Sexism And Gender Equality

Although the issue of women’s rights has attracted international recognition and support, women still face many inequalities and barriers. Gender-based violence and economic discrimination are problems in many parts of the world.

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 first gained the right to vote on August 26, 1920 with the 19th amendment was approved, giving women full voting rights. Fortified by the constitutional victory in 1920, the handful of new women in Congress embarked on what would become a century-long journey to broaden women’s role in government. In the intervening years, the drive for more women’s rights encompassed the lives of the next generations of women. Even today, women are still fighting for their rights and stand up against prejudice. On the forefront of this movement are our women congresswomen who speak on behalf of all women. When Hillary Clinton announced her presidential candidacy, controversial questions immediately surfaced about the role of gender in politics. Through Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008 and 2016, media is the principal propagator in showing bias and sexism.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"(US Declaration of Independence). Equality is a fundamental principle that has helped form our law system to what it is today. Since the Declaration of Independence we have been able to expand who should be included when our law system addresses equality. Today law, regarding gender equality has progressed significantly. Examining American history, it is evident to notice oppression women's faced from the time prior to the Declaration of Sentiments in 1848 to the Civil Rights act of 1964 and even today in some instances; the strive for equality amongst genders is a conflict that has come a long way, but still needs to be addressed accordingly.

While studying art and popular culture in class, our class came across a very interesting topic and story. Throughout time everything has changed in humanity, in the way that humans look at one another. Now in the 1980’s when the whole AIDS and HIV epidemic started that’s when the whole world saw the disgrace in each other. Now in class learning about the disgrace that women had upon the world because of HIV and AIDS has really changed in a way that women are not allowed to be free within themselves anymore. The woman of today have to deal with sexism, classism and even racism just in order to survive in this world. But even through all of this women are still strong and fight for what they believe in and never give up, no matter what

From short stories like “The Yellow Wallpaper,” to the court cases like Ellen Pao’s Suit vs. Kleiner Perkins, and even a data book like Women in the Labor Force, it is clear to see that inequality and mistreatment of women still exists today. People often say that inequality is a thing of the past, however it has been a serious problem since the dawning of civilization itself, and it is still so today. Women are often seen as lesser beings than men, and are treated accordingly. It is getting better, and women are starting to take their rightful places as equals in the workforce, and as equals in general. However, the world still has a long way to go before the inequality and mistreatment of women comes to a complete stop.

Sexism is a highly controversial topic, no matter the application. Throw it into American sports? We might just have a scandal worthy enough to make it to the back page in a crummy tabloid. I’m not saying it’s an unimportant issue, any amount of sexism anywhere is a major problem, I’m just saying it won’t be making the front page anytime soon. Why isn’t sexism in sports making front page news?

Today, so many people feel the need to be someone that others want them to be and not what they actually want to be. People often accept the position into which they are born and grow up in, and then pass that position onto their children. Until someone has enough power to speak out against it, this cycle will continue. This is true in both Girl by Jamaica Kincaid and A&P by John Updike. Both of these stories examine sexism and the need to fulfill a certain roll that society places upon women. In Girl, Kincaid brings up the issues of females needing to conform to be a certain person and provides her audience with a specific set of rules that women should follow when alone and with other men. Overall, Kincaid and Updike are attempting to portray the strong division of genders and the need to fit a certain role within society today.

Sexism has retained its grip on the contemporary woman and man as with a force similar to those of the yesteryear. Its must be taken into consideration how much we have progressed as a society in regards to sexism. Prior to the 1970s women were perceived as wives and mothers. The second wave of feminism hit around this time which led to legislative change to reflect the societal values that were being born. With writes in this era like Anne Summers helping define the Australian woman’s place in society. By examining our stereotyping and helping women of the 1970s move forward and grow. However this growth I believe has stalled. With sexism remaining a dominant force.

Sexism is a situation when people hold a belief which supports discrimination against one gender. It is the prejudice held by people who believe that one gender is superior to the other. In some cases, people have a belief that women are not able to fit in certain careers and perform well in certain subjects. Sexism manifests itself in different ways. To illustrate, women in some communities are refrained from politics, military jobs, mathematics, and engineering careers, among others. For those who get into these careers, they are also treated with less concern and often given lower responsibilities in the view that they will not perform as per the expectations. This belief affects the way people treat each other

Throughout the past few decades, the gender inequality discourse have became a dominant feature of international, national and local policy debate on the subject of economic development. This policy concern has emerged as an area of scholarly research which seeks to show that improving gender equity leads to economic growth.

Women have been able to make a change in society about themselves, yet they are still being treated as a toy that is being controlled by society. Hillary Clinton noticed that women around the world were being treated differently from men. She saw that women’s rights were not being regarded as human rights and that it was time for women to make a difference and have their rights be considered as human rights. Our world is improving from the past and Hillary Clinton is stating that it is time for a change to make each individual be equal including both women and men. In Hillary Clinton’s World Conference on Women speech, the first lady wants to notify the public that women’s rights are human rights by describing the hard work that women do in the world, appealing to the feelings of women, and using a tone that is determined to make her dream become a reality.

Almost half of all human beings who have ever lived have been oppressed by a system as old as civilization itself. Sexism has been manifested in different ways across the globe and through time, but it often uses the same methods. Across many cultures, women are seen as inferior and subordinate and are dominated by the men who control their lives. This can be expressed in two different ways: being viewed as having lesser worth and ability, or inferiority, and having little freedom or power, or subordination. In The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck and Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah, these two facets of culture can be seen acting in different and yet similar means, as well as being causes and effects of each other.

“Sexism goes so deep that at first it’s hard to see; you think it’s just reality” Alix Shulman (Shulman). Sexism is defined as prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex. This definition does not go far enough. It is the psychological mentality to marginalize and dominate another gender, almost always against women. What is the difficulty with treating women as an equal? Just because genders have different tendencies, it should not mean that one gender is better than another. Men are seen as more masculine and “brutish,” and women are seen as feminine and sensitive. This does not mean that one is weaker than the other. It’s like comparing athletes from different sports. You could have a quarterback that can score 50 touchdowns in football, but not be able to make a single three-pointer in basketball. It’s the same with a basketball player making 400 three-pointers but can’t tackle a single person in football. It does not mean that one athlete is inferior to another, it is just a different skillset. The idea of inferiority has a very deep biological, historical, and psychological foothold on our society. If we can achieve change for the better, we can completely make this problem a thing of the past.

Today we live in a world that continually stresses to us that, "All men are created equal." While this sounds great at face value, further inspection tells us that this is far from realistic and sadly may never be. One can examine any aspect of society whether it be race, religion, language, level of education, sexual orientation or economic status and notice that there are numerous characteristics and factors of identity that enable others to treat others differently. This truth may not be pleasant or make one feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however it is our society’s reality, however dismal it may be. Even if the statement above as to the equality of all men were true, how about women? Clearly women have made tremendous strides towards