Essay Sample on The Well-Being of Women and Girls

Introduction

Expectations diversity exists due to societal set up on upbringing. Expectations diversity is caused by societal agents like cultural norms, socialization, attitudes and gender roles. The agents reinforce both men and women expectations and behavior. Cultural norms expect male genders to act with aggression, strength, and dominance. Women are expected to be caring, passive and subordinate. Socialization also influences men and women expectations beginning from birth. Education, family, mass media and peer groups constitute socialization, which constantly shapes perception and expectations of gender roles (Carpenter, 2006). Orthodox masculinity refers to the alignment of achieved men variables with social dominance. Inclusive masculinity refers to the stratification of men's gender based on homohysteria and homophobia. Inclusive femininity constitutes normal values women are expected to portray towards men. However, the issue of women discrimination has been contentious from historic time and efforts to bring about women and men equality has been ongoing and much has been achieved. Pinkwashing, an aspect of using progressive or tolerant behavior to appeal the society while concealing the negative attributes, is a major factor that affects the well-being of women and girls.

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Gender Violence

Violence against women remains to be one of the most prevalent crimes of humanity worldwide. More than 50% of all women go through at least one form of violence in their lives with the majority of the cases happening before the women turn 30 years (Phillips & Gritzner, 2009). However, this does not absolve the mature women from violence since a number of those above 30 years whether married or single, do go through violent experiences, some emanating from their husbands and others from associates. Most abused women need medical help, and the treatment cost is often high hence the need to end such violence. In many cases, the violence results in emotional suffering that ends up in the victim being depressed though, in some cases, the offender inflicts bodily harm on his victim. Below is an analysis of the viability of some campaign programs as well as their efficiency in bringing the much-desired results of ending violence against women. In the United States, the NFL has been criticized for using pink ribbon to promote their products and brand while it only contributes 8% of its profit to breast cancer awareness campaigns (Billson & Fluehr-Lobban, 2013). Furthermore, the league uses the pink merchandise to unethically hide the unchecked sexual and domestic violence as well as the poor pay for cheerleaders who are usually young women.

The Rose Campaign

The Rose Campaign is a program that runs in Canada as a national campaign that sensitizes people about the need to embrace the social wellbeing of each other in society. The campaign has been supporting many disadvantaged women to secure jobs and start businesses as a way of assisting them to fight violence against women. The Rose Campaign encourage men to act as role models in campaigning to eliminate violence by encouraging men to share positive information on how to have a successful dating experience that makes families live peacefully. The campaigns aim to teach men and boys that there is nothing like a defeat in families and relationships (Clisby & Holdsworth, 2014). To demonstrate this, they organize sporting events between boys and fathers, boys and girls and they advocate the losing side to learn from mistakes that led them to lose and then plan in advance on how to become winners next time. In such competitions, they tell people, not to be ashamed of defeat and instead praise and congratulate the winner so that they can receive the same congratulations when they will win next.

White Ribbon Campaign (WRC)

The White Ribbon Campaign started in Canada 20 years ago as a way of sensitizing people on the need to stop violence against women. Five dedicated men who rely on donated office space to coordinate activities for this campaign run the WRC. The program is initiated by men with an aim of changing perceptions of other men concerning violence (Clisby & Holdsworth, 2014). This program has a presence in over seventy countries whereby in each country people volunteer their time and resources to sensitize the community on how to end violence against women.

Gender Deviance

When society expects something from someone, it becomes part of their identity. Society expects different things from men and from women. These things are what have become the definition of a man and the definition of a woman. The society may progress in many ways but the definitions of what it means to be a man or a woman are still the same (Stacy, 2009). Today, there are roles and occupations that are still regarded as "men's work" and "women's work. For example, modern women still believe that it is the duty of the man to provide and it is their duty to do household chores. Jobs such as mechanics are still believed to be "men's work". Education and modernization, however, have led to an increase in gender deviance. Women are now engaging in paying jobs and some of them provide for the family while their husbands are the caregivers to the children. Today, it is common to find women who engage in "men's work" and men who engage in "women's work".

