By Monica Calderon
Despite the efforts made by governments and multilateral organizations, Gender Inequality stills as one of the main problems facing modern societies. According to the Global Gender Gap Index calculated by the World Economic Forum (WEF) which takes into account the dimensions of educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment, in 2017 the gender gap was 32% worldwide, with the dimensions of economic participation and political empowerment where the greatest differences between men and women persist.
From Sociology, gender inequality has been studied from different perspectives, being Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) and Marianne Weber (1870-1954) two of the pioneers in the analysis of the issues associated with inequality between men and women. Both authors represent critical sociology theory and they have in common the vision of how patriarchal society has been the source of subordination to which women have been subjected to different spheres of public and private life.
For Gilman and Weber Economy plays a central role in their gender inequality analysis because through the relations of interdependence generated in it, the individual may or may not achieve economic Independence which is what ultimately allows that she or he develops fully as a human being. Gilman suggests that woman has not achieved economic independence due to the excessive sex-distinction in the division of labor distorted by an androcentric culture that is based on male dominance of women. In this way, Gilman introduces the concept of the sexuo-economic relation in which the female performs tasks that are not based on her ability but on the sex to which she belongs and for that reason she does not receive the retribution that she deserves for her work, therefore the woman becomes dependent on the man.
Like Gilman, Weber also highlights the economic dependence that exists in most marriages in which the wife is an economic dependent of her husband. Even she claims that the economic dependence occurs not only in marriages where the wife does not work and she is dedicated only to housework, it is also present in marriages where the wife participates in the labor market but her income is typically only a fraction of her husband’s. As a consequence of this dependence, women can not develop fully her self and her sense of agency.
Adjacent to the economic relations, Gilman and Weber analyze the role that Sexuality has played in gender inequality. From Gilman’s perspective, the sexuo-economic relationship has had an over-emphasis on sexuality which has become a vehicle for exercising dominance and oppression on the part of man against woman. In the sexuo-economic relation the man to be the economic support for the home he feels with the right to satisfy his sexual needs without taking into account those of the woman who is converted in a body servant and instrument of the sexual desires of the man.
Weber complements the vision of Gilman regarding Sexuality, making the distinction between sex and eros. Sex refers to physical sexuality while the concept of Eros is more associated with interpersonal intimacy and the life project of the couple. She criticizes the patriarchal society that emphasizes the sexual gratification of man by woman while eroticism is left aside, preventing woman from developing their autonomy and achieving satisfaction on equal terms with man.
Although these ideas were developed early last century I find them absolutely current. I believe that the economic dependence of woman is maintained because even though she has expanded her participation in the labor market, the patriarchal culture continues to condemn her to work in industries with lower average pay, to undertake part time work due to children’s care and to earn less than man although she has the same qualifications and skills as him, as WEF reveals in its gender gap report for 2017 that the average pay for women was $ 12,000, compared with $ 21,000 for men.
As a result of economic dependence, like Weber and Gilman, I think that woman is subordinated to man in all aspects, including sexuality, where woman continues to be seen as a sexual object that should only be willing to satisfy sexual desires of man without developing his autonomy and capacity of agency.
I believe that reducing gender inequality requires not only more decisive actions by governments but also that traditional institutions of society such as the Family, the School and the Church are also determined to change the patriarchal culture that has dominated throughout history.