A THING ABOUT GENDER EQUALITY

What Does Gender Equality Mean?

"Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations and needs equally, regardless of gender."

The word gender comes from the English language which means gender, gender is also a fundamental concept offered by feminism to analyze society. In English, it is defined as sex, which indicates the nature and classification of two sexes biologically, namely male and female. Some d = feminists, such as simone, beauvior, Crist Weedon and Barbara Lioyd agree that in this realm there is a nature line, where men and women each have characteristics inherent in a permanent, natural and non-interchangeable one with others.

Gender equality means treating everyone fairly regardless of their gender. Equal doesn't mean that we are all the same, but it means that every one of us should treated with respect. Gender equality is the idea that men and woman should have the same opportunities in life and that their gender should have nothing to do with their evaluation. We should give everyone a fair chance with everything because neither men nor women deserve to be treated in a wrong way regarding their gender. If society is to be fair, then gender equality must be a priority.

Understanding Gender varies according to some social experts, but basically Gender is the understanding and social values ​​given to men or women in a social system. In "Gender in Local Government: A Sourcebook for Trainers" from the UN Human Settlements Program (2008) it is stated that:

"Gender is about social relationships. Gender is an analytical concept. It is socially determined and not based on the sex of the individual. Sex refers to the biological differences between women and men. The sex of the individual is determined by biology (we are born with it and usually cannot change our sex unless we have a lot of money). Gender is socially constructed. We grow up with it and can and does, change over time. We can change gender relations. "

What Is The Purpose of Gender Equality?

Why is gender equality important? Gender Equality is intrinsically linked to sustainable development and is vital to the realization of human rights for all. The overall objective of gender equality is a  society in which women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all spheres of life.

The concept of Gender is important to discuss because social experts find many imbalances due to unclear differences between Gender and Gender. Many problems arise as a result of the community being unable to understand that the roles and positions of women and men are caused by their social systems, not because of God's nature. Culture influences this a great deal, whereas in terms of gender religion will not affect God's reward and punishment to His servants. Often people think that the permanence of the sexes is the same as the permanence of the roles, responsibilities and rights of women and men imposed by the culture of society. At a glance this is illustrated in the following table (SCBD, 2007):

Gender Equality or Gender Equity?

Gender equality is a condition that can guarantee that all men and women can have an opportunity. With this condition, every woman and man can actualize their potential and rights as human beings, so that they can participate and contribute in all areas of human life, such as economic, social and cultural, even they have the same opportunity to enjoy the results obtained.

However, gender equality cannot then mean that women and men get fair and equal treatment because by nature these two sexes are different. Therefore we need a process where women and men get the same opportunity but it is still fair for both of them to be adapted to their natural conditions, this is needed a process called Gender Equity or also called Gender Justice. Thus Gender equity has a deeper and broader understanding than Gender equality. Gender equity provides perspectives that can recognize the different needs, priorities and facilities of women and men.

This gender equity process requires special measures that can enable the realization of equal opportunities between women and women, men and men, and women and men. For example, if we want to implement gender justice in an institution, we must revise policies regarding work schedules so that women employees are able to take into account the reproductive tasks (homework that does not make money), so that the homework does not interfere with their participation in society.

The application of gender equality and justice in community organizations and governance is further discussed in Gender Mainstreaming.

Type of Gender Equality

Gender inequality is found when in a society women and men become victims of a system that causes them to get unfair treatment. So that the impact does not always affect women but also men.

Sterotype

All forms of gender injustice above actually stem from one source of the same mistake, namely gender stereotypes of men and women. Stereotype itself means giving a standard image or label / stamp to a person or group based on a false or misguided assumption. Labeling is generally done in two or more relationships and is often used as a reason to justify an action of one group on another group.

Labeling also indicates an unequal or unbalanced power relation that aims to conquer or control other parties. Negative labeling can also be done on the basis of gender assumptions. But often negative labeling is applied to women.

Example:

- Women are considered crybaby, like being teased.

- Irrational, emotional woman.

- Women cannot make important decisions.

- Women as housewives and additional income earners.

- Men as the main breadwinner.

Violence

Violence (violence) means acts of violence, both physical and non-physical committed by one sex or a family, community or state institution against another gender.

Gender roles have distinguished the characteristics of women and men. Women are considered feminism and masculine men. This character then manifests in psychological characteristics, such as men considered to be manly, strong, brave and so on. Instead women are considered gentle, weak, submissive and so on.

Actually there is nothing wrong with that distinction. But apparently the distinction of character gave birth to acts of violence. Assuming that women are weak, this is interpreted as a reason to be treated arbitrarily, in the form of acts of violence.

Example:

- Physical and non-physical violence committed by the husband against his wife in the household.

- Beatings, torture and rape which resulted in feelings of torture and depression.

- Sexual harassment.

- Sexual exploitation of women and pornography.

Marginalization

Marginalization means: a process of marginalization due to gender differences resulting in poverty.

Many methods can be used to marginalize a person or group. One way is to use gender assumptions. For example, with the assumption that women function as additional income earners, then when they work outside the home (public sector), it is often assessed with this assumption and affects the wages they receive. If that happens, then the poverty impoverishment process has actually taken place.

Example:

- Kindergarten teachers, nurses, convection workers, factory workers, domestic servants are considered as low-level workers, thus affecting the level of salary / wages received.

- There are still many female workers in factories who are vulnerable to layoffs because they do not have formal ties from the company where they work for gender reasons, such as additional income earners, part-time workers and also the reasons for their reproductive factors, such as menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

- The change from traditional farming systems to modern farming systems using tractor engines has marginalized women workers.