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Full name and IC No: SHEANA CASY A/P SAVIOUR ANNATHURAI (030816-02-0408)

Date: 24/2/2024

Assignment (Asgmt) Declaration Form

Student’s Name SHEANA CASY A/P SAVIOUR ANNATHURAI

Student’s ID No: 041240116

Course Code MPU3193/03

Course Title PHILOSOPHY AND CURRENT ISSUES

Class Code PHC3

Assignment No: 2

No. of pages of this Assignment (including this 1-9

Tutor’s Name NAGESVARI A/P PARAMASIVAN

Course Lead’s Name NAZIRAH BINTI MD YUSOF

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Originated from the Greek, meta ta physika which means “after the things of nature”. This

refers to an idea, doctrine or posited the reality outside of human sense perception. In our

modern philosophical terminology, metaphysics refers to the studies of what couldn’t be

reached through the objectual studies of material reality. Metaphysical areas are included

ontology, cosmology and also epistemology. Metaphysical or Metaphysics is one of the types

of philosophy or study that uses broader concepts that often helps define reality and our

personal understanding of it. Metaphysical studies in general are seek to explain inherent or

universal elements of reality which are not that easy to be discovered or experienced in daily

life. As we know, Philosophy is the critical and comprehensive manner of thinking in which

the human species has yet been devised. With the perfect starting point to quest the SDG’s, a

critical device that highlighting the world’s largest challenges, under which a wholistic

approach, developed to ultimately lead to proper focus and ultimate delivery of the Goals.

Built on the intellectual process of philosophy in SDG delivery, they continue to be a Need in

order to raise awareness of the people worldwide about the Goals which is an essential

educational process. Philosophy is an essentially part of the process of education and

learning; responding to societies demand for wisdom. The ambition of this blog is to explore

the philosophy of the SDGs, essentially to bring together what we know in order to obtain

what we value. Sustainable Development Goals has around 17 goals and the goal 5 is Gender

Equality (Goal 5 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2023). Sustainable

Development). Gender Equality has been the second most sensitive issue whole over the

world after religions issue. We all know that women are known to be much more

underprivileged of education and opportunities. Women are also known as victim for sexual

violence and domestic violence. One of the Sustainable Development Goals is Gender

Equality which is Goal 5. Goal Five’s main core is to eliminate all forms of violence against

all women and girls. This is also to end all forms of gender-based discrimination and also to

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stop all harmful beliefs and practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation

(FGM) (SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. (n.d.). UN

Women – Headquarters.)

Four factors on how religious beliefs and practices can either support or hinder the progress

towards gender equality. First factor on how the religious beliefs and practices can hinder the

progress of gender equality is absence of women in positions of religious authority. Feminine

community do argue about religion that it plays a huge role in gender discrimination, as many

traditional religions supports male’s suggestion which is women’s exclusion from the public

sector. Discrimination based on religion affects both genders in that particular religion. This

is closely connected to racism and ethnic discrimination. For example, Nawal El Saadawi, a

Malay woman claimed that men shaped and twisted Islamic doctrines throughout history just

to position and justify themselves as ‘superior’ in their society. Not just that but Mary Daly, a

Christian woman argued that Christianity was normalised patriarchal institutions and men’s

superior status in the society as ’God’s will’ which had forcibly led the women to accept their

inferior status. The second factor which religious beliefs and practices has hinder the

progress of gender equalization is failure to accepting the challenges in the structural

determinants of gender inequality. Structural determinants are important because they are

socioeconomic and political processes that structures hierarchical power relations, stratifying

societies base on class, occupational status level of gender and many more. They shape the

environments that facilitate or impede people’s ability to protect themselves from illness, and

if sick, their access to quality healthcare. For example, research with young adolescents (10–

14-year-olds) across six cities around the world (Baltimore (US), Ghent (Belgium), Nairobi

(Kenya), Ile Ife (Nigeria), Asyūṭ (Egypt), and Shanghai (China)) shows that puberty brings

different expectations for boys and girls. Girls’ worlds are restricted (in appearance, dress,

mobility, access to information) and boys’ worlds expand. In many societies, adolescent girls

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are expected to be virgins, represent family or clan honour, be submissive in their sexual and

intimate relationships, and not have knowledge or information about sexuality or

reproduction. Gender norms often stigmatise girls who seek contraceptives, become pregnant,

or are sexually abused. Hence, gender norms are increasingly recognised as an important

influence in shaping health, particularly in adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

The third factor which religious beliefs and practices has supported the progress of gender

equalization is having a positive role model around them. Changes in gender norms are

influenced by positive role models in families, schools, and communities as well as access to

media and information. Broader societal change related to economic, environmental, and

demographic changes in society example like urbanisation, migration, conflicts, technology,

economic opportunities that also have profound effects. For example, the declination in child

marriage rates in South Asia was driven largely by growing economic and educational

opportunities for girls. Similarly, across 80 countries, female employment has been increased

which was independently associated with positive trends in gender norms and stereotypes,

separate from regional trends, growth in gross domestic product (GDP), and the structure of

production underlying GDP agricultural, industrial, and many more. In addition, differences

by region, GDP growth, and GDP production structures also affected gender norms. The last

but not the least factor where religious beliefs had supported the progress of gender equality

Gender Disparity. Compositions had demonstrated that consequential gender difference

which are associated with the poor performance of economic and business activities.

