CSS 2021 Solved Essay | Gender Equality: A Popular Slogan
Maleeha Sattar, a Sir Syed Kazim Ali student, has attempted the CSS 2021 essay “Gender Equality: A Popular Slogan“ on the given pattern, which Sir Syed Kazim Ali teaches his students. Sir Syed Kazim Ali has been Pakistan’s top English writing and CSS, PMS essay and precis coach with the highest success rate of his students. The essay is uploaded to help other competitive aspirants learn and practice essay writing techniques and patterns to qualify for the essay paper.
Outline
1-Introduction
- ✓Thesis Statement
Despite gender equality’s recognition as an essential agenda at almost all international forums and its consideration as a reality by the developed nations due to its attainment at socio-economic and legal levels, the powerful and pervasive concept’s status has been confined to a famous slogan for developing countries due to the prevalence of overarching age-old social, cultural, economic, political, legal, and technical prejudices for generations, perpetuating discrimination and inequalities.
2-Understanding the term ‘Gender’
- ✓The definition of the term ‘Gender’
- ✓Different factors in various domains defining its role
3-Debunking the concept of ‘Gender Equality’
- ✓What is Gender Equality and its perception?
- ✓The recognition of issue in various world conferences
4- Sketching out the goals of Gender Equality, making it a popular slogan in the broader perspective
- ✓Ensuring human rights and social justice, promulgating social cohesion
- ✓Enhancing innovation and creativity in a violence-free environment
- ✓Improving peoples’ living standards, developing a healthy global competitiveness
5-Why is gender equality a popular slogan in the developing world in the contemporary era?
5.1-Social inequalities
- ✓The prevalence of gender-based violence
- Argument: Gender-based violence at all levels impacts gender equality, making it a popular slogan
- Case in Point: According to the UN Women, “Almost 1 in 3 women have been subjected to physical and sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly at the hands of their intimate partners.”
- ✓The predomination of education disparities across the developing world
- Argument: Education disparities, especially in marginalized areas, make gender equality a popular slogan
- Case in Point: According to the United Nations (UN) last disparity report, “Of all illiterate people, two-thirds are women, especially the developing ones.”
5.2-Cultural inequalities
- ✓The tradition of biased cultural norms and practices
- Argument: Normalization of narrow-minded cultural norms for women proves gender equality is a popular slogan
- Case in Point: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) practice in Somalia ‘The Waris Dirire Case’ and Honor killing practice in Jordan explained in the ‘Isra Ghrayeb’s’ case
- ✓The stigmatization and language bias of genders
- Argument: The acceptance of gender-related stigmas makes gender equality a popular slogan
- Case in Point: Gender-related stereotyping, such as Colour restrictions: ‘Pink’ colour for girls, and ‘Blue’ colour for boys and Words bias: ‘Doll’ or ‘Hysteria’ signalling fragility and emotionality for girls, and ‘Superman’ signalling strength for boys’
5.3-Economic inequalities
- ✓The widened gender pay gaps in the workforce
- Argument: Disparity in wages among genders in different workforces proves gender equality a popular slogan
- Case in Point: As per the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023 survey, “Afghanistan, similar to 2022, ranks last out of 146 countries with a 27.8 per cent gender parity in the wages distribution domain.”
