Gender Disparity and the ways in which it underpins major social and economic inequalities in South Asia

The aim of this paper is to show the linkage between gender disparity and social and economic inequalities that result because of gender disparity in the South Asian context. This is an important area of study because gender disparity is closely interlinked with and supports explanations of social and economic inequality. This is also of particular interest in the South Asian context because compared to the rest of the world South Asia has one of the greatest degrees of gender disparity in the world. Furthermore gender equality can be used to measure the progressiveness and development of a given society as a whole by acting as an indicator to social equality. In other words the smaller the gap in gender disparity, the more developed and progressive a given country or society can be regarded. This paper will deal with the common perception of women in the South Asian context, social exclusion and the limited legal rights of women, Their rights to land and property, access to education and healthcare, female foeticide and infanticide, the political and economic exclusion of women and the downward spiraling effect that the above factors will have particularly on the economy and South Asian society as a whole. The paper will draw from various parts of South Asia to illustrate vividly examples of gender disparity at work. In order to really understand the existence of Gender disparity in South Asia one must look at the fiercely patriarchal nature of South Asian society. Throughout most of South Asia, men have been given the role of decision makers and heads of family because of cultural, social and religious backing that has gone on for thousands of years and thus gender bias is not just believed in by men but women also. â€Å"This has arguably resulted in female submission to male domination and the constraint of women's choices to come to be regarded as the social norm. † The first significant way that gender disparity supports economic inequality is in what can be regarded as the â€Å"unseen economy†. Many South Asian women are employed in the informal sector and thus their contribution to the national economy is not recognized and accounted for in a respective country's Gross Domestic Product or GDP. â€Å"Because their labour – in such activities as family care, household maintenance is excluded from systems of national accounts the work they do remains unappreciated and inadequately compensated. In Bangladesh, some studies estimate that women spend between 70 and 88 percent of their time in non-market work. The vast majority of South Asian women work in the informal-sector or in unpaid family assistance, with the informal sector accounting for the employment of 96 percent of economically-active women in India, 75 percent in Nepal and Bangladesh and nearly 65 percent in Pakistan. â€Å"2 Methods to incorporate the contribution of the women to the economy should be implemented. This would be the only possible way of assessing their productivity accurately. One theoretical method is to make use of the economic concept of â€Å"opportunity cost†. For example the productivity of a housewife can be taken into account by the cost of hiring domestic help to manage the household assuming she went out to work. Simply put, if she did not do the work at home, someone else has to be paid to do it. Such methods may be the only way to give women their due credit in recognition of their contribution to the economy. The next substantial way in which gender disparity supports a major economic inequality in South Asia is in the area of land rights for women. A very phallic male-centred approach to the division of property and very often occurs in South Asia. A significant proportion of women do not receive their due share of inheritance. â€Å"3 In order to really understand the economic and social implications that this brings about one must see â€Å"the links between gender subordination and property and the need to be sought in not only the distribution of property between households but also in its distribution between men and women, in not only who owns the property but also who controls it, and in relation not only to private property but to communal property. † 4 Actual ownership of a property does not always mean effective assertion of control over that property. In some cases women's names are not put on the revenue records after they inherit, in others they are persuaded to sign relinquishment in favour of male family members. â€Å"5 This is because in many parts of South Asia it is customary for sons to inherit all the land and property without any shares going to the daughters of the family. The lack of property and capital makes women economically subjugate to men because of economic dependency. They are unable to make economic decisions for themselves. When women's access to property and wealth is denied this makes â€Å"(a) A woman's class position defined through that of a man- father, husband etc. it is more open to change than that of a man: a well-placed marriage can raise it, divorce or widowhood can lower it. (b) This can occur to the extent that even women of propertied households, do not own property themselves and makes it difficult to characterize their class position. Indeed some have even argued that women constitute a class in themselves. â€Å"6 One must bear in mind that this not only gives rise to major economic inequality but also social inequality. The rise of capitalism has made economics in integral part of determining social class. Gone are the days when social class was not dependent on wealth and property. Thus in this respect women are socially compromised as well economically. Another way in which gender disparity closely supports both economic and social inequality is with regards to the Law of a state. The Law can be used as a very good indicator of gender disparity and thus social and economic inequality. Simply put the Law has to protect both men and women. Men and women should have equality before the law. The Apostle Paul said, â€Å"The law is lawful so long as one uses it lawfully†. Indeed there should not only be equality before the Law in areas of gender, but race and class as well. The legal terrain of South Asia is determined by the religious and cultural practices of several communities, and overlain by traditions of European jurisprudence and is particularly treacherous for women. Throughout the region different religious and cultural communities are governed by separate personal laws- those civil laws which deal with marriage, dowry and divorce; custody, guardianship and adoption of children and inheritance†. 