Equality with men: Issues of gender fairness. Woman is a noun by Rewa - Research Paper Example

? Equality with men: Issues of gender fairness Lecturer: “Woman” is a noun, this is an article written by Rewa (2006) that seeks to change how the society perceives a female. According to her, a woman is perceived as an object (adjective) rather than as an individual being (noun). With that, she fights to advocate that a female is an individual just like a man is. Feminism is becoming one of the most controversial topics when relating to gender fairness. Women are now advocating for gender equality rights more than ever before. The article by Gubata (2006), “The New Feminism” is one that seeks to establish a firm foundation on the importance of feminism as well as feministic movements. The article has brought to focus aspects such as: the protection of women rights in their specific job sector, rights with regard to parental issues such as abortion and finally protection of women from all forms of abuse. Abuse is becoming a very critical matter when relating to women. Women are always abused and in most instances nothing is done to correct such injustices or even bring into justice the perpetrators of such crimes. As a result, “A peaceful woman explains why she carries a gun” is an article written by Hasseltrom (2006) who seeks to describe her past experiences which led to her carrying a gun so as to protect herself from the various types of harmful situations that could happen unknowingly. In most cases, the society always perceives a woman as an object rather than as an individual. Rewa is giving examples such as: when she was young, a lot of people were always asking her whether she was a man or a woman. In fact, the most compelling experience was when she was at the restaurant and the man asked her, “What are you, a man or a woman?” (p. 603). That was an instance that made her to rethink who she really was and how the society perceived her when compared to a man. She realized that a woman in existent in a male dominated society. Despite a woman being an independent being, she is still being perceived as somebody’s wife. According to Rewa (2006), a woman is “never taken for a “man”” (p. 603). Another situation given by her is based on the workplace where other individuals like to refer to a female workmate as a woman workmate. She has given an example where a female accountant is referred to as a “woman accountant” (p. 604). She fights for the right of women to be referred to as accountants just like the way a man is referred to. In reality, it is quite rare to hear of a male workmate referred to as a “male accountant”, however, it is very common to hear of names such as, “female boss, female colleague, female manager” etc. With such experiences, she is seeking to ensure that the world treats a woman in the same way as they treat a man; thereby, ensuring that women rights are equal to those of men. Women are demanding for equality in roles and responsibilities that are thought of to be male dominated. It is without doubt that there are countless efforts to make this a reality for women all over the world. However, in a bid to solve the gender inequality issues that exist, there remains a lot that needs to be done. This is due to the fact that women are facing a lot of opposition when it comes to fighting for their due rights. This has led to some women giving up on the fight and others lacking interest in the fight to make the world a better place for each woman. According to Gubata (2006), “feminism is a movement of action” (p. 595) whose goals are to ensure that women rights are the same as those of men. This is done through the following channels: by ensuring that women have equal rights in the job environment; ensuring that women have their rights based on their sexual orientation; ensuring that women have the right to make individual decisions on matters such as abortion; ensuring the protection of women with regard to all forms of abuse. In the work environment, the rights of women are being protected by ensuring that each woman has equal rights to access the needed resources to carry out their work duties. In addition to that, women rights are being protected through the review of their pay scale. This is because in a number of organisations and/ or companies, women are still not being paid as expected. In a survey that was conducted by the US Census Bureau, it was revealed that women are underpaid by a total of $ 11,500 annually (The Guardian, 2013). Abortion rights are another issue that women are strongly advocating for. Women should be given the right to determine whether they can do an abortion or not. With all these issues at hand, Gubata (2006) insists that feminism is not an ideology, however it is a mission to “stimulate men and women to transform the aims of equality into reality” (p. 595). Abuse of women is another issue that feministic movements are seeking to conquer. There are currently a lot of cases where women are mistreated and nothing is done. The reason that led to Hasseltrom composing this article “A peaceful woman explains why she carries a gun” is as a result of such kind of abuse – “dangerous situations” (p. 561). She describes herself as a “peace-loving woman” (p. 560). Despite that, carrying a gun made her feel secure. There are a number of experiences that Hasseltrom went through in her life and they turned out to be motivations to composing this article. These include: she underwent harassment by unknown men while she was out camping with her friend. Secondly, she was residing out of town and at one instance she was followed by unknown men as she was heading back home. Thirdly, there were people who were always trespassing in her property; one was a man who had a shot gun. Fourth, she once found the lights in her house on and according to her; she did not leave them on. With the instances mentioned, Hasseltrom sought for Kung Fu classes. However, there were some challenges with that. For example if the attacker was bigger than her, then she would still end up being abused. According to Hasseltrom (2006), carrying a gun was not the best of options but when she thought of being in a compromising situation, having a gun was not a problem since she knew that she would use it to defend herself. Works cited Gubata, K. (2006). The New Feminism. In Winkler McCuen-Metherell (Eds.), Readings for Writers (pp. 594-595). Boston: Thomas Wadsworth Hasselstrom, L. M. (2006). A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun. In Winkler McCuen-Metherell (Eds.), Readings for Writers (pp. 561-562). Boston: Thomas Wadsworth Rewa, P. (2006). “Woman” is a noun. In Winkler McCuen-Metherell (Eds.), Readings for Writers (pp. 603-605). Boston: Thomas Wadsworth The Guardian. (2013). New census bureau survey: women earn $11,500 less than men annually. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/sep/17/median-wage-income-gap-women Read More