Why Sexism? No Gender Equality?

Imagine the world, where everybody is equal. There will be no discrimination, no conflict and no assault. We all once dreamed that it will be what the world is going to be, but unfortunately, that is not what the world wants to be. Not everybody is nice as we think, and they will make obstacles to stop our dreams from happening. Discrimination, sexism, things that stop the dream we all long for it to be true. Religion and cultures have their own practises, but that does not mean that there cannot be a female priest, female that take the roles that are stereotypical male roles. At the current rates, the world is changing, with the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, and the first female resident in the world, Marma Estela ‘Isabel’ Martinez Cartas de Peron of Argentina.Even though those people have broken walls of gender discrimination, there are still many barriers made from culture beliefs to religion. Every female should have a right to education, to learn even the basics of how to read and write, that girls can play any sport they want, even if it is a boyish sport like contact rugby, and women should have the same wage as men for the same jobs.

People say that ‘education is a right, like the right to have proper food and a roof over your head.’ For many, it is funny that girls do not need to go to school, and part of the reason is that they do not have a choice. They might not have enough money, or their parents do not want them to go to school, and instead helping the farm etc. Many girls in the world are rejected for what they want to do, going to school. According to the book ‘I am Malala’, she was shot in the head for what she wants to do. Yes, the talibans have their reasons, but people in the opposite sex are humans as well. And it is normal for humans to go to school. In other countries, girls can go to school without people shooting their head because they go to school. They face a different obstacle, things like pregnancy, child marriage, poverty and school based violence. In worst case scenarios, those people get discriminated because they are trying to get through those obstacles that others might not realize. They are discriminated because they are different than the other students around them.

According to the UN, there are 7 main advantages for girls having a good education. (some not relevant)
- Education beats poverty. One extra year of schooling increases a person’s earnings by up to 10%. 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills. This explains that education is proven to help people to get out of poverty. - - Education can help people to get out of those harsh rural areas with bad living conditions to the great white way.
- Education promotes gender equality. Women who went to school understand the danger in processing a child, and this helps them to control how many children each family can have. For example, in Mali, a women with at least a secondary education have an average of 3 children, while those with no education have an average of 7 children. This explains that with education there will be a decrease of population, and the world will not be so overpopulated, and that people will not produce a lot of children knowing the dangers of producing a lot of children.
- Education contributes to provide maternal health. Women with higher levels of education are more likely to delay and space out their pregnancies, and to seek health care and support.
- Education helps combat HIV, malaria and other preventable diseases. This facilities access to treatments and fight against stigma and discrimination. This means that education can decrease the world’s death rate, whether it have a positive effect or a negative consequence.
- Education helps global development. ‘An estimated $16 billion in aid is needed annually to reach the EFA goals in poor countries. However, in 2008 poor countries received only $2 billion aid for basic education. The worldwide military expenditure for 2009 was $1.5 trillion.’

Stereotypical girls, do they have to sacrifice of what they want to be in the future just because of their gender? This theory applies for jobs. One of the main streaks of employment discrimination is gender. Why can’t girls work as an engineer? Rejecting a female because of her natural habitat? Rejecting a female just because… because she is a female? The world can create any kind of nonsense they want us to face.
(Unfinished)

Sports. Either its rugby, baseball etc, many debate that girls should not play boy sport. Firstly, how will you define boy sport? A sport that only boys can play? Can’t all girls play boy sport? Why not just make a girl team? Many say that girls are not as physically strong as boys, but girls can play what sport they want to play. Girls are generally stereotypically at home, as the men are stereotypically known as wiser. Sports like football, contact rugby and baseball are generally known as boy sport. Some people have to give up what they love because of what they are born into. Girls are just as good as the boys. Maybe with longer hair, silkier skin, slightly shorter, a little less masculine, they are just the same. Some girls could possibly have equal skills perhaps even better. Having their own rights is like having a cupcake that was yours, and was given not by choice to another person. Girls could be tougher than the boys who think they are the best at sports.
Personally, I play quite a lot of sports, but people judge me because I am smaller, shorter and look like I have no muscle at all. Little did they know that I was trained for a long time, and even if I have already showed them that I can play that sport 10 times better than them, they still believe that I am a total brat that is nothing but showing off. Women have their own skills and qualities, but if they wanted to play boy sports, then let their dreams come true. I have also been there when boys discriminated of what sports I should like and what sport I shouldn’t. I have always liked playing sports like badminton, basketball, touch rugby and many other sport, and yet I am still this small. People do not usually believe that I even play sport, generally commenting on the size that I am in. Only a few people see that I always have tanned skin and spotable muscle on my legs and arms. People have to understand that we girls can play whatever sport we want, and might not have to be the same team as the boys. The teams does not matter as much as enjoying the sport itself.

In the world, there are lots of confusions. Disagree or not, those rules have been set to make the world better. Even if there are many people that follow those rules, there are people out there that disagree of what it is made for the better. What we are living now is only the beginning. There are many other challenges in the future that is waiting for humanity to face. We are only solving the first pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The world need to stop discriminating people. Be the change you want to see in the world. Follow your dreams. Support gender equality.

