Gender Discrimination : A Root Of Gender Roles And Preconceived Labels Essay

I have seen the struggles for equality to men in many aspects. Regardless of the great strides that women have achieved today, it is still hard to find equal opportunity and to be fairly recognized. Some of the areas where gender inequality is very prevalent are in areas such as, equal pay in the workplace, professional & education careers, household work, sexism and discrimination just to name a few. Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender.[1] In this passage I will briefly elaborate on the areas outlined earlier to show the various degree of inequality and explore the path that women have taken to achieve equality. Additionally I will focus on the economic growth as a dependent variable and stereotype as the independent variable.

Gender bias, also known as sexism, is a full of attitudes, laws, taboos, preferences, and behaviors that differentiates and discriminates against either sex. These may be a position of which male dominance and female subjugation in the modern society. It could also be a form of sexual stereotypes between men and women, these are commonly experienced in employment versus other positions. A final place that discrimination is faced is the academic environment, the female to male ratios are not in sync in certain programs and courses because of this and it is pressuring men and women to not go into certain fields and do what they love and please. Most advertisements on Television, magazines, newspapers, online ad’s, use a charged sexually image with a female as the star. Women are to be a pleasure for men, and nothing else. Many people have different opinions on genders and sexuality and that is okay, but sometimes you just need to keep them to yourselves.

Throughout history, discrimination in all forms has been an endless battle; whether it 's race, gender, religion, beliefs, appearance or anything else that makes one person different from another, it’s happening every day. One significant discrimination problem the world population is combating, takes place in the work field. Women, who are as equally trained and educated, and with the same experience as men are not getting equal pay, “The American Association of University Women is releasing a new study that shows when men and women attend the same kind of college, pick the same major and accept the same kind of job, on average, the woman will still earn 82 cents to every dollar that a man earns”(Coleman). This form of discrimination dates back for centuries and derives from the common stereotype that since men provide for women and women take care of the home and children, men consequently are more effective in the career chosen. In today’s world, the realization that man and woman can produce the same outcome, have the same education, and have the same capability to accomplish the same overall tasks as men is becoming more popular, especially as the idea of women not being as valuable as a man is being proven wrong.

Same Difference: How Gender Myths Are Hurting Our Relationships, Our Children, and Our Jobs is relevant to what we have learned in class. We have discussed whether gender inequality is inevitable or not and the unequal treatment or perceptions people face based on their gender. Gender inequality remains a major obstacle to human development. The drawbacks facing women and girls are a major foundation of inequality. All too often, women and girls are victimized in health, education, political representation, and labor market. There are

Sherman Alexie once said, “Don’t live up to your stereotypes” (Alexie). There are going to be some stereotypes that are false, but you shouldn’t try to change yourself to fit that statement. Sexism and discrimination can come from stereotypes, but they are not true because we are unique in many ways and we can be defined by one label.

In today’s society, money is one of the most important sources of livelihood; therefore, it is surprising to know that some women are paid less than men for doing the same job. One of the reasons that there is a wage gap is often linked to traditions and stereotypes. Some of the stereotypes include: women experience difficulty balancing work and family life, they are not vigorous, they are too emotional, and that they should not hold positions of power. Because of these misconceptions and stereotypes women are often expected to lessen working hours, or stop working altogether to look after their family.

As stated in the oxford dictionary a stereotype is ‘a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing’. Stereotyping is a normal, automated aspect to our thinking process and hence is a vast implication to our outlook on society. Stereotyping is a widely observed Psychological topic and it has been suggested that sex, race and age are the most prevalent aspects to stereotyping (Mackie, Hamilton, Sussking and Rosselli,1996.) Therefore discussing all areas and aspects is far beyond the scope of this essay, hence I will be focusing on sexism and present the explanations surrounding this prejudice and discrimination.

The modern era of globalization and technology changed the world’s perceptional history way forward than many can expect, yet in this modern era where everyone is considered as equal there are major number of incidents where discrimination with respect to gender. This issue of Gender Discrimination is no more to be ignored (nor) to be bear silence as it is now an Ethical Problem.

The term gender refers to the characteristics of a person despite the person’s biological sex. Gender role, which is the focus of sociologists, is the anticipated attitude and behavior that a certain society connects with each sex. With this definition, gender is placed evenly in the sociocultural context. Events that previously occurred had a vital impact on gender roles. Due to this, the study of gender emerged as one of the significant disciplines in the field of sociology in the twentieth century. The gender issues were studied using various research and theory. The research on gender issues provided a testament that all social interactions that occur, and the institutions where they occur, are gendered in one way or the other. Sociologists explain gender roles with respect to various theoretical perspectives. The perspectives are the ways of perceiving social reality that guide the process of research and provide a method for understanding the data. The sociological perspectives on gender roles include functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interaction, and feminist sociological theory (pearsonhighered.com).

Gender inequality continues to be a constant battleground in many societies today. Humanity requires both genders, we are both equal and need each other. Yet women are being constantly being looked down up and treated far less than what they deserve. Discrimination is something many women face and we have all grown accustomed to it and that is where the problem lies. Women do not have equal right in their roles in society and it’s high time that we eliminate discrimination against women.

As a social institution, gender is a process of creating distinguishable social statuses for the assignment of rights and responsibilities. As part of a stratification system that ranks these statuses unequally, gender is a major building block in the social structures built on these unequal statuses.

Gender is the socially- constructed role and explanation of relationships between men and women. (Sport & Dev) In my opinion, I define Gender inequality as the unfair treatment amid both sexes. According to Sage Knowledge, "Gender inequality is allowing individuals of different opportunities due to perceived differences based solely on issues of gender."

Gender discrimination is an unfavorable treatment based on gender. It causes the elimination of individual’s right and opportunity (Reeves and Baden, 2000: 2). Gender discrimination usually disadvantages women because women are considered inferior in society. Virginia Woolf states that gender discrimination is a result of the imbalance power between men and women (in Dobie, 2012: 114). Apparently, women have already suffered the discrimination since a long time ago.

Gender affects every aspect of our life, from how we feel about ourselves and set our goals in educational, recreational and work opportunities as well as the the nature and extent of our participation in social and civic life. It has a strong impact on the way we practice our religion, the way we dress, the way we express our feelings and the nature of all of our relationships with others.

The oppression of women is based on false assumption and preconceived notions by the male domination world, has been obvious and responsible for paving the way for serious gender issues to emerge. Due to the narrow realms of activity in society, deprived from essential human rights, restricted educations scope, open to unhealthy physical and mental abuse, this society has not given women the opportunity to rise to their full potential. The impact of gender discrimination has not only affected the future of the women today but it has resulted in the slow progress of human mind in general.