Gender Equality free essay sample

â€Å"Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance. † (Kofi Annan) In Paulette Jiles’s poem, â€Å"Paper Matches† and in Judith Ortiz Cofer’s poem, â€Å"The Changeling† the theme described is gender roles. In the two poems the women do not feel appreciated. These two poems are very similar in theme, content, and figurative language. However, the structures of the two poems are very different. Jiles and Cofer both use symbolism, dialogue, figurative language, and imagery as instruments to reflect the cruelty of the women during these times. In Paper Matches, Jiles uses the simile of a match to display the irritation and anger of the gender roles forced when she was a child. Matches are tiny, insignificant items that are sold in packages, and one is interchangeable from another. They have no use unless they’re lit; theyre only good for one flame. Those men who are chiefly â€Å" responsible† for torturing and dominating women. THOSE men who consider women their doormats and THOSE men who fear that WOMENS LIBERATION will only lead to their devastation. The Indian constitution and legislative framework grants women and men equal rights. In the eyes of the law, they are supposedly on par. But look around- is that truly happening? Do men and women in India, indeed share equal rights Despite the incalculable number of guarantees and safeguards, doesn’t gender inequality in India still remain a distressing reality? As John-Thor Dahlburg in his book, points out, in rural India, the centuries-old practice of female infanticide can still be considered a wise course of action. In the nearly 300 poor hamlets of the Usilampatti area of Tamil Nadu [state], as many as 196 girls died under suspicious circumstances [in 1993] Some were fed dry, unhulled rice that punctured their windpipes, or were made to swallow poisonous powdered fertilizer. Others were smothered with a wet towel, strangled or allowed to starve to death,† WE HAVE NO ONE BUT OURSELVES TO BLAME FOR THIS genocide, or in this case, GENDERCIDE. female infanticide reflec ts the low status accorded to women in many societies around the world. The burden of taking a woman into the family accounts for the high dowry rates in India which, in turn, have led to an epidemic female infanticide. In conclusion, I would just like to say that- why do we even have this gender sensitization? Why should there be any difference between a boy coming up on stage and participating in this competition, or me- as a girl- expressing my views on this issue? I don’t think there would be any ‘ biased judgement’ just because HE is a boy and I am a girl. Why do people even look at him as a HE and her as a SHE when it is WE who makes society? The day when every Indian citizens eyes will shimmer with happiness and not despair when he holds his new born girl child in his arms, the day when we WOMEN can walk freely on the streets without feeling threatened- that is the day when we can say-â€Å" gender equality is no longer a pipe dream† till then we all need to get out of our world of fantasy- we need to realize that to secure womens rights, women need to stand up in society and fight for their own cause.