Gender Equality
Findings and Discussion
Our finds of the study
Nowadays, especially during the era of globalisation and modernization, gender inequality, which is becoming a more and more hot issue is having a drastic effect on the world. There are getting a lot of gender discrimination or gender inequality happening all around the world no matter in society, the workplace, among friends, or even inside a beloved family. Even in our blessed country, Malaysia, which is a developing country that has a wide variety of people who live in peace but still, problems in gender equality still happen in various fields such as economic, political, education, and social. As a human in society, having equal rights is an important thing that each society should have whether men or women. The ability to access opportunities, get the freedom of life, be free to participate in public and many others is the equality that all genders must have. Hence, why is gender equality in Malaysia continuing to worsen?
Thus, to figure out the main root cause of gender inequality, our group had come out with a survey to collect all the opinions and findings on this issue. We have collected the data from overall 65 responders to analyse all their feedback. To ensure that our survey is thoroughly fair and honest, we are having an equal and balanced population of gender to increase the validity of our data. We are having 33 female responders as well as 30 male responders who participated in this survey form and 2 of them prefer not to say about their gender.
For the first question, we want to know whether our responders had experienced gender discrimination in their life. Out of the blue, more than half of our responders had gender discrimination experiences in their life. 56.9% which is 37 of our responders had experienced unfair and inequality treatment. It is such a horrible and unexpected finding as it means 1 in every 2 people was facing a gender inequality problem.
There is a need for provisions to protect against gender discrimination from happening in out country. “Procrastination is the thief of time”, we truly believe that the only way to create awareness of societies is through education from childhood. It will always be better if the government can start a module specifically on teaching gender equality from a young age. And this is proven by the data which shows the majority of the responders (93.8%) think that education is essential and 56 out of the total respondents think that education is the best and most effective way to reduce gender inequality compared with organising campaigns or flyers.
Moving forward, we had come out with a question that asked the responders about the relevant reasons or causes which led to the happening of gender inequality. Well, we have provided some of the choices and obviously, from the data, we can see that the majority of the responders (63.6%) which consists of 42 people think that the working environment is the main root cause of gender inequality. There are several instances of gender inequality in this sector, including sexism, unequal pay, discriminatory hiring practices, disparate opportunities, and even sexual harassment. (Gender Inequality in the Workplace | BrightHR, 2020) For instance, one of the worst preconceptions or mindsets held by some is that "Women don't need equal wages because they are supported by their husbands." Gender bias is a pervasive problem in the workplace and in organisations, which results in inequalities at every stage of the employment cycle. Gender-based prejudices have an impact on how pay is negotiated, how managers provide feedback to their staff, who gets hired for particular roles and who doesn't, who gets selected for certain roles and why, and who gets career development opportunities and encouragement and who doesn't. Each of these elements contributes to gender inequity throughout women's careers, from recruiting to selection to promotion. (Gender Equitable Recruitment and Promotion | WGEA, 2019) Gender biases are almost always present in hiring processes, quietly influencing our perceptions of who is the "perfect" or "best" candidate for the position. This demonstrates favouritism of male colleagues over female ones, such as in daily conversation or promotions. In some instances, women may be paid less than males for performing similar occupations. The fundamental reason is the disparity in value between the skills of men and women. Other than that, sex harassment is a serious transgression that can have negative effects on both men and women. Between men and women, gender inequality can take many different forms. Therefore, it's crucial to maintain vigilance and have a clear understanding of your expectations for employee conduct in and around the workplace.
After the working environment, 62.1% (36 people) of responders choose that social mindsets are also a cause of gender inequality. There are many views on the inequality between men and women in society, and most of the inequality for boys in society is inherent. Men are typically viewed as being strong and responsible, they are raised with the assumption that they must work well in school and then find a profession that pays well in order to support their families. Therefore, many guys find it difficult to let go even when under a lot of pressure, they tend to suppress it or release the tension by drinking and smoking. When females experience pressure, they can weep to their friends, who will sympathise with them and soothe them to help them feel less strain. However, most of the injustice to women in society lies in their appearance. Since early childhood, many females have been expected to act honourably and dress nicely. Parents of many girls, therefore, encourage them to refrain from acting like boys by running around while they are young. Typically, dolls and soft toys are the toys that are purchased for girls. Some individuals would condemn females and advise them not to enjoy such violent toys if they adore weapons and tanks. Furthermore, a few nations also have tight regulations on females' clothing. For instance, in Muslim nations, girls are required to dress in a lot of clothing and a hijab when they leave the house. They had to bear the heat while keeping their clothes on, even in the sweltering summer.
Then, it was followed by religious causes which consisted of 56.1% (37 people) of responders supporting this reason. It is clearly seen that lack of religious knowledge is also one of the crucial causes of gender inequality. Stereotypes rose to the fourth-highest cause of gender disparity, accounting for 54.5% of all causes. Next, we have unequal access to education and a lack of legal protections, which together account for 25.8% of the total and are supported by 17 respondents as causes of gender disparity. 18.2% of people choose lack of body autonomy as one of the reasons, while bad healthcare has the least support with only 6.1% of the vote.
Overall, for mankind to survive, men and women are essential. To conclude this gender inequality analysis, 80% of the respondents think there will be less sex discrimination in the future. To achieve this, we need to get rid of the old-age traditions and mentality. All of us need to learn about respect and equality, especially the boys. Even though it takes a lot of work, it is feasible. We can cooperate to give both sexes the same respect and chances. It is because, based on the last question, it can see that we, as a citizen of our beloved country, Malaysia, still believe in our country and that our country can overcome this gender inequality in the future as we love this place and thus, we hope that our country will always in a sense of peace and harmony.
A complex combination of biological, developmental, and cultural variables leads to gender differences in psychology, which are disparities in the mental processes and behaviours of the gender. Differences have been discovered in several areas, including aggression propensity, personality, mood, and cognitive capacities. On the whole, men are more abrasive and have more self-esteem. Extraversion, anxiety, trust, and, particularly, tendermindedness were all traits that women tended to score higher on than men. Women prefer to work with people, whilst males prefer to deal with objects.
In sociology, gender investigates how society affects our comprehension and perspective of the distinctions between masculinity (man) and femininity (woman). When comparing how men and women behave in other cultures, it becomes clearer that gender, like all social identities, is socially constructed. Male roles are typically linked with power, aggression, and domination whereas female roles are typically associated with passivity, nurture, and servitude in the majority of civilizations. In our society, there is a desire to uphold gender roles for men and women. Men tend to be involved in fields like politics, military and law enforcement, whereas women tend to be included in childcare, healthcare and social work.
In Chinese philosophy, the fundamental elements of the Yin and Yang concept, which include the corresponding aspects of "dark and light," "female and male," and "soft and hard," reflect a fundamental law of nature: opposites are joined together to form a mutually beneficial whole. “All beings carry Yin and embrace Yang, they achieve harmony by combining these forces.” – Laozi, Dao De Ching, Chapter 42. Laozi's descriptions of these attributes can aid us in comprehending the divine origin of both masculine and feminine power. That balanced force can actually alter the course of events if we can learn to maintain it in our spiritual practice.
This is very similar to the philosophy of Sejahtera, to establish harmony both inside and outside, we need to achieve balance in well-being and holistic aspects. While the feminine force manifests in who we are and how we live, the masculine power is evident in our activity and doing. They stand for the opposing facets of our spiritual selves—doing and being, effective and fruitful, reason and love. Therefore, once a person becomes a well-balanced individual in a holistic environment, a person can contribute more to ecology, economics, cultural and societal aspects to make their family, society or country a better place.