Gender Inequality
Augusta Tostrud, Maggie Hohfeler
Background
Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender.
Gender roles - cultural expectations imposed on men and women to behave in ways deemed appropriate for their gender
Some examples of gender inequality in our world today are:
- Women being forbidden from driving
- Clothing requirements
- Denied the right to divorce
- Limited access to education
- Denied the right to travel
- Victims of violence
- Sexual subjugation
- Female infanticide
Quotes
"This diet he administered religiously, seemingly bent on molding George and me in his image. At first I had tried to resist the diet, but my father's severe looks frightened me." (Mathabane 31)
"...from time to time quarreling with my mother over money matters and over what he called my mother's streak of insubordination not befitting "the women he bought." But he still tried, in his own way, to be a father and a husband." (Mathabane 52)
"My mother did not argue; she knew my father well enough not to." (Mathbane, 60)
"Not giving my mother an opportunity to answer, he went on, "Instead of putting your energies into cooking and raising children, as a good women should, you put your energies into trying to be the man in this house. What kind of women are you, heh?" (Mathabane, 176)
"That's your responsibility as a father, and mine as a mother. So I'm glad your assuming yours now." (Mathabane, 177)
Discussion Questions
1. What causes gender inequality in the book?
2. How is gender related to culture?
3. Does gender inequality increase or decrease with age?
4. What are cases of gender inequality in the other books we have read?
5. How does gender inequality affect the growth of the characters in the book?
6. What are some examples of gender inequality today?
Works Cited
"Gender and Inequality and The History and of Gender Mainstreaming." UNDP. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.
"Gender Equality." YouTube. YouTube, 22 May 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.
Mathabane, Mark. Kaffir Boy. New York: Free, 1986. Print.