- ✓The increase in occupational segregation in genders
- Argument: The discrimination in genders belonged to different colours, castes, and races during their enrollment proves gender equality is a popular slogan
- Case in Point: “There is almost 80 per cent of women labour from marginalized castes, such as Dalits, in India’s Agriculture sector”, according to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)
5.4-Political inequalities
- ✓The underrepresentation of genders in leadership and voting rights unawareness
- Argument: The obstacles limiting the participation of women in political arenas make gender equality a popular slogan
- Case in Point: Women in Politics: 2023 map of the UN Women reveals that women make up 26.5 per cent of Members of Parliament and serve as Heads of Government in only 31 countries
- ✓The lack of implementation of gender-inclusive policies
- Argument: Poor implementation of gender-inclusive policies highlights that gender equality is a popular slogan
- Case in Point: National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women (2016-2030) example
5.5-Legal inequalities
- ✓The exploitation of workers due to no legal protections
- Argument: No penalty-based laws still made for the workers securing their dignity and respect makes gender equality a popular slogan
- Case in Point: Amazon’s migratory workers in Saudi Arabia facing exploitation (The Amnesty International)
- ✓The presence of loopholes in gender rights laws
- Argument: The formulation of laws filled with loopholes makes gender equality a popular slogan
- Case in Point: Land Tenure laws in Nigeria with a significant focus on customary practices restricting women’s right
5.6-Technological inequalities
- ✓The online harassment of genders
- Argument: The infringement of women’s privacy due to cyber declivities strengthens the maxim that gender equality is a popular slogan
- Case in Point: Naila Rind’s cyber harassment case, a clear example
- ✓The digital division among genders
- Argument: Unequal priority given to genders in the case of digital device usage supports the issue that gender equality is a popular slogan
- Case in Point: The Sub-Saharan Region has the widest gender gaps in digital usage (The Group Special Mobile Association)
6-On what grounds is gender equality a reality, especially in developed countries?
- ✓Counter Argument: The promotion of gender-sensitive education on an equity basis in developed countries like Finland
- Refutation: Developing countries have lagged, refuting the argument.
- Evidence: Yemen, a perfect example
- ✓Counter Argument: The implementation of reformed gender-based laws like co-parenting laws in Sweden
- Refutation: Developing countries have not attained that level, refuting the counter perspective
- Evidence: Papua New Guinea is still negligent in implementing these laws.
- ✓Counter Argument: The assurance of the country’s economic empowerment, as in Iceland
- Refutation: Developing countries have not achieved yet, refuting the point
- Evidence: Algeria still ranks at the bottom in the indexes.
7-What practical measures should all developing countries adopt to ensure gender equality- a popular slogan- across the globe?
- ✓To make efforts to provide healthcare facilities to everyone
- Case in Point: The formulation of health programs like South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) program
- ✓To advocate a gender-inclusive electoral system enhancing political representation
- Case in Point: Case Study of Rwanda
- ✓To promote gender-sensitive content on social media platforms, enhancing gender diversity and challenging stereotypes
- Case in Point: Case Study of the UN Women and # MeToo Movement
- ✓To encourage and take active participation in global initiatives ensuring gender equality
- Case in Point: Case Study of Pakistan struggling to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Goal-5: Gender Equality
7-Critical Analysis
8-Conclusion
Gender equality, a cornerstone of modern human rights and social progress, lies at the heart of a just and equitable society. It encompasses the idea that all genders, broadly women, should have equal access to rights, opportunities, and recognition in every facet of their lives by breaking down traditional gender norms and stereotypes that have perpetuated discrimination and biases among them for centuries. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, people’s efforts to ensure gender equality have gained momentum, thus making it a famous slogan of the contemporary era. However, despite its recognition at almost all international forums as an influential agenda, the powerful and pervasive concept’s status has been confined to a catchphrase rather than a reality due to the prevalence of overarching age-old social, cultural, economic, political, legal, and technical prejudices for generations. Taking a glance over those disparities, women have faced gender-based violence, education disparities, malicious cultural practices and stigmatization, wage gaps and occupational segregation for years. Additionally, they have also borne the brunt of political underrepresentation, legal exploitation, online harassment, and many more, due to which gender equality’s provision has become a far-fetched dream and just a notable slogan. Nonetheless, some developed nations have made gender equality a reality by implementing gender-integrated policies in various socio-economic domains. Following in their footsteps, all developing countries, especially the third-world ones, should also have to burn their midnight oil for the complete assurance of gender equality across the boards with their high rankings in all development indexes. This essay highlights why gender equality is a popular slogan in the contemporary era.
