For so long, the idea of gender equality has been a topic of concern among societies.
The human society has always been a patriarchal society but things are changing now. And this change is happening because few women raised their voices against the injustice that they had to face. It is only because of their initiation that today we are seeing this transformation. But initiation does not mean acceleration. Especially, when there are so many masculine boulders in your way. So, there has been a slow but progressive change.
A large wave pushing the idea of gender equality, pushing the idea of equal rights, pushing the idea of being heard equally came, when Tarana Burke, an American social activist and community organizer, began using the phrase “Me Too” as early as 2006, and the phrase was later popularized by American actress Alyssa Milano, on Twitter in 2017. Milano encouraged victims of sexual harassment to tweet about it and “give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem”. A number of high-profile posts and responses from American celebrities Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Lawrence, and Uma Thurman, among others, soon followed and many so-called culture bounded people were unmasked. And, here again, it was a woman who took her own fight.
The thing is, change is happening, may be slow, but it is happening. Now, only few societies are left where women are still suppressed in comparison to men but I am sure that will change too.
Soon, all women will be standing shoulder to shoulder with men, and the so-called gender equality will be achieved. Yes, so-called. I think now, when the youth want to progress with the times and embrace the full spectrum of human identity, is the perfect time to understand and accept gender equality on a broader level.
When we think about gender equality, we should not only think about equal opportunities for women and men but also for the transgender. To digest and implement this thinking, we must first understand the basic difference between “sex” and “gender”.
In general terms, “sex” refers to biological characteristics and “gender” refers to the individual’s and society’s perceptions of sexuality and the malleable concepts of masculinity and femininity. And today when we talk about gender equality, the definitions being given are themselves an inequality. Because gender equality is not just about equality of biological characteristics. It’s about equality of individual’s perceptions of sexuality. It’s about how an individual wants to live her/his own life.
If we think, we may realise that how ruthlessly we have failed as a society, as human beings, that because of us, a section of society had been forced to live under a fake identity of suppression. But, as I said, change is happening, slowly, but happening. And proof of this change was given by the Supreme court of India in 2018, when the judges of the apex court struck down the old rusted chains of article 377 by giving a brave statement: “I am what I am, so take me as I am”.
But that was a legal change. And we know for a fact that legal laws aren’t always the panacea. As many legal laws were made in the past to end the masquerade of social evils but they were successful only when they were amalgamated with the social change. Social Change is a very slow process and it only starts with questioning. Questioning yourself about whatever you are doing. Is it right or wrong? And, if you possess the guts to question yourself, then I think a better change is not far away. Because, as I say, “Acceptance is the foremost step towards Correction”. And it feels so good to see that social change is happening too and at a very positive rate. It won’t be wrong to speculate that soon all the genders would be standing at equal heights. And when that happens, we might achieve gender equality.
Yes, we “might”.
Now, let’s talk about the 3rd and most vicious elephant in the room, “choice”. When we think about a gender equated society, we tend to imagine a situation where all the genders share equal space at the work place. We never dare to imagine a girl or a boy doing households with a smile on their face. Why? Because, we have this notion of gender equality that all genders need to work, need to earn. But what about a boy who wants to be a home-maker? What about a girl who likes to wear hijaab?
We don’t respect their choices, and just expect them to act according to our definitions of gender equality. This is not at all Gender Equality.
A society equal for all can only be created only when we respect everyone’s choices. Now, here I am not talking about respecting someone’s choice to be a criminal or terrorist or thief. These choices are obviously out of the question because these choices hurt other people. Personal choices, the repercussions of which must be contained within the individual herself, should be respected.
So, I think the best notion of Gender Equality would not be just equality for women and men, would not be just equal positions for all the genders but would be “Freedom of Choice for every individual”.