Discrimination Among Girls In Everyday Life
Discrimination against girls in everyday life
Gender discrimination remains deeply entrenched and widely tolerated in our society as well as the world. Given the advancement in lifestyle and standards, the harsh reality of gender discrimination is a shameful truth for humanity. Forms of this discrimination are numerous and vary depending on the traditions, history, and culture of a particular society. In India, these forms manifest themselves aggressively in almost all realms of life and can be broadly classified as social, academic and economic.
Cultural preconceptions in out society have led to significant sources of gender disparity. Shortcomings such as continued practice of female infanticide, lack of basic health benefits for women and belief in male superiority are unique to developing countries. As much as poverty is blamed for these drawbacks, it is hard to envisage an average Indian girl in the 20th century free from all these curses. The traditional thought process not only holds people back from exploring what might be a treasure of strength but also weakens the confidence of many young women today. These facts have led to staggering statistics in our country as well as across the world. About two million girls a year still suffer genital mutilation, half a million die during pregnancy every 12 months and an estimated 7.3 million are living with HIV/Aids compared with 4.5 million young men. Almost a million girls fall victim to child traffickers each year compared with a quarter that number of boys. Social stigmas and narrow-mindedness are the lead causes for these unpleasant situations.
In the academic sphere, girls have historically been sidelined and treated unfairly. Importance of education for women is considered secondary to that for the male members of a family. It is assumed that boys will be able to make better use of schooling, a concept that is supported by no real logic. Globally, at least 9 million more girls than boys, 65 million...
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