Before exploring the concept of gender equality, it is essential to understand the term gender. It is a fluid concept and a fundamental aspect of human identity, which goes beyond biological differences. It encapsulates the social attributes, norms, expectations, and roles and duties assigned to individuals, men and women, based on their socially constructed perception and gender identity. Described by Judith Butler, “Gender is a practice or repeated stylization of the body.” Indeed, it is changeable and time-specific depending on social, cultural, economic, and political factors, providing them with all material and natural resources necessary for human survival and defining every sex’s functions and responsibilities. As a result, approximately sixty-four different genders have been recognized in societies, practising masculinity and femininity.
Delving deep into the concept of gender equality, it is actually sexual equality that aims to eliminate biases raised due to the unequal division of labour among different societies’ people. Undoubtedly, it implies that all men’s and women’s diverse groups should respect each other’s needs, interests, and priorities and engage equally to provide rights and opportunities. Understanding its achievement’s importance in the twenty-first century, it has recognized as an issue in all international conferences: the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (Earth Summit), 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, 1995 World Summit for Social Development, 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, Millennium Development Goals-2000 (MDGs), Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) (SDGs), and collective efforts of NGOs, working for the attainment of gender equality in all spheres.
Explaining the goals of gender equality, making it a popular slogan, it advocates for achieving human rights and social justice, promulgating social cohesion in societies. It means that gender equality is not a single-sex issue but a fundamental human rights problem on which a society’s sustainability depends. Second, it is vocal about enhancing innovation and creativity in a violence-free environment, expounding that the communities should be made so peaceful by productively using digitalization tools and prioritizing everyone’s prestige. Among many others, it also focuses on improving people’s living standards by developing a healthy global competitiveness among people by mainstreaming all genders, further paving the way towards equity. All these goals are summarized in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Article 2, asserting:
“Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms outlined in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
Moving towards proving the maxim why gender equality is a popular slogan in the developing world in the social domain, gender-based violence has become prevalent in society at all levels due to the dominance of a patriarchal environment. As a result, rape, abuse, torture, sexual harassment, gazing, and many more, have become their fate. According to the UN Women, “Almost 1 in 3 women have been subjected to physical and sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly at the hands of their intimate partners.” Due to this, they are vulnerable to many psychological problems and have low confidence to compete actively in society. Thus, this perpetuating inequality in communities has made gender equality a popular slogan.
Further, the predomination of education disparities around the globe, especially in marginalized areas due to poverty, radicalization, terrorism, etc., makes gender equality a popular slogan in today’s world. Indeed, women are the backbone of the civilized family system, and their education has been sacrificed for years because parents prefer educating their sons to daughters in a male-dominated society. According to the United Nations (UN) last disparity report, “Of all illiterate people, two-thirds are women, especially the developing ones.” Due to this reason, inequalities have increased in countries, proving that gender equality is a popular slogan.
In the cultural domain, the tradition of biased cultural practices has emboldened many disparities in societies. For instance, the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) practice in Somalia is a glaring example, explained in the ‘The Waris Dirire Case’ in which the narrow-minded people sew the innocent girl’s genitals to attain purity after rape, degrading her identity and right. Besides this, the honour killing practice in Jordan explained in ‘Isra Ghrayeb’s’ Case, is another cultural practice. In this case, Isra was murdered by her family after posting her video on social media with her fiancé before their marriage, as it was against their culture. In fact, these norms have instilled fear and anger in women, argued and challenged by many activists. Still, their normalization at all levels has become a fact, proving gender equality a popular slogan.
Adding more to it, gender-related stigmas and language biases have significantly been accepted and shared in different areas, which triggered disparities in the form of taboos in the world. Some of the gender-related stereotyping, among many others, are colour restrictions like ‘Pink’ colour specified for girls and ‘Blue’ colour for boys, and Words bias: ‘Doll’ or ‘Hysteria’ signalling fragility and emotionality for girls and ‘Superman’ signalling strength for boys’, used commonly everywhere. Due to this, women are considered immature and foolish, which affects the effectiveness of their performance in their surroundings, thus highlighting gender equality as a popular slogan.
