United Arab Emirates' Gender Balance Awards Went Entirely to Men

Dubai Media Office

A United Emirates award ceremony to promote gender equality is being ridiculed Monday because all of its prizes were given to men.

The Gender Balance Index 2018 awards were presented Sunday in three categories: Awards for Best Personality for Supporting Gender Balance, Best Federal Entity for Supporting Gender Balance, and the Best Initiative for Supporting Gender Balance.

The awards, presented by the vice president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, were established as a way to celebrate programs that advance equal opportunities for men and women.

Also Read: LA Mayor Eric Garcetti Issues Challenge on Gender Equity: 'Just Look, Just Measure and Just Act' (Video)

Prizes went to the finance ministry, the federal competitiveness and statistics authority, and the ministry of human resources respectively, all of which were accepted by men.

“We are proud of the success of Emirati women and their role is central to shaping the future of the country. Gender balance has become a pillar in our governmental institutions read a tweet from the official Dubai media office,” a tweet from the Dubai’s government official Twitter account read on Sunday.

But the tweets, which came complete with pictures of the all-male winners, was met with mockery on social media.

“Wow, did The Onion hack y’all?” one follower tweeted, referring to the satirical newspaper.

“I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but you forgot to invite WOMEN,” another user, a female, wrote.

Also Read: TV's Gender Gap Widened Last Season Both on Screen and Off, New Study Finds

The Gender Balance Index has honored women in the past. In 2017, the ceremony’s first year, Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashim, the Minister of State for International Cooperation and Chairwoman of the Foreign Credentials Service of America (FCSA), was one of the three honorees.

Despite the lack of female winners in the 2018 Gender Balance awards, the UAE fairs better than most Middle East countries, ranking 34th among nations when it comes to gender equality according to the United Nations.

The Dubai government did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

. @HHShkMohd: We are proud of the success of Emirati women and their role is central to shaping the future of the country. Gender balance has become a pillar in our governmental institutions. #UAE pic.twitter.com/zKPkn9nTMd

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) January 27, 2019

I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but you forgot to invite WOMEN.

— Rianne Meijer (@globalistaa) January 27, 2019

Wow, did The Onion hack y'all?

— Earth Warrior (@Earth_Woman1) January 27, 2019

7 Actresses Who've Demanded Equal Pay, From Emma Stone to Viola Davis (Photos)

After Patricia Arquette's Oscar acceptance speech and Jennifer Lawrence's Lenny essay last year, more and more actresses have spoken out about pay inequality.
Patricia Arquette

Arquette delivered a moving speech about pay inequality during her 2015 Oscar acceptance speech for her role in "Boyhood," but she didn't stop there. In August 2016, she told TheWrap, "Look, inequality is in 98 percent of all industries, so I’m not surprised it’s still in Hollywood. That’s just part and parcel with what’s happening across the nation."

However, she is seeing some progress: "A lot of studios are actually really making it a priority. There’s incremental changes as far as Hollywood goes."
Getty Images
Hilary Swank

In October 2016, Swank told Chelsea Handler on "Chelsea" that "Boys Don't Cry" didn't pay enough to cover her health insurance. Then she revealed that she earned only 5 percent of what one of her male counterparts earned on another movie.

"But the male hadn't had any kind of critical success, but had been in a movie where he was 'hot,"' she said. "And he got offered $10 million, and I got offered $500,000."
Getty Images
Emma Stone

The "La La Land" actress told Vogue in November 2016, “We should all be treated fairly and paid fairly. I’ve been lucky enough to have equal pay to my male costars. Not ‘lucky.’ I’ve had pay equal to my male costars in the past few films. But our industry ebbs and flows in a way that’s like, ‘How much are you bringing into the box office?’"

“What are we at [nationally]? Seventy-nine cents to the dollar?” Stone continued. “It’s insane. There’s no excuse for it anymore.”
Getty Images
Michelle Rodriguez

In May 2016, Rodriguez invoked the S word in discussing Hollywood's gender pay gap. "It’s like being born a slave. You know it’s like, ‘Oh, damn. Darn my luck. I wish I was born somewhere else or maybe some other way,'” the actress said. “But it is what it is.”
Robin Wright

The "House of Cards" star demanded to be paid the same as co-star Kevin Spacey and threatened to go "public" if Netflix didn't cough up the dough. "I was like, ‘I want to be paid the same as Kevin,'” Wright told media at the Rockefeller Foundation earlier this year. "There are very few films or TV shows where the male, the patriarch, and the matriarch are equal. And they are in ‘House of Cards.'”

She added, "I was like, ‘You better pay me or I’m going to go public,'” Wright said. “And they did.”
Netflix
Viola Davis

In February 2016, the "How to Get Away With Murder" actress told Mashable, "I believe in equal pay, first of all. I’m sorry, if a woman does the same job as a man, she should be paid the same amount of money. She just should. That’s just the way the world should work. What are you telling your daughter when she grows up? ‘You've got to just understand that you’re a girl. You have a vagina, so that’s not as valuable.’ What are you telling her?"
Getty Images
Emmy Rossum

The star of "Shameless" nearly scuttled Showtime's plans for an eighth season when she demanded to be paid the same as series co-star William H. Macy, who plays her father on the show (a move that Macy supported). The gambit worked: She wound up getting a new deal.
Getty Images

1 of 8

Many stars rallied against gender pay gap in Hollywood — and “Shameless” star Emmy Rossum actually won

After Patricia Arquette's Oscar acceptance speech and Jennifer Lawrence's Lenny essay last year, more and more actresses have spoken out about pay inequality.

View In Gallery