The Taming of the Contagion: why the development of the gender inequality vaccine should initialize momentarily
Exposition
“Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband.”
The following lines were introduced by Shakespeare (2014, p.173) in his comedy “The Taming of the Shrew”. The narrative resembles the socio-economic traditions of the time marked by the inherent sexism and intrinsic absence of gender equality, as the women were seen as ‘subjects’ obedient to a male-dominated society. The protagonist of Katherina falls under the gravity of the cultural conditioning, hence becoming ‘tamed’ through the process of gender identity demolition. Nowadays, the Shakespearean piece falls under the category of the chauvinistic past and is juxtaposed to the gender equality progress made by Western culture. Nonetheless, what if the criticism of the play embodies a veil of ignorance from the obscure reality marked by the shocking statistics illustrating the residual contagion within the body of the societal system?
According to the report by UN (2019a), “women make up more than two-thirds of the world’s 796 million illiterate people”, which subsequently translates into a diminished employment rate and interlinked poverty and hunger, as it is estimated that “60 percent of chronically hungry people are women and girls”. Moreover, the World Economic Forum (2020) outlines that only 55 percent of adult women compared to 78 percent of men are embedded within a labour market, which disembogues into the 40 percent wage and 50 percent income gaps. The preceding statistics embody only some of the poignant petals of the contaminated plant of gender inequality, or as Kent (2006) defines, “Social process by which people are treated differently and disadvantageously, under similar circumstances, on the basis of gender.” Throughout time, such unfair treatment of women became deeply integrated within the various institutions, hence, producing the photosynthesis for the toxicant plant in terms of the communal stereotypes associated with the specific gender. Hence, to uproot gender inequality, thus, preventing the spread of the contagion, the very soil of any society must be fertilized — the political institute, which would further produce the spillover effects on the other spheres, hence, establishing the new categorical imperative of equality.
However, before presenting the possible solution to the gender inequality in the political institute in the form of the reserved seats quota and further analysing the potential implications, it is essential to establish why the shift towards sterling gender equality will be unequivocally beneficial for society as a whole. Thereby, this essay follows the structure of the play with the already presented exposition outlining the resonating issue of gender inequality, followed by the rising action emphasizing the need for the decisiveness, leading to the climax illustrating the potential policy solution, concluding with the hopeful denouement.
Rising Action
“I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war where they could kneel for peace,
Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love and obey.”
(Shakespeare, 2014, p.173)
Lagerlöf (2003) asserts that gender equality of the sexes remains an acute problem in modern society and urges finding the equilibrium of opportunities, responsibilities, and, most importantly, rights amongst the sexes. In this case, it is assumed that the priorities, needs, and interests of women are taken into account proportionally to men’s when placed on the weights of equality. Here, it is important to shine a spotlight on the significance of gender equality as an incentive for solving many economic, demographic and political problems. According to the UN (2019b) report, it is gender equality and empowerment of women that will become the main driver of economic growth. More specifically, Woetzel et al. (2015), from the McKinsey Global Institute, estimate that the advancement of women’s equality has a capacity to supplement $12 trillion to the global GDP by 2025. Furthermore, Inglehart et al. (2002, p.27) accentuate the political importance of emphasis on gender equality as “a central component of the process of democratization”. However, despite the unquestionable benefits that can be extracted from the imposition and cementing of the equal state between the sexes, gender discrimination still spans a multitude of societal spheres, such as the access to and management of resources, economic opportunities, political power and representation.
This cammed treatment of women stems from the constructivist nature of a given society regarding the conceptualization of sex and gender. Oakley (2015, pp.21–22) argues that sex “refers to the biological differences between male and female”, whereas the notion of gender is based on “the social classification into masculine and feminine”. Hence, on the grounds of this ethnomethodological perspective, the paradoxical paradigm can be outlined — gender and roles assigned to each are seen as ‘natural’ because on the peripheral side they are rooted in our biology, however, the image and perception of gender are constructed through daily interactions and comparing behaviours to the ‘appropriate’ optimum. Hence, by creating definitive boundaries of gender, society imposes the conditions upon women based on behavioural, personality, and physical traits. The implicit expectations associated with the female gender role build the monstrous pyramid of inequality, which thick bricks of dubious norms are sealed with the clay of stereotypes. Thus, such widely accepted judgements about gender can act as the wind further spreading the contagion of unequal and unfair treatment towards women. Here, it is substantial to highlight the Role Congruity Theory or as Benstead et al. (2015, p.76) outline, “a mismatch between stereotyped traits of a candidate and beliefs about what makes a good leader”. In this case, the socio-political contexts have an ability to drive the citizenry vote for a particular candidate originating on the perceptions of qualities adhering to a ‘capable leader’. Benstead et al (2015, p.76) maintain that “attributing different stereotypical traits” guides the voters to “undervalue women as potential and actual leaders”, hence augmenting the height of the gender inequality pyramid. Thereby, the alternation of this subconsciously accepted dogma of the conceptual disparity between female and leader traits would require the omnipresent acknowledgement of the issue of gender inequality. Yet, this new understanding of the problem will be just the first step along the path filled with obstacles of both identity and group protection because after being immersed into the hot tub of privilege — equality might feel like the salty sea-water. The ultimate acceptance of the presence of the deadly contagion will demand the start of the vaccine development, which should begin within the political institution.