Talking about inequalities in the economic domain, the wage disparity among genders in different workforces has been assumed across the globe. Factually, their widened gaps have drawn the world’s attention in a way that they have highlighted the countries’ sluggish economic growth and, above all, women’s economic discouragement. As per the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023 survey, “Afghanistan, similar to 2022, ranks last out of 146 countries with a 27.8 per cent gender parity in the wages distribution domain.” It shows the country’s plight through its low Gross Domestic Production (GDP) rate by giving low importance to women, almost half the country’s population, proving gender equality is a popular slogan.
Moreover, the increase in occupational segregation bias in societies is also a mirror image of gender inequality at large. Sadly, the discrimination in their enrollment is evident from their belonging to different religions, castes, colours, and races. According to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), “There is almost 80 per cent of women labour from marginalized castes, such as Dalits, in India’s Agriculture sector.” It has proved that women from lower castes are suffering from economic disparities, and privileges are a dream for them. Hence, the gloomy picture of selectiveness in job opportunities proves that gender equality has become a popular slogan.
“The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because, in the degradation of women, the very foundations of life are poisoned at their source.”
(Lucretia Mott)
Laying eyes on the political level inequalities, the underrepresentation of genders, especially women, in leadership and voting rights unawareness are the primary ones in the row. Indeed, there are many obstacles, such as considering women inferior to men in terms of intellect, nourishing their mindset based on stereotypes, etc., limiting their participation in political arenas. As a result, many of them are unaware of their political rights. Women in Politics: 2023 map of the UN Women reveals that women comprise 26.5 per cent of Members of Parliament and serve as Heads of Government in only 31 countries. So, the disappointing figures of women’s poor political participation highlight the axiom’s importance: gender equality is a popular slogan.
Likewise, many gender-inclusive policies have been formulated by the technicians. Still, their lack of implementation due to the dominance of a patriarchal society has raised concerns in the contemporary world. Undoubtedly, there is only lip service at the hands of the administration, which has enhanced the trust deficit between the public and officials. For instance, the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women (2016-2030) is a glaring example. The country has formulated a gender-integrated policy, but its implementation in true letter and spirit is like a big white elephant. Thus, implementing an unequal policy has proved that gender equality is a popular slogan today.
Facing legal inequalities, there is a high level of exploitation of domestic workers across the globe. Ironically, no penalty-based laws have been made specifically for household and industrial workers, securing their dignity and respect. As per the Amnesty International, “Amazon’s migratory workers, especially women, in Saudi Arabia are facing severe exploitation.” Sadly, no legal protections have been provided to those workers, showing their deplorable state in the hustling world. Thus, among many other discrepancies these labourers faced, this legal one also proves gender equality is a popular slogan.
Similarly, there are many loopholes in gender rights laws, due to which inequality has become a proven fact. Notably, these laws are formulated by self-interested mindsets; for instance, the Land Tenure laws in Nigeria, with a significant focus on customary practices restricting women’s rights in the country, clearly manifest this. Sadly, women are unaware of their land rights, and decisions and distribution related to land and property have not been taken into consideration; highlighting gender equality is a popular slogan.
On the technological front, women are highly exposed to online harassment in social media’s emerging era. Ironically, their privacy has been infringed on due to cyber-attacks and data hijacking attempts by their male counterparts. Naila Rind’s cyber harassment case is a clear example. After surviving and suffering harassment for three months, the university student attempted suicide in her hostel room out of fear and frustration. This shows inequality is the order of the day, and gender inequality is a popular slogan.
Lastly, unequal priority given to genders in the case of digital device usage also supports the issue. For example, the Group Special Mobile Association reveals that the Sub-Saharan Region has the widest gender gaps in digital usage, with males at 46 per cent and women at 34 per cent. Due to this polarization, women are unable to explore their potential using digital spaces, promulgating inequality at every stage of their lives, proving gender equality is a popular slogan in today’s world.
