by this that I am not a perfect Arabic speaker? Did I say I am? Enough being so childish..
I won't bother to ask anyone about the meaning of it because it makes no sense for me and I will not waste my time asking or searching for its meaning when i finally find that it has no meaning at all, which is natural if a non native Arabic speaker writes it.
Why do you want me to sleep I just woke up from a restful night sleep a while back. Did I ever try to call into question your competence in Arabic: if anything, I only commended it.
Sorry, for being childish. Yeah, just do not search for it ok. Sorry for any inconvenience. Like I said, there is just nothing special about Oj bin Onaq, so no need to 'google' it and know the 'qissa oj bin onaq'.
OK my friend from the holy land, is there gender discrimination in Israel?
who born in US and therefore I am an American citizen when people ask me where I am from. I would definitely tell my origin if an Arab asks me this, but not when an Ajami asks that:). And please do not be so childish an start investigating my English language and try to find mistakes in grammar or spelling, so that you cab prove that I am a liar:). I born in US, but did not live there, so do not waste your time:)
Let it be unfair then, and let it be known to the world then, that one Arab is not shying away from calling himself American whilst he is reluctant to tell the country of origin.
May be your mother can help you understand the sentence better. Perhaps, she would know if ojbinonaq is a name or something. But believe me, there is nothing special in this sentence, so i would suggest just ignore it. Let us enjoy Eid.
Nothing is stopping me from telling where I am from, but I just want to stay unfair this way that I know where you came from and you do not know where I came from:) Any guess?:)
Regarding the sentence, as I have said, although I am a native Arabic speaker, I can not fully understand every single word or sentence in Quran, and this should also mean for you that I am not a perfect Fusha speaker.
I understand 75% of your sentence unless أوح بن عنق
is a name. In this case I fully understand it. So is أوح بن عنق a name? :)
I have heard about Arab Americans but I just was curious to know your exact country of origin. I wonder what is stopping you to reveal the name of the country where your ancestors came from. Why exactly do I have to meet you in person for that? I am curious because you talked about my country, at least I should know where you come from.
As to the sentence, if you have not understood it, just ignore it! If you have, my purpose has been served.
A heartfelt Eid Mubarak to you my Arab American friend.
a SON OF AJAMI MOTHER :) Anyways, did you hear of Arab Americans? If you are still curious and would like to make sure of where i came from, come and meet me.. I wonder what has this also to do with your thread:)
Now, What is it again? What do you want me to do with your sentence?
لن نذكر اوج بن عنق بعد الان ... فقد وجدنا بديلا عنه
Anyways, as it is the last day of Ramadan and Eid is approaching soon, I will neglect the words that you used to describe me, and I will deliver my sincere apologies to you if I have said anything that hurt you anyhow. You tried to use words to offend me, and I replied back with words that might offend you back:). Personally, what you say here in QL would not matter much for me and I hope it is the same way for you too as far as we are not even friends:)
Be cool and عيــدك مبـارك يا أخي في الإسلام إن شـاء اللـه
You still did not tell me whether you are American or Arab. Which country are you from my proud Arab friend? That your mother earned a living out of teaching Arabic for twenty eight long years leaves no doubt as to your obsession with the language. Yes, you are right, that does not mean that all Pakis can understand Arabic as well as Arabs do.
By the way, the discussion was about gender inequality not Arabic. Believe me it neither the Arabs nor Ajams who discriminate on the basis of gender more. Gender discrimination has been prevalent from the time of jahilliat in Arabs and it has been present in Pakistan too. I have not heard of girls being considered a shame and buried alive in the sub-continent (a practice which you, as a proud Arab, must know of), but I know there have been many similar practices in my area too. In fact, no single place has ever been free of gender discrimination.
