Social
Beliefs and Gender Inequality
As
a connoisseur of American television, I am a fan of variety of different shows,
one of them being Mad Men. A story
about creative director Don Draper’s professional and personal life that
glimpses into the world of advertising in the 1960s, it is a critically
acclaimed series with a historical accuracy that allows its audience to travel
back in time to witness the social attitudes of the 60s, where “men were men,”
as some would say. Although many people may miss the 60’s for their better
music, we should be thankful that the previous misogynistic treatment of women
as inferior has been decreased in the present.
After
a first scene of the first episode where we see our protagonist think about
different tag lines to think about for a failing tobacco industry, the audience
is treated to the working environment where we view a clear difference in the
social interactions of men and women, although not necessarily different
motives. Contrasting the men in the elevator who loudly discuss their colleague
getting married because “she stole [his] heart,” and that “her old man is
loaded,” we see a new female employee who is debriefed by her superior that men
are looking for “something between a waitress and a mother,” advising her to
“cut two holes in a bag and cover herself to assess her body,” and telling her
not to fear the new technology of the typewriter because of the boys who
created this made is so women can also operate them.
Although
the show is an exciting drama that gives a glimpse of the 60s while we follow
the amazing story of Don Draper, one worrying issue is the glorification of the
60’s misogynistic views. Don is a selfish womanizer with a silver tongue, a
mere man with his own flaws and struggles rather than a paragon of virtue which
makes for an exciting character but poor role model. Although “cat calls” and
personal beliefs of sexism may not seem to cause harm, propagating the belief
of gender equality even as a personal preference is a significant harm to
society that needs to be addressed before we can make gender equality a
reality. In a sense, if we want to achieve a fair and equitable society, our
mind set needs to change so that we personally think and act to create an
environment where gender equality can become a reality.
The
power of individual beliefs has a significant effect on social functions. Mark
Brandt’s study published in Psychological
Science looked at data from an international survey conducted between 2005
and 2007 responding to the statements “on the whole, men make better political
leaders than women do,” and “on the whole, men make better business executives
than women do.”[1]
Based on a UN measure of gender equality, Brandt found that sexism was directly
associated with increases in gender inequality over time, individual beliefs
contributing toward social inequality. A study published by Sex Roles highlights the both men and
women respond in a more hostile way toward women who violate sex-role
expectations, the stronger the support for the hierarchy the more hostile they
react toward the violator.[2] Alyssa Fowers, co-author
of the study, states “when women are influenced by society to make assumptions
about each other they also hurt themselves.”[3] Women are affected by
sexist remarks, research showing that women experience a variety of negative
emotions when they are the targets of sexism with other women who witness the derogatory
remark also experiencing similar feelings.[4] Individual beliefs and
actions that reinforce current gender beliefs hinder progress for equality.
Although
there are many laws and policies being passed by governments to promote gender
equality, these policies are useless unless we the people recognize that gender
is merely a tiny biological distinction resulting from a different random
combination of chromosomes and that our social interaction with society should
not be determined by such a simple fact. There is a 50% chance that any
individual would have been male or female when born and no individual should be
treated differently just because they are a certain gender. Gender inequality
is an assertion by society that we should discriminate against half of the
human population because they were born differently and thus are undeserving of
some rights that should be equal to all.
Gender
equality is a just way to address humanity and should be a basic face of life,
not a goal we strive to reach toward. However, since our past history has
generated these gender inequalities through division of labor and the social
assumptions that formed from such divisions, our challenge in the 21st
Century and beyond is to change these social assumptions. Gender is no longer a
strong determinant of individual capacity, our evolution to an industrial
society has technology equalizes our physical strengths while greater value is
now placed on mental prowess. Technology has equalized our initial differences
and all people should be treated equally regardless of gender. The fight
against gender inequality requires individuals challenging social assumptions
and change social attitudes against gender for equality to be achieved.
By Khan Kikkawa
[1] Sexism and Gender
Equality, Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111030151659.htm
[2] Rethinking Sexism: A
Daughter-Father Team Examines How Society Maintains the Status Quo, Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112151434.htm
[3] Rethinking Sexism: A
Daughter-Father Team Examines How Society Maintains the Status Quo, Science Daily
[4] Sexism: Cat-Calls Are
Detrimental to Everyone, Science Daily,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100318093303.htm
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