`` Framed By Gender : How Gender Inequality Persist Within The Modern World Essay

We live in a society where men and women are not see the same nor are treated equally. Gender inequalities have always been an issue in our society. Women have always gain less respect than men based on their sex. The society has developed certain images and roles for males and females. Men are seen to have masculine traits such stability, independence, and confidence; whereas, women have more feminine traits such as nurturing, affection, and patience. As well, the society has developed the division of occupations for genders. Females are expected to work in caring professions such as: a nurse, sectary, or teacher. While men are expected to be: doctors, lawyers, and construction workers. These stereotypes of gender should not state what a woman can do. A woman should have the same opportunities as men when is come to issues such as paying rate and job positions. This paper will address gender inequalities that women face in their occupations.

In the social realm of life men and women have to meet different standards brought on by different sanctions to certain actions. This shapes the way that the general populous’ mannerisms carry over to the perception of the public eye. Women are still seen as subordinate to the male population by many factors and in some circumstances act lesser due to the pressure put on by the influential factors of society brought on by an older way of thought, made apparent usually by the figures who shape the behaviour of the individual.

Our gender has an effect on every aspect of our lives, varying from how we view ourselves and other people to how we interact in social and civic life. It also impacts the way we set our goals in opportunity areas such as education, work, and recreation. Gender socialization starts at birth then manifests through family, education, peer groups, and mass media. Gender norms are automatically placed on us, where women should learn how to be nurturing, sensitive, emotional, passive, and always hold a man’s position higher than hers. On the other hand men should be overly confident, aggressive, dominant, and view women beneath them. This paper uses various readings to show how these gender norms are supported and challenged in today’s society.

Throughout women’s life, they are faced with many stereotypes and situations which dictate how they act and how people see them. A problem with this is that, by thinking that women follow certain stereotypes, society starts to believe that women will only act a certain way, and they don expect them to do masculine things such as being a police officer or

Society has established roles in which differentiate men and women, by focusing on how they, as individuals, should portray different characteristics. This allows for the opportunity of mislead perceptions, by the displays of gender in an unequal manner. If a man shows any characteristics that only a woman should have, he may be seen as weaker or maybe even deviant. This is true for a woman too, as that if she portrays too much aggression or competitive characteristics, she may be too manly, instead of fulfilling what should be her more nurturing role. Both men and women seem to face gender inequality, not just one more than the other. They both can face criticism, unequal treatment and stereotypes based on whether they choose to follow the exact way society has classified the gender “norms.” Although society has created these labels, it solely comes down to the individual on whether or not they choose to be deviant against them completely, in some ways, or simply not at all.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” (I Have a Dream, ‘92) The author of this quote, Martin Luther King Jr., is one of the most memorable freedom and equality fighters known to this day. He preached, marched and even served jail time while he non-violently fought for equality. Mr. King helped the world overcome one of it’s biggest segregation problems: segregation by race. He spoke that we should all judge others on the “content of their character,” (Martin Luther King Jr., ‘63) rather than their physical attributes. And even though this seed of knowledge is now planted, it has yet to grow to its full potential. We are becoming more accepting of race, but still lacking in other types of segregation. One

Freedom and equality are ideas this country has had for centuries that have evolved over time. In 1776, what Thomas Jefferson meant by “all men are created equal”, is that white males are dominant in society. Women are treated worse than men and slaves treated worse than women. People that weren’t of the “superior” race/gender of a white male were typically treated as if they were less. Women and African-Americans aren’t being treated as bad today, but they’re still being treated worse than the white males of society. Even today, when white males are typically the leaders of society, it’s not always race and gender that creates inequality; sometimes it’s money that creates the issue. Not just from past evidence, but from present