7 The lack of a uniform civil code in South Asian states to protect the rights of women has sadly allowed loopholes in the law to be exploited which aids in the economic and social oppression of women. It is a sad truth that in many parts of South Asia there is still a strong degree of gender-bias in the law of the state, which puts women at an unfair disadvantage as compared to men. â€Å"The lack of a uniform civil code in which fundamental human rights take precedence over gender discriminatory religious customs remains a main obstacle to the achievements of women's equal rights. â€Å"8 In order to illustrate the significant impact the law can have on promoting inequality the laws pertaining to women's rights in South Asia will be looked at. Property and inheritance laws are in themselves highly gender discriminatory across South Asia. This will be tied in with the earlier example of land rights for women and the role of the law as a mediating device. Take for example the case of the â€Å"Jaffna Tamils in Sri Lanka, a married woman needs her husband's consent to alienate land which she legally owns. â€Å"9 Legal ownership does not always carry with it the right of control in all senses. Legal ownership might still be challenged by prevailing social constraints as well. Thus there has to be not only implementation of legal rights but enforcement as well in order to safeguard the rights of women. Strong degree of gender disparity can be seen from inheritance laws in Nepal. â€Å"One of the laws states that a daughter can only inherit paternal property if she is unmarried and over 35 years of age, and she cannot inherit tenancy rights. â€Å"10 Needless to say the very legal system, which should serve the function of protection, seems to undermine women and compromise their representation. A very serious aspect that needs to be looked at is the implication of some of the bias inheritance laws, which contribute to a downward spiral effect. These bias inheritance laws not only economically and socially impair women but in many cases their offspring bear the brunt of the hardship as well. Firstly, these â€Å"discriminatory property laws limit women's capacity to obtain credit and benefit from new opportunities for economic advancement by engaging in self employment. This also has further serious implications as in the case of the â€Å"cancellation of the provision of inheritance for orphan grandchildren by a Federal Shariat Court in Pakistan. This has a multiplier effect on economic and social inequality because of the overwhelming burden placed on widowed mothers. They lose their only means of financial support with the death of their husbands and this also means that the children would not be able to inherit the property of their father which will also increase the financial burden of the women. 11 Also, the law not only fails to protect women in terms of property and inheritance rights but in many other areas as well. Women who are the victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse in South Asia have a much harder time seeking justice than their counterparts around the world. Often in South Asia, women who are the victims of sexual assault and battery are blamed for the crime rather than the perpetrators and abusers themselves. Gender disparity really underpins the social inequality in Bangladesh. â€Å"Even today, for the majority of women in Bangladesh, the world consists of their immediate family, and the new households of near relatives and neighbours. Very few are involved in any social institution apart from the family, and this even often applies to middle-class women in urban areas. The cultural institution of parda requires the isolation of all women besides minors from men outside the family and close relative circle. Movements outside the home are to be carried out only for prescribed reasons and at prescribed times of the day. † 12 Because of this cultural institution many Bangladeshi women literally become â€Å"birds in a cage†. This not only compromises women socially but economically and politically as well. This restricts their occupational chances and mobility. Furthermore parda leaves virtually no room in a woman's life for public interaction. Women are thus excluded from elections, conferences and decision-making bodies. Because of the strong nature of patriarchy is South Asian society and the Dowry system in marriages, women are considered a liability even before they are born. In the next few paragraphs the paper will look at women's access to healthcare and education and female foeticide and infanticide. This indeed causes an exacerbation of social and economic inequality. In order for a country or state to bloom as a society the rights and interests of both sexes have to be catered for. If women are given equal educational opportunities and access to healthcare, the standard of living and quality of life as a whole will improve. Educational quotient and life expectancy will rise. Women will also be able to take on more jobs and increasingly knowledge based ones and thus contribute more substantially to the economy as well. If women are given an equal chance as men economically and socially in South Asia, it might gradually eradicate the mentality that daughters are a liability and thus slow down and eventually stop the vicious cycle. The need for dowries may disappear if this were the case. Female foeticide and infanticide will cease to be such an impending issue and South Asian society will be more progressive as a whole. Prenatal sex determination techniques such as â€Å"amniocentesis techniques for developing foetal abnormalities were developed in India, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. It was soon discovered that these tests could also accurately determine the sex of the child. A statistic purporting to come from the Registrar General of India, based on hospital records alone showed that 3. lakh female foetuses were aborted in India between 1993 and 1994†. Needless to say the sex ratios in South Asia are one of the most unbalanced in the world because of the substantially higher ratio of men to women. This is gender disparity in action in its worst social implication. Very simply, a price is put on the lives unborn female children. They are being killed in the hundreds of thousands to such a degree that some people have aptly come up with the term, â€Å"femicide† to describe the literal culling of the female sex. What is far more worrying though is the practice of infanticide where many female children are killed after birth. This is tantamount to murder but goes unchecked in many parts of South Asia. Sometimes however, one wonders whether it is crueler to commit female infanticide rather than subject the female child to a life of hardship, misery and oppression. Girls are treated differently from boys since birth. They are not given enough food compared to boys and they suffer from nutritional deficits. Girls are far more prone to malnutrition in South Asia than boys are. They also tend to suffer from a host of other ailments and still preferential medical treatment is given to boys. â€Å"Educational indicators of South Asian women although recording improvement in recent years, are some of the worst in the world, especially at technical and higher levels. Women constitute only 17 percent of technical students, and South Asian governments spend approximately 4. 4 percent of their educational budgets on technical and scientific education†14 It is of little wonder that women are subject to economic inequality judging from the statistics above. In conclusion in can be said that gender disparity greatly underpins major social and economic inequalities in South Asia. This is evident in the Legal systems, educational systems and medical systems and social systems of South Asia. It can be seen that the root of a lot of economic and social evils in South Asia are due to gender disparity between men and women. If South Asia is to progress as a society as a whole, gender disparity must be eradicated or if not, at least curbed.

