Gender equality: Stop getting it wrong

Gender equality is an issue that has been dissected on various discussion platforms over the years. Yet, people still hold a lot of misconceptions about what gender equality or gender parity stands for.

There has been a bandwagon of feminists, especially on social media platforms, that claim to be fighting for gender equality but do not really know what they are fighting for.

The truth is that, indeed, gender inequality is a reality that women across the world battle and there has been constant advocacy to wipe out the trend all over the world. But contrary to misconceived opinions, fighting gender inequality is not a supremacy battle between the male and female genders; neither is it a contest of which is the better or superior gender.

Magboro/Ibafo residents protest threats by land grabbers to forcefully…

Anyone that believes that the advocacy for gender equality is a battle of whether men or women are scum is an illiterate irrespective of academic status or exposure. Gender parity is neither a female nor a male issue, but basically, a call for equal opportunities devoid of a range of discrimination and abuse experienced by women in relation to their male peers based on their sex.

So, thinking it is a fight against men and being extreme is above board; a man cannot be a woman, neither can a woman be a man because we are made uniquely with different strengths. What gender parity preaches is understanding the difference in gender makeup and creating equal chances without using particular characteristics of a gender as excuse to cheat them out of opportunities.

The fight for gender parity is not a man-hating phenomenon, though some acclaimed feminists have turned it into a battle of the sexes that pushes the narrative that a particular gender is terrible. However, it is also true that women are on the receiving end of various suppression tactics and there is a need to keep raising awareness and challenging socio-cultural norms which discriminate against women and perpetuate the suppression, abuse, exclusion, marginalisation or restriction placed on women in various spheres.

Equality is a choice and leaders must make a conscious effort to work towards a better plan for women’s wants and needs, from supporting equal pay to advocating for mandatory parental leave to greater protection against sexual harassment. Equal representation of women in government may help towards ensuring key legislation on issues of gender parity.

There is an obvious need for feminists to reflect and see if they are distorting the message of gender parity or whether they have allowed extremists pursue personal agenda in turning the message around.

The truth also remains that irrespective of activities of extremists, the relationship between poverty and prevailing socio-cultural norms must be explored to stop unacceptable trends that suppress women. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) confirmed that women are disproportionately affected by poverty in a report that revealed that out of the 1.3 billion people worldwide living in extreme poverty, women account for a disproportionately large amount of this figure.

This extreme poverty in women is based on factors of not being given equal chances to excel; being forced to stay out of school, many are forced into child marriages and sexual violence. These among, other issues, are reasons many women remain trapped in the cycle of poverty.

And without doubt, for the society to move forward, gender parity is a must while extremism should be curbed. The lack of appropriate number of females in politics and high management positions means that women are excluded from decision making, meaning that half of the population remains under-represented in important issues.