You know what? I am starting to think over your point. None of my teachers has been Arabic (except of course a couple of sweet friends, who taught me slang words, hence they are my teachers). No wonder then I might have understood religion in a different way, according to you. I must apologise to you, son of a mother who taught Arabic for twenty eight years, that I am just going to write one sentence to you, in Arabic, and you must excuse me because I know that since you are born to someone whose native language is Arabic and who taught it for three decades, you would certainly find the words of a non-entity Paki rather too flawed to suit your high tastes. I would yet dare to write it down, even if it means breaking all the rules of the language that you are so proud of:
لن نذكر اوج بن عنق بعد الان ... فقد وجدنا بديلا عنه
Now that I read your novel again and tried to understand it, I will reply to you. You know...poor me, English is not my native language, so I need to read again and again to understand a comment from Paki native speaker (pardon me, but I do not know what do they call your language..Is it urdo?)
So, regarding Moza's comment which you agree the most with (No wonder in that ). God speaks Arabic or not? Who are you to tell that he does not speak Arabic or whatever language? I don't say that he speaks Arabic, but I say that he is capable to speak whatever language he wants to. Are you offended because I did not say that he speaks your Paki language? Ok, to make you feel better, I will also say that he is capable to speak Paki language. He is capable to speak whatever language if he wants to including yours, so keep your wise thoughts for yourself, because you are nobody to describe God the way you want to.
Now, regarding your second paragraph which is:
"I really do not know how you, Mr. Native Speakers, assumed that being a native should make any difference when it comes to the understanding of the Holy Quran. I am really sorry to tell you but you have the most narrow vision of religion and you seem to be completely ignorant of Islam. Have you heard about خطبة حجة الوداع ? Our prophet Mohammed (PBUH) clearly said that Arabi has no preference over Ajami and vice versa. Knowledge is with God and he will bestow it upon anyone He likes, whether a native Arab speaker or not".
I am sorry to tell you that you are so pathetic person and your superficial thread reflects that (As how one commentator already described your thread). Did I insult you or discriminate between Arabi and Ajami? Why do you go this far and start writing about something that has nothing to do with my comment? I just mentioned that not all verses in Quran can be easily understood by even native speakers. Until this moment, they interpret new verses into other languages and add to the existing interpretation of some books (tafseer al quran).
It Seems like calling myself native speaker offended you so much and made you feel less than me!!! What is wrong with you? Are you sick or something?? Admit the fact that non Arabs need years to learn the language and more years to understand the entire Quran. I met hundreds of your kind in my life and most of them were so poor in speaking and understanding my language..I had some Persian flatmates in my first apartment in Europe and they were all drinking alcohol and bringing women to the apartment (which I don't mind at all, as this is their personal life and it is none of my business). I always spoke with them in English since they told me they do not understand Arabic. One day in Ramadan, I heard one of the Persian guys reading Quran, so I rushed to him and asked him: “Wow!! You speak Arabic!!", and he replied back to me “Yeah, I can read Quran. I can even write Arabic”, so I looked into what he is reading and asked him "Do you understand what you are reading?" and he replied "No...very little...". No comment after this..
Maybe you are an exception and you perfectly understand Arabic (although I doubt it and that is one of my reasons why I sent you an invitation to meet me, so that the truth will be revealed:).
In short, be cool and do not get much offended if someone tells you that you do not speak a language well enough to understand everything.
Now lets move to your next pathetic paragraph which is:
“Keeping a television is Haram for some people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And this is because these people interpreted Islam wrongly? If I tell you that the first time I learnt that listening to music was haram was from an Arabic book, will you believe me? I have never heard any single muslim scholar saying that having a television at home is haram. Yes, I have heard both arabs and ajams saying that listening to music is haram, except in certain situations. I leave it to you to decide Mr. Native speaker, whether they are right or wrong"
I don't need to comment much on this because the whole world knows what Afghanistan and Pakistan is, so I will just leave it for the readers to tell which countries are very well known in discriminating and treating women so badly, and which countries are the ones who disallow women to work or even to learn, prohibit watching TV, cover women with a blanket and lock them in their houses.
