American Life Is Still Really Sexism Essay

 “Women earn only 77 cents for every dollar men earn, with women of color at an even greater disadvantage with 64 cents on the dollar for African American women and 56 cents for Hispanic women.” — White House Statement of Administration Policy on Paycheck Fairness Act, June 4. [2]

Over the last several decades, great strides have been made when it comes to eliminating sexism and progressing towards gender equality. However, sexism is still ingrained in our everyday culture. This is evident in the fact that in 2017 women earn about 80 cents to a man’s dollar and are less likely to be promoted within the workplace. It’s an unfortunate fact the most women will experience some form of sexism throughout their lives. In this paper, I will address my personal experiences with both hostile and benevolent sexism, how the two forms of sexism differ, and how these experiences have affected me.

Gender inequality has engulfed the United States and placed copious varying roles onto the male and female sexes. According to Leila Aboulela, Minaret, “All through life there were distinctions - toilets for men, toilets for women; clothes for men, clothes for women - then, at the end, the graves are identical.” Discrimination places women into different roles and takes away numerous privileges. However in America today after more than a century of struggles by dedicated activists who fought to alter these ideals and gain further rights, the perception of women in society and their contributions to society have been greatly transformed.

Women are getting paid 79 cents to the dollar in relation to their male counterparts. They do the exact same work as the women do, yet they get paid a quarter more. The Equal Pay Act has been a law since 1963; for over 50 years this law has been in effect, yet women are still paid less than men in today’s society. The law states “No employer…shall discriminate…between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees…at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex…” (The Equal Pay Act of 1963)

The pay gap between genders exhibits sexism in America yet some researchers are in denial. Warren Farrell, expert on gender issues within legislation and former board member of National Organization for Women, claims otherwise. In his book Why Men Earn More, he attributes difference in wages to females choosing human resources jobs, which pay less, and not choosing harsher jobs that pay more (Farrell). His overall point is that men sacrifice more thus companies pay more for those sacrifices. His argument only compares the genders when different job requirements alter wages, but does not mention wages of identical jobs.

Sexism, as defined by Oxford Dictionaries is the prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination based on one’s sex, has been an age-old issue in society. Historically, this belief was once much more mainstream and tolerated than it is today. Part of the reason is that women were not as vocal about unfair treatment as they are now, and did not expect to be dealt with as equals. Many did, and some still do, believe that women were only meant to cook, clean, and care for children. A woman having a job was rare during the Great Depression because most of society believed a woman’s place was in the home.

While sexism is no longer as overt a practice as in the past, it is arguably just as pervasive. bell hooks’ life as an academic has been spent trying to breakdown the existent sexist barriers, which have prohibited women from achieving equality with men.

In terms of gender equality, myriads of accomplishments have paved the way towards the elusive egalitarian society many idealize. The Equal Pay Act and the fight for women’s suffrage were quintessential landmarks exemplifying the valiant struggles of women in the past to establish themselves as equals to men in society today. However, as with anything, society is not perfect and women are still exposed to a fair amount sexism even in the present day. Fortunately, women do not currently face legal inequality. Prejudice against women in modern times are usually concentrated instances forged by cultural constructs and cognitive bias. With that said, it is important to highlight the mistakes of the past in order to prevent societal regression in

     On average, women earn 74 cents for each dollar earned by the male population. This number is calculated by comparing median annual earnings of men and women. But several other differences between the sexes make up for the variation in pay. Work experience, education, background, skills, and other lifestyle choices account for much of the pay gap.

Most people are familiar with the saying that the American women make x amount of cents to a man 's dollar. As pay inequality has increasingly become more of a concern, this is a very popular and simple way to get the facts across. It is better than the gap widening or being stagnant, but the

In today’s technological society it is hard to imagine that trivial things from the past like discrimination or prejudice are still present, but they are. Yes we still have racism, but for the most part this is only a problem of the less educated and vocal minority. There is a different prejudice that is deep rooted in this land of freedom and prosperity. This prejudice is sexism.

Women are only paid a percentage of what men are paid for doing the same jobs as their counterparts. In September of 2017 a Google employee’s curiosity of how her co workers salary compares to her own in the form of a spreadsheet was leaked and confusion ensued. USA Today reporter Jessica Guynn mentions that Google has claimed to pay women 99.7 cents of a man’s dollar when the leaked spreadsheet shows otherwise, “At the entry level for technical positions, women make 4% less than men at $124,000 in salary and bonus” (Guynn 1). Despite their claims to pay women nearly as much men it is obvious to see that this is not true. It is fair to believe that 0.3 cents would mean that women make 4% less that men and entry level positions when women

Social and institutional contexts for sex discrimination in American life have included the workplace, occupations, wages, income, housing, banking, health care, toys, school, education, employment, consumer marketplace, military, media, religious organizations, and home. Despite a century of social change stimulated by the feminist movement, gender inequality persists.

“Sexism goes so deep that at first it’s hard to see; you think it’s just reality” Alix Shulman (Shulman). Sexism is defined as prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex. This definition does not go far enough. It is the psychological mentality to marginalize and dominate another gender, almost always against women. What is the difficulty with treating women as an equal? Just because genders have different tendencies, it should not mean that one gender is better than another. Men are seen as more masculine and “brutish,” and women are seen as feminine and sensitive. This does not mean that one is weaker than the other. It’s like comparing athletes from different sports. You could have a quarterback that can score 50 touchdowns in football, but not be able to make a single three-pointer in basketball. It’s the same with a basketball player making 400 three-pointers but can’t tackle a single person in football. It does not mean that one athlete is inferior to another, it is just a different skillset. The idea of inferiority has a very deep biological, historical, and psychological foothold on our society. If we can achieve change for the better, we can completely make this problem a thing of the past.

Sexism towards women is deeply rooted in history. Today’s culture sees men as the dominant sex due to biological differences between men and women. Constantly throughout time, men exploit and look down on women. They were subjected to stay in the house and forbidden to explore activities and careers that were not for women. With medical and technological advances, women started to stand up for themselves and exit out of their traditional roles at home. Today, a tremendous amount of progress has been made towards gender equality, but women still battle against sexist attitudes. This includes a perpetuating rape culture that blames women for dressing in a way that is “asking for it” to women making 77 cents on the dollar when compared to a man’s salary. These are examples of sexism women are subjected to and the authors in the articles “Marked Women,” “Sexism in English,” and “A Woman’s Beauty,” argue how women are marked based upon various aspects of their life whereas men are unmarked and viewed in a holistic way.