Gender Inequality- A New Dimension

“You don’t have to play masculine to be a strong woman”.- Mary Elizabeth Winstead

I do not claim to be an expert on Gender Discrimination, but I am well versed with the ongoing, unending debate on this hot topic and the arguments from both the sides. Recently, I became further enlightened thanks to Olga Namasembe, a Ugandan citizen currently, a Ph.D. student at the University of Granada, Spain. She is researching “Women and Gender,” with the objective of empowering young African women in business. We met by coincidence on the flight from Madrid to Granada on September 22nd as she was seated next to me. She was on the last leg of her arduous journey involving several hours of travel and four hops, returning to resume her semester after a several week break at home. She was still fresh and sharp. I instantly grabbed the opportunity to learn more on the subject of her studies, and involved her in an intense conversation. She was spontaneous, clear headed and balanced. It appeared to me as if she is poised to take up a larger role of influencing African governments to pave way for framing policies supporting women entrepreneurs. She has a graduate degree in Business Administration and Management and a Masters degree in economics and management, giving her an adequate foundation to pursue her research on empowering women.

During our conversation Olga remarked, “Feminine masculinity as a tool to combat deep rooted male chauvinism, is attracting more resistance from the male dominant society”. If I understood her correctly, she believes in the possibility of creating a gender equal society by mutually respecting and recognizing different gender specific roles. How society could consider a woman, who is ably juggling the multiple roles of homemaker, caring mother, and loving spouse all at once could be considered inferior to a women at the top of the corporate ladder competing with men, is beyond me. Why society does not fairly recognize the innate differences between the physical masculinity, or strength of a man with feminine sensitivity, love, gentleness, forbearance of a woman is a question for the eons. I believe that each human being, irrespective of his or her gender, is free to choose a role driven by his or her inner instincts. Perhaps, these are the questions my new friend Olga Namasembe would like to answer during her Ph. D. I could sense her utopian dream of a complementarity of male-female relationship over the current environment of competition. As I understood the direction of her thesis, it is not necessary for women to change to a masculine role to prove their helmsmanship. They should be able to do the same in their feminine status.

As our in-flight conversation progressed, I was convinced that she is a balanced thinking activist, using research effectively to accomplish her goals. One of her thoughts really stayed with me: Before we talk of the substrate male-female competition for the premier and powerful roles in society, we need to fight together to protect gullible women from proactive feminine oppression, by becoming the voice of the voiceless. Sadly, our conversation got interrupted as we landed in Granada. By then, she had given me a lot to digest about Masculinity as a social, cultural and political expression of maleness and the identification of maleness with authority and patriarchal powers. I extended our conversation by offering her a lift to her hostel.

This conversation raised my hopes for a very bright future for humanity, as millions of ‘Olgas’ are being nurtured in every corner of the universe, filled with the determination to change society with humility, and by the shear power of conviction.

Jubilant Olga sitting in the car

Olga back in her hostel, University of Granada,Spain

Mahendra Bhandari MD, MBA

drmbhandari.com