2)      Reasons

3)      Religious

4)      Physical

5)      Societal

i)                    Political

ii)                   Economic

6)      Gender Equality in Pakistan versus Gender Equality in the west.

7)      Conclusion

There is a constant debate on the mainstream media and on the level of society about Gender equality and women empowerment. Though I agree that women should be empowered to avail all the opportunities that they can but it does not mean that both the sexes are equal in all respects rather they are complementary in nature. Women should bear responsibilities that they can do better whereas men should be liable for those that they suit.

The very first reason that sheds this myth is the physical makeup of both the genders. The majority of the Women are physically weak and that’s why they are less susceptible to hard work. Compared to women, men are physically stronger and more capable of doing hard work. This is evident in the ratio of men versus women working in the military. Even the most liberalized and developed society like America, have a very low ratio of females working in the Army, Not more than more than 20 percent to be precise. The weak physical makeup of the women makes it very difficult for the women to fight alongside men against a strong opponent. Why would a country employ a force which is many times weaker than the opponent?

Proponents of gender equality also quote religious teachings as the basis of their logic but if we deeply study the religious texts we come to know that in fact, they focus more on equity than equality.  Judaism, Christianity, Islam and all other major religions teach universal equality but at the same time specifies each gender for certain responsibilities and bar from others. This is not a contradiction in the religious texts rather contradictions in the commentary of the religious texts.

The Holy Quran and the sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) teach us that we are all equal on the basis of the descendants of Adam (A.S). The Holy Prophet in his last address said, “You have been created by God and you all are the offsprings of Adam (A.s)”. Does this specify that we are equal without any difference or uniqueness? The answer is clearly “NO” because of the fact that Islam also bars women from taking an equal share of the inherited property and their testimony in the court is considered half that of the man. Women are also advised to take Hijab or veil as a part of their social etiquette. There is also another side of the notion as well, according to which women have priority over men. For example, Islam teaches that Mother has three times more rights over her children than that of a father. Similarly, there is a saying of our Holy Prophet that, “Paradise lies under the feet of your mother”.  This shows that Islam gives certain responsibilities and rights to a man and certain others to a woman to make a distinction between both genders. Even the spiritual father of Catholic Christians, Pope, had issued verdict that Women cannot be considered for the post of leading Christians. Thus all the major religions teach equity and not equality in most respects.

Some pro-gender equality analysts cite the rise of Fatima Jinnah and Benazir Bhutto to the political prominence, the achieving of Nobel Prize by Malala Yousufzai and the appointment of Mrs. Shamshad Akhtar as the examples and future precedents of gender equality. These rare examples solidify their stance but a deeper dissection of the facts show that gender and political equality is almost non-existent. To start from the political arena, we come to know that even the most advanced societies like west are less prone to the leadership of a woman. This is evident from the fact that majority of heads of states of the European countries are males.  Some analysts argue that the rejection of Hillary Clinton at the hands of Donald Trump also shows the anti-gender equality feelings in America and in the Western society as a whole.

Now coming towards our society, the ratio of directly elected women does not make more than 1 percent of our legislature.  One hindrance that pro-gender equality lobby identifies is the lack of nomination of women by the political parties for the membership of legislature but what about the political right of all the parties to nominate candidates who are competent, suitable and more likely to win. Even PPP at the time of female chairpersonship used to give most of the tickets to the male candidates. The reserved seats for the women in the parliament are one manifestation of the fact that women and men are not equal.

The economic landscape also tells us that equality in any field is a myth let alone the gender equality. If we examine the contemporary examine models we come to know that economic equality is not possible Communism as a system wanted to build an egalitarian society for all races, nationalities, cultures, and genders with equal opportunities but that notion has failed completely. The first major drawback is the income that a person generates under this system. This system proposes that all the citizens will be supported by the state according to their needs and requirements but that creates a huge dilemma too. The dilemma is that people working hard and more should be paid more than people working less. This loophole has turned a big counter effect for the communist system and ultimately has resulted in failure. Females comparatively weaker than men cannot do that hard work as a man can do and ultimately they earn less. USSR, which was considered the bulwark of Socialism, crumbled under economic stress, similarly, China, once considered to be staunchly a socialist state has given room to a more free market economy.  This has resulted in an enormous economic growth of China at the expense of other countries. These examples show that gender equality at the economic level is a mere myth.  Islamic economic model also tells us to pay more to those people who work than those who don’t.

The voices of gender equality arise mostly from the Western World or Western-influenced so-called intelligentsia in the Eastern world but if we practically take a look at the Western society we notice that they are no way near to gender equality in a true sense. This is reflected in their painting of women as mere sex objects or source of selling their advertisements and products. Their so-called liberalized gender equality has destroyed their family system and society from within and if the trend continued the western humanity will be changed into mere material benefits seekers. The sexual harassment cases and the low proportion of women in ruling class are some big blots on their utopian egalitarian society.