2nd year English notes | Gender Inequality Detrimental Society

Allah Almighty has created the universe based on the striking balance. That is the reason that one can see a distinctive balance in the populace of the world, male and female comprise the 50% – 50% proportion of the population. This gives a clear and strong message to mankind that no one is superior to the other, males and females should be given equal chance and liberty to enjoy just rights in society.

Poor and developing countries of the world are facing some truly serious issues, among them the most significant one is the factor of inequality that can easily be seen and felt for the female population residing in such nations. Women in poor, developing and underdeveloped nations are not supposed to enjoy equal rights, they are the most oppressed and suppressed section of the society. They are just considered as servants to the males of the community. The unmarried ones have to serve dutifully to their father and brothers, the married ones are supposed to obey their husbands submissively with bowed heads and folded arms. Under such circumstances, how could a woman enjoy equal rights in society?

Being a male-dominated society and ignorance from the Islamic principles necessary to follow to live a contented life, people in our society proudly deprive women of enjoying their due rights. The male members of our society just have a desire to rule the women as their subordinates and they consider women as the individuals devoid of feelings and emotions, intellect and common sense. According to them, if they give due rights to their women, the females would disrespect them, do whatever they want to and thus crawl out from the shell of inferiority complex. That’s why the males try to suppress the females to a great extent just to govern them according to their will and desire.

People all over the world especially the male section of the society consider women as ‘fragile human beings.’ In their point of view, women are not as strong as them either physically or emotionally. They just have a firm belief that only they can do the hard work and have the ability to face any challenge valiantly. Islam also considers women a delicate being not to give them less respect but just to reveal their importance as the individuals who must be treated with gentleness, soft voice, tender love, care, and affection. They should be taken care of like something as valuable as gold and as delicate as a flower.

Islam is the only religion in the world that values women by giving them equal rights and amenities. Before the emergence of Islam in an Arab land, people use to bury their daughters alive just to get rid of them as they considered their daughters a burden on their shoulders.

Islam considers woman as a worthy human being, with an equal share in humanity to that of the man. The Holy Quran provides us with a clear-cut proof that woman is equal in all respects with the man before God in terms of her rights and responsibilities. The Holy Quran states:

“Every soul will be (held) in pledge for its deeds.”
The right of females to seek knowledge is not different from that of males. When Islam enjoins the seeking of knowledge upon Muslims, it makes no distinction between man and woman. Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, “Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every Muslim”. Islam also gives the option of divorce to women. The woman is entitled to freedom of expression equal to man.

The woman enjoys certain privileges which men do not have. She is exempted from all financial liabilities. As a mother, she enjoys more recognition and higher honour in the eyes of God. The Holy Prophet (SAW) acknowledged this honour when he declared that “Paradise lies under the feet of mothers.” She does not have to work or share with her husband the family expenses. She is free to retain, after marriage, whatever she possessed before it, and the husband has no right whatsoever to any of her belongings.

The status of woman in Islam is unprecedentedly high and rationally suitable to her nature. Her rights and duties are equal to those of man but not necessarily or identical with them.

Although Pakistan is supposed to be an Islamic state as it came into being just to follow the principles of Islam but with a heavy heart when it is a matter related to the status, rights and respect of the women, people simply ignore the teachings of Islam and sayings of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W).
Women of Pakistan are facing several hurdles and hardships at domestic as well as societal level.

The first and the foremost hurdle that prevents the way of women at a very early stage of their life is the matter of getting the education. Mostly in the rural areas of Pakistan where people are not much literate, they consider it a worthless activity to send their daughters to schools.

Secondly, at homes, if women are not allowed to go out of the four walls but they want to earn their livelihood by doing some craftwork like embroidery, stitching etc people use to give them a meagre amount for their hard work that is insufficient for them to meet their needs.

On the third place come the hardships faced by women at the workplace. The male members of society always try to harass women. They never let them work efficiently and not let them excel in the field. 

Next, women in remote areas of Pakistan have to face an adverse situation at the time of childbirth when no certified doctors or adequate medical facilities are available to cater to their medicinal needs.

Therefore, to run Pakistan on the sound ground and make it progress by leaps and bounds we have to wipe out all the hurdles and hardships from the lives of Pakistani women and try to give them maximum protection at the domestic and commercial level.

Parents in most of the rural areas do not send their daughters to school because they are illiterate and conservative too. Another reason is that they are not the true followers of the principles of Islam, as in Islam male and female both have equal rights to get the education according to their will and desire.

They have no fundamental knowledge about the ideology of Islam and sayings of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W) that’s why such parents simply refuse to send their daughters to school by saying that they don’t need to get the education as they don’t have to do any job in their future lives.

One more thing is that they have a hidden fear buried at the back of their minds that if their daughters would get the education, they would get to know about their due rights and share and this would snatch their authoritative powers from them.

A woman holds an important place in a family as a mother, daughter, sister or wife. Without her, it’s quite difficult for a male member to run his family on a smooth track by managing all the household chores as well as performing job responsibilities vigilantly. According to the Islamic principles, it is the right of every Muslim both male and female to get the education to any level that’s why a woman needs to gain an education, not for the betterment of her own life but her family and children too. It is said,

“If you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a family.”

The reason behind is that women are not only responsible for giving birth to souls but are also responsible for their grooming. They have to take care of their children and tell them how to lead their lives accordingly. It is the woman who has to tell the difference between good and bad, piety and evil to her children to make them a civilized, well – mannered member of the society.

