Have you ever observed that employers assign the same task to employees, but ignore the differences in challenges faced each gender faces? This is called gender blindness.
Verywellhealth.com defines this as an ideology that refuses to see differences between genders. This can lead to gender inequalities and can even be dangerous because it ignores historical differences among people of different genders.
Gender blindness can be considered gender bias because it does not promote gender equality policies that promote full rights for all genders. Employers are often unaware of how different genders are affected by a particular situation.
Neglecting the different roles, responsibilities and capabilities of men and women can have a negative impact on the career goals of safety and peace, according to Israel Gusenga (Managing Director at Real Beam Ltd).
“Failure to take the differences between men and women into consideration can lead to lack of understanding of the area of errors and operation, conflicts among employees and it will not be easy to solve such conflicts, if there is no rule against gender blindness in the workplace” Gusenga says.
He says that mothers at work don’t have their full work hours due to the responsibilities at home. They have a baby to feed and pick up. Employers ignore the fact that employees in certain organisations cannot work those hours.
Gusenga states that the situation not only limits the potential for the development of careers for the affected gender but also impacts the organization’s operation.
“It affects the morale of the employees, hence affecting their performance and productivity, since they become aware that their rights are not met in the workplace” he says.
He says that gender understanding is a way to overcome discrimination and gender bias. The right environment for gender-sensitive behavior can lead to mutual respect, regardless of gender.
Columbia and Stanford professors found that women who practice a genderblindness are more confident than those who practice it.
Women found that they were more comfortable taking chances in male-dominated workplaces, when they downplayed gender. The professors claimed that gender blindness doesn’t have to ignore the history of women but deemphasizes them instead, and that gender blindness should focus on similarities rather than differences.
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Source: rnewtimes
