The Quest for Gender Equality

Gender equality has been a subject of discussion that has usually ended up in over- heated arguments between the proponents of feminist ideology and its counter ideology- masculinism. This subject of equality between male and their female counterparts in the society started gaining greater impetus at the tail end of the 20th century, but this article will try to determine whether the proposed equality is actually a just cause that is worth fighting for or is it a desire by the advocates of feminist theory to seek revenge for all that their fellow women has suffered in the hands of male gender in the past..In order to make the main objective of this article achievable, it will be pertinent to highlight the feminist and masculist views concerning the subject in question.

Feminism may be regarded as a theory that supports equality between men and women in all spheres of life, which include equal opportunities at work places, decision making processes, politics and above all equality in status. The advocates of this theory claim that women have been under the oppression and subjugation of their male counterparts. At work places, they claim that women receive less payments or salaries compared to their male folks while undertaking the same volume of work. They also claim that women are victims of sexual harassment and rape. In all, they believe that there is lack of level playing ground between the male and female gender. They try to encourage the empowerment of women and greatly support the cause for the enthronement of equal rights and opportunities for the male and female gender. This is the base upon which the feminist ideology stands.

On the other hand, masculinism is the advocacy of men" s right and strict adherence to social theories and moral philosophies regarded as typical of males. The term masculinism was coined in order to counter feminism in the 20th century. Masculists usually cite one- sided legislation, selective enforcement and neglected civil rights as examples of discrimination against men. The proponents of this theory claim that the violence against men is considered less serious than when it is against women, when it comes to violence and sexual harrassment, especially in matters of rape cases, They claim that the legislation is now made to address women needs more without considering the corresponding needs in men. They also point out the biases in the justice system that allow higher incarceration rates and longer sentences for men compared to women for the same crimes. When it comes to employment, the masculists claim that there is harder physical entrance for men. This argument forms the foundation upon which the masculist theory is built.

From the feminist and masculist points of view, one can actually deduce the fact that both have wonderful argument to present. While the feminists believe that women should be empowered in order to be equal in status and every other thing with the men, the masculists are also trying to prevent a scenario where the female gender is over- empowered in the cause of seeking empowerment and emancipation. This is the base upon which this article stands. It is quite difficult to understand why the proponents of the feminist ideology should use such challenging statement as - what a man can do, a woman can do much better. Remember that this statement started with- what a man can do, a woman can also do. In my own candid opinion, these two statements clearly throw more light on the quest for revenge rather than equality.

There is need for equal rights and opportunities for both male and female gender for sustainable development, but a situation where one gender hopes to get preferential treatment in the name of empowerment and emancipation as the case may be, equality is not the name of what that gender seeks, but revenge and enthronement of their own gender over the other.
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