The Big Gap of Gender Equality Between Magetan Regency and The Republic of
Finland
Zalzabila Megan Almadina
152011813008 – BI 1
Introduction
Magetan is a regency situated in the west of East Java province. This regency covers
an area of 688.8 square kilometers, with a population of 670,812 people. Meanwhile
the Republic of Finland is a quite large country compared to the other countries in
Europe with a total area of 338,440 square kilometers and 5.5 million population.
In this paper I would like to discuss several differences about gender equality in my
society, Magetan, and in Finland. Magetan is known as a conservative people, they
immensely hold their traditional values. Discrimination along with violation against men
and women are still exist in this regency. On the contrary, Finland upholds gender
equality and supports women and men rights.
Perception Towards Women Who Initiated an Intercourse
The first thing that is very contrast between Magetan and Finland is the attitudes
toward a woman who initiated sexual activities. Most people, both men and women in
Magetan are very sensitive about it. There is a paradigm in Magetan that causes this
matter which is women must play hard to get. Women have to pretend that they are
not interested in any sexual relationship or contact and they also need to appear to be
not overly eager to do sexual activities. Oppositely, people in Finland represented an
egalitarian sexual culture (Haavio‐Mannila & Kontula, 2003). Finnish people had a
more positive attitude toward it than people in Magetan did. Finland men are almost
as likely to support the right of women to take the sexual initiative (Haavio‐Mannila &
Kontula, 2003).
Skincare Belongs to Everyone Who Has Skin
Gender equality is not just about women, some men are also experiencing the
inequality of their gender on a daily basis. Nowadays, some younger men in Magetan
are having an interest in skincare. The idea of a man using skincare is debated among
people in Magetan, they are mocking men who decided to use skincare products and
even questioning those men’s masculinity. This is a misconception about skincare and
the users as skincare is actually genderless, men have skin that they need to maintain
the healthiness as well as women do. However, most Finland people already
understand this concept. For instance, the working-aged middle-class men in Finland
did not express negative stands against the use of skincare products by men (Ojala et
al, 2014). This is a great idea that represents support for gender equality.
Predominance of Mothers
Many people in Magetan talked more about their mother when asked to describe a
good mother and a good father. The role of a mother has overshadowed the role of
the father, because these people didn’t directly see what the father as a man has done
to the family. They would describe their father as incomparable to the mother.
Meanwhile in Finland, alongside describing a good mother and a good father, many
people also commented on the uneasiness they felt, thus reflecting the prevailing
ideology of gender equality and shared parenting (Perälä-Littunen, 2007).
Conclusion
The difference between views on gender equality of people in Magetan and Finland
are extremely discrete as most people in Magetan are still heavily chained to traditional
assessment. Moreover, it is not just women who feel the negative impact of inequality
in our society, but men are also feeling the same. People who know the importance of
gender equality must voice their opinions so that the others can learn to be objective
and there will be no more inequality of each gender.
References
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OJALA, H., CALASANTI, T., KING, N., & PIETILÄ, I. (2014). Natural(ly) men:
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Perälä-Littunen, S. (2007). Gender equality or primacy of the mother? ambivalent
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