Why breaking gender bias is not just a responsibility of women
Gender bias affects not only women but all genders. Enforcing harmful gender roles as innate responsibilities prevents men and women from living life according to their personal aspirations
As a part of our culture and norms, we accept a plethora of gender biases throughout our lives without question. For instance, we encourage girls to play with crockery and dolls, teach them to be familiar with cooking and define their space within the household.
Similarly, we steer boys away from kitchen toys and housekeeping games, limiting their capacity for nurturing and household management. We even ridicule boys when they participate in such activities. In the process, we propagate the notion that women's work is inferior to men's.
Later in life, girls are discouraged from playing outdoor sports which would enable them to learn how to be a part of bigger teams, make decisions and navigate in public spaces. Consequently, girls are left vulnerable when it comes to these skills.
At the professional level, society still prefers to see women in professions like teaching, nursing, etc. for these are regarded as less challenging. And when they have children, women are pushed to leave their jobs to take care of children and maintain household activities.
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This adds to the lack of women leaders in the workplace as many have to pause their professional journey for a few years or quit entirely. It sets them back from their male counterparts at work.
According to a 2017 study, on average, a Bangladeshi woman spends around 6.45 hours on unpaid care work like cooking and childcare, every day, in addition to any paid work she may be engaged in. Unpaid work also includes unrecognised economic activities such as rice husking, boiling, drying, taking care of cattle, chickens, vegetable cultivation, etc.
This limits women's opportunities to be involved with income-generating activities, learn new skills, network, and take care of themselves.
For working women, this responsibility is an additional burden on top of their professional duties. In addition to the uneven burden of caregiving duties, women and girls face discrimination throughout their lives due to gender bias in terms of education, career, inheritance law, expression of opinion, etc.
Gender bias at the private and public institutional levels is an additional barrier for women to be engaged and excel in the professional field.
Around 18.6 million women are employed in different sectors of Bangladesh. According to a study, around 12.7% of female employees face sexual harassment in the workplace.
In 2009, the High Court of Bangladesh issued a directive to form Sexual Harassment Prevention Committees (SHPCs) in all educational institutions and workplaces to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and academic institutions.
However, a report shows that only four universities out of 160 have formed such a committee in the country. Data generated by RMG Bangladesh – where a majority of workers are women – reveals that only 4% of garment factories have harassment complaint committees.
In addition to harassment, there are several logistical issues like safe transport, safe public space, toilet facilities, etc which hinder working women. Furthermore, the lack of facilities for mothers like childcare centers and maternity leave drive women out of the workforce. It forces them into harsh working conditions that they cannot continue in.
Over the years, the government of Bangladesh, NGOs, and even private-sector organisations have undertaken several activities to counter the discriminatory practices and mindset of the people.
These initiatives primarily focus on girls' education, capacity building, job opportunities, developing legal support systems for women, etc. Although several of these efforts have been effective, there remain limitations.
The first limitation of this approach is that men, the other 50% of society, are excluded from the movement for gender equality. Secondly, the over-emphasis on the women's empowerment approach gives a notion that fighting against patriarchy is the sole responsibility of women. This renders many of the activities ineffective as they lack the participation and cooperation of the entire population.
Why should we care about gender bias?
Gender bias affects not only women but all genders. Enforcing harmful gender roles as innate responsibilities prevents men and women from living life according to their personal aspirations.
Nurturing tendencies in men are discouraged, as are the leading tendencies in women. From not being able to express vulnerability to not being able to choose careers that might seem 'risky' in terms of income, men face the negative effects of gender bias throughout their lives.
What can we do to put an end to bias?
The responsibility to break this bias that plagues our society falls on the shoulders of all people at the individual, familial, and institutional levels. The role of any individual is to explore the gender bias that exists within him/her and get rid of it from their personal interactions and decisions.
The role of the family during the early childhood development of the child is essential to breaking the biases as well. Children should be treated equally and receive the same resources. As pointed above, even simple things like gendered toys like 'dolls for girls' and 'cars for boys' can impose a harmful gender bias.
Institutionally, the role of schools includes but is not limited to revising gender-biased syllabi where gender-biased words like 'manpower' or 'chairman' are replaced with words like human resources and chairperson. Similarly, the biographies of women and men in 'nontraditional' activities should be included in the curriculum to allow children to aspire beyond societal norms.
Gender equality should be promoted through co-curricular and extracurricular activities in which both girls and boys are encouraged to participate equally in sports and the arts.
Organisations can contribute to the fight against biases by initiating and implementing a series of activities. Institutions can develop gender strategies, which may include forming anti-sexual harassment policies and committees ensuring sufficient clean toilet facilities for women employees and introducing paternity leave for men.
For starters, in Bangladesh, two-week paternity leave can assist in their familial lives and help the children connect with their father as a nurturer as well. This small initiative can make a big difference by formally acknowledging men's role in childcare.
A survey by McKinsey reports that paternity leaves lead to overwhelming benefits. The media can also play a vital role in reducing gender discrimination by avoiding gender-biased content. All these activities would add value to the fight against gender bias and would strengthen the process of creating a gender-equal society and a better world.
S M Faridul Haque is a development practitioner, currently working with an international organization as a gender specialist. He can be reached at Farid1022@gmail.com
Shimsad Narmeen is a development practitioner, currently working with an international organization as a monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning specialist. She can be reached at shimsadn@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
