Gender discrimination or preference: your opinion counts

source

Gender is a sensitive topic that society cannot run away from, despite its delicacy. In simple terms, gender distinguishes humanity based on sex into male and female. Gender discrimination thus means the unfair or unequal treatment of one individual over another on the basis of sexual preference, which in most cases leads to an unfair advantage for one gender in comparison with the other. Gender discrimination thus comes into play between a male and a female and not between a male and a male or a female and a female.

In Africa, especially in Nigeria, it is not uncommon to have unfair treatment of one gender with respect to the other. My discussion will come from the male gender perspective since I am a male; however, there are no ill-feelings intended for the female gender whatsoever.

I am tempted to have a brief talk on the much-controversial discussion of gender equality. Perhaps we can say that the opposite of gender discrimination is gender equality. I can comfortably use, in context, "gender inequality" as a less harsh phrase to replace gender discrimination; however, both can and will be used interchangeably.

Gender discrimination needs to be considered in two phases: positive gender discrimination and negative gender discrimination. I know you may want to think that the discrimination does not need to be made to look less obvious as it is. If you consider the female gender in terms of strength and endurance, you may wish to agree with me that consideration should be given to the female gender. This scenario is gender discrimination; however, it is considered positive in that the female gender may not be able to endure as much as the male gender.

This would then bring me to state some controversies on gender discrimination, and, as earlier stated, my words are not ill-intentioned. The gender equality being advocated for can better be reviewed as "gender inclusion," which to me would better fit the struggle of the female gender. The man in the story of creation was formed to dominate and be helped by the woman. It will thus be more proper to say the female gender should be more inclusive in day-to-day living. There are tasks for which, by virtue of strength and endurance, the male gender is better fit due to muscle mass distribution, while the female is perceived to have more fat distributions and, by hormones, may not have in substantial quantity what it’ll take to go the extra mile.

Gender equality was accentuated because of excessive neglect of the female gender in respect of benefits from society, such as political appointments; perhaps this was the breeder of feminism.

To answer the prompt by hivelearners, I have been a victim of gender discrimination several times, both in a positive and negative way. Some of the scenarios were understandable since they required consideration for the female gender, but a couple of times they were negative because the impact of the consideration cost me more than it should. Have you seen a job advertisement that specifically requested the female gender when it was obvious the male gender could equally deliver?

Recently, I conducted an interview for a colleague who needed the services of sales representatives at his new private establishment. He specifically told me I should give consideration to women, especially those who are beautiful. His intention was obvious; he wanted to attract more customers. That was his strategy; however, would you consider that a gender preference or gender inequality? The argument may be for the former; however, the gender inequality lies in the preference, for whatever reason.

Very recently, a female colleague of mine was asked to be excused from some official assignments that required traveling to some distant locations with terrible terrain and risks, and we had to sleep over on some occasions. We were all remunerated for the assignment, but we, the males, were asked to be considerate of the female among us. Would that not be a form of gender preference or inequality? Well, the outcome of that was that we, the males, conducted the assignment, and personally, I had no ill-feelings as I considered it reasonable not to endanger her and lessen her exposure to the stress of the journey.

For me as an individual, I have always been of the opinion that there are some assignments meant for the male gender, and I do not hesitate to do what is required. My offense comes when the consideration is masked with a right or arrogance; then, I stay open for "gender equality".

As an individual, I would preferably advocate for gender inclusiveness rather than opt for gender equality. Gender discrimination in all its forms cannot be eliminated, but it can be ameliorated by advocating for gender inclusiveness.

Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions. 🤗