Women Gender and Realities (Essay Sample)

Women Gender and Realities Name Institution Women Gender and Realities Institutional discrimination on women can be defined as any injustice by organizations, for example, the government or any other institutions, done on women because of their gender. This discrimination is brought about by norms that exist in the society that is predominated by discrimination. This paper will explain how women are discriminated in healthcare and family and how this discrimination relates to their age, race, and status. It will also discuss feminist solutions to these forms of discrimination. Women face institutional discrimination in healthcare by receiving discriminatory treatment from most insurance companies, unlike their male counterparts. For example, women are required to pay higher insurance premiums compared to men. The only factor that necessitates this disparity is gender, an incidence that sheds light into the existence of discrimination in the health care sector. There is also a noticeable inequality in the rate of insurance, whereby a large number of women are insured compared to men. Similarly, many companies make an assumption that caesarean sections as well pregnancy are pre-existing conditions and thus don’t have to be covered. This hypothesis puts women in a situation where they have to seek alternative sources of money to cater for pre-natal check-ups, yet they contribute premiums that should cover the costs. Some women, who work part time to handle household jobs and take care of their children, are excluded from the health care programs of their employers. In some areas, women working in the health sector who are eligible for promotion are forced to stay in the same job group longer than their male counterparts (Andersen &Howard, 2010). In multi-racial societies, non-citizens experience a greater difficulty in accessing quality health care compared to citizens. Moreover, they meet challenges when seeking to obtain insurance coverage due to their racial background. It is also harder for them to receive hospital or physician care than it is for their citizen counterparts. It is, therefore, evident that race worsens the experience of women discrimination in healthcare. In some incidences, women from one racial origin may find it difficult to communicate with physicians in another language, hindering the quality of health care they receive since treatment will be a challenge. Furthermore, the racial categorization commonly used in health care leads to increased discrimination in offering health services. For instance, medicines targeting certain ethnic groups with a higher propensity for certain ailments are termed as race-based, a practice that leads to increased stereotyping. The overall result is the disparity which can be seen evidently in higher mortality and more incidences of chronic diseases among minority groups. Age and socioeconomic status of women are other factors that bring about disparities in healthcare. For example, there exists cultural or economic preference for sons over daughters which, in societies like China, have led to misuse of pregnancy diagnostic tools to facilitate abortion of female children. During the adolescent stage, girls may suffer female genital mutilation, sexual abuse, early marriage, and premature parenthood. Lack of access to primary health care to many women has led to death due to pregnancy and childbirth complications. Socioeconomic factors play a significant role in this form of discrimination as well. For instance, women who are employed can afford better health care services which the poor class cannot afford hence they don’t experience dire effects of discrimination (Andersen & Howard, 2010). Women face institutional discrimination in the family in various ways. According to Andersen and Howard (2010), this discrimination can be categorized based on race, age, or even class. Discrimination according to racial lines, for example, is evident in an inter-racial relationship whereby the wife is not white leading to being looked down upon by the family members of her spouse as being of an inferior race. This kind of situation has adverse effects on the emotional well-being of the woman hence leading to strained relations in the marriage. Regarding age, abortion of the girl child is common among some communities that esteem the boy child as more important. Instead, sometimes girls are put up for adoption. In many African societies, female genital mutilation is prevalent. The young women are compelled to yield to the demands of tradition, though against their will. In the sphere of education, things are not any better. Mostly, the young woman is left uneducated while the male counterpart is given full support in his studies. Therefore, it is the case that the economic value of the girl is almost nil hence the parents decide to force them into early marriage so as to enjoy the bride price. In childhood, the girl is also exposed to many social evils such as human trafficking. The parents of the young lady may give her up to individuals who are traffickers convinced that it is the best way for the girl child to be resourceful. In adulthood, in most societies women lack the right to choose their marriage partners; their parents make the choice for them instead. During pregnancy and after childbearing, the woman is relegated to staying at home without the capacity of engaging in any demanding duty such as employment whereas the husband enjoys the benefit of fully being involved in work and other meaningful tasks without any interruptions based on gender. The influence of class upon the experiences of a woman in the light of discrimination in the family cuts across virtually all societies; it being a universal occurrence. In most cases when there is a difference in the educational levels of the individuals that make up the married couple, segregation then eventually sets in stealthily and almost imperceptibly. If the husband is more educated that the wife, an inevitable degree of discrimination comes into view even in simple things like conversations. Over the years, feminists have sought to deal with women discrimination by addressing inequalities or injustices that are based on gender, building on the belief that there should be political and socioeconomic equality of the sexes. They propose doing away with social structures that favor men over women to achieve equity in access to quality health care for all. They propose that since men dominate most medical institutions, the services offered should support men above women. Hence dealing with institutional discrimination in health care should inv...