Education of Women in Nepal

Gender is socially constructed roles for men and women. Since the very beginning of the existence of human being, society has been assigning different roles, rules, norms, values, opportunities and rights to be performed by men and women.

Discrimination is defined as a practice of treating a person or a particular group in society less fairly than others: race, sex, religion, color, caste, class, ideology, etc.

Most of the roles assigned by society are not equal for men and women. Such inequalities or disparities in the roles to be performed by men and women are known as Gender discrimination. Many scholars or organizations have defined gender discrimination in different perspectives. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC), has defined the discrimination in gender as: "Gender equality requires equal enjoyment by women and men of socially-valued goods, opportunities, resources and rewards. Gender equality does not mean that men and women become the same, but that their opportunities and life chances are equal. The emphasis on gender equality and women's empowerment does not presume a particular model of gender equality for all societies and cultures, but reflects a concern that women and men have equal opportunities to make choices about what gender equality means and work in partnership to achieve it. Because of current disparities, equal treatment of women and men is insufficient as a strategy for gender equality. Equal treatment in the context of inequalities can mean the perpetuation of disparities. Achieving gender equality will require changes in institutional practices and social relations through which disparities are reinforced and sustained. It also requires a strong voice for women in shaping their societies."

Similarly gender and gender discrimination have been defined from different perspectives in different theories, such as in Marxism, gender is defined as the role/status of women...