Gender Inequality

Gender Inequality is a very important issue when we think about how societies work and how they view one another. When sociologists look at gender differences, they look to see how society behave with male and female, individually and as a whole which allows them to see how people work together. This is a very deep and important topic that often causes many conflicts in society. We see indifferences all around the world, from many different time periods, and sadly even today.

In the text, Introduction to Sociology, their was a section about how families looked at the birth of  a child in the family. How the reactions of family members differed because of the gender of their new born. Over time, it seems that people do stop to directly show that their is no difference between girls and boys, but they still indirectly differentiate a lot. Its very unfortunate to see that their were people, and yet still till this day people who believe that the birth of a girl is bad. Girls don't get treated as well as boys do. As mentioned in the book, boys get more attention. The inequality does exist. Just recently, when the 2009 Presidential elections were taking place, many people, even women were doubting whether or not a lady would be suited for the job and responsibility of a president. It is very difficult to see that women, knowing the prejudice and the downward look from society on women, still will criticize another women to doing something good and something that can benefit women to higher and more opportunities of work in fields that were man dominated.

It is sad to see women creating inequalities between each other and not being supportive for the tasks they have never been able to uphold before, but what is more hurting is when parents show such negative inequality they have for one child over the other because of gender. Gender inequality has been a practice by parents of those who reside in countries that have/ had not seen the positive in raising children of the gender. For example, the Romans. They were told to kill their children if they were girls or small and weak babies. Those inequalities were set because Rome was a dominant empire and wanted  to hold their strength and their empire, but today, children and considered burdens. My parents are from Punjab, India and they as well as other family have told me countless about how life for girls is considered to be very difficult. Raising and giving birth to a girl is considered an expense and headache, because parents have to look after her well being and have to provide for her when she won't be giving anything back to the family, because eventually when she turns of age, she is set to get married. Boys on the other hand are said to be assets because they will provide for the family once the parents are old and look after the house and business after them. This ill thinking and discrimination against children isn't setup by parents themselves, but society.

Society shows the negative affect of having one gender child over the other. It is utmost unbearable to have to listen to my parents and family talking about things that girls are considered to be an expense. I have sisters, and they mean a lot to me, and it is a shame that their are families out their that give no respect to their children just because they are a girl. Children aren't a business, but society makes it seem like rearing a child and caring for them and having to withstand them is a job which bears fruits of pain.

Society has many faults, but the fault and the mistake that many arrogant and ignorant people don't seem to see is that problems like gender inequality are nothing more then waste of time. Everyone is created equal and society and no one has the ability or right to put barriers on one's potential because of how someone is, and especially not because of gender. Unfortunately, this happens, because people won't speak up for what is wrong, and go with what society says. People are so concerned with what others will think of them, that they forget to live life. Life is one's own, and not to be shared with society and people who wouldn't care about happens to you in times of need. People who stranded their children for death, because of societies' unwritten rule that one gender is better than the other, miss out on so much happiness that they had.  These situations and problems aren't meant to be protested against by riots and violence, but to be dealt by indirectly going against the rules of society and living for one's life. Its your life, you have say, not society of what happens and doesn't. This rebellion against societies unjust does seem to be difficult, but lives are saved anf their is more happiness that goes around instead of hate and violence.