Princess Arora has already explained this when she said "Say for example, in a typical Muslim oriented culture, women are not allowed to work, raise voice, or speak against the decision of alpha males in the family. They are expected to cover their body from head to toe and males are given the freedom to stare (Even though lowering the gaze is a form of 'hijab' for men, staring is not a crime in Muslim nations)". This all simply apply to some regions in your country and in Afghanistan. This is because they interpret Islam in sick St..id way. They drink alcohol, smoke weed and commit many other sins, while at the meantime they go and pray 5 times a day and treat their women so badly. Shame on them and you if you was one of them.
Now moving to your next paragraph which is:
"According to one grammarian, Arabic has five discernible forms. Even fusha has two varians. The holy Quran is written in one of the most classical forms. The language which your mom and dad used to speak to you in when you were a child is very different from the Arabic in which Quran is written. Unless you get formal education in the language, and unless you have to the capacity to absorb that education, you will NEVER be able to understand the Holy Quran well"
Ok, What is new in this? I know that all, and for your information my mother was teaching Arabic for 25 years in Government Schools in Qatar, 5 years in Egypt, and 2 years in Lebanon. She also refers to tafseer books when she reads Quran. But you are super intelligent who understand every word in Quran although Arabic is not his mother tongue :)
Now, lets move to this paragraph:
"There was once a competition to write a book on life of autobioraphy. And all the native speakers of the Arab world competed, but you know who got the first place? A Pakistani! Yeah, he never was a native. Dont believe me? Here you go: http://en.wikipedia....".
Yes, so what? He was a Pakistani, and then what? As you said: "There was ONCE a competition...". It happens, so does that mean that all Pakis understand Arabic pretty well as the Arabs themselves do?:)
Finally, your last paragraph which is:
"Do you know that not all mufassireen were Arabic natives? Perhaps you should start with learning the basics of religion and then you will know what I am talking about. I am really disappointed in you Mr. Native Speaker".
Yes I agree again, not all mufassireen were Arabic natives, but how many are they out of the hundreds of millions native Arabic speakers? 100? 200? 1000???:) LOL, please be realistic, accept the facts, and do not always get offended and take things personally..
In short, I would tell you that I am so blessed that QURAN was written in my NATIVE LANGUAGE and I am so proud to be an Arab who taught and still teaching people of your kind to understand the Holy Quran, but unfortunately, most of teachers in your country are non-Arabs and therefore it is no wonder for religion to be understood in this way.
By the way, why do you ask where I am from? As I said accept my invitation and you will know where I am from. By the way, your excuse of being over busy in Eid is acceptable although I do not think that you work 24 hours a day and can not find few minutes to face me. No problem, Mr. NON NATIVE ARABIC SPEAKER, choose a time that suits you and I will make myself totally free for you.
:)
taking it seriously and seems like he got offended when I said that non Arabic Speakers might unfortunately misinterpret Quran. It seems like he is over sensitive:)
Do you expect all non English speakers in UK to understand every sentence in an English poem? Some will do fully understand it, but many won't and might understand it in some different way.. That was my point, but after the novel that he wrote and the way he described me, I had to to reply back to him with another longer novel:), so that other readers will hear from both sides.
It seems strange that the ability to read the Quran and Hadith has not made you understand the value of humility :O(
I do not even expect you to (since you cant read your own native Arabic well, how can you understand another one), it is for others to understand. :)
Are you Arab or American by the way? And thanks for the invitation Mr. Native Speaker but I would be on duty during Eid, so wont be able to come. Read the holy Quran and pray for me. حياك الله
or not?:)
because it seems like you are so offended of my words, simply because you are a non-Arabs. Therefore, I won't comment back to you:). If you have the brave to meet me in public and have a debate, you can bring your paki friends and meet in Eid. I will bring Quran with me and let us see who is right and who is wrong here:) I am inviting you and your friends in Eid. How about that? can you accept my humble invitation Mr. Segmund?:)
I too dont understand this one. Why would someone get paid less or more just on the basis of their gender.
