notes

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Gender Equality: Notes
The video talks about one of the most contentious topics in the world of humanity: ‘Gender Parity.’ The underlying theme is ‘reasons why men and women, girls and boys, males and females have never been equal in many societies. While men enjoy several preferences and priorities, women vacillate the pangs of restriction from doing a lot of things. In many societies, the girl-child is not allowed to speak before men, perform managerial or leadership roles, go anywhere, do whatever she wants, and wear what she wants (BBCNews 0:01-2:23). Similarly, some behaviors are believed to more for the girls than boys. For instance, crying when hurt, a girlish behavior.
Further, although there are many laws to protect boys and girls, no country in the world has ever declared to be gender equal (BBCNews 2:32). However, some countries like Iceland tend to portray a different culture. Both boys and girls are culturally viewed as similar in regards to what they can do and how they should behave. The situation is, however, different in Jordan where men and women have specific lines to maintain in terms of behaviors and actions.
Essentially, as per BBCNews, culture is the main obstacle preventing women from being equal to men. More often than not, culture defines gender roles, gender relations and gender stereotypes, which makes the society to consider, view, and approach every subset of gender differently. Women, for instance, are seen to be good at performing feminine roles, such as caring and cooking; men, on other hands, are seen to be good at performing hard tasks, such as protecting the family.

So, culture, gender perceptions, and gender expectations are the key deterrents to gender equality. These elements prescribe social orders which guide how men and women should relate. Consequently, girls are seen as disrespectful, wild, or crazy when they go against these social orders. Thus, gender parity is real, and its cure is not in the laws, but in the culture society; only if culture can change.
Work Cited
BBCNews. “What stands in the way of women being equal to men?”
YouTube, YouTube, 26 Mar. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayj9EVc2ZLI.