All hands on deck! : Gender equality shouldn’t be just a slogan for women

[Photo: From UN - Women]

“Gender equality should be more than just a slogan and the role of a woman should no longer be reduced to just being a caretaker in the home”

Those were the words uttered by Ma Leijun; a Senior UN-Women Programme Officer, while addressing delegates attending a recent gender equality and philanthropy conference in Beijing. 

Listening to those powerful words, that’s when it really hit me that gender equality, is a topic I almost never hear about while sitting around a Lazy-Susan with my Chinese friends nibbling and gobbling down some deliciously made banquets. It’s almost like the elephant in the room; although, not quite

“I think they talk about the issue secretly amongst themselves and only among close friends because they do not want to hurt somebody’s feelings” Weiwei tells me.

And so that got me thinking, does Weiwei have a point? Is gender equality a taboo topic or are people just afraid to loudly express their opinions in fear of losing face? ...A question I put across to another young Chinese man Jian Hua. Jian Hua believes as much as women are more outspoken about being discriminated against, it necessarily does not mean that men do not face gender discrimination. 

“Because when we’re talking about gender equality it’s usually about women’s status being lower right? But the thing is, in a broader sense, gender equality also sometimes means that it is unfair for men to be expected provide everything when it comes to a marriage (for example). So in a marriage a man is mainly expected to buy/own a house and a car probably, on top of that we ought to be working hard while the wives or girlfriends complain about us  not doing any house chores, and so I think that’s some kind of inequality against men” protests Jian Hua.

Does he also have a point? As a woman, I believe so. After all, why would we need to work hard in school if men were going to take care of all our financial needs anyway? Are women partly to blame for gender imbalance in society? Or have we as women resigned ourselves to what society deems us to be? If that’s so, whom should we plop the blame on then? 

Jian Hua goes on…

“Men are not always to blame because some women want to stay at home and be pretty and have someone take care of them all the time, but the thing is if women are equally powerful they could also make decisions, they could also make as much money, an there would be less burden on men." He says. 

True, but how about those women trying hard to get equal treatment as men in work places. Why is there a glass ceiling that’s hard to break just because it’s a woman reaching for the stars? 

Julie Broussard the Country Manager at the UN-Women China acknowledges that, it’s unfortunate that women have historically been put in protected roles especially at work places   . 

“I think there’s an assumption in China and also other country’s that supporting women means protection women. There’s an assumption that women are weaker and therefore need to be protected in terms of the types of jobs that they have and other social benefits.” Broussard says. 

Meanwhile, as one of the only handful of men working for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in China, Ma Leijun admits that it’s unfortunately how society has classified and views gender roles that are created so many imbalances.  

“ …Because women have often encountered this problem. It’s evident that more women have gotten education and so after their studies they want to find a job but when then during this process they always face difficulties. So this is an area that we should work on and tell people that the equality we want is actually that where men and women benefit equally. ” says Ma Leijun

Until recently in China, gender equality had been considered almost a non-issue especially amongst the older generation. As a result According to Ma Leijun, some men even become confused about why gender issues have become a prominent headline a sentiment, that is also echoed by Weiwei.

“For some kinds of men their attitude is so solid. They can’t change their minds so easily. In fact  In China we have a phrase, dànánzǐzhǔyì(大男子主义); that is to say that the man is the most important person in the family. Determination is only meant for him. So I think, if the social status is the same for both men and women of course majority of the men think they will enjoy the benefits, except for a small section of who are against gender balance. ” adds Weiwei

As for Ma Leijun his job advocating for women’s rights is somewhat frowned upon in some social encounters. Some, mostly men he says cannot fathom his determination in advocating for equal gender rights.  

[Photo: Google.com]

“Actually this is a question that I always encounter when I deliver a lot of trainings to government officials. And when you think about government officials most of them happen to be men. For those few who understand gender related issues, it’s ok because they understand that gender is not only about women, but in fact about forging the public policy sector. However for those who know nothing about it, they always ask me ‘ why do you work in gender ?” recalls Ma Leijun

Today gender equality is a subject that has been getting a lot of airtime globally following the groundbreaking 1995 conference for women held in Beijing. Since then, gender related issues have been more vocalized by women. But now menfolk are also being called upon to put in more effort in setting the pace for promoting gender equality. 

In 2015 China issued a white paper on gender equality and women's development, providing a wide-ranging synopsis of the country's women policies as well as constant efforts made and measures put in place in this regard. In the same year, President Xi Jingping during a Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at the United Nations headquarters in New York also reaffirmed the country’s commitment to gender equality and women’s development. 

Since then the country has been making progress as more and more Chinese women in the workforce care about gender equality, and balance between family and life more than ever before

But as the voice calling for gender equality gets louder and louder, there is still a section of people who still wonder about what the actual definition of gender equality is and if at all it means that men and women should be seen and treated as equals?

 “Not exactly because they have biological differences but in terms of opportunities, rights votes, decision making they should for sure be treated equally although not in the physical and biological sense.” says Ma Leijun

Although gender equality has managed to raise some voices for equality, there is still a long way to go before balance is achieved. However there’s still hope that as more men get engaged in this conversation, more and more women will have a chance in breaking that glass ceiling. 

“We’re slowly seeing more men in China get in the conversation and work on gender equality. We’re very happy that our national goodwill ambassador Mr. Tong Dawei, the actor, is a very strong advocate for gender equality just by the example that he sets in terms of helping his wife take care of his kids, cooking at home and being very public about this role and also saying how important this family role is to him and how supporting his wife’s career is to him.”

And indeed listening to more and more people speak up about their roles in the gender equality campaign, it’s very clear that yes, more and more men are getting involved in getting to understand the benefits that gender balance could bring about. However, it’s still not enough, we need more male numbers to steer this equality campaign ahead. 

Meanwhile, as a feminist I will keep pushing the message out there that women need be treated as the equals they are; at work, at home, in social settings and in many other areas because they can. Except, as Ma Leijun says, in situations where physical and biological strengths come to play. Because that’s just science we can’t fight or argue against, can we?