Gender Inequality And The Social Construction Of Gender

Women are advancing in the workplace both in volume and in numbers of higher positions, but are still not paid equally to men. For every dollar earned by men, Caucasian women earn 59 cents,

Whereas in recent decades major strides toward gender equality have been made, sociologists are quick to point out that much remains to be done if inequalities in the United States are ever to be eliminated. Behind much of the inequalities seen in education, the workplace, and politics is sexism, or prejudice and discrimination because of gender. Fundamental to sexism is the assumption that men are superior to women.

A research study on race and gender differences in employment typically assumes discrimination as an important causal mechanism (Roscigno, Garcia, & Zeher, 2007). The workplace has sometimes been referred to as an unwelcoming place for women due to the multiple forms of gender differences present (Stamarski & Son Hing, 2015). Examples of how workplace discrimination negatively affects women’s earnings and opportunities are the gender income gap, the scarcity of women in leadership, and the longer time required for women versus men to advance in their careers (Stamarski & Son Hing, 2015). According to Roscigno et al., (2007), Race and gender in the labor market have received considerate attention by researchers over the past twenty years. Researchers have also gained evidence to report that men earn more than women even when they are in the same occupation (Roscigno et al., 2007). In

Throughout history females have often times not been treated fairly compared to their male counterparts. The gender wage gap has been a real and prevalent thing in our society. Even in the present, women are inclined to get lower salaries than men throughout the world, and most importantly the United States where the constitution says “all men are created equal.” All salaries are on a weekly basis and percentages are cents a woman earns per dollar a man earns. Although, there is much we can do as individuals to stop discrimination in the work force. The United States’ wage gap is caused by discrimination against women, who have less opportunities for higher paying jobs, and in order to eradicate this issue in our country and worldwide, women need to be treated impartially in the workforce.

Throughout the history of the world, discrimination in all forms has been a constant battle; whether its 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 battling, takes place in the work place. 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

Throughout history females have never been treated fairly compared to their male counterparts. The gender wage gap has been a real and prevalent thing in our society. Even in the present, women are inclined to get lower salaries than men throughout the world, and most importantly the United States where the constitution says “all men are created equal.” All salaries are on a weekly basis and percentages are cents a woman earns per dollar a man earns. Though many are currently working to fix the situation, there is much we can do as individuals to stop discrimination in the work force. The United States’ wage gap is caused by discrimination against women, who have less opportunities for higher paying jobs, and in order to eradicate this issue in our country and worldwide, women need to be treated impartially in the workforce.

Bias, prejudice, and discrimination are issues that are still prevalent in the world today. These issues can include: gender, race, ethnicity, or even religion. A common dilemma that the nation faces today is gender discrimination in the workplace. Women who possess the same level of competence and aptitude as men are still getting paid less in the same careers. Studies show that, “Women are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men” (Goldin). How can this inequality be solved? It can be easily resolved by paying men and women in the same careers equal wages.

Over the last ninety years, women have battled to become equal with men in all aspects of life and work (Parcheta, 2013). Male domination and power has become the social assumption as gendered occupations and beliefs have been projected throughout society as the status quo. Though challenging, this status quo is still present. Women have manufactured huge developments in career and education training, but equal treatment to a man, pay, and promotions in the workplace still escape them. Sociologists have documented that gender is not mainly a role or identity. It is an institutionalized system of social practices for constituting people as two different categories; male and female, and organizing relations of inequality around that difference (Ridgeway & Correll, 2000). In categorizing gender as a social construction, differentiations between males and females help to develop gender difference.

I was born in a family where I never had to worry about my race or ethnicity. Both of the terms are “social construction” which means that “society has created this category” and “it has more meaning socially than biologically” (Race and Ethnicity for OLS Prezi). Race is how we look, or “a social definition based on shared lineage and a real or presumed, biological characteristic,” while ethnicity is a social definition of groups that are “typically defined on the basis of some cultural characteristic such as language, religion, traditions, and cultural practices” (Ritzer, 223). The whole nature of racism boils down to having a dominant group who believes that they are superior, such as more civilized or physically more evolved than the minority

Race is a system of categories put in place by society in order to make each individual fit into a certain social group. It is due to societies implementation of such a system that individuals in these racial categories do not always look at each other as equals, causing a race to not always identify themselves as a homogenous front. This essay will delve into the poetry of a popular Def Jam spoken word artist Black Ice, whose piece Bigger Than Mine looks into the dualism within Black society in the United States with an undertone of what it means to a man. A schism as described by Black Ice being between two distinct groups, Blacks and “Niggas”.

The word gender can be described as the state of being male or female and is typically used to describe cultural differences as opposed to biological ones. Additionally, the definition of gender has continuously been a controversial issue due to its lack of clarity in regards to battling complicated social injustices. Furthermore, the construction of gender as a social category has recently been criticized for the lack of inclusiveness to women of color and the consistent habit to view both gender and race as restrictive divisions of experience and reasoning. Seeing those criticisms has led to the development of the term intersectionality which deals with various layers of subjection that women live with and addresses more than just the

Throughout the history of the world, discrimination in all forms has been a constant battle; whether its 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 battling, takes place in the work place. 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 inequality dates back for centuries and stems from the common belief that since men provide for women and women take care of the home and children, men therefore are more efficient in the career chosen. This is also known as systemic discrimination. Now in modern times, the realization that man and woman can produce the same results, have the same education, and have the same capacity to accomplish the same overall tasks as men is becoming more popular, especially as the prevalent thought of women as not as valuable as men is constantly being proven to be incorrect.

The structures influence people in different ways. Because men make more money than women, couples tend to live closer to the men’s job (Miller, C). Johnson explains some norms for women such as, taking care of children and working in other domestic related jobs (Johnson). Studies also show that when large numbers of women enter predominately male fields, the wages drop, even though it is the same job (Miller, C). Wingefield explains gender inequality in the workforce through the symbol of the glass escalator. The glass escalator conveys how women have a harder time acquiring positions of power in men dominated fields, than men have in women dominated fields (Wingefield). These phenomena prove that women’s work is less valued than

In Sociology, gender roles are a big part of everyday discussion. With that comes the controversy with gender inequality. The differences of what it really means to be an equal gender nation has been around for years, but it has been becoming more and more popular with politics and media recently. Females are portrayed as inferior to males when they should be treated as equals in today’s society. We have come a long way since the Women’s Rights Movement in the 1800s, but there is still work to be done. To better understand gender inequality, it is important to understand the root where it came from, specific manifestations dealt with gender inequality, and solutions on how to make gender inequality a term of the past.

The society has regulations in which people have to obey making social life be structured. Society has expectations for people to live by. People tend to live up to the norms in order to feel part of the world. Individuals do not want to be judged and labeled, so unconsciously live by the roles that they believe their gender has to follow. Gender is socially constructed concept in which society acts upon. The family is the first to influence individuals to this idea. Gender has roles in which boys and girls are supposed to follow. Depending on one’s gender, they are expected to dress, behave, and act accordingly to either portray a masculine or feminine personality. These gender roles are implied by society and if individuals do not follow are seen as outcast. It is difficult for people to comply to these characteristics and roles because they might have different life experiences and situations that might influence to act other than their gender roles imply.