Essay about Gender Inequality

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.

For centuries and even today, gender inequality and racial prejudice continue to exist. Throughout time these concepts have overlapped and intertwined, each other creating complex interactions and a negative influence upon society. In the 1980s, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw through her article, named Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color, introduced the term “Intersectionality.” Intersectionality, is the theory of how different types of discriminations interact thus, goes hand in hand with Judith Butler, in her article titled “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory” which expresses the term “gender acts” and helps decipher a probable cause of the many discriminations faced in contemporary society. Since both gender inequality and racial inequality share a common thread, I believe that what intersectionality represents will help understand Judith Butler’s view on gender classification and the dynamic it’s caused on our social and political formation.

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.

This article portrayed explicit connections between stereotypical tasks for women and female dominated jobs. For example, as many women

Across the world, it has been noticed that women are the minority in society. The United States (US) is a prime example; women in the US are more likely to have low paying jobs, undergo domestic abuse, and encounter sexual harassment in any situation. Men, on the other hand, are the ideal in the US: higher paying jobs and head of household. Women face many obstacles when trying to achieve due to our social norms. These norms accumulate the different characteristics of the genders; furthermore, it is based off what society perceives as accurate for a male or female in many situations.

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

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.

Gender stereotype have remained firmly over the years in North America that social norms pre-assumed the career of women and men in workplace traditionally. “The characterizations of women and men that comprise descriptive gender stereotypes are remarkably consistent. They have been shown to be consistent across culture” (Heilman 115). Heliman states that the gender stereotype did not change over time because the

Why should gender determine how to live your life? Throughout my whole existence, I’ve been told to act and dress like a “girl” by most of my family. I never understood why it was such a huge deal, until I was much older. Gender expectations are still around today and they still continue to be affect the way men and women are treated. A man that acts within his own gender role is praised, but a woman is forced to stay in a certain limit within her role. Men and women shouldn 't let their gender define themselves and it should not pressure them to live up to a certain standard created by society.

Every individual in this world requires the same necessities in order to survive. Despite this, men seem to receive a much greater advantage in society. For centuries women have been fighting for gender equality. Although this constant battle still lives on, the growth society has had on gender equality is remarkable. At the beginning of the 20th century women were expected to have one role in society; marry in her early 20s, start a family and dedicate her entire life to caring for her family. Towards the end of the 20th century, entering the workforce became a daily routine for a majority of the female population. In addition women were getting married later and only having children in their 30s. When women initially entered the workforce

Gender inequality has been an issue since long before the 1840s, when feminists finally brought the problem to light. Most ancient cultures were societies based on gender inequality, skewed towards male-dominance. Most societies are still mostly patriarchal, in fact. Patriarchy is the root of discrimination between sexes and genders and has been for a very long time.

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

According to Helsin, Possamai and Possamai-Inesedy (2011 p. 625) gender stratification occurs when a specific gender has unequal access to power, property and prestige. As gender is classed as a master status it forms a significant structural characteristic within society (Helsin, Possamai & Possamai-Inesedy 2011, p. 310). Therefore, it is society, through social construction that determines what gender norms are considered appropriate and can be passed through generations of people via agents of socialisation such as family, mass media or in the form of symbolic interaction (Macionis & Plummer 1997, pp. 139-141).

for different social classes or statuses for various individuals within a group or society. It usually refers to people of distinct genders, ages

Equality between Women and Men, or Gender Equality, means equality of rights and freedoms. For equal opportunities for participation, recognition and appreciation of women and men, In all areas of society, political, economic, labor, personal and family.