Detergents Case Essay

A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with â€Å"cleaning properties in dilute solutions.†[1] These substances are usually alkylbenzenesulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are more soluble in hard water, because the polar sulfonate (of detergents) is less likely than the polar carboxyl (of soap) to bind to calcium and other ions found in hard water. In most household contexts, the term detergent by itself refers specifically to laundry detergent or dish detergent, as opposed to hand soap or other types of cleaning agents. Detergents are commonly available as powders or concentrated solutions. Detergents, like soaps, work because they are amphiphilic: partly hydrophilic (polar) and partly hydrophobic (non-polar). Their dual nature facilitates the mixture of hydrophobic compounds (like oil and grease) with water. Because air is not hydrophilic, detergents are also foaming agents to varying degrees. Contents [hide] 1 Chemical classification of detergents 1.1 Anionic detergents 1.2 Cationic detergents 1.3 Non-ionic and zwitterionic detergents 2 Major applications of detergents 2.1 Laundry detergents 2.2 Fuel additives 2.3 Biological Reagent 2.4 Soapless soap 3 See also 4 References 5 External links [edit]Chemical classification of detergents Detergents are classified into three broad groupings, depending on the electrical charge of the surfactants. [edit]Anionic detergents Typical anionic detergents are alkylbenzenesulfonates. The alkylbenzene portion of these anions is lipophilic and the sulfonate is hydrophilic. Two different varieties have been popularized, those with branched alkyl groups and those with linear alkyl groups. The former were largely phased out in economically advanced societies because they are poorly biodegradable.[2] An estimated 6 billion kilograms of anionic detergents are produced annually for domestic markets. Bile acids, such as deoxycholic acid (DOC), are anionic detergents produced by the liver to aid in digestion and absorption of fats and oils. Three kinds of anionic detergents: a branched sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, linear sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, and a soap. [edit]Cationic detergents Cationic detergents are similar to the anionic ones, with a hydrophobic component, but, instead of the anionic sulfonate group, the cationic surfactants have quaternary ammonium as the polar end. The ammonium center is positively charged.[2] [edit]Non-ionic and zwitterionic detergents Non-ionic detergents are characterized by their uncharged, hydrophilic headgroups. Typical non-ionic detergents are based on polyoxyethylene or a glycoside. Common examples of the former include Tween, Triton, and the Brij series. These materials are also known as ethoxylates or PEGylates. Glycosides have a sugar as their uncharged hydrophilic headgroup. Examples include octyl-thioglucoside and maltosides. HEGA and MEGA series detergents are similar, possessing a sugar alcohol as headgroup. Zwitterionic detergents possess a net zero charge arising from the presence of equal numbers of +1 and −1 charged chemical groups. Examples include CHAPS. See surfactants for more applications. [edit]Major applications of detergents [edit]Laundry detergents Main article: laundry detergent One of the largest applications of detergents is for cleaning clothing. The formulations are complex, reflecting the diverse demands of the application and the highly competitive consumer market. In general, laundry detergents contain water softeners, surfactants, bleach, enzymes, brighteners, fragrances, and many other agents. The formulation is strongly affected by the temperature of the cleaning water and varies from country to country. [edit]Fuel additives Both carburetors and fuel injector components of Otto engines benefit from detergents in the fuels to prevent fouling. Concentrations are about 300 ppm. Typical detergents are long-chain amines and amides such as polyisobuteneamine and polyisobuteneamide/succinimide.[3] [edit]Biological Reagent Reagent grade detergents are employed for the isolation and purification of integral membrane proteins found in biological cells. Advancements in the purity and sophistication of detergents have facilitated structural and biophysical characterization of important membrane proteins such as ion channels,[4] transporters, signaling receptors, and photosystem II.[5] [edit]Soapless soap Soapless soap refers to a soapfree liquid cleanser with a slightly acidic pH.[6] Soapless soaps are used in an array of products.