Mozaismyhero has got it completely right altogether. Her viewpoint is as clear and truthful as it can ever be. God does not speak Arabic. He does not speak any language. He does not need a hand to hold and a tongue to speak with. He can understand what is on our tongues and what lies inside our hearts (minds). That is why He is God. If he had to speak a certain language, He would never be my God. If he were to 'need' anything for anything, He would not be my God.
My God is One who does not need anything for anything, yet he is capable of doing anything that He pleases. That is why he is God.
I really do not know how you, Mr. Native Speakers, assumed that being a native should make any difference when it comes to the understanding of the Holy Quran. I am really sorry to tell you but you have the most narrow vision of religion and you seem to be completely ignorant of Islam. Have you heard about خطبة حجة الوداع ? Our prophet Mohammed (PBUH) clearly said that Arabi has no preference over Ajami and vice versa. Knowledge is with God and he will bestow it upon anyone He likes, whether a native Arab speaker or not.
Keeping a television is Haram for some people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And this is because these people interpreted Islam wrongly? If I tell you that the first time I learnt that listening to music was haram was from an Arabic book, will you believe me? I have never heard any single muslim scholar saying that having a television at home is haram. Yes, I have heard both arabs and ajams saying that listening to music is haram, except in certain situations. I leave it to you to decide Mr. Native speaker, whether they are right or wrong.
You seem to have the most distored view of the world around you. Being native to a language does not automatically mean that you know the language better than anyone who is non-native. As a matter of fact, there rare many native speakers of a language who can not read a word. Just a couple of months back, a friend of mine was writing an application in Arabic. He is Egyptian and obviously he calls himself a native. I pointed out a few mistakes to him and he corrected them. Do you think it is impossible for such a thing to happen? You can not understand the Holy Quran because you do not have the background knowledge to it. Or may be your intelligence qoutient lies somewhat on the lower side.
According to one grammarian, Arabic has five discernible forms. Even fusha has two varians. The holy Quran is written in one of the most classical forms. The language which your mom and dad used to speak to you in when you were a child is very different from the Arabic in which Quran is written. Unless you get formal education in the language, and unless you have to the capacity to absorb that education, you will NEVER be able to understand the Holy Quran well.
There was once a competition to write a book on life of autobioraphy. And all the native speakers of the Arab world competed, but you know who got the first place? A Pakistani! Yeah, he never was a native. Dont believe me? Here you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar-Raheeq_Al-Makhtum
Do you know that not all mufassireen were Arabic natives? Perhaps you should start with learning the basics of religion and then you will know what I am talking about. I am really disappointed in you Mr. Native Speaker.
Arabic language. There are verses that can be easily understood, but there are many others that are difficult to understand even for native Arabic speakers. I am a native Arabic speaker, and I still find many verses difficult to understand, so you can imagine how difficult it would be for non-Arabic speaker who is learning the language to understand these verses. I bet on that not everyone can understand all verses in the bible even when its written in his/her own language.
And Moza, did you say that God does not speak Arabic?:) How do you know that? Did you speak with him before? For me, God speaks all languages and is capable to do anything at anytime, so do not tell me that he does not speak Arabic:) This is a funny comment from you:).
If I am drinking a juice, and I will tell you "ops, this is not sweet, could you please bring that (while pointing to one shelf in the kitchen) for me?,you most probably will bring sugar. Someone else will bring sweetener, someone else will bring some other juice which is more sweet, and other one will stay where he is and asks "What is it?What should I bring?". What I mean of this example is that although a verse does not change, people might interpret them (especially the complex verses) in different ways depending on their way of understanding.
I also heard that in many Afghan and Pakistani families TV is HARAM and anyone who brings a TV in his house is a sinner and will most probably get punished for this crime!. Well, for me and for most Arabs, TV is not haram and Islam did not tell us that watching TV is haram..
"Say for example, in a typical Muslim oriented culture, women are not allowed to work"
Well, as an Indian, I should say that there are certain stereotypes in my culture who deny educational rights and the right to work due to male chauvinistic attitude.
Personally, I don't support feminism. But I should say that there MUST be equality in Rights and Duties.
