Gender Equality, a Hard Concept to Grasp?

nooshin September 12th, 2009

Equality. I never thought it a hard concept to grasp: we are all equal in the sight of God, regardless of nationality, socio-economic status, race or gender. After all, I was raised on:

O Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other….

Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic no. 68

And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is the equality of women and men. The world of humanity has two wings—one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, sec. 227

I get lulled into thinking that most people think the same way, and that our systems and governments are, by-in-large, all working under the same premise. Last week I read something that reminded me that, actually, vast numbers of women are still living greatly unequal lives. I was reading a paper entitled “Gender vulnerabilities, shocks and social protection responses“, (produced by the Overseas Development Institute), which outlines the various impacts the recent financial and food price crises have had on women. It was sobering reading:

It is women who bear the brunt of the food price crisis, not only because they are primarly responsible for the management of food in the household but also because they are often the ones who buffer the impact of the crisis at the household level through decreased consumption.
Women often become ’shock absorbers of household food security’, reducting their own consumption to allow more food for other household members.
In Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the agricultural sector makes up more than 60% of all female employment. But, women in Africa only own 1% of the land and also face biases against access to training, inputs, capital, credit and transportation.
Rising food prices can hold important implications for the distribution of care responsiblities and time poverty. Women’s time burdens are put under more pressure as the need for cheaper food may entail travelling further… on top of such chores such as the collection of water and firewood. Increased demands on women’s time and energy could hold negative impacts for children’s health and schooling. A reduction in childcare may translate into greater malnutrion and poor health affecting children’s life-long capacity, ability to learn and chances of climbing out of poverty.
Where women have limited decision-making and bargaining power within the household over income, this often results in less expenditure on health, nutruion and education, and poorer outcomes for family members, including children.
Women’s education and nutritional knowledge and status within the household contribute more than 50% to the reduction of child malnutrition.

It was the last two points that stood out the most for me, because the Baha’i Writings place such great emphasis on the education of women:

Furthermore, the education of woman is more necessary and important than that of man, for woman is the trainer of the child from its infancy. If she be defective and imperfect herself, the child will necessarily be deficient; therefore, imperfection of woman implies a condition of imperfection in all mankind, for it is the mother who rears, nurtures and guides the growth of the child.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, A Compilation on Women, page17

The education of women has far reaching consequences, beyond that of the strength and well-being of the family unit. For only once humanity recognizes the necessity of ensuring the equality of men and women will we be able to attain world peace:

The emancipation of women, the achievement of full equality between the sexes, is one of the most important, though less acknowledged prerequisites of peace. … Only as women are welcomed into full partnership in all fields of human endeavour will the moral and psychological climate be created in which international peace can emerge.

The Universal House of Justice, The Pomise of World Peace