Introduction

Gender can be defined as a social role performed by the men and women in a society. Gender inequality generally arise due to the discrimination of one group of people with another group on the basis of caste, religion, county, politics, and gender. The gender is type of category where people are defined in relation to each other provided both men and women have equal rights and helps them to fulfil their potential for growth in a society. In this paper discussion conducted about the social issue gender inequality and sociological perspective in the society with analysis of the different perspectives causing the problem of gender inequality in the society.

Gender Inequality

Gender can be defined as the social practice system which involves distinct people from the society, sex categories and separates them based on relations defined by their gender. The gender inequality is faced by every individual in their life whether in communities, homes, in media and among adults (Leach, 2016). Gender inequality is a social issue because it treats people differently as girls does not able to equal opportunity to education as compared to boys in under-developed countries and women also face the problem of under paid while being in the same profession or status. According to the UNICEF, the discrimination for education makes the 1 in 4 girls between the age of 15 and 19 to remain unemployed or untraining as compared to 1 in 10 boys (UNICEF, 2020). This discrimination is not only faced by the women but also by men. They face the conception of masculinity leading to increase in gang violence, child labour, recruitment into armed forces and disengagement from schools.

Relation with social welfare.

Making the men and women equal opportunity to grow, equal living standard and equal treatment since childhood will contribute towards the social welfare. Gender equality will help to prevent violence against women in the communities and households giving the more safer and healthier environment (UNDP, 2017). Giving equal opportunity will bring more peace in the society, will contribute towards economic growth as people will work to get employment, wage and salaries ultimately contributing to the economic growth. If gender equality is provided in the leadership roles than it will boost the business performance. Gender equality in the works of households will maintain happier relationships in a community.

In the society men and women are equal in population and these statistics creates no majority and minority in the society. Due to increased gender inequality and when it becomes violent cause harm, adolescent girls are on the highest risk for gender-based violence in times of both peace and conflict (Ortiz-ospina & Roser, 2019). Many countries and international organizations recognized the gender inequality as violation of human rights. According to World Economic Forum more than 47 % of the women the car accidents and injuries because safety features are designed for men, every day child marriage 33,000 girls every day are forced for child marriage and globally it is 12 million (WEF, 2019).

Figure 1: Ratio of female to male median earnings by age, US

Source 1: (Ortiz-ospina & Roser, 2019)

Sociological Perspectives

The sociology is the study of social events, patterns, interactions, and development of theory for explaining a social problem. The sociologist’s perspective analyses the problem at different levels for getting insight, analyse and predict to the social world from different perspective. This perspective includes three major components of functionalist perspective, symbolic interaction perspective and conflict perspective. Gender equality is not a fundamental right but it is a necessary foundation for prosperous, peaceful and a sustainable environment (UN, 2020).

• Functionalist perspective: The functional perspective of the social problem gender inequality is a theory which helps to create efficient division of labour and social systems. Functionalist involves the requirement to meet the basic needs of the life such as food, clothing, shelter, and money that are required by the individual for living.  Gender serves for the purpose of serving social factors for maintaining a social order. This functional theory has been criticised for reifying rather than reflecting gender roles (Social science, 2020). According to this theory, gender roles helps to maintain stable social relationship but got argument for discrimination on the basis of gender roles. It neglects the suppression of women within the family structure. This theory was used to justify for the male dominance and gender stratification in the society.

For example, it gave dominance for white male in the households of middle-class family as the head of the family. This model was not applicable for the poor women and also for the single parents. Various researches show that this model specialized for household tasks on the basis of gender was more dysfunctional than functional. Conflict theory criticised for giving more to the economic basis of inequality. The division of household labour or in-home responsibilities does not get reduced for the employed women. Women are provided with less instrumental roles with men and men deny for expanding roles for expanding and nurturing roles in the households. A concept stating that superwomen who does it all for the achievement of career and family nurturance need to be valued and this analysis of the interdependence provide details female subordination and also for the male superiority.  

Gender inequality generally arise due to the discrimination of one group of people with another group on the basis of caste, religion, county, politics, and gender and can be described as the major factor for violence among the women. It can be seen in the workplace affecting the different pay level, job stratification, professional careers, and education. It is also experienced by the people in homes as they have different role in parenting, distribution of household works, childcare, inheritance of property, gender stereotypes and even the use of technology. The gender inequality exists due to different perspectives of the individuals in relation to the diverse job roles whether in the households or in professional lives. This type of mindset affects the society as well because it increases the thinking of patriarchy giving rise to the gender imbalance, violence against women, sexual harassment, and work-life imbalance.

Gender inequality affects the social equality of people under the psychology, biology, and cultural norms. Women generally are the caregivers in the family and involved in the domestic activities providing less significance to the women in terms of decision-making and higher education (Ponthieux & Meurs, 2015). In various western countries, women did not have the political and financial controls and does not hold any possessions working under the dominance of men. According to the report of Global Gender Gap 2018, it is estimated that for filling the gap between the man and women will take a time of about 108 years (WEF, 2018). These type of gender discrepancies are the hindrance for the growth of the economy and development of the nation. Modern sociological perspective theories provide insight for making balance in the family structures for provisions of the households but this does not provide assurance that it will reduce the domestic liability of the women.

Conclusion

From the overall discussion it can be concluded that gender inequality is the social issue that is still not resolved and need to take collaborative efforts for bringing gander parity. The influence of gender parity will bring social welfare for the individual, community, and nation. As both men and women will contribute equally in all spheres of life and for economic growth. There are very less countries providing equal opportunity for women as the men including Denmark, Iceland, Belgium, Latvia, France, Sweden, Canada, and Luxembourg (Douglas, 2020). These countries have equal legal right of women with the men.

An approach needs to be developed for keeping a balance between the power structure among the genders. As maintaining gender equality is the responsibility of both men and women (UN, 2020). For this an online campaign can be launched. Campaign with the aim of bringing equality in the society such as sharing the works of each other. Government should also frame gender sensitive policies giving equal opportunity for men and women, empowering mothers, awareness campaigns for making people aware about laws, child marriage and equal opportunity for getting higher education and equal treatment (Leach, 2016). If women are provided with equal opportunities in all aspects will contribute for the economic growth and maintenance of gender parity.

Bibliography

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