Tar it is how people use religion that leads to the oppression of women, not the religion itself. Religion is inert, it takes people to put it into action. I don't believe what you say about Islam that it is in complex Arabic, God does not speak Arabic and Islam is for all humans who choose to believe, so anyone's interpretation is correct. (As long as they are not using it to justify oppression of other humans)
Segmund, Many of us know the answers as to why women are not treated the same in all countries. It has to do with the cultures and ideologies of the countries.
For example,you will observe that in an Islamic state, where most of the citizens are sunni-salafis, women don't get an equal deal from the society. On the other hand, in a secular state or even an Islamic state dominated by shiites, women get more opportunities. This is one of the few root causes of gender inequality.
The concept is very simple...despite the differeces between men and women, women should be allowed to take their own decisions in life as they form half of our society. Men in the household have no right to dictate to the women folk as to where and what they should study or work etc. Also, government policies should be such that there is no discrimination in schools, colleges and work places between the genders.
Is there anyone who can help me in job matter.
Pls contact at
[email protected]
or are you referring to societies that lived 100 years ago? Where do you get your information from?
If you are not a Muslim, then you better ask Muslims here and then generalize and tell your personal opinion.. Who said that women are not allowed to study? Who said that women are not allowed to work? Who said that women can not speak about the decision of alpha families?...etc?
And men are given the freedom to stare? This is one of the most naive and funny comments I ever crossed by in QL. Are you telling that Islam is giving men the freedom to stare at women? Do you know that any Muslim man who stare at a woman (with bad intention) is considered similar to a man committing adultery? Do you know that the prophet "Mohammed" said that as any human being, we have eyes that will surely cross by things that might seduce us and play our minds, and that is okey as far as it was a natural and innocent glance (because we are not blind and will surely see things like that), BUT looking back again and staring (with bad intention) is HARAM and considered as committing an adultery.
Islam did not say any of what you are telling. Quran is written in a complex Arabic language which can not be easily understood by everyone. Some non-Arabs in some countries understand the verses in other ways and come up with their own conclusions and rules. It is not what religion says, but what they understood due to language barriers.
You might say, for example, hey then why a Muslim man can marry more than one and a woman can't. For each of these questions, I can give you an answer. Just don't blame any religion that you don't believe in and come up with your own conclusions.
To abolish gender discrimination some nations have even implemented reservations for women so they get the opportunity even if they are not at par with their men counterpart.
Sorry ladies but if you find yourself complaining discrimination based on gender when it comes to opportunities, you need to go in for an exhaustive self evaluation. If you have in you something other than or in addition to pretty faces, you can get to the Nasa team to explore outer space. IMHO
Yep! Remember that ABBA, the greatest band ever, had equal numbers of males and females.. :o)
Segmund, Scandinavia has, quite successfully ,eliminated gender discrimination.
Why discriminate between men and women and fight over the issue? Both are God's creations and both are superior in all aspects.If people want men and women to be happy about each other they should do their best to destroy those forces that seek equality.
So what you're saying is that there is no gender discrimination in these countries...
Segmund A few countries like Singapore and Philippines for example. You will find women bus drivers, taxi drivers. And by the way they are better drivers compared to men. You will find them in the army,police force, air force pilot, officers in the navy and so on. Any men jobs that cannot be tackled by women. Name it they can do it.
Segmund A few countries like Singapore and Philippines for example. You will find women bus drivers, taxi drivers. And by the way they are better drivers compared to men. You will find them in the army,police force, air force pilot, officers in the navy and so on. Any men jobs that cannot be tackled by women. Name it they can do it.
I believe it isn't so much gender inequality. It's about how one looks. Physical appearance may help you so much!!! If Youre pretty but a bachelors and an ugly woman with masters, 99.9% the pretty woman will be hired!(at least that's the way it works in America )There's inequality in age I think too!
"Say for example, in a typical Muslim oriented culture, women are not allowed to work"
Where did you get this idea from ?
Discrimination of some sort exists in just about all societies. We have to work to stamp it out.
