Mary Anne Yu Pinlac 2009-13389

P.I. 100 Professor Aragon

Paper 2: Sex Superiority Article: Job discrimination against women more noticeable in South Asia By: DPA (Deutsche Press Agentur) of www.earthtimes.org
Bangkok - While the global female labour force participation rate has risen to 56.6 per cent, in much of Asia it remains well below the world average, reflecting persistent gender discrimination in the workplace, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said Thursday. "Women still remain the largest group facing discrimination in terms of employment opportunities and wage gaps," said Nelien Haspels, the ILO's senior specialist on gender and women's issues. The job discrimination against women is particularly noticeable in South Asia, said the ILO's "Equality at work: Tackling the challenges," which was launched Thursday. In South Asia the female labour force rate is just 43.5 per cent, compared to 61.2 per cent in East Asia and the Pacific. In India only 26 per cent of women are participating in the labour force compared to 84.1 per cent of men - a gap of more than 58 points, the report said. The discrimination against women in South Asia is particularly high in non-agricultural employment. "In East Asia and the Pacific the female share of non-agricultural paid employment increased to 43.5 per cent whereas in South Asia the rate remains the world's lowest at only 16.9 per cent," said Haspals. "Furthermore, two-thirds of all employed women in South Asia are working without pay," she added. In South-East Asia it is a mixed picture. While some countries such as Thailand and the Philippines have low gender gaps in employment, it is more than 30 points in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. In Indonesia the 2006 female unemployment rate is 13.3 per cent, compared to 8.6 for men, while in Thailand the unemployment rate is the same for men and women (1.7 per cent), and in some Asian countries the rate is lower for women, for instance in the Philippines it is 6.8 per cent compared to 7.6 per cent for men. There is ongoing discrimination against women in pay as well, said the ILO. "Female manufacturing workers in the Republic of Korea and Japan are paid less than 60 per cent of the wages of their male counterparts. In Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong they are paid 30-40 per cent less," it noted. Overall the Asia Pacific region still lags behind the global average in the number of legislative, senior official or managerial (LSOM) positions women have attained. In East Asia and the Pacific 24.8 per cent of these positions are held by women, up from 20.9 per cent in 1995, but South Asia has the lowest percentage of any region, at 8.6 per cent. The report also provides many examples in the region of discrimination on the basis of race and religion, social origin, age, caste or indigenousness, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status, disability (there are approximately 290 million working age people with disabilities in Asia), as well as against migrant workers. "Such barriers to equality can prevent societies from realizing the full potential of today's globalized economy," it warned.

Part I. General Comments

The discrimination against sex, or against women in particular, has been happening ever since ancient people knew how to distinguish men from women. Although in the past, women were regarded as powerful and influential because of the existence of the babaylans, it still cannot be denied that the majority of women before have been subject to discrimination and injustice. Women were not given the equal opportunities to attain good education in the past, only the men were given the opportunities to enroll and study subjects that they believed and assumed were only meant for men. Women were only taught things that dealt with household choressewing, cooking and other things. With that being mentioned, we could see that sex superiority has been occurring even in the ancient times. Another area where sex superiority is very much evident is the political realm. One need not look into old history books and research facts to know that the number of male politicians or government officials is a lot more than the number of the female ones. It could even be noted that in the past, women were not even given chances to vote and to run for government offices. Hence, with all of these facts presented, historically, we could see how evident the discrimination against sexes is. However, women did not want to remain being overshadowed by the opposite sex. Some brave and admirable women fought for their rights and these women are the ones we have to show gratitude to, because if not for them, women would have been forever silenced by the sexist world we live in. Unfortunately, despite the fact that women have been a little triumphant in asserting their rights for equal representation and participation, it still could not be denied that up until now, men are still seen as superior than women. This seems to be a reality we cannot eradicate up until the present times.

Part II. Summary of Ideas

The article that I chose is one of the numerous proofs that sex superiority is still happening in the world. This article is about the discrimination against women when it comes to employment, or what we could call simply as job discrimination. It has been reported that in South Asia, the percentage of the female labor force participation rate is just 43.5 percent compared to those in other parts of the world. This percentage not only proves that a lot of women are unemployed, but it also means that a lot of women are still being discriminated in the workplace. Another alarming fact stated in the article is that two-thirds of all employed women in South Asia are working without getting paid. This is very alarming to know because not only are women being discriminated but they are even getting exploited by them working without getting payment in return. Some are being paid, but they are being paid less than what they deserve. This job discrimination happening in South Asia is one clear proof of the superiority of the male in the workplace. Even though men and women do the same jobs and work for the same people, women are still being treated as inferior and they are not being given the right income they deserve for their efforts. Some are not even accepting women in their offices just for the plain and simple fact that they are women. The article also stated a lot of examples showing how severe is the discrimination against women in the field of working. It was even mentioned that the Asia Pacific region is still behind the global average in the number of legislative positions attained by women. Like what I have mentioned in the first part of this paper, the number of male politicians is really a lot more than the number of female politicians. This kind of discrimination is happening not only in Asia, but in all parts of the world. The article stated that

such obstacles to equality will prevent societies from recognizing the full potential of todays global economy.

Part III. Reaction

Like what was stated in the article, job discrimination against women is very rampant especially in South Asia, this certain part of the world where the Philippines belongs to. It is very upsetting to know that even though there were already a lot of proposed bills and legislations aiming for women to have equal rights as that of men, people still couldnt stop discriminating women. I do not know why some people believe that men are superior to women. Yes, lets admit it, the majority of men are physically stronger than women, lets blame it to genetics. But when it comes to work, when it comes to leading people, when it comes to productivity, are men still superior to women? I do not think so. Like old arguments go, the things that men could do, women could also do nowadays. A lot of work that men could do, women are also doing today. It is wrong to assume that just because in the past, women were not treated in a fair way, we should continue doing so. We are in a modern world now, we are in a world where things that were impossible years ago are now possible and even existing, we are in the period where a lot of innovations are happening and a lot of changes are taking place, so why then are men still assumed as superior to women? Some people would like to argue and say that men are born more intelligent than men because we have many male scientists, economists, leaders, doctors, lawyers and so on, but shouldnt it be blamed for the things that happened in the past? If women were only given the same opportunities they gave to men before, wouldnt women also develop

and learn a lot of things? Wouldnt women also produce and invent things if they were only given the same education they gave to the men? I do not agree with the arguments that this world will not change, that this will world will remain male-biased and will maintain the same prejudice against women. I do not believe in that because if women in the past were able to alter something in this so-called male-biased world, then why couldnt women of today do it? If women in the past were able to assert their rights and fight for the rights to vote and hold government offices, then why cant women of today do something to change whats happening in the workplace? However, what I do not know is that when these changes will happen, when these changes would occur and when this male-biased world would turn into a fair world. It seems a bit impossible, some people may say, but it also seemed impossible before, didnt it? But those brave women were able to make things possible.

Part IV. Questions

As a professor in the University of the Philippines, do you think job discrimination against women is also happening in the UP system?

We all know that there have been various efforts of women to eradicate the discrimination and injustice happening in this country, but do you think there will come a time when this country will realize that women could also do as much as men could?