Reasons and History of Gender Discrimination

 
Women form part of the vulnerable groups of populations because of their susceptibility as soft targets in the male-dominated society. Though significant gains have been made to educate society about gender equality, the progress to accommodate women at the same level as men remains a great challenge. Contrastingly, most organizations still have more men in leadership positions than women because of an underlying stereotyping of the role, responsibilities, and the place of the woman in society. Women have continued to fight for emancipation, and today, the struggle has almost paid off, as seen in the significant gains made, especially in recognition of women as productive, intelligent, and independent members of society. Despite their vulnerability, women have become empowered and can now fight for equal opportunities as their male colleagues though challenges still abound on social acceptability.

In a highly patriarchal society, women have been emancipated to break societal stereotypes that relegated their roles and responsibilities as secondary and inferior to those done by men. Initially, women’s place in society was left in the kitchen and to attend to young ones besides childbearing, and they were never expected to share their views in the presence of men. Cultural persuasions contributed significantly to the limitations and abuse against women, thus greatly subduing their influence on the community’s social, economic, and political affairs, limiting their capacity to participate in any topical issue that directly impacted the people.

The economic development plans advocates for patriarchal society that undermines and impoverishes women in the society just like the colonial era. The economic projects such as construction of dams, establishment of industries and commercialization of natural resources such as forest displaces women from productive activities. The flagship projects in the developing nations that are sponsored by Western nations remove women from the control of productive land, forest and water from the control. The projects pollute water, soil and creates deforestation thus creating survival crisis for women who can hardly provide for themselves and their children. In every society, women are the main contributors to the children’s welfare. The driving values and principles for the economic projects are against women thus creating a passive patriarchal society.