Is gender an issue in workplace! Or is it irrelevant!
Ask a woman and she will tell you that being a working woman in a developing country like Pakistan is always a difficult task.
Working women face challenges day in and day out and they live through it. Although the literacy rate of females in Pakistan has increased to 62 percent, they still find it difficult to get a suitable job.
In certain sectors, women are taken as cheap labor and are paid less than their male counterparts. Workplace harassment is a reality. Equal pay is another and the list goes on. Very few institutions have day care centers to cater to the needs of their single parent employees, mainly women. There is hardly any relief given to women as a single parent.
On the other hand, when the same question is addressed with men, if not all, most men will give you a long list of privileges and incentives women enjoy. They can go home early, company offers them car for pick up and drop of. They get jobs very easily etc.
Well this article is not meant to be feminist or sexist, we all have our set of challenges. Women do get advantages sometimes, so do men. Lately it has been observed that both genders use it as an excuse for being unemployed.
Applicable to all, irrespective of the gender, one must not take advantage of privileges offered by the employers and embrace the challenges.
To conclude, we may agree with John Gray that “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.
If we start accepting and respecting the opposite gender, it may improve our role in the society and we may start thinking about supporting instead of snatching.
After all, everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind!