Watch your gap and track changes: 2. Women and men suffer from gender inequality

As children, some of us do not necessarily grow up thinking and dividing our small ‘universe’ between boys and girls. We are free to choose our toys, our interests. Until a certain age, we say we are a boy or a girl, but that does not mean much or come with too many differences. We share similar behavior; we even play the same games, and we are equally competitive. So, what is happening?

I am aware I speak only on behalf of some of the women. And that is alright because here is my argument. Until I was 17 or 18, I never thought that being a girl means something for the rest of the wide-wild world. I never considered that there is something I can or cannot do that is deeply different from boys (except for the obvious biological differences). At least until the Philosophy teacher asked the class ‘why are there no women Philosophers?’. That was the moment I started reading and tried to slowly understand feminism and history from a gender perspective. 

I am not sure I really understand it now and it is difficult for me to discuss this in some appropriate way to avoid sending out a wrong message. Discovering one of Jordan Peterson’s books clarified my difficulty to approach, mostly due to its potential impact on boys’ and men’s lives.

Gender inequality needs a different approach

Jordan Peterson is one of the most controversial psychologists and writers in the U.S. His writings are challenging, inviting for rebuttal and critical thinking. Some of his examples are subject to generalization while others just re-confirm our unconscious biases, but he is making a great point. His ideas made me more generally aware of binary thinking and the inconsistent approach to gender equality. Whilst I fully agree that there is still much ahead of us in reaching such a milestone like equality – of any kind, we managed to come a long way and need to celebrate that.

Reading Peterson’s notes I realized that gender inequality is becoming a paradox. The more we position ourselves ‘against’ or ‘in opposition’ to something, the more we expand the gap between the two opposite points. Even if our intention is to get them closer. However, I am not at all arguing on the need to create better conditions for women’s inclusion. I am arguing on the approach.

Peterson stated in 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos that:

Boys are suffering, in the modern world. They are more disobedient – negatively – or more independent – positively – than girls, and they suffer for this, throughout their pre-university educational career. […] Girls will, for example, play boys’ games, but boys are more reluctant to play girls’ games. This is partly because it is admirable for a girl to win when competing with a boy. It is also OK for her to lose to a boy. For a boy to beat a girl, however, it is often not OK – and just as often, it is even less OK for him to lose. Imagine that a boy and a girl, aged nine, get into a fight. Just for engaging, the boy is highly suspect. If he wins, he’s pathetic. If he loses – well, his life might as well be over. Beat up by a girl.

I want to emphasize that the way we see the main two genders is profoundly linked to our education, societies, and cultural influences. As a professional, being exposed to more cultural diversity in different contexts, I have encountered differentiated attitudes towards men and women – through comments, behavior, and decisions.

I wonder how many women and girls who are facing challenging situations know how to respond without being scared or considered ‘hysterical’? Of course, there are countries where political correctness is a standard and there are legal actions someone can take against another who discriminates. But there are other ways people's attitudes and feelings can have a negative impact on someone. For example, by ignoring their results, what they say, using microaggressions and other similar behavior which can influence major decisions within someone’s life or career. 

Less gender-biased societies through education and cultural development 

I notice less and less clear binary thinking in young adults and teenagers. The younger they are, the less they make such differences or label people. I do not have the data at hand, but I recently read a study showing that the generation born between 1990 and 2000 do not differentiate many professions between men and women, but in the context of family, men responded they expect to pursue their career whilst women are expected to focus more on the family. 

These results were interpreted as a continuing trend on the gap between salaries, professional development, and leadership. Further, women are expected to drop their careers when building a family. Is this prejudice still having a huge impact on hiring and promoting decisions?

Why do girls in some societies do more chores than boys?

A recent study made me think of familial situations from my days as a child in Romania. Back in the ’80s and ’90s, I thought of a family as a mother, father, and two kids - rarely one or more. This was specific for the cities, after the big industrialization period in the ’60s. Mothers staying at home being housewives was rare during those days.

The interesting issue about those days was that both parents had full-time jobs, but mothers used to spend more time working in the house too. What does this say? Well, it can be viewed from many perspectives, but a study published by World Vision Romania will validate my point: ‘the girls in Romanian rural households work more than boys, which can adversely affect their education’.

The generation I mentioned earlier included people who have actively been part of the industrialization process in Romania. This means they were ‘forced’ to migrate to cities switching from farming to town jobs, whilst maintaining the same household duties. Whilst in rural communities specific and role-divided responsibilities made sense, things stopped making sense after migration. This is a strong example of the power of stereotypes and habits. 

Nowadays we still see this pattern holding up in rural communities across the country. According to World Vision, girls above 18 spend on average one or two hours more on house duties than boys, which can affect their final exam results and college admission. Even if 97% of parents in the countryside believe that education is equally important for both, the girls' household duties grow as they age.

Romanian legislation stipulates gender equality, but there is a general stereotype that upholds us from making relevant steps to eliminate social inequalities and discriminations.

Neurosexim makes both men and women subject to stereotypes

Becoming more aware of the biases we are vulnerable to is the first step towards facing inequality. We need to understand its origins and realize that the source of inequality is the unconscious bias – most of the time. Gender inequality is no different. We can influence others to become more aware of their behavior and gain better control over it. 

Neurosexism is one of the most dangerous myths stating that men and women have different brains. The University of California, Irvine’s study (2010) is based on the MRIs of 21 men and 27 women. This analysis showed that ‘men have six and a half times more grey matter than women, whereas women have ten times as much white matter as men’. The conclusion was men are more inclined towards mathematics and women towards multitasking. Theories trying to explain women's disadvantage for certain roles exert a negative effect on the perceived predisposition of both men and women.

Throughout history, science has been used to demonstrate the differences between genders and generated innumeracy, misinterpretation, publication bias, and weak statistical power. It has been proven that ‘female’ or ‘male’ brain concepts are flawed, so we should understand that most gender differences stem from socialization, which is of course affected by how we look at biology.

Those who want to explore the topic more can read Gina Rippon’s ‘The Gender Brain: The New Neuroscience That Shatters The Myth of the Female Brain’.

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