Gender Equality

Deep dive into Gender Equality! High school worksheet covers benefits, arguments, and essay writing.

Choose the most suitable words from the WORD BANK below the text. Gender equality is a state where people are treated the same, irrespective of their gender. It means that women and men have the same opportunities, power and rights. For those in favour of gender equality, there is simply no reason that an individual or group should be discriminated against because of something like gender, race, age or nationality. All people are born equal and that is how it should stay.The idea that one gender is inferior to the other is wrong and there is no justifiable reason to believe otherwise. This idea, however, is one that some people contest – they believe that one gender is superior to the other and that’s just the way it is. This usually manifests itself in the oppression of women – something that is not uncommon in some parts of the world, even in today’s era. Treating everybody the same, irrespective of their gender doesn’t just benefit those who are otherwise oppressed, but it actually benefits everyone. Providing everyone with the same opportunities allows the best people to perform. For example, if you’re looking for a new employee, but you decide it must be a man, you will choose the best person from half of the available candidates (the men). In other words, discounting half of the population because of their gender automatically limits the pool of people from whom you can choose, so you halve your chances of finding the best person for the job.Taking this idea further, limiting the type of person who can perform a certain action will result in a homogeneous workforce with a lack of diverse opinions and chances to learn from others. This is something the world has witnessed, as women have been oppressed on many occasions throughout history. In order to create and sustain economies that benefit society, women must be provided with equal access to education, healthcare, career prospects and political positions. One of the arguments against gender equality is that it disrupts traditional values which have helped society and families develop. For example, traditionally, men went out to work doing some kind of physical labour, while women stayed at home raising children and preparing food. If the genders are equal, then it is confusing and possibly Troublesome to decide who should perform certain actions (i.e. earn money to provide for the family and who should raise children).Men and women are biologically different and therefore the role each gender plays in the world is different. Men are physiologically built for work, while women are built for childbirth. This is particularly evident where children are concerned because no matter how equal the sexes are treated, women will always be those who bear children. In this natural, scientific, yet basic sense, the genders will never be completely equal and so it is against nature to treat them as such.There is a study, performed by Gijsbert Stoet and David C. Geary in 2018, which is not in itself opposed to gender equality but is often used as an argument against it. It concluded that even in places where the genders are equal in terms of opportunities and cultural attitudes, there is still a high level of gender disparity in fields such as science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). They suggest this is the case possibly because of something called the expectancy-value theory. STEM theory states that our beliefs about certain topics affect our behaviour (or performance) within them. In other words, women think they will do better in non-STEM subjects, so they opt not to study STEM subjects even when there is an equal opportunity to do so.For many people raised in the modern world with Western beliefs, it’s really hard to think of a reason why gender equality is not the norm throughout the world. However, the fact is that many countries and cultures do not advocate gender equality, and for such people, the idea of the genders being equal is just as strange. In the space below, write the correct answers to exercises 1 and 2: Choose one of the topics below and write an opinion essay (200-300 words) a) Working mothers hinder their children’s development.b) Toys should be gender-neutral (for instance dolls are for both boys and girls).c) Universities need more female teachers while kindergartens need more male teachers.d) Men are better in decision making roles than women.e) It is OK for men to cry.f) There are different expectations for sons and daughtersDon't forget to write a title, use linking expressionsand divide your essay into 4 paragraphs.