What are the hindrances to achieving gender equality?

Answer 1

Capitalism

I am going to focus on western culture, as I think that it would be fair to say that in some other parts of the world such reasons as religion could not too unfairly be singled out.

So concentrating on the main western countries, the hindrance to equality between the genders is capitalism. This is for a variety of reasons. However, there is one overriding factor and that is capitalism creates a profit before almost anything else culture.

Firstly I think that it is important to explore some of the inequalities that there are between the genders. These include such facts as women are unequal to men in the fact that very often perspective employers are not that keen to give them equal jobs to men as they see them as being a potential liability in financial terms. This is obviously because it is the women who are the ones who give birth to children and then have to take time out of their work. Employers then have to try to find a suitable replacement as well as in many cases having to fork out payment for maternity leave. Very few employers are prepared to provide any after care such as crèche facilities as this costs money too.

Added to this it is estimated that women in Britain on average will earn as much 180,000 GB pounds less in the UK over the course of their lifetime than a man. This can and often does put men in a far more dominant position than the majority of women.

So to address the actual question asked which was what are the hindrances to achieving gender equality? I would say that capitalism is the main one as it divides the genders as each gender tends to take on a somewhat predetermined role.

So my conclusion is that only revolution and the overthrow of capitalism leading to communism is the answer.

Religion

Gender relations are the result of the way social practices act to form social relations. Most religions are male dominated. Religion cannot be ignored as the most fundamental, pervasive and universal hindrance to gender equality both in the East and the West.

Male dominance has characterized human relations throughout human history. Several schools of thought hold that organized religion was developed as a means to keep women subordinated to men. Throughout human history religious doctrines have defined and reinforced the subservient role of woman both in religious and public life. Her position was defined as a helpmate to the men in her life and her place was the home. She was to serve first her father then her husband. She was viewed as property. She was not educated. She could not take part in political life. She had no legal power nor influence. She was sequestered and not allowed to experience life freely as her brothers.

The countries with the least religious influence are the most gender-egalitarian. In the West, religious influence in laws that benefitted men and denied legal rights to women prevailed into the twentieth century. In the East, they still prevail.