Let us say you are right. Some countries do and some do not. Why do you not attempt a venture on this. There is no punishment if you too can write a couple of paragraphs. The question you asked have been asked already. What we are trying is answers. Why do you not try to give some answers. And yeah, I would love to hear of a country where there is no gender discrimination. Can you tell me about a few of them?
The write-up is rather superficial and doesn't address the relevant issues which drive inequality between the two genders in many countries. As moza has already suggested, its all about giving equal rights and opportunities to woman in all sectors of life.
Society treats women differently in different countries although all women are the same biologically everywhere with the same mental and physical traits...so, why some countries still discriminate on gender and some do not?
stealth: and for the same reason, other women are ignored!
many ladies get a job because of their looks or the way they dress only....
In my humble opinion, I believe that religious and social extremism leads to gender discrimination.
In the name of religion and culture, both the genders have been facing discrimination. Say for example, in a typical Muslim oriented culture, women are not allowed to work, raise voice, or speak against the decision of alpha males in the family. They are expected to cover their body from head to toe and males are given the freedom to stare (Even though lowering the gaze is a form of 'hijab' for men, staring is not a crime in Muslim nations). In such cases where women are oppressed, males take advantage of the situation and women are found to be the victim of domestic violence and exploitation. They fear to raise their voice against such atrocities due to cultural inadequacies against women which ultimately leads to suppression.
In other cases where extremism is not applicable, ego problems (superiority/inferiority complex) might have led to such problems.
What about gays and lesbians :O(
complaining about gender discrimination when actually men are also discriminated based on gender in many cases (if not in more cases than women).
Most men usually accept the fact when they are discriminated based on gender, because of their self confidence and optimistic thinking, while some women (usually the most unsuccessful ones)keep on bringing this topic and trying to convince the world of how badly they are discriminated (usually those ladies lack self confidence and are very negative in nature).
An example of this is this lady here who claims that men easily get a job and work visa but women are demanded family sponsored visa. How about me telling that women are so much lucky that they can stay on family visa and keep shifting between jobs, while men suffer searching for a sponsor and loose so many job opportunities just because their employers will never give them NOCs? For a woman, she just need to say good bye to her recent employer and start her job with the new one with better offer and benefits.
Even that is true sometimes; it reminds me of a funny story a few years back when I was a medical student. We had a group of 6 people all rotating in Ophthalmology those days. We had an old teacher who was so old that he could barely hold the ophthalmoscope (the instrument they check the eye with). Every day he would demonstrate eye examination to us. And whenver he would raise the scope in his hand, and shaking his hand (coz of age), we would know where his scope was going to land: eyes of Sidra (a pretty girl in the group). He never demonstrated it on anyone else. And we were like if this old guy can not help being discriminatory, what good may we expect of the other ones?
Sometimes, it is just our perception even. Once in an oral examiner, when I was the examiner, I gave the highest marks to a girl. By sheer chance, she was very good-looking (as her classmates thought), and then I came to know that the students thought I favored her for her looks. The fact is that I only based my judgement on her excellent performance during the exam.
Well, it is not always women who are discriminated against. There are many instances in which woman take undue advantage of their gender as well. It is a very complex phenomenon and only someone who can see the whole picture and small inclusions at the same time can someone grasp the idea.
The ideal world would be one in which men and women would be regarded as equal in terms of their rights and none would be discriminated against.
I see women have more employment opportunities than men. Not because of their qualifications, but because of their gender. How about that?
Thanks.
Yes Moza women need is equal opportunity. Here in doha i have seen a man easily gets a job and work visa but women are demanded family sponsored visa why so. Companiies are ready to give visa to males but not to females may be its not thier fault may be they dont get female visas. but the point is inequality does exist.
Women accept that there are differences between the sexes. What they ask for is equal opportunities, be that education, being able to vote or even to drive a car. In many countries hese basic things are denied to them or worse. Forced marriages, rape, honor killings, being locked up at home and treated like possessions. It's funny these things rarely happen to men.