‘’We act as if that being of a man or that being of a woman is actually an internal reality or something that is simply true about us, a fact about us, but actually it’s a phenomenon that is being produced all the time and reproduced all the time, so to say gender is per formative is to say that nobody really is a gender from the start’’. Judith Butler
The gender gap has been prevalent in our societies since centuries. Women are classified as second class citizens with not much say in their own lives. In a male dominated society the female gender is given a subordinate role while the real power is in the hands of men. This huge gap is not only present in Pakistan or the subcontinent, its seen all over the world. No matter how developed the country is. In some places it is less than others but it is there.
‘’You just wish sometimes that people would treat you like a human being rather than seeing your gender first and who you are second”’. Frances O’Grady.
The role of women have been limited to just mothers, daughters and wives, they are not seen as professional individuals. Persons who can go out into the world and work for their own lives. For example women are still not given prominent roles in the army, they are not allowed to go out and fight in the field. Even if women are provided opportunities, it’s just office work with little or any exposure at all.
Men are supposed to go out and earn money, while women have to stay home and take care of the household; this is the common thinking of the people of our country. The gender gap is not very visible in the liberal modern elite households but it’s very common in the low income households. Even when the marriage arrangement is going on, a man’s professional success is used to measure him while for the women it’s just how good she looks physically and what can she cook.
A woman’s abilities, her individuality and her creativity are just limited and restricted to her house work skills by the society. Her ambitions are not encouraged and she loses her worth as a human being.
‘’Countries with higher levels of gender equality have higher economic growth. Companies with more women on their boards have higher returns. Peace agreements that include women are more successful. Parliaments with more women take up a wider range of issues – including health, education, anti-discrimination, and child support’’. Ban Ki-moon
Women are drowning in a well of depression because of the constant oppression. Most do not get to full fill their dreams. They live for the benefit of other people as mere care takers. First she serves her father, then her husband and then her children. She never lives for herself, for her ambitions.
‘’There is a plan and a purpose, a value to every life, no matter what its location, age, gender or disability’’. Sharron Angle