Climax
“I see a woman may be made a fool,
If she had not a spirit to resist.”
(Shakespeare, 2014, p.103)
The reduction of the political bias against the marginalised female group should be based on two essential elements: the expansion of the traits associated with the notion of a ‘capable leader’ and alternation of the perception regarding the traits held specifically by women. These two outcomes may be achieved through the introduction of the gender quota or, as European Institute for Gender Equality (2015) defines, “instrument aimed at accelerating the achievement of gender-balanced participation and representation by establishing a defined proportion or number of places or seats to be filled by, or allocated to, women or/and men, generally under certain rules or criteria”. However, it is important to distinguish which particular quota will be the most effective before analysing its positive implications on the reduction of gender inequality.
The UN Women (2017) report outlines three main types of political quotas such as voluntary, candidate, and reserved seats. The first type implies the parties committing themselves to “nominating a certain percentage of female candidates for electoral lists” (ibid., p.1). The second stipulates that “a certain number of candidate positions must be reserved for women” (ibid., p.1). The last type denotes “positions for which only female candidates can compete”, hence, directly managing the overall number of female representatives in the elected positions (ibid., p.1). Notwithstanding the beneficial first-impression of all presented quotas, the caveat regarding the first two types should be brought into attention — both voluntary and candidate quotas can be subjects to the internal manipulation. Based on the very definition of the voluntary quota, the given party decides on the proportion of women nominations it aims to achieve, which, based on the findings of Dahlerup (2007, p.78), becomes “only binding for the party in question in accordance with its own internal regulations”. Similarly, Pande & Ford (2011, p.15) find the deficiencies in the imposition of the candidate quota, as in France, “the 2000 Congress law mandated equal selection of women and men as candidates on their electoral lists, but only 12.3% of deputies elected in 2002 in the National Assembly and 28% of legislators elected in 2001 in the Senate were women”. Ultimately, both quotas can be exploited by politicians only as a token policy because the nomination does not guarantee the win for a particular candidate, especially under the burden of the mentioned role congruity. Therefore, it can be concluded that the usage of the reserved seats quota, which excludes the possibility of deceit, epitomizes the most effective approach for tackling the gender inequality in the political institute. In particular, the following potential impacts of the reserved seats quota can be delineated:
Firstly, the descriptive representation of women in the public sphere will rise after the implementation of the reserved seats quota, hence diversifying the public sphere. Pande & Ford (2011, p.13) claim that “on average, female representation among legislators stands out at 22% among countries with any type of quota versus 13% in countries without a quota”, accentuating that the reservation of the seats approach “has been the most successful in guaranteeing an increase in female leadership to a particular target level”. Secondly, as the number of the women in the political institution grows, with an emphasis on the legislature, the potential for positive discrimination and change in the lives of the female citizens increases, thus, stabilising the skewed equality weights. As Bratton (2005, p.97) argues, “the increased diversity may indeed bring about changes in policy outputs that reflect the interests of women”. Thirdly, the augmented proportion of women in the political sphere will be accompanied by the alternations in the institution itself, thus stimulating the final and essential impact of the reserved seats quota — the required change in attitudes. Beaman et al. (2009) find that exposure to female leaders based on the reservation approach in Indian village councils reduced the implicit gender discrimination. Additionally, despite the short-term increase in male villagers’ preferences against female candidates, which can be interpreted as a negative reaction to the forced choice, the further rounds of the reserved seats approach have proven to adjust the voters to the quota system, as the number of the women elected heightened substantially from 4.8% to 10.1% after two rounds of reservation (Beaman et al., 2009, pp.1502–1504). Thereby, the reserved seats quota approach will not only produce the needed numerical results but also expand and redefine the traits associated with women and the image of a ‘capable leader’. Such an improvement will produce the spill-over consequences in terms of the role model effect, increased aspirations, and improved educational investments made by women, hence, further injecting the vaccine from gender inequality contagion and building the required immunity.
Denouement
Despite the undeniable progress made, gender inequality still resonates within the veins of modern society. The imposed gender roles intertwined with harmful stereotypes construct the vicious societal norms, which penetrate the different institutions, thus, marginalizing women. However, if we impede the prolongation of the egocentric denial and implement the policies initially aimed at the political institution, such as the introduction of the reserved seats quota, we will be able to heal the damaged system, subsequently establishing the new categorical imperative of equality.
Ultimately, this essay followed the structure of the drama play, except its fifth element — a catastrophe. Therefore, as the unprecedented times of modernity have shown, the development of the gender inequality vaccine should initialize momentarily or as Petruchio proclaimed,
“Better once than never, for never too late.” (Shakespeare, 2014, p.163)
