While feminism is generally treated as a sensationalized variant of sexism,
alternating females to hold derogatory opinion about men, it is a perspective
that calls for gender equality. Within the
political arena, the same gender dynamics that govern the private domain
dominate the field; there is under-representation, oppression and
marginalization of women.
Despite the many campaigns, movements and NGOs that work for gender-equality, this gender-biased approach to politics is present on both national and international scales. One might argue that it has improved from the prehistoric times or the middle ages but the fact remains that we are far away from providing an equal world for men and women.
On the national level, women are denied equal opportunities in political and economic matters. Despite the affirmative action taken in the National Assembly of Pakistan to have a fixed quota for women, some argue that is just enough to prevent a revolutionary structural change but does not hold much importance for gender-equality in the long run. The rule of Zia ul Haq saw the imposition of the Hudood Ordinance that systematically denied the little women rights in Pakistan. These laws lead to widespread discrimination in legal and economic matters and also lead to increased harassment of women. Despite a reactionary women’s movement to oppose these laws, the laws still exist within the Pakistani constitution, a testimony to the long journey feminists have in front of them.
Within the international field, wars are a historical evidence of the systematic silence of the female gender. Females are denied access to the written historical narrative that is taught to our progeny. In the case of the Bangladesh Liberation War, stories of rape and violence against women have been deliberately kept out of official records to suit political reasons where need arose. While the males are lauded for being ‘national heroes’, females who were violated by these very men are kept hidden in homes, unable to speak of their experience, divorced from society. There is a urgent need for the women to be able to get their stories into the written historical narrative, not just for the sake of appearing in books and being remembered on independence days, but to organize as a group that can work to ensure that such gross injustice does not take place again.
Politics as practised in the modern world has the potential to enable this group to organize together and make structural changes necessary to ensure gender equality, a feat that the human race should have achieved long ago.
Despite the many campaigns, movements and NGOs that work for gender-equality, this gender-biased approach to politics is present on both national and international scales. One might argue that it has improved from the prehistoric times or the middle ages but the fact remains that we are far away from providing an equal world for men and women.
On the national level, women are denied equal opportunities in political and economic matters. Despite the affirmative action taken in the National Assembly of Pakistan to have a fixed quota for women, some argue that is just enough to prevent a revolutionary structural change but does not hold much importance for gender-equality in the long run. The rule of Zia ul Haq saw the imposition of the Hudood Ordinance that systematically denied the little women rights in Pakistan. These laws lead to widespread discrimination in legal and economic matters and also lead to increased harassment of women. Despite a reactionary women’s movement to oppose these laws, the laws still exist within the Pakistani constitution, a testimony to the long journey feminists have in front of them.
Within the international field, wars are a historical evidence of the systematic silence of the female gender. Females are denied access to the written historical narrative that is taught to our progeny. In the case of the Bangladesh Liberation War, stories of rape and violence against women have been deliberately kept out of official records to suit political reasons where need arose. While the males are lauded for being ‘national heroes’, females who were violated by these very men are kept hidden in homes, unable to speak of their experience, divorced from society. There is a urgent need for the women to be able to get their stories into the written historical narrative, not just for the sake of appearing in books and being remembered on independence days, but to organize as a group that can work to ensure that such gross injustice does not take place again.
Politics as practised in the modern world has the potential to enable this group to organize together and make structural changes necessary to ensure gender equality, a feat that the human race should have achieved long ago.
1 comment:
There has been a gender discrimination in both national and international affairs, as you mentioned. However, in recent history, the status of women in the public sphere has improved to a great extent. Women have emerged out of their homes and become a part of the labour force and attained equal voting rights and are also participating in politics. All these have been considerable efforts aimed towards gender-equality and have made a substantial difference.
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