Gender And Class Effect On Society

Being born and raised in America, I and many other Americans have been taught that we live in a country of freedom. Women and men are treated equally; every human being has rights, and you have the freedom to move at will and without restrictions. Women have come a long way in our country, gaining rights ever since the dawn of patriarchy and proving that they are just as good as men with the ability to think, speak, and act for themselves. However, discrimination of women still exists in America and many other countries, but women are taking a stand and trying to eliminate the inequality between genders, such as the difference in salaries, and the bad representation of and portrayal of women in the media.

For an unattainable number of years, women have fought for equal rights and fought to have such laws enforced. Dating back as early the Civil War female historical icons such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth C. Stanton have made advances toward equality and the right to live their lives according to their preference. While women have suffered from inequality most frequently in career/work based

The roles we fulfill in society are part of identities that we acquire through the normalization gender in our cultures. They tell us how should be to act, what we are permitted to do and what not, and what to assimilate as correct or incorrect. These roles vary from culture to culture and with time. There are also external factors that affect the normalization of gender such as economy, religion, and globalization.

Women have virtually the same rights as men. However, the fault needing to be recognized in today’s society is the way that women are treated. Even in simple areas, such as jobs, women are put on the back burner. A woman is able to become a CEO of a company, nonetheless, she will struggle twice as hard as a man would. Even as an employee, women are statistically paid less than men are.

Women have had a rough way to go for many years when it comes to equality. They face many negative things in today’s society and that is the way it has been for many years. History shows that women have been fighting for equality for decades, because many people believe they just can’t do the things that men can. There’s a website that has been helping women fight for that equality since 1966. That website is www.now.org. Before then women never really had any help. They had to rely on each other to show everyone what they could really do. Women have fought to try and end discrimination when it comes to jobs and economic justice. So the status of women throughout history has changed,

Women have been discriminated against throughout the history of the United States. Women were typically associated with being “mothers” and having to take care of the children along with other so called home “duties.” They were not allowed to vote until fairly recently. Astonishingly, women in the United States were not allowed to have their own bank account before 1974. There is no reasonable excuse for such restrictions, except to keep women under the control of men. Altogether, the United States’ has a history of discriminating against women. Women have historically been treated as second class citizens, especially in the workplace, which kept them from doing certain jobs that were meant for men. The reality is that women have proven more than capable of doing labor intensive work. World War II proved that women were more than capable of replacing men. Women’s rights in the United States have definitely been improved, but they continue to be discriminated against in the workplace.

Many groups of people throughout the history of the United States have fought to change for change and fairness for their groups. Women have been among the courageous groups that have forged paths to create better lives for themselves and future generations of women.

For centuries the concept of gender and equality have been issues and talking points. Attitudes toward women have gradually softened and changed for the better as they are viewed as being equal with men. Women throughout history have been referred to as housewives, and factory girls. They weren’t able to gain the respect from men until they took a stance against inequality, also known as women’s suffrage. “I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand”, stated Susan B Anthony. Many factors have contributed to the rise of the status of women throughout the history of the United States. These factors include education, income status, and political contributions.

A major part of our world today is women wanting a voice and to be treated just as equal as men. Women’s fighting for their rights has been going on since early as the 1900s and still currently in 2014. Although we have had made improvements the issue still arises everyday in the workplace, household, etc. Between different movements, powerful people standing up, or drastic matters being taken, women were fed up and for once were finally standing up for themselves. From wanting the right to vote, civil rights in the United States between same sex couples, and outside the household work, the list would just begin to grow and grow everyday as women became more powerful and began speaking up for not only themselves but everyone else who is effected

The lives of women in America have been impacted by socially constructed gender roles that have limited their growth as individuals and their roles in society. Since the mid-19th century women have been involved in social action to fight gender constraints, internalized sexism and the backlash from men who have not wanted to lose their privilege and control.

Being a woman in today's society, I am aware of the inequality that we still face today. "Makers: Women Who Make America" opened my eyes to how feminism began and how the movement got its bearings. When Shirley Chisholm said, "I have been more discriminated against as a women than an African American," it was extremely eye opening to how serious of an issue it had become. I was amazed to learn about how the divorce rates exploded when feminism began. To me, it sounds ridiculous that a man could not comprehend how his wife deserved to have the same rights and to be able to do things besides the common women household chores. "Makers: Women Who Make America" was an eye opening film that demonstrated how birth control, women's health care and abortion played a major contribution to the women's movement. Prior to

Before the 1960s, American women were contained within a rut that hindered them from living equally among American men. According to Dixon (1977), women had been without a voice to articulate the injustice and brutality of women’s place and without instrumentality to fight against their exploitation and oppression for nearly forty years. However, “[from] the late 1960s into the 1980s there was a vibrant women’s movement in the United States” (Epstein, 2001). This movement, fueled by feminism, promised drastic improvement in the lives of American women and also promised to “[…] equalize the status of all women” (Dixon, 1977). Due to the uplifting wave of the 1970s women’s movement, females in America anxiously awaited the freedom to live as

Emma Watson said “It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals.” (Rosenfield). Since the beginning of American culture—early colonial years—women have been viewed inferior in society, and men have always been the dominant gender. In the 1900s women did not have many rights, they took on domestic jobs such as cleaning, cooking, and taking care of their children. As the years have passed, women have been granted more rights such as the right to an education, and the right to vote, but still there is a gap that needs to be closed. Women are vigorously fighting for an equal pay, because even though men and women perform the same jobs and show the same level of competency the unequal pay is still there.

Throughout our semester together, our Social Issues class has discussed many different aspects of race, class and gender. We have had many opportunities to discuss and share our opinions on different topics and problems we face today. During this course, my outlook on life and other people has changed significantly. The use of projects and papers has further enlightened me to understand the perspective of others. The readings that we have been given each week have proven themselves very beneficial and have assisted greatly in furthering my awareness towards different races, classes and genders.

Women have not always been as respected in society as they are now. In early America, women were banned from participating in most parts of society and their lives were mainly controlled by their fathers and husbands. While the women’s rights movement can be tracked as far back as 1850 is wasn’t until the early 1960s that