Therefore, women’s labouring participation and economic growth has been interlinked

(Klasen, 1999). In 2014, Ravallion established that economic growth generally reduces

absolute poverty and also increases the income inequality. Moreover, the effect of economic

growth under poverty’s angle was found to be low in those countries with high-income

disparity. Hannum and Buchmann (2005) has originated a strong relationship between

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gender educational disparity, labour market, and economic development. Lagerlof (2003)

modelled talent and sex discrimination in the Nash equilibrium. He found that women's time

became more expensive because of increasing women's human capital in the general

equilibrium, which may help to reduce the birth rate. According to Mikkola (2005), gender

equality can be promoted by the growth and development of economies. Women have a

significant role in global change, and these changes bring technological advancement and

advanced gadgets. These advancements have shifted the role of women from household to

industry. Additionally, Eastin and Prakash (2009) conducted a panel analysis on 146 countries

from 1982 to 2005. They indicated a cubic functional relationship between gender equality

and income, known as the gender Kuznets curve based on Kuznets (1955). Kabeer and Natali

(2013) also analysed and corroborated a non-linear relationship between gender equality and

economic growth. Moreover, Seguino (2000) claimed that the nature of the association

between growth and gender equality would be different among nations due to the diversity in

economic structures.

The first challenge that will may rise when aligning religious principle with the objectives of

Sustainable Development Goals 5 which is Gender Equality is the fear of religion will be

forgotten. For example, most economists would keep religion away in their economic

analysis. Thus, religion became an area of ‘assumed away’ by noted economists. They think

religion has “little or nothing to do with commerce or economics or politics or industrial

relationships” (Watt, 1979 in Aslam Haneef, 1997). The economic growth literature sees

religion as an obstacle rather than acknowledging religion’s contribution to growth

(Anderson, 1988). Though religion is hardly mentioned in the global reports that matter for

world economics and politics, in recent decades, however, we see a revival of interest in

religion and economics (Alkire, 2006) as people in many parts of the world are now

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considering religion as a social capital to be used for positive changes (Jackson & Fleischer,

2007).

The second challenge is being old-minded and following fake old myths. India was one of the

first countries in the world that selected a woman as their prime minister, and the country

currently has several highly influential women politicians, including Sonia Gandhi, the head

of one of the major national parties. Today, most Indians say that “women and men make

equally good political leaders,” and more than one-in-ten feel that women generally make

better political leaders than men, according to a recent Pew Research Centre survey of nearly

30,000 adults throughout India. Only a quarter of Indian adults take the position that men

make better political leaders than women. Yet, in domestic settings, Indians tend to say men

should have more prominent roles than women. About nine-in-ten Indians agree with the

notion that a wife must always obey her husband, including nearly two-thirds who completely

agree with this sentiment. Indian women are only slightly less likely than Indian men to say

they completely agree that wives should always obey their husbands (61% vs. 67%),

according to the survey, which was conducted between late 2019 and early 2020. Moreover,

most Indians (63%) see sons – not daughters – as being primarily responsible for parents’ last

rites and burial rituals. Religious funeral practices for loved ones are widely seen as very

important, and at least according to Hindu tradition, sons must perform last rites for a parent

to ensure freedom for the soul in the afterlife.

My first strategy is making them realize those who look down on their own religion how

important a religion is to this world because without religion we all aren’t able to in the right

way and 75% of us will be sentenced in prison as without religion we are free to do any

abusive things and also impropriate things such as stealing and many more. So, making the

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economists understand that religion is important to life. My second strategy is changing the

thinking mentality especially in Indian households among the elders who thinks that girls are

supposed to be at home and take care the family yet only man should go to work. For the

world’s economy rate nowadays, in order to support and take care a family, husband and wife

both have to give equal efforts in ways such as dividing the house bills and so on.

To conclude, Sustainable Development Goal 5 which is Gender Equality has been one of the

most challenging things that has been ruling the world for many years especially the women-

hood. Aligning the objectives of SDG 5 with the religious principles is more challenging

because Religion itself is a sensitive issue that may trigger anytime and may cause any kind

of problems in our country nor also in different country.

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REFERENCES:

The Global Movement for Our Children's Future- World Top 20 Project

 https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5

 https://council.science/current/news/un-announces-list-of-countries-for-working-

group-on-sustainable-development-goals/

 https://www.unwomen.org/en/node/36060

 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/countries-achieving-un-sustainable-

development-goals-fastest/

 https://www.unfpa.org/sdg

 https://www.unfpa.org/gender-equality#readmore-expand

 https://www.unfpa.org/gender-based-violence

 https://www.unfpa.org/sexual-reproductive-health

 https://www.unfpa.org/midwifery#readmore-expand

 https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1962.tb00832.x

%20(religions%20&%20beliefs)

 https://www.unwomen.org/en/node/36060

 https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/religion-and-belief

 https://www.britannica.com/place/Kyrgyzstan

 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against

 Heise L, Greene ME, Opper N, et al., Gender Equality, Norms, and Health Steering

Committee. Gender inequality and restrictive gender norms: framing the challenges to

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health. Lancet2019;393:2440-54.doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30652-X

pmid:31155275

 https://www.odi.org/publications/9805-how-do-gender-norms-change

 Seguino S, Plus ÇA. Change? evidence on global trends in gender norms and

stereotypes. Fem Econ2007;13:1-28. doi:10.1080/13545700601184880

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9647361/

 UN Women. (2016). Religion and Gender Equality. UN Women. https://www.partner-

religion-development.org/fileadmin/Dateien/Resources/Knowledge_Center/

Religion_and_Gender_Equality_UNWOMEN.pdf

 Beauvoir, S. de. (1949). The Second Sex. Vintage Classics, Ibid.

 El Saadawi, N. (1980). The Hidden Face of Eve: women in the Arab world.

Bloomsbury Academic

 Aslam Haneef, M. (1997). Islam, the Islamic worldview, and Islamic economics.
IIUM Journal of Economics and Management, 5(1), 39-65.

 Jackson, P., & Fleischer, C. (2007). Religion and economics: A literature review.

Religions and Development Working Papers Series 3, International Development

Department, University of Birmingham.