“We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”
(Malala Yousafzai)
Nonetheless, there are some grounds on which gender equality is considered a reality, not a popular slogan, especially in developed countries. Indeed, they have successfully promoted gender-sensitive education on an equity basis. For instance, with the introduction of an updated curriculum, Finland has focused on revamping its system and mainstreaming all genders equally. This is why today, it has the highest literacy rate in the world with a skilled diaspora, proving that gender equality is a reality rather than just a slogan. However, a developing nation like Yemen, already yearning for humanitarian aid, has yet to achieve this indicator.
Additionally, the developed nations have implemented reformed gender-based laws by holding strict accountability for their organizations. For example, Sweden has implemented co-parenting laws with paid leave privileges for parents, integrating genders in all its socio-economic domains. In this way, the country has developed a flexible and balanced work-life structure, endorsed with care and patience, for all, highlighting gender equality is a reality in today’s world. However, a developing nation like Papua New Guinea is negligent in implementing these laws, refuting the counter perspective completely.
Finally, they have also assured economic empowerment on an equal basis. By doing so, their country’s GDP has risen, incredibly attracting the inflow of FDI necessary for their infrastructure development. Among others, Iceland has successfully closed its wage gaps and reached the top with 90 per cent in the Global Wage Distribution Index. Due to this, the country’s GDP contribution has also plummeted to its maximum, supporting all genders and showing that gender equality is a reality. Nonetheless, developing countries like Algeria still rank at the bottom in the indexes, disproving the argument.
Therefore, like them, every developing country should work hard to attain gender equality. For this to happen, they must try to provide health facilities equally. For instance, they should formulate various productive health programs like South Africa’s National Health Insurance (NHI) program to better provide health rights to all. In this way, every country without any colour, caste, or status discrimination ensures reproductive rights to its diaspora equally, even in its marginalized areas. So, formulating such social policies is the need of the hour for achieving gender equality at length.
Next to it, countries should also advocate gender-inclusive electoral systems, enhancing women’s political representation. To accomplish this, they must take notes from Rwanda, which has done much in this case. Indeed, the country has the world’s highest women’s political representation scores. This shows that they focus on women’s political education and voting rights equally to men. Hence, every country should also focus on these core strategies, essential for better decision-making and a peaceful environment, to enhance their inclusion.
Furthermore, promoting gender-sensitive content on social media would enhance gender diversity in countries. To accomplish this effectively, they could positively challenge all stereotypes and normalize equity in their environs. Different online campaigns, like the UN Women and Me Too Movement, vocalize women’s rights and create awareness of the masses’ inequality, which is an accomplishment in this age. In this way, everyone should raise their concerns on social media and actively use platforms to ensure society’s gender equality.
Finally, all countries should encourage and actively participate in global initiatives ensuring gender equality so that it can be truly secure in the world. In this case, Pakistan has put a lot of effort into fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Goal-5: Gender Equality by formulating multipronged national policies, making this goal a central point. Through this, the country has actively started awakening its public, especially the youth, to the dire need for gender equality, which is indirectly the backbone of every indicator’s growth. So, every country should make this goal the centre of their policies, helpful in achieving its goals.
“Equality is not a concept. It’s not something we should be striving for. It’s a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women.”
(Joss Whedon)
Critically, gender equality is a fool’s paradise in the modern era. Sorrowfully, women across the globe have suffered a lot, due to which marginalization has become their reality, making them dependent on their counterparts for everything in a highly male-dominated society. Despite the efforts of different organizations, the issue is still a popular slogan due to rigid policies among all rather than a living reality. To make this happen, all countries should have to make gender equality a central goal, along with others, and negate other zero-sum games so that its achievement can no longer remain an illusion.
To sum up, gender equality is a shared global responsibility, and it is not only an aspiration, but a necessity. Conspicuously, the popular slogan serves as a reminder that the world that would experience gender equality as a reality would benefit everyone. Unquestionably, it is a vision that resonates across borders, and the progress made toward achieving it is a testament to the determination of individuals, communities, and nations. Therefore, if gender stereotypes bolstering inequality should be checked regularly by all countries equally, gender equality can become a fundamental practising notion of the twenty-first century, where everyone would be free to pursue his aspirations and dreams without limitations imposed by their gender.
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