If a woman is not educated enough, how she will educate her children or in long run the future generation of the world. As Quaid-e-Azam said, “No nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men.”

Giving birth to a child is not at all an easy task to carry out by women in their lifetime. During this period, the woman goes through both physical and psychological changes and face mood swings too. There are some reasons for the high mortality rate of women during childbirth that mostly occur in remote areas of Pakistan. The first one is the critical one i.e. the non-availability of certified doctors, appropriate medical facilities, well-to-do hospitals in the remote areas of the country.

Secondly, the lack of a proper transportation system in such areas aggravates the situation as it takes hours to reach any so-called clinic or hospital when treatment is required in minutes. Thirdly, on reaching the hospitals if it is exposed to the male members of the family that lady doctors are not available therefore male doctors have to carry out the procedure, the males never let that happen that’s why in due course of time, women, as well as their babies, have to face death.

The male members of a family don’t want to take their women to male doctors because of the factor of purdah. They don’t want any other male to see their women as it is not permissible in Islam and sin too. That’s why they prefer to take their women to female doctors and if lady doctors are not available, they favour their women to die rather than taking them to male doctors.

It is a well-known proverb that “Health is wealth’. It is not gender-bound but considerable for males and females too, as both have to play their due role to run the system on constructive grounds.

Yes, ailing and weak women cannot contribute much to the progress and prosperity of a country. Nowadays all over the world, a major proportion of the womenfolk are performing a dual role at homes as well as at the workplace. Due to the burden of sincere responsibilities, most of the time the women just neglect their health and ignore any health issues that may arise in their lives.

This negligence by the women affects their physical and psychological well-being making them inefficient to perform their duty conscientiously and honestly. Being depressed and ill, they are not supposed to perform well and thus their constructive role in the progress of the nation suffers to a great extent.

Therefore, to experience the real growth and development of a nation, it is important to improve the nutrition of women; by this nations can reduce health care costs, increase intellectual capacity, and improve adult productivity.

The effects on society due to the maltreatment of women are adverse in both public and private spheres of life and at any time of their life span. Many women are terrified by these threats of violence and this essentially has an impact on their lives that they are impeded to exercise their human rights, for instance, the fear of contributing to the development of their communities socially, economically and politically.

Significantly, other than the issue of social divisions, violence can also extend into the realm of health issues and become a direct concern of the public health sector. The World reports that violence against women puts an undue burden on health care services, as women who have suffered violence are more likely to need health services and at a higher cost, compared to women who have not suffered violence.

Mal-treatment leads to psychological distress among women. It is also considered a major reason for their constructive role in society. As the women are forced to live in disturb state of mind how they can fulfil their duties and responsibilities with fresh ideas, thoughts, and actions.

Yes, women deserve to be given a due share in inheritance as it is of significant importance according to the principles of Islam. Our religion considers both male and female equal in almost all respect. Islam has given the right to woman to inherit money and own property whether single or married, she can buy, sell, mortgage or lease any or all of her property, she inherits any property including land or real estate from her parents, brothers, and husbands. In Holy Quran, it has been said, “To men (of the family belongs a share of that which parents and near relatives leave and to the woman a share of that which parent and near relatives leave, whether it be little or much-a determinate share.

” She keeps her property acquired before marriage and has no legal obligation to spend on her family out of her wealth, she is also entitled to a dowry from her husband, and she may invest her property in any way she likes or thinks best. It is also imperative to follow because if a woman is married but her husband died making her a widow if she gets her due share in the inheritance that money would help her out financially in that tough time of her life.

No doubt, there are a number of religious as well as national laws about the rights of women in almost every society of the world for instance education laws, employment laws, marriage rights, and laws etc. But unfortunately, most of the countries don’t bother to enforce such laws completely and appropriately. The reason behind is no severity is being observed if someone deviates from these laws or works against them. Therefore, in order to grant reverence and security to the women of the world, certain steps need to be taken and followed on firm grounds:

1. Religious scholars of the time have to play their constructive role in this respect. They need to deliver optimistic sermons related to the rights, laws, and commitment with respect to women. As masses believe and follow the instructions of religious scholars to a great extent therefore if they focus on this aspect, people would definitely try their level best to observe the religious laws about women rights which are according to the principles of Islam and sayings of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W).
2. At the governmental level, it is the utmost responsibility of the government to enforce women laws to such an extent that if someone is found guilty of not observing them, that person would get a severe punishment for the offence. In this way, it proves to be a lesson for the others who have a desire to snatch rights from the women and deviate from their laws.

3. Media being a strong advocate for a number of issues have to highlight the laws about women and conduct programs on them to create awareness at a societal level.
4. Renowned lawyers and social activists should join hands together to conduct workshops, seminars, and conferences in order to highlight the issues related to women rights among civil society personnel.

5. Law enforcing bodies i.e. police, courts etc need to pay attention not only to enforce women laws in the society but should make it obligatory for every individual to practice them either willingly or unwillingly.

It can be concluded that women are an integral part of every society and demand care and attention to have a contented life so to play their positive role in the welfare and betterment of the society without any violence, harassment, threat, tension or worries. If we provide due rights to the women and follow the women laws in our lives, we would feel proud on the Day of Judgment in front of Allah Almighty.