Don't Listen to the Stereo

From a young age, we are introduced to a world full of stereotypes. Specifically, gender. The media, our parents, our religion and our society are just some of the aspects that influence our beliefs and in a way, have overtime created gender stereotypes. They can sometimes teach us unideal ways of living. Stereotypes categorise humans into groups that tell us what we are meant act or be like, which in result can make many feel untrue to themselves or like outcasts.

Her life has been set out for her. Finish school, get married, have kids and support the breadwinner of the family.

Noshin is terrified as she overhears her mother on the phone with her grandmother, sobbing one night, saying that her life has been ruined by the men in their family. Her grandmother’s whole life consisted of assisting men and she could hardly be her own person. She didn’t want to live like that anymore. Noshin cries to herself thinking about how unfair her grandmothers life was. “In my country, Bangladesh, women are treated more as maids” said Noshin Saiyaara, 14. “The life of a girl; clean the house, cook and take care of the kids.” This makes it clear that to this day, there are still unequal and stereotypical behaviour in society. This could be because of her religion and that they believe it's right. But is it? Should this be socially acceptable in a society where more and more cultures have grown to be more open about the decisions that women make to become more of equals and not maids?

Noshin told our journalist that she wants change. Her siblings and herself are determined to change the traditions of her family to benefit their lives for the better. “I want to change the routines of my family. I’m not going to sit around and do nothing, I want to work and contribute to my family.” Her experience has empowered her to change their ways, to be who she aspires to be in the future.

From a variety of people that took part in a survey on their thoughts about where stereotypes originated, the most commonly agreed opinion, with more than 50% of the surveyed people, is that stereotypes have been an ongoing tradition for a very long time. For instance, during medieval times there were little to no women as knights and it was the men's job to be chivalrous towards the women. Women were thought to be more delicate so their jobs were often to do housework and cook and maintain the family.

In modern day, we have come to a point where stereotypes have been advertised so much, that they have started to infect more and more of the human species into thinking that they might be true. Isabella Duncan, a student from an 8th grade english class thinks that “Overtime, stereotypes have been reinforced by people with fixed mindsets.” In many ways this is true. Through the people in the media and our society, the message that women and men are different and not equals is very clear statement. You may not realise it, but everyday the commercials you see can have traces of gender stereotypically and it’s hard to realise it because they’re just so common.

Many ideas are reinforced through television to a specific audience. To do this, commercials have to make it relatable to the audience hence, showing things a girl and/or boy would do. In the case study “GENDER STEREOTYPES IN MASS MEDIA” by Malgorzata Wolska, she states “More and more commercials are directed to children. They indicate ‘the proper place’ in the society for girls and boys. Girls are shown as babysitters nursing dolls or cleaning house with a pink cleaning kit, whereas boys do sports or play computer games.” It mentions that most commercials main target audience is children, so the concept of gender stereotypically is already being engraved into their heads. In the future, when they understand how it impacts their identity, they will have a ‘template’ to follow.

Everyone can be affected because of gender stereotypes in many ways. Having to be a certain way and being surrounded by people who support gender stereotypes, can sometimes result in peer pressure and bullying. Life as a middle schooler can be hard, considering that there are lots of pressures with fitting in with others. A middle school student who wished to remain anonymous, tells their story “I am a dancer and a singer and that's what I want to do when I'm older. Ever since I was young, I've been bullied for doing what I like to do. I started hanging out with girls because some of them had the same interests in dance as me or they just understood. I think boys are more disturbed with the stereotype issue and they find it harder to welcome misfits, than girls do.” What is revealed here is that sometimes, people can get peer pressured if they don’t follow a stereotype because it's unfamiliar to others, so the action and person is slightly alienated.

What's strange, is that it's harder for a boy to enjoy something that usually a girl would like, than the other way around, because they usually get picked on by other boys who are more manly. Rhea Goyal’s theory for this is that “In the past, boys have generally been viewed as stronger, smarter etc. while girls were viewed as inferior to boys, so now society says it’s okay for a girl to move up to a boy’s standard, but not okay for boys to move down to a girl’s standard.” It suggests that by being a boy and doing things a girl would do, it would make you less of a man, and that you are admitting to being weak.

Lately there has been less discrimination towards people that happen to go against the grain of a stereotype, but it still happens. If you are someone that is in this situation, know that you are not alone and that there are always going to be people to help and are going through something similar. Its great to be yourself, to be unique. Don’t let stereotypes and hateful comments from others hold back what you desire to be or do. “There shouldn't be any barriers or force, because people's choices are their own,” said Noshin Saiyaara.

Let's imagine that all these concepts have been compiled and put into a stereo. Some of the music could be great, and you like to listen to it, but sometimes there is going to be bad music. People might have different tastes to you, but you don’t need to change your taste to please others.