Thread:Gender equality, gender norms/values/stereotypes ... (8)

Hello Mulakam, Kaziba, Isaac, Chichi,Shining Star, Smauyed and the rest of participants,

I feel so proud to relise how much information and interest that all of you have in issues of gender. All of you have provided very correct and interesting contributions on gender, sex, gender roles from the previous discussion and now on gender equality and gender values/norms/stereotypes.

Mulakam, you are right that gender equality espexts both a woman and a man to get equal pay if they have the same qualifications and also do the same job. A man and a woman should only get different salaries if they are not doing the same job and they do not have the same qualifications if there is gender equality. It is only in a country or society where there is no gender equality where a man will get a higher salary than a woman just because he is a man and society says that a man has to get a higher salary than a woman even when they have same qualifications and are doing same job just because he is a man, he is a bread winner and head of a household as indicated by Shining Star. Shining Star, you are right that in such a case, definitely there is gender enaqualities. i also agree with you Shining Star that there are still a number of cases in many countries where some male subordinates look down upon their female supervisors or do not take decisions made by their female supervisors becuase societ expects a woman to always be led by a man. Actually, Shining Star and colleagues, ther also some female subordinates who also look down upon female supervisors because society tells them that a woman can not be a leader and therefeor, they believe that they can not be let by a fellow woman. Chichi and Smauyed, thank your contibutions on gender equality and norms/values/steotypes. I also want to welc ome Kaziba to the discussion.

After having said what I said above, allow me to remind you what is in your notes about gender equality, values/norms/stereotypes.

Gender equality - equal rights, responsibilities, opportunities,treatment and valuation of women and men at work places and in business and in the relation between work and life. Gender equality also includes the same human and workers' rights and equal value and fair distribution of responsibilities, opportunities, workload, decision making and income.

It is alos important to note that gender equality will benefit both women and men and therefore both women and men should work together to attain gender equality.

Gender norms/values/sterewotypes - is the ideas/perceptions of society on what they want women and men to be like e.g a man should not cry in public, a woman should not talk in the presence of men etc.

They are also ideas and perceptions of society on what they want women and men to do.

Norms/values/stereotypes are just ideas and perceptions but are not yet happenning and this is what makes them different from gender roles. Gender roles is what women and men already do. This is why in our discussion on gender roles, I continued making a correction that gender roles is what women and men are already doing and not what socierty want them to do.

I hope and trust that we are all getting clear about some of these gender tems because it is important that we are clear about them as trainers in order for us to provide the correct information.

There are more gender terms in your notes wwhich we may not be able to discuss due to lack of time. I want to ask and encourage all of you to take time to read and understand them. You can ask me any questions during the week and any time you feel like.

We now want to look at a new discussion on the gender constraints that young people face in business and what we can do about them.