Gender inequality has been existing in our society for time immemorial. It could be due to physical appearance, psychology, or cultural norms as well. Some of these discriminations exist for ages now and some are more socially constructed by society. There have many reasons cited by people over the years for this gender inequality. 

Gender Inequality- More than a women issue

Recently I watched the movie Gunjan Saxena and could see how the lady in real life had to face gender inequality in the male-dominated world of army and navy. It got me thinking if it’s just women the society is not ready to accept going ahead in life? And somehow, I am convinced that this gender inequality is more than a women issue. To remove this inequality from society people, focus on how women can be empowered, how they can be included in most of the fields, how to ensure women get access to good health, economic, educational rights and other opportunities.

Gender inequality is nothing but a mindset across genders. And this mindset at times flows down from the women of the family only. It’s not always men who are creating inequality. Women do contribute to this by forcing some age-old rules on female members of their own family. And to improve this mindset we need to encourage behaviour change, engage men as allies. Shifting mindsets requires addressing the barriers that affect everyone across the gender spectrum. And to achieve equality across genders here are few crucial things.

Men are needed to achieve gender equality 

 Gender inequities are nothing but the disproportional distribution of power to one group versus the other. Society focuses on ensuring that women get equal rights and powers in everything. However, it’s a futile effort if men are not willing to redistribute the power and rights equal to women. One of the clear reasons for this inequality is the disproportionate amount of household responsibilities that fall on women in our country. The burden of responsibilities leads to a lack of time for doing anything else thus this leads to the gender gap and unequal power dynamics.

There are many social groups, NGOs and various other organizations that are working toward stringing women empowerment. However, to make this achievable we need to include men in these efforts too. We need campaigns promoting men and their role in society of being more than the masculine and powerful person. They need to be included and promoted in their role as fathers to make them understand parenting is more than a women’s responsibility. Extended paid paternity leaves, sick leaves for their children to other benefits when extended to men will help reduce the inequalities and responsibilities of women.

Also read on Gender-Neutral Parenting to raise happy kids

Recently Ariel had launched share the load campaigns wherein men were encouraged to share the load with their better halves or the opposite gender in their house. I was really happy to see this change in social thoughts introduced by Ariel. We need more such campaigns encouraging men to be more involved in parenting, education, counselling and sessions to help men support their partners in all walks of life. We need a balance of house chores and other responsibilities that are mostly burdened on men and women. The fine balance will help reduce this inequality. All these efforts at ground level will help bring the much-needed change.

Men can also do feminine jobs

 Ours is a very conservative society wherein the role of women and men are defined by society for years now. Men are supposed to be masculine and go out and earn money, whereas women are expected to be submissive and just manage the household chores and life. These social norms force genders to behave in a certain way and stay confined to it. As a result, most of the times men resist stepping outside the expectation of masculinity for the fear of being shunned or made fun of by peers. Understanding the drivers behind these behaviours of boys and men can help identify and address unspoken societal barriers to gender equity.

Creating awareness and empowering men to feel confident in shifting their behaviour is crucial to reach gender equality at large. Various well-known brands can bring this change by reaching to masses by leveraging advocacy efforts and media campaigns. There are already such campaigns underway but we need more such mass efforts to clear the myths and contest these social norms that affect both men and women. We need to address these social norms that are set and men and women are expected to behave accordingly. 

There is a strong need for men to come out and stand with their partners in managing household responsibility proudly.

Men can be the advocates

 Men can use their power and authority to be effective advocates. At the workplace men with authority can help pave the way for their female counterparts. Be is a protegee or a person at par. With the effective and authoritative support of men, women can grow and go ahead in their careers as well. Men have played a very passive role in women’s success and they need to now come out actively. Women in the workplace are often underrepresented, especially in leadership roles.

Career development opportunities are central to help women achieve their goals in life. For women in the workforce, particularly those early in their careers, having male advocates can significantly affect their career growth and success. Men need to see women as strong partners and not competitors. Leveraging their influence and power, male leaders not only can support individual women’s career but can also begin to create inclusive cultures that afford both men and women equal opportunities to advance.

Beyond mentoring women, men at all levels need to serve as allies and advocates by committing to advancing gender equity, reflecting on and changing behaviours that contribute to gender inequity and actively make efforts to reduce disparities across genders.

A strong and narrow approach towards empowering women can help eradicate some of the systemic challenges that often lead to gender inequality. While this is still a slow process and will take a long time to come out of us naturally. But we still need a broad range of actors, including MNC, foundations and NGOs to engage men as supporters and allies in the fight for gender equality.

‘This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon.’ and Blogchatter #Causeachatter

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