By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
“Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. There has been progress over the last decades, but the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030,” stated the UN.
Imagine!
8 March is the International Women’s Day! Imagine a gender equitable, bias-free world! Imagine a world where competent people regardless of their gender find their way to leadership! Since humanity walks the earth, men have always been in the driving seat, with some exceptions! What are the consequences? The world becomes a jungle, without a heart! Mass killings, mass displacement, mass destruction, pain and loss prevail, despite the jaw-dropping technology swaying us. Unfortunately, humanity is heading to mass extinction. Thus, why not women take over? What if women lead the world? Absolutely, the world would become more humane! This is not just rhetoric.
Defeatist, escapist attitude
“Women don’t support one another!” Unfortunately, this is reality to an extent! A key obstacle to women’s empowerment in many parts of the world are women themselves! They are stuck in entrenched anti-women cultures, where women never feel self-assertive or self-confident. Stereotypes, biases, and traditions keep women taking a defeatist, escapist attitude when it comes to women’s potential for leadership! They even pushback, along with men, those who managed to set successful examples as female leaders, describing them as “men-like” or “masculine”.
Informal survey
“Chaos would prevail in life” and “Women cannot lead because they are not adequately qualified physically or mentally,” and “May God curse a people whose affairs are led by a woman.” These were examples of the responses I received from my students in an informal survey I conducted in a lecture last March, coinciding with Women’s Day. Students were asked to express their views on women’s leadership.
200 female students participated in the survey. After sorting out all responses , it became apparent that 62 per cent of female responses voiced negative attitudes about women’s leadership. Indeed, such responses epitomise the communal stereotypes viewing women’s leadership as a stigma. Women are ranked as less competent, subordinate, and not qualified for political or corporate leadership. A sense of shock mixed with provocation overwhelms me and some pressing questions crossed my mind. Why? What are the cultural and social contexts that embrace such anti-women ideology? And how can the society’s perception of women’s leadership and women’s self-perception change?
Self-contradiction
In my view, one significant reason lies in the substantial self-contradiction women often exhibit. While they strive to secure more rights, women submit themselves to deeply ingrained social norms that have long perpetuated the subordinated image of women as weak and inferior beings. Women themselves contribute to perpetuating this image by conforming to these societal standards that celebrate body image and beauty standards set by men. Women are engaging in a fervent struggle to cope with such standards, wasting much of their time and energy. If unsuccessful, women often fall victims to self-defeat, disrespect, and self-doubt.
Under friendly fire
Another reason is that sometimes some women become the first enemy of women and fight against women empowerment and gender discrimination, obstructing any attempts to alter the status quo. They accuse those who try to effect change of being too masculine. Some women engage in fierce competition with other women to win over men, which they consider the benchmark of success in life.
Leadership is gender-neutral
The long-established association between males and leadership is a significant reason for the communal lack of confidence in women’s competence. There are undoubtedly biological differences between men and women. It is futile to ignore this fact. However, most of what we perceive as gender differences are essentially societal constructs. Neuroscience research has demonstrated that the functioning of the brain, neurons, neural connections, and neural networks is significantly influenced by the prevailing culture, a matter impacting the roles played by each gender, their perspectives, their identities and expectations. Let’s set aside gender and view women and men as individuals. Leadership is not gender-specific; it is contingent on personal characteristics and possessing fundamental leadership skills, such as having a vision, the ability to make difficult decisions, and effectively utilising available resources.
By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban Professor of linguistics Faculty of Arts Kafr el-sheikh University
Email: [email protected]