In medical, there has been recent research and findings that revealed a different picture regarding payments between genders. The research revealed that female doctors are being paid way less than their male colleagues by a greater margin. The difference could not be explained why it happens like so. The doctors have the same working hours, environment and qualifications, but the salaries between the males and the females were different (Motilal & Bijayalaxmi, 2006). The special unrepresented groups have also been recognized by the government in recent times. Special groups like lesbians, transsexuals, bisexuals, and gays have been recognized and gradually gaining respect from society. The government promotes freedoms and rights to these groups as any other group. They deserve access to equal employment opportunities and social facilities just like any other citizen. The government fines and offer penalties to individuals who disrespect their rights. The society has in the past viewed this special group with suspicion, but nowadays the culture is slowly changing and they are given equal opportunities as others. The government has even passed a law that protects their freedoms and welfares. Further, the special group has formed a nonprofit organization that fights for their welfares (Motilal & Bijayalaxmi, 2006).

In management, there has been a different change in leadership styles between genders. The female managers are usually over strict, bossy, unsocial in terms of leadership as compared to the male managers. Most employees prefer working under a male leader than a female. The male managers are indeed strict but social and respectful of other people's opinions and feelings (Motilal & Bijayalaxmi, 2006). It can clearly be noted that there exists a clear difference between male and female treatments in any environment. In terms of payment, the majority of women are usually paid less in the workplaces as compared to their male workmates. The difference of payment especially between genders of the same workgroup frequently causes friction and disagreements between employees.

Male pride is another disease that pollutes the current society. Many men lack interest in occupations which are widely dominated by women. They believe that the job lacks value or the female employees are less qualified and lead to poor pay for the men. The men should take up the challenge that instead of leaving the jobs; they should stand up for the women and fight for their rights. Studies have shown that it is about time that people should recognize all human beings have different attitudes and behaviors. Men, who are punished by their wives or by any female, are normally seen as weak or less manly. The wives could be physically strong than the husband and such a situation could arise. Therefore, society should change this perception of 'weakness' and understand they are also humans. Nonprofit organizations have started educating the society about the rights of men and women that should apply to all people.

Conclusion

The issue of gender inequities still exists in the 21st century. However, the difference in inequalities between the past and the recent time's is slowly changing. This is due to education from the government and other nonprofit organizations within society. Gender issues should be handled keenly and equally at any given time to prevent disagreements within an organization. Disagreements bring about strikes, violence, and other social problems which in turn slow down an organization and hinder the economy as a whole. Violence against women has been around for a while, but it is a thing that society can easily do away with. Society should change violence against women and trust them with higher and challenging responsibilities as a way of empowering the female population. Groups fighting violence against women should scan the environment continuously to find new ways of curbing violence while empowering both parties to speak out any family problems and find lasting solutions. The lasting resort to fighting violence against women is by educating the women about their rights, and informing them how they can be accountable for upholding those rights. Women issues should not be used to appeal the society as progressive while the real challenges affecting women and girls remain unresolved. The pink ribbon merchandise should be ethically used to promote awareness about breast cancer and LGBT rights but not for generating profits like the case of the NFL. The society should eliminate pinkwashing from all spheres of politics, economics, social and culture to promote transparency and gender equality.

References

Stacy, H. (2009). Human Rights for the 21st Century: Sovereignty, Civil Society, Culture. Stanford, Califonia: Stanford University Press.

Motilal, S. & Bijayalaxmi, N. (2006). Human Rights, Gender and Environment. New Delhi: Allied Publishers. Phillips, A. & Gritzner, F. (2009). Human Rights. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

Carpenter, C. (2006). Recognizing Gender-Based Violence against Civilian Men and Boys in

Conflict Situations. Security Dialogue, 37, 87-103.

Billson, J. M., & Fluehr-Lobban, C. (2013). Female well-being: Toward a global theory of social change. London: Zed Books.

Clisby, S., & Holdsworth, J. (2014). Gendering women: Identity and mental wellbeing through the lifecourse. New York: Policy Press.