Mr Makoloyis Personal Profile and View Assignment

Mr Makoloyis Personal Profile and View - Assignment Example Mr Makoloyi says that the problems emanate from the fact that BA had persisted that the crew accept four-year pay pact. This was to see a freeze in actual pay up to 2014, something to which the crew has countered by giving the company a three-year pay cut pact. Although BA management has already rejected this. In addition, the company refused to commit to making longer the legitimacy of the industrial action ballot to let union staff members to be balloted on any suggestion from BA. Consequently, as Modlock (2010) observed, it resulted in another strike, third to be precise, ballot in five months following the rejection of BA’s proposal by cabin crew. Moreover, BA’s unwillingness to address Unite’s concerns about the impact on existing crew gave that the airline is pushing forward with its new fleet plans and especially on how the routes will be allocated among already functioning and the latest crew in the ages to come. Mr Makoloyi also observed that heightened tensions at the BA is caused by the manner in which the management relates with the employees and the stringent rules it has put forth to curb employee misbehavior like excessive drinking, and this has lowed the motivation of employees. Equally threatening an issue, related to pensions. Mr. Makoloyi explains that the announcement by the company in 2003 that it would close its ultimate remuneration scheme to all recently employed workers due to a major shortfall in the pension’s fund led to BALPA, a trade union that stands for BA pilots, threatened industrial action if the final remuneration scheme was reduced to a less generous package. The threat was approximated to have cost the company roughly eighty million pounds while the union projected that the adjustment would make a number of their members to lose 36% of their final pension. BALPA has roughly 2500 members (Modlick 2010).Mr. Makoloyi said that between 2005 and 2006, BA held mo re than 500 briefings with staff pertaining the same issue. All these negotiations with four unions yielded little given that each of these unions had their own unique issue of concern.

HRM Competencies CHAPER1,4,11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

HRM Competencies CHAPER1,4,11 - Essay Example In addition, in this case training is mainly done to expose the employees to job requirements. Development refers to the ability to enable one perfect the skills they possess. In organizations, development is used to increase the effectiveness of human resources. In addition, HR professions are responsible for career development of employees. Ulrich et.al (2012) say that this can be achieved through the provision of tools and resources aimed increasing the involvement of an employee in certain activities. Additionally, all employees require career development strategies aimed at improving their expertise in their professional field. In general development can be referred to as improvement of an employee’s professional abilities. Development can also be efficiently achieved through learning. This paper analyzes the function of the HR profession as a trainer or developer. In addition, the paper will analyze the suitability of the requirements to create an exceptional training and development programs. For a HR profession to put in place functional development and training frameworks, they should realize the relation between the two vices. In an argument by Vyas (2009)development includes training of human resources to fit a particular job description of their professional alignment. This can also be perceived as development. Career development in organizations is mainly done through training. From this argument, one may assert that training is the main requirements of development and a HR developer should merge the two requirements. The main requirement of a HR developer is to create a development framework that suits the need of both the organization and the employees. In an argument by Petrescu & Simmons (2008), the organization should also provide specificationsto the developer on the nature of required development frameworks. Vyas (2009)also argues that the relationship between the

