Gender Justice

Gender Justice Assignment
By (deleted)

To me, the concept gender justice means that men and women should be treated 
equally. It is important also to remember that gender is not the same as sex.
Sex is based on biology; the sex organs of an individual define sex as being 
male or female. However, gender is a socially constructed idea that involves 
characteristics of what being male and female should look like and mean. 
Gender can have many variations, such as a biological male passing as female. 
I think gender justice encompasses both sex and gender. Males and females 
should have equal opportunities and benefits and should receive fair treatment 
in all matters.


Although discrimination or unfairness towards women may be viewed as functional
for society (since society has been surviving .doing. gender injustice), the 
status quo should be changed. Many views of justice support this. For example,
Polemarchus said that justice is giving what seems to be proper to the person.  
The way women are unfairly treated is of course not proper. Tyler provides 
support for ending injustice as well. In the equity theory of distributive 
justice, when people recognize injustice, an uncomfortable and distressing 
state is produced. Similarly, from the standpoint of relative deprivation, 
people compare themselves to others and view justice as how they are worse off 
compared to a standard. Women often view themselves as worse off than men and 
this leads to social unrest. Marxian theory of justice also supports ending 
discrimination or unfair treatment of any kind. Marx believed that there 
should be no private property or division of labor. He thought all people 
should have equal opportunities and was a staunch supporter of defending the 
oppressed and seeking justice for all. 


	An interesting response to gender injustice can be found within the 
Christian church. In .Men, Women, and Biblical Equality., the Biblical 
evidence for the equality of men and women in creation and redemption is 
presented. Men and women were both created in God.s image, with full and 
equal partnership, and in unity and equality of each other. Men and women 
were co-participants in the fall and man was given authority over woman because
of the fall. The article also says that Christ came to redeem men and women, 
that the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to both men and women, and that women 
can be in leadership. Husbands and wives should submit to each other and women
should be recognized in the church for their gifts. The article presents 
these and many other strong arguments for gender equality that can all be found
in the Bible. If all people followed the points the article set forth, there 
would indeed be gender equality and justice. However, the church has a long 
history of discriminating against women that is not likely to suddenly change.

There are many disagreements among denominations, such as whether women should 
be allowed to be ministers. Many Christians interpret scriptures quite 
differently, so agreeing on the standpoint the article sets forth would be very
difficult. In order for this view of gender equality and justice to be adopted,
people would have to believe in the Bible and many do not hold those Christian 
beliefs.

Many examples of gender injustice can be found in the article "Violence Against
Women: Tool of Terror, Weapon of War", the brutality used against women and 
the gender based violence (GBV) used as a weapon of war is discussed. The UN 
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defines GBV as "Any 
act that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or 
psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, 
coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or 
private life." (Hendricks). In Africa, one of every three women is raped in 
her lifetime. The GBV not only leads to the spread of AIDS, but many 
individuals commit suicide, experience post-traumatic stress, depression, 
anxiety, shame, and mental illness. In many African countries, the plight of 
these women is almost entirely overlooked. The article presents a strong case 
of examples of injustice against women. The reader can clearly see that the 
women are treated unfairly, and that unjust treatment brings unbearable 
consequences to their lives. The article shows how such harsh things are still
happening in our world and that we have a long way to go in eliminating gender 
inequality. However, many people reading the article may think that all these 
happenings in Africa is so far away that it doesn't even matter. Why should 
they get involved?

Many other forms of gender injustice can be found all across the world. For 
example, in the United States working women make, on average, $0.76 for every 
$1 working men make. In school, boys are often given more attention and 
encouraged to excel in math and sciences, while girls are discouraged from 
those disciplines of study. In some countries, female genital mutilation is 
performed on young girls. The outer genitalia is removed and mutilated, as 
the name suggests, so the girl will not have sex before marriage and then will 
not enjoy sex. In many Muslim countries, women must wear a head covering to 
conceal their hair and face when in public. The right to vote is also denied 
to women in many places. Sometimes baby girls are even aborted because the 
society emphasizes the importance of having boys.

In conclusion, gender injustice against women occurs in many different forms 
all over the world. We have seen that the academic community provides support 
to end injustice. We have also seen the Biblical standpoint to equality for 
men and women. Numerous examples of injustice have been given through looking
at violence against women in Africa and those happening in America and other 
countries. Some say that if the system isn't broken, there is no reason to fix
it, but the system obviously is not working for the many women in the world who
are oppressed simply because they are female. Justice should be for all, not 
only for men.

Bibliography

Hendricks, Jessica. .Violence against women: Tool of terror, weapon of war.. Making
The Global Local. 2005. Hamline University. 9 Oct. 2005.
http://www.hamline.edu/world/newsevents/

"Men, Women, and Biblical Equality". Gender Justice and Churches of Christ. 1989. 
Christians for Biblical Equality. 9 Oct. 2005. 
http://www.gal328.org/articles/CBE-Statement.html

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