Gender Asymmetry
Gender asymmetry – the disproportionate representation of the social and cultural roles of both sexes, as well as ideas about them, in various spheres of life. For example, in the population of most countries women constitute more than half of the population, from 51% to 54%, whereas in politics at the national and regional levels their number is significantly lower.
The source of gender asymmetry is sometimes state structures, for example in fundamentalist countries where women are deprived of the right to participate in elections and, in some cases, of the right to education, participation in public life, work outside the home, and so on. More often, however, the source of gender asymmetry is covert discrimination and patriarchal attitudes dominant in public consciousness, which become channels for practical action. Thus, neoliberal consciousness tends to explain women’s low representation in power by women’s “natural purpose” or by their unwillingness to enter politics.
Gender asymmetry is a source of instability in states and in the world, as has been argued by specialists, including UN experts. At present, international agencies and organizations are developing large-scale programs aimed at overcoming gender asymmetry in all spheres of life.
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