“Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.”
bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody.
In her books, bell hooks, feminist and anti-racist scholar, poet, professor and activist, helps us understand that feminists oppose sexism and oppression of all kinds. In particular, she notes that feminists are people who ally themselves against patriarchy, not men. This is particularly important because people of any gender can and do uphold patriarchy.
One goal of feminism is dismantling patriarchy and fostering a more gender equal society. Gender inequality is rampant in our global society. Many examples exist from the pay gap to gender-based violence to lack of representation in government, business and other leadership positions.
While improvements have been made, gender equality remains elusive. According to the World Economic Forum, gender equality is still over 200 years away for women in the US. COVID-19 has caused four times as many women, 865,000 compared to 216,000 men, to leave the workforce in September 2020. This is a generation defining example of the ways in which current gender inequality has enduring ripple effects on the future.
Watch CNBC: Why the Covid-19 crisis will set back gender equality in the workplace
What is gender equality?
While gender inequality examples are numerous, it can be harder to imagine what gender equality looks like. Gender equality is not only the belief that people of all genders are equal in their rights as humans, it is also access to rights and opportunities not limited by gender.
An equal society recognizes all people are different and that they all have fundamental human rights. And to ensure that everyone’s human rights are preserved, different methods are needed to respect our differences and ensure preservation of our rights and needs.
How does equality differ from equity?
Equity practices are ways in which we can transform society from inequality to equality. Equity practices honor our differences and recognize that some of these differences are created by oppression. Some of the differences created by oppression must be eliminated by specific, intentional practices to remove inequality.
For example, two organizations Men Can Stop Rape and A Call to Men have focused on using the social ecological model advocated by the US Centers for Disease Control as a method for the primary prevention of sexual assault. These organizations help teach men and boys about our culture that as A Call to Men explains is not an indictment of manhood, but an invitation to understand how they are taught disrespect. These organizations create an equity practice by being intentional and proactive in educating boys and men.
As a result, A Call to Men has helped 90% of participants understand that they are taught to view women and girls as property vs. 21% prior to training and helped 75% of participants understand consent vs. 19% prior to training. This intentional practice helps remove barriers to equality for women and other people of marginalized gender while also reducing the harmful impact of patriarchy on men and boys.
How does gender equality benefit everyone?
The benefits of gender equality affect all of us. The following section helps highlight some of those benefits for a variety of groups.
Women
Women are the most numerous marginalized and targeted gender. Thus, addressing how women are harmed by patriarchy and sexism has a transformative effect on their lives and society.
Here are a few ways gender equality helps women:
Women in more gender equal societies are allowed to take care of themselves. As a result, they have better health, including less stress and less stress-related health conditions. They are more likely to get early diagnoses of health conditions and better treatment from healthcare providers.
Gender equality reduces interpersonal, gender-based violence and creates more peaceful societies. Women are most likely to be harmed by war, and societies that are more gender equal are less likely to use military force.
Gender equality creates economic empowerment by reducing pay gaps and unpaid household and child care and by increasing educational and employment options.
Other People of Marginalized Gender
Trans(gender) people are people who do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. Cis(gender) people are people who continue to identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. Typically, the genders assigned at birth are girl/woman and boy/man. These two gender options are referred to as the gender binary. Trans people may be one of these or may be non-binary, genderfluid or another gender. Some people who are not cisgender, such as non-binary people, may not use the label trans, while others do.
Trans, non-binary and genderfluid people experience a variety of forms of oppression and discrimination. Therefore, societies and organizations that intentionally work toward gender equality can help to address this.
Here are a few ways gender equality helps trans, non-binary and genderfluid people:
Gender equality creates more inclusion, including recognition of one’s identity on government documents, ability to marry (in most places, non-binary people must select a binary gender in order to marry), inclusion at work, school and in housing without retribution or stigma, and access to healthcare, including gender affirming care, and removes the option for healthcare providers to opt not to treat people because of their gender expression or prior gender affirming care.
Gender equality reduces gender-based violence, because gender equality means that trans, non-binary and genderfluid people would no longer be considered a threat to patriarchy, be used as scapegoats, or be stigmatized in a gender equal society.
Gender equality creates economic empowerment by reducing the legal exclusion of people for seeking different identity paperwork or looking different and by making difference more socially acceptable. As a result, trans, non-binary, and genderfluid people have more access to education and work.
“Feminism will make it possible for the first time for men to be free.”
Floyd Dell (1887-1969) writer who helped start the Men’s League for Woman Suffrage
Men
Men benefit from the current system of patriarchy. While men have more power in this system, everyone is harmed by systems of oppression. Therefore, men also benefit from gender equality.
Here are a few ways gender equality helps men:
Men enjoy better health. “In more gender-equal societies men are half as likely to be depressed, less likely to commit suicide, have around a 40% smaller risk of dying a violent death and even suffer less from chronic back pain” (Karpf, The Guardian).
Men are freed from the “man box” and allowed to express emotion and vulnerability, choose caring professions such as child caretaking, elementary school teaching, and nursing, take family leave for child and elder care, and learn a form of masculinity that includes asking for help and embracing one’s full humanity.
Men engage in less violence and men and boys who do not conform to stereotypes of aggression or hyper/toxic masculinity (the man box) are not targets of violence.
Men are twice as likely to advance in gender equal workplaces. Only some men, those who meet the dominant expectations, such as married heterosexual men advance in unequal societies. More gender equal workplaces benefit all men. In 2016, at age 40, on average, married men are making $80,125, which is $37,022 a year more than single women, $33,515 more than single men who are making on average $46,610 and $29,504 more than married women (Elkins, CNBC).
Business
Gender equality also helps businesses by helping financial growth, culture, and innovation.
Here are a few ways gender equality helps business:
Numerous studies demonstrate direct financial benefit to multiple organizations bottom line returns when more women are in the workforce and in the C-suite including increased sales, higher profit margin, and better overall return on equity. Highlights of these studies include:
“Companies with at least three female board members outperformed others in overall return on equity by more than 36 percent, according to a 2015 study by consulting firm MSCI.”
“One additional woman in senior management or on a corporate board (where the size of the board remained unchanged) was associated with a 3-8% higher return on assets.”
“Results from 21,980 global, publicly traded companies, in 91 countries from various industries and sectors and showed that having at least 30% of women in leadership positions, or the ‘C-suite,’ adds 6% to net profit margin.”
A demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion creates a positive culture and morale that makes teams more socially cohesive and more effective.
“Seven in 10 men and only 4 in 10 women are satisfied with how decisions are made at their company” (Moser)
“Women are less likely to speak up and also are much less likely to feel comfortable sharing a different perspective. Only two-thirds of women responding to the survey believe they can voice a contrary opinion without fear of negative consequences while 8 in 10 men feel they can voice contrary views.” (Moser)
“83% of millennials are more actively engaged when they believe their company fosters an inclusive culture” vs. only 60% in organizations that do not foster inclusion (Smith and Turner 2015 p. 13)
“81% of millennials are true to themselves when they believe the organization fosters an inclusive culture” vs. only 59% in organizations that do not foster inclusion (Smith and Turner 2015 p. 15)
Diverse teams are more innovative.
Society
Collectively, gender equality helps society. The impacts of gender equality are far reaching. As the examples above show, gender equality helps individual and collective health, reduces interpersonal violence as well as war, creates economic empowerment and increases economic, educational and employment opportunities for everyone, and reduces stigma allowing people to express their authentic selves.
As a result, here are a few more ways gender equality helps society:
Gender equality is closely related to reducing racial discrimination. For example, the pay gap is greater for Black and Latinx women. Gender equality that focuses on the needs of the most marginalized helps ensure that both racial discrimination and gender discrimination are addressed.
Gender equality helps adults contribute to society in the ways they’ve always wanted to. For example, according to a 2011 survey in Ontario, Canada, 50% of trans people earned $15,000 or less per year, even though 71 percent had some form of post-secondary education. Similarly, in the US, trans people surveyed were less likely to have a college education, and more likely to be unemployed and living in poverty, even when controlling for lower college education rates.
Gender equality helps children have better access to resources to meet daily needs such as quality food and safe housing as well as educational, home, healthcare, and social environments that support their gender expression.
Gender equality helps people have better relationships. It helps men develop stronger friendships and helps everyone rethink family dynamics, the role and priority of friendships and how to encourage collective interdependence.
What can I do to support gender equality and equity?
Since gender equality has so many benefits, here are some actions you can take today to foster a more equal society:
Learn more. Find the resource that’s right for you with this list of articles, books, social media accounts, podcasts, videos and websites.
Find a mentor. Learning from women and other people of marginalized gender can help you understand more about their specific personal and leadership experiences. As with all mentoring, make sure to have a specific ask, and be open to them saying no.
Be a mentor. Share your specific personal and leadership experiences with others. Women and people of marginalized gender at all levels can share their experiences with their peers and leaders who are open to learning more. Volunteering to have these kinds of conversations demonstrates significant leadership.
Join an organization. Workplace groups are an excellent option. In addition, groups for men such as those mentioned above like Men Can Stop Rape and A Call to Action as well as Men Engage Alliance (North America) and the National Organization for Men Against Sexism can help provide educational resources and a network to support learning and other actions. Other groups for people of all genders include National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Black Girls Code, Girls Who Code and Built by Girls. To support trans and non-binary people, volunteers are needed with The Trevor Project, Point of Pride, Trans Lifeline, and GLAAD. All these organizations have volunteer programs that help provide support and resources for people of marginalized gender and enrich the understanding of volunteers.
Ask questions. Here’s a great list to get started in reflecting on your role in advancing gender equality.
Share resources with others. Include those who you wouldn’t typically think to include. Start with this article.
There are many benefits to gender equality. The most important one is that it recognizes the inherent dignity and human rights of people of all genders, particularly those people who are most marginalized today because of their gender.
It is our responsibility to create a gender equal society. Knowing that we all will individually and collectively benefit from a gender equal society helps to reinforce the necessity of our investment in equity practices.
“Gender equality must become a lived reality.”
Michelle Bachelet, first woman elected President of Chile, inaugural Executive Director for the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Photo Credit & Description
Photo featuring plus-size models by Michael Poley of Poley Creative for AllGo, publisher of free stock photos featuring plus-size people
Originally published on LinkedIn on December 8, 2020.
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