Gender Danger

Our gender is part of who we are. Being male or female-or how male or female a person acts-should not make life more dangerous. And yet it does. Traditionally, women have been known as the weaker sex, and while this is not literally true, women often face dangers men do not. In some parts of the world, such as the Congo, rape is used as a weapon, an intimidation tactic to control the population. In some areas, a woman can be killed for bringing shame on her family, for crimes as minor as removing a veil or talking to a man. In the name of tradition-or of beauty-women's bodies have been bound or altered, with corsets, foot bindings, female genital mutilation, or high-heeled shoes. Women have also generally held lower paying jobs-or are paid less for the same jobs-and they have done the majority of housework and child raising, whether or not they work outside the home as well.