You can decide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

You can decide - Essay Example The zoo also provides a detailed history of their origin. The following is a detailed report of my visit. The first stop was at the Safari Park Lemur Walk that provides an impressive exhibit of the promisian Lemur whose scientific name is Lumeniformes. A belief history about their origin indicates that they are from Madagascar. The park officially started conservation in 1963 .There is a total of five ring tailed Lemurs in the exhibit. The Lemur is very small and one might think it is a squirrel, a cat or a dog but it the smallest primate ever. It resembles a fox with its snout and it has a hairless nose which is usually wet this adapts it to be a good sniffer.it has a smooth fur which was gray for some and others had a red fur they varied with colour.The tails of the Lemurs are not PREHENSILE . The tails are long and unique with black and white rings. They have five digits on the FRONT and HIND LIMBS and bright round eyes. For the first ten minutes, the Lemurs were grooming each using an elongated nail on the second toe. They also used their finely spaced teeth. They communicated with sounds that were similar to the mewing of a cat. Physical signals like facial expressions are rare to the Lemurs lack facial muscles like most primates. In the next five minutes, something interesting came up the zookeeper kept some food in the cage that included some biscuit a vegetable and fruits. The Lemurs were using their tails to communicate to each about the food.one would hold up their tail and the other four would take note of it. After a few minutes, they all ran toward where the food was. The tail is also a tool of communication by the lemurs. The rest of the time, the lemurs’ were sun bathing and grooming. The troop had only one male, the reason to that is because a powerful female dominates them and they chase men from their troop. I went to the Monkey Trail in the Lost Forest as my second destination.

What is the main categories of Helel's argument in Part One of the Essay

What is the main categories of Helel's argument in Part One of the Philosophy of Right and how are they logically connected - Essay Example Brooks, on the other hand, identifies two great debates on the Philosophy of Right, as the work is more commonly known, namely one over its political sympathies and another on its relationship to metaphysics (2007). Thus, the first debate is thought to have arisen since the book’s first appearance, where the Philosophy of Right had been charged with â€Å"a dangerous conservatism† (Brooks, 2007) and the earliest reviews written by those Hegel had considered friends of him were nearly uniformly negative (Wood, 1991). These early attacks, however, viewed the book in relation to the immediate political situation, which may account for the reason why it was read as a blessing on the political status quo; not surprisingly, commentators and scholars in the liberal tradition followed that interpretation (Wood, 1991). The second debate, according to Brooks (2007), divided the scholarship into two camps – adherents of the â€Å"metaphysical approach to the study of Hegel’s work† and such of the â€Å"non-metaphysical approach to Hegel’s work†. Whereas the first debate, about the nature of Hegel’s political philosophy, is believed to be over, with the assertion that Hegel’s views lie in between the extremities of conservatism and liberalism, the second one has developed into an argument about â€Å"how strongly metaphysical† is Hegel’s Philosophy of Right (Brooks, 2007). This paper is intended to review Hegel’s Philosophy of Right’, namely its Part one – â€Å"Abstract Right†, in order to establish which are the main categories of Hegel’s argument and how they logically connect with each other. The paper argues that it is the philosophical method of Hegel, which holds the key to the understanding of his logic. There are two main categories of Hegel’s argument in Part One of the Philosophy of Right, as follows – the concept of ‘Abstract Right’ and the

Cruise ship tourism Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cruise ship tourism - Case Study Example The structure of the cruise industry is more likely to resemble monopoly because the industry has executed a lot of changes in the brand that is so much different from the carnival of the past. The pricing in the cruise industry has continued to lead, with an average price per person in a day being approximately $175, compared to other industries that are slated to be $ 235. The cruise industry has also improved the onboard products and ships thus making it have a competitive advantage above the rest of other industries. Driving such a change has been the core objective and vision of Carnival (Gibson, Papthanassis, & Milde, 2011). The aspect of consistently providing quality cruise vacations exceeding the expectation of the industry’s guests is more likely to make the company become a monopolist since its services will exceed those provided by other industries.Question 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The various brands operated by Carnival Corp. do not have synergies. It is wise for Carnival to acquire brands outside of the contemporary market niche in order to bring a different brand into the market. This will ensure that the company effectively competes with other companies within the industry (Gibson, Papthanassis, & Milde, 2011). Carnival should also acquire brands outside of the contemporary market so as to improve its field-sales force as well as to grow direct-sales effort that include an inbound and outbound channel of personal vacation planners. The acquired brands will also help Carnival direct its efforts in stimulating demand.