The global gender gap is caused by gender inequalities from education, misrepresentation in politics, healthcare, and reproductive control. Scientists have determined four main modes of measurement to attempt to quantify this gender gap. These four measurements include economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. The top three ranked countries include Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The bottom three ranked countries in the global gender gap rankings include Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen. The United States is ranked in the top third at 51st. There are several cultural and social reasons that would explain each countries ranking.
The top three countries are at the top because they have better education and health. The bottom ranked countries are at the bottom because of patrilineal culture, lack of political empowerment, lack of health care, and lack of education for female citizens. In these countries women are seen secondary to men, and men have little respect for their female counterparts. Pakistan’s lack of political empowerment has ceased women’s voices by causing severe segregation between genders (Kazmi 2018). Iceland was the top ranked country because of its economic status, pagan religion, and its immense political empowerment given to female citizens. Females are almost equally represented in Iceland’s Parliament due to a Feminism movement in the late 1960’s. Women have been given a voice that can be heard via political positions. Political empowerment seems to be one of the most important factors in high rankings of gender equality. If women need more benefits in the healthcare field, then they need a person that has political influence to stand up for their rights- whether that person be male or female. Political empowerment seems to be the basis of getting voices heard and the basis of getting discrimination dealt with.
According to the World Economic Forum, the United States was not ranked in the top ten because of the underrepresentation of women in the STEM field, lack of gender parity and lack of women’s healthcare (Cann 2018). The top ten ranked countries seemed to have higher rankings in the political empowerment categories. For example, Iceland had a ranking of 1, Norway sat at third, Sweden sat at seventh, and the United States was ranked 98th (WEF 2018). The United States needs to put more effort into women’s healthcare by allowing women more political empowerment. If there are women delegates and candidates, then their are more voices to advocate for women’s health. Issues such as maternity leave without pay, lack of prenatal care, longevity, and post pregnancy deaths should be addressed as an emergency to our nation.
Reproductive responsibilities can potentially restrict women’s mobility and role in society. This has contributed to the global gender gap because when women are taking care of these responsibilities they most likely aren’t in good enough health or don’t have time for a full time job. If a woman is not working then they don’t get paid. It is not fair for companies to treat pregnancy as an injury. New mothers could be faced with post pregnancy medical issues like hemorrhages, infections, and blood clots. Their babies can also have medical issues that need to be dealt with, that would also hinder a woman from working. If women can’t work and men can, then that creates segregation and allows for men to have more opportunity to work. This creates a societal gender gap, which eventually affects the global gender gap. Some men also contribute to domestic responsibilities such as becoming stay at home dads, or taking time off of work to help out with the baby. Men also indirectly contribute by bringing in more money to pay for domestic maintenance, supplies, food, and toiletries.
Gender inequality is caused by different factors depending on the society. In Israel women were asked on the streets if they thought if men and women were treated equally in their culture. One woman was in the Air Force and did not think that she was discriminated against at all, but for the most part women were stating that they were treated unfairly. One woman admitted that she was paid less than a man, but stated that she “liked it because the men have more money to pay for [her] on dates” (Israelis – YouTube 2015). Two other women also stated that their husbands “don’t clean or cook…and are just in the way” (Israelis- YouTube 2015). There are very few female CEO’s or female representatives in the Israeli government to stand up for Israeli women. They face the same issues as the United States-lack of political empowerment and economic opportunity.
YouTube Video Link
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+israeli+what+is+the+status+of+women+in+israel&view=detail&mid=CB8B18A56D0D817EEF17CB8B18A56D0D817EEF17&FORM=VIRE
what are men’s domestic responsibilities in the US.
Discuss factors related to inequalities in the country of your choice.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjF9oKrwb7iAhWrg-AKHVZiD78QjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2Ffunny%2Fcomments%2F2hkowc%2Fgender_equality%2F&psig=AOvVaw3F3tvCzUsy_GS8jAEOmiKN&ust=1559142680264785