Introduction
Gender has been an area of increasing consideration in the world of political science over the last two decades. According to the World Health Organization, biological sex refers to “the different biological and physiological characteristics of males and females, such as reproductive organs, chromosomes, hormones, etc.” Girls and boys gradually learn to behave as their parents and society expect, and develop gender roles. From this process comes gender identity, one's own internal sense of self and gender, whether that is man, woman, neither, or both.
From a biological sex perspective, historically, women have been underrepresented and discriminated against. Today, women’s suffrage (the right of women to vote in elections) is guaranteed in over 180 countries in some capacity. Beyond the right to vote, women’s rights globally are still not necessarily fully institutionalized, upheld, or prioritized.
In most countries, women do not earn the same as men in similar positions, even when their credentials and experience meet or exceed their male counterparts. During the Covid-19 pandemic, of the 1.1 million people who were pushed from the workforce, 80% were women. In the United States alone, female workforce participation dropped to 57%, the lowest level since 1988. Economic projections calculate it will take women twice as long as men to recover as a result of the pandemic. Clearly, the pandemic disproportionately affected women greater than men.
One of the main drivers of this disparity is the increased burden of unpaid care—shopping, cooking, cleaning, taking care of kids and parents in the household—which is disproportionately carried by women. Pre-COVID-19, women on average already did almost twice as much unpaid care compared to men. The COVID-19 crisis has added a very uneven addition onto an already unequal baseline (Ellingrud & Hilton, 2021).
Globally, it has been calculated that women’s jobs are twice as much at risk than male jobs. While women account for 39% of all jobs worldwide, their participation in the workforce dropped by 54% worldwide with the pandemic. Thus, some scholars suggest that the pandemic has had a regressive effect on gender equality. If women are not able to re-enter the workforce to the levels from pre-pandemic, it is likely that many economies will suffer greatly. This may contribute to trillions of dollars of lost economic output.
Gender identity is accepted differently based on political systems. Scientists have researched the relationship between gender identity and sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is the sustained pattern of romantic and/or sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or both. The top five countries accepting of different gender identities and sexual orientations are Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada.
Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Malawi, and Oman are often accused of mistreating citizens of different gender identities or sexual orientations. They tend to have laws or legal codes against transgender and LGBTQIA+ communities. In some cases, a person’s identity can be tantamount to a crime. Punishments can include long prison sentences and state-sanctioned violence, such as flogging. Some countries even go as far as to outlaw speaking about issues of gender identity and sexual orientation.
At present, not all U.S. states offer protection against gender-based discrimination. Indeed, some states prohibit discussion of homosexuality and LGBTQIA+ issues. Interestingly, a report published by UCLA’s School of Law, “Social Acceptance of LGBTQIA+ People in 175 Countries and Locations, 1981-2020,” found that 56 out of 175 countries have experienced improvements in acceptance since 1981. In contrast, 57 countries have experienced decreases in acceptance. and 62 countries have experienced no change (Flores, 2021).