We like to believe that we live in a world of equality, but how equal is a world where a woman gets paid 80 cents for every dollar made by a man? This twenty percent gender wage gap in current society refutes the idea of an equality. Women have significantly progressed since the 1960’s and 70’s feminist movement, yet there is still that twenty percent left to go. Even in today’s society, women feel compelled to “act like a man” to take on this male dominated society. Women have to sacrifice their womanhood in order to be offered equal opportunities. This means that they have to be an exception to the stereotypes applied to women. The stereotype of a women being dainty,fragile and in need of a man’s protection. They have to let go of these “womanly” characteristics that support the stereotype and instead, to be more “like a man”. Ariel Levy’s article “Female Chauvinist Pigs” and Amanda Filipacchi’s article “How to Pose like a Man”, discuss why women want to be seen as a man and their motivations to act like a man. Levy and Filipacchi admit that we live in a male dominated society. Both Filipacchi and women mentioned in Levy’s article want to break out of the stereotypes applied to women. Filipacchi wants to break out of this stereotype by using her author photo to make a statement about women empowerment, While Levy talks about women in her article who believe that associating with masculine qualities will help them break out these stereotypes.

Cecilia Ridgway, in “Framed by Gender: How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World,” holds that gender exists as an organizing social force. We value certain stereotypes of how people of a certain gender should act and incorporate these expectations into our social relations. Men, Ridgeway explains, are typically viewed as having more “competence, assertiveness, confidence, independence, forcefulness, and dominance” (Ridgeway, 2011) in social relations. Women, on the other hand, are viewed as valuing “emotional expressiveness, nurturance, interpersonal sensitivity, kindness, and responsiveness” (Ridgeway, 2011). According to Ridgeway, these gender stereotypes are

In context of today, gender roles and inequality is controversial and has sparked numerous social debates across the world. However, the role of gender has not just become an issues in the 21st century but in truth has been affecting the lives of men and woman for hundreds of years. During the renaissance when Saint Teresa lived, woman’s role in the functioning of society were often either forgotten or dismissed as their voice was significantly less powerful then a man’s say. Woman were often considered to be proper housewives and inferior to men. If a woman was to be properly educated and held with high respect there were a couple ways that made that possible; A dowry was a way to be given respect as well as being born into a family with high political powers. If woman did not exemplify these traits they often were left to educate themselves or be uneducated. Unfortunately, woman often were not able to pursue the wants or goal of themselves but were left to follow in the footsteps of their husband. Gender clearly took a role in the way Saint Teresa’s relationship with her father, the way that the conducted herself and the events in the Carmelite reform. Saint Teresa has exemplified to readers that even through all odds, one may do what you are called to do. She exemplified this through breaking out of social norms and ignoring that gender roles that played a huge role in 16th century life. By exploring her autobiography as well as other scholars’ articles, a reader gets a

Gender stereotypes are mostly taken for granted at a young age: girls are told to play with dolls and boys are told to play with trucks. But as children grow older they find themselves in a world where the reality of gender roles and stereotypes aren’t acknowledged, and the illusion of gender neutrality is commended. If gender roles are becoming more neutral, then it would follow that gender role stereotypes are also becoming more lax. However, in actuality this is not true.

Social status and structures have definitely shaped the construction and experience of gender inequality. Men and women are constantly analyzed, compared, and grouped together in society. The result of this yields discrepancies in how sexes are viewed by society. Throughout my examination and explanation of gender inequality, I concluded both men and women are victims to gender inequality.

In today’s society, the imagery of men and women are portrayed in their different personalities. The ideal male is always characterized as being competent, stable, tough,

Throughout history, countless acts of gender inequality can be identified; the causes of these discriminating accounts can be traced back to different causes. The general morality of the inequity relies on a belief that men are superior to women; because of this idea, women have spent generations suffering under their counterparts. Also, a common expectation is that men tend to be more assertive and absolute because of their biological hormones or instinctive intellect. Another huge origin is sexual discrimination; even in the world today, many women are viewed by men as just sex objects rather than a real human being with

The concept of gender denotes the distinction between culturally driven and created roles of masculinity and femininity. These specific and normalized attitudes and behaviors transcend and effect how differently men and women live their lives. Based on society’s continual re-enforcement of such gender stereotypes, we see an on-going dilemma of gender inequality. Though some may argue that men experience gender inequality, this seems to exist on a much more invasive level for women. As of recently, the awareness of gender inequality in the workplace has increased. With the fight for equal pay and equal respect, society is already making strides towards the equality of women. With that being said, one aspect of gender inequality that seems