Article Review
The author introduces the subject of gender by giving background information on how modern research on gender was triggered by various women’s movements that advocated for gender equality. The article highlights that gender inequality varies in different parts of the world and that even defining man or woman is at times contested. According to the author, gender issues are applicable to both men and women (Connell, 2009). The gender reform and gender science are also word wide with more research on gender having been done in Europe and North America. The author associates the success in international research on gender studies to globalization.
The article is about the perspective of gender in the world. It highlights how there are very few women in senior government positions and other leadership positions in the corporate world. In the United States, for example, the author mentions that Hillary Clinton would have become the first woman to be elected as a major party candidate for president in the 200 year history of US. To emphasize how leadership positions are gender biased, the author mentions Russia, France, China, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt as some of the countries that have never had a woman as a head of government (Connell, 2009). In addition, the author mentions that all the heads of World Bank and the secretary generals of United Nations have been men. The article continues to state that a recent study conducted by Inter-parliamentary Union showed that 82.5 % of all the members of the world’s parliaments were men.
According to the author, the presence of women in positions of influence are not common in business world just like it is rare to find many women being appointed to cabinet positions. In the stock exchange, there are very few organizations that have women as their CEO (Connell, 2009). In general, women are said to occupy only 2% of the top leadership positions in the world.
The author has illustrated the job discrimination based on gender. Women are mostly assigned to perform clerical tasks, domestic chores, and professions such as teaching and nursing. The jobs for women are normally low paying while men are mostly hired to perform technical tasks that are highly paying. In addition, the author has mentioned how women are also involved in the unpaid domestic tasks such as cleaning, cooking, and looking after children. In a family setup, the article states that fathers are the decision makers and breadwinners and are responsible in representing their families in the outside world.
According to the author, women are economically dependent on men because they earn less than men. The author supports this claim by illustrating how women wages are compared in different countries. For instance, it is mentioned in the article that nowhere in the world do women earn the same as men. Women are paid highest in Sweden where they earn 81% of what men earn (Connell, 2009). The percentages are however lower in other countries such as USA where they earn 63% of men’s income. Mexico and Indonesia are reported to have a lower income for women standing at 46% and 39% respectively.
I agree with the author on the issue of gender inequality in employment. For many years women are considered to be fit to perform domestic chores that are mostly unpaid and are hired in less paying jobs than men. This is evident in the contemporary society where technical jobs such as engineering, IT, and senior management are preserved for the men with only few women hired in such positions. I also agree with the author when he mentions that most women are economically dependent on men because they earn less than men. The example is given of families where women have to depend on men as breadwinners.
It is also true that most prominent positions in governments are occupied by men. Cabinet positions in many countries have very few women and such women are at times referred to as having acquired men’s traits. The author has gone into details to mention various countries in the world and how women take leadership positions.
The author uses different types of evidence to illustrate gender inequality in regard to the jobs that are traditionally performed by men and women. In order to convince the reader on how women’s earnings are never equal to men’s, the author has mentioned some of the best countries in terms of gender equality and some of the countries where gender inequality is rampant such as Indonesia and Mexico. In Sweden where gender inequality is not much, the author has indicated that women earn 81% of what men earn while in Mexico they earn only 39% of men’s earnings (Connell, 2009). The use of practical evidence has made the author to be successful in conveying his argument.
The author has mentioned that some domestic violence is caused by disagreements between husbands and wives. To support this claim, the author mentions that men may at times kill their wives in domestic quarrels. I think such a serious claim required some practical example where the author should have mentioned some real cases where women have been killed by men through domestic violence.
In general, the author has explained gender using practical facts such as mass media, sports, politics, business, and family setup. In all the examples used by the author it is clear that gender inequality is common in various aspects. For instance, senior leadership positions in politics are dominated by men with women mostly taking the clerical work. In business and in the corporate world, few women are in leadership positions. In addition, the author has demonstrated how women tend to be associated with domestic work with men playing the role of family heads. The author has stated that gender is multi-dimensional and is not just about sexuality, power, work, or identity. Instead, gender is about social structures and combines all these elements.
List of Reference
Connell, R. (2009). Gender: In World Perspective. Cambridge: Polity.
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