The De-Naturalization Of Gender Inequality In Society

Gender inequality has been the main focus for many centuries through the use of discrimination and oppression women were exploited. Where women had very little rights of their own or a voice in society but made many sacrifices to achieve equal rights whether it be in employment or other areas of inequality. As men were seen as masculine breadwinners and women as more feminine by looking after the family and raring of children.

Power, in its relation to gender, is the main focus of the feminism. Many inequalities exist in society today between men and women at both the micro and macro level. The idea that men and women should be equal in all respects, including economically, politically, and socially equal is at the core of the feminist theory. Generally, feminism describes a society where women are treated differently from men just because they are women. This differential treatment puts women at a disadvantage where they become subordinate to men. With regards to sexuality, men enjoy the power to define the meaning of sexuality, even for women. By sexualizing hierarchy and defining their domination over women as pleasure, men limit the way women are allowed to experience and express their sexuality.

Social construct is any interest constructed by members in a particular culture or society. This exists because people agree to behave and follow certain predictable rules. One example of a social construct is social status i.e. “a position one holds in society or a group”. Racial categories haven’t always been with us, in ancient times, religion, language, status, and class distinctions were more important than physical appearance. Historically racial categories were not unbiased or objective. Groups were segregated so they could be excluded or

In The Gendered Society, the writer Michael Kimmel examine an wealth of pragmatic study and accepted outsets regarding gender disparities to disagree from a sociological standpoint that “Gender Divergence is the upshot of gender variation, not its origin”. The sociological characteristic of his debate is footed on the inspiration that “the communal establishments of our world like place of work, family, politics and school are also gender-oriented institutions. Kimmel further argues that these institutions convey a reason, logic, a self-motivated notion that replicates gender associations linking men and women moreover the gender classification of authority and hierarchy”. As Kimmel observes it, an assessment of gender ought to try hard to elucidate not only alleged variance linking women and men however male supremacy (Kimmel).

Feminism is a movement that encourages the advancement of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. For centuries, women have been advocating to be treated equally. The United States was founded on democracy and that all men were created equal, but, women were not able to vote or run for office for more than 140 years. They were not allowed to enter career field

Gender inequality is currently a hot topic in our society. From education, to the entertainment industry, and more importantly, to our daily lives, gender inequality has created a powerful divide between females and males. The same trend follows in the workplace, where females are less likely to hold positions of authority compared to their male counterparts, which is a key contributor to the workplace gender inequality all across the United States.

Gender inequality is the difference in the way someone is treated perceive depending if they are a male or female. Throughout the years, it was common to see a great inequality in the way women were treated. It is not just that males and females are biologically and anatomically different rather that society has created stereotypes as a way to assign roles for both, making a gap between them. There has been a long battle in the women’s community as a way to try to achieve equality. One of the greatest accomplishments on equality happened in 1920 with the 19th amendment. The 19th amendment is accountable of providing women with the right to vote. Even after the battles it is still common to find gender inequality in today’s society. Society has created a setting in which men uphold roles that make sure to prove their power and superiority. We can find that gender inequality still exist in settings such as families, workforce, sports or politics.

Both women and men are consumers, exploiters and managers of natural resources. In rural areas, it is common that women are the managers of natural resources such as forest, water and land. Women live in rural area are often less educated, and do not have as stable job. Therefore, they are usually housewives. But these women are the main power of rural micro-economic activities. According to the lecture notes, Women play important role in such communities because their traditions and knowledge bring them in closer with these natural resources, and they need to harvest , collect, process and grow those natural resources especially in agricultural for their families to survive. In places that suffer from desertification, issues related to water management and conservation is extremely important. Concerns of influences especially on provision of clean water are increasing. Women play roles as collectors and users of water in desertification areas. They get to decide where to collect water, how to draw, transport and store it, how much water to draw, how many sources of water to exploit and for what purposes. These types of activities put them as the center of their family. In fishery, women engage in a wide range of activities in the fishery industry. Situations vary individually, however, women participant in fishing as a worker to do some pre or post activities including seafood processing or some women even play as the main fisher.

Men and women are not treated equally in society. Women are still fighting for equal wages and fair treatment within the workplace.

If you walk down the aisles of Toys R Us, you will find Barbie’s for girls, and trucks for boys. Balloons for the birth of a baby girl are usually pink, while the balloons for boys are light blue. We typically do this for one reason- the social norms for gender. Social norms are the unwritten rules about how to behave. Some people may be blind to this, but society has given us the standard for what to think and how to act towards groups other than our own. Although it is slowly changing, heterosexual marriage is perceived as the social norm. Stereotypes against oppressed groups, such as gays, lesbians, transgendered people, women and the working class are more prevalent than some people would like to admit. This did not just happen by accident- gender, sex and class are all socially constructed. The authors of

It would be ideal if men and women were considered equal, however this is not the case. There are strict gender, social ideas that are based on the sex of an individual (Conley: 279),  norms that have been implemented into our lives since we were little which impact the way the majority of people handle day to day situations. For example, in the early to middle 1900s, society was based on a patriarchy or "subordination of femininity to masculinity" (Conley: 288). In the 1950s, sociologist Talcott Parsons developed the sex role theory which stated that a nuclear family what the ideal set-up for producing workers (Conley: 289). However, this system created the idea that women were supposed to stay home and tend to the household needs. Because of this, women were not considered equip to handling a job which underestimated the ability of women as a whole.

While establishing their purpose within the framework of the universe, individuals remain confined by the barriers placed around them. Although people inherit a degree of autonomy, the environment into which they derive predetermines the extent that they will be allowed to excel. A dense jungle canopy that permits only a limited amount of light to enter, the societal structures that exist serve to choke out the growth of certain factions of individuals. Moreover, these hierarchies can create chasms that divide people by factors beyond their control. Controlling the rights of their citizens through the writings of the time, ancient civilization’s philosophy portrays the inequality for women. The Republic and the Bible, foundational documents that shaped the growth of Greece and Israel, attempt to portray the sense of an equal society. However, the progression of the societies themselves proved the hypocrisy of their desire for parity. Furthermore, the First Testament and The Republic’s rhetoric juxtapose the New Testament’s meaningful transition towards lesser gender disparity. Thus, the social reforms that Jesus institutes is more meaningful than the philosophical ideas of ancient Greek and Israelite thinkers.

Throughout society gender, the traditional state of being male or female, plays a significant role in many different accepts of one’s life. Whether one is male or female can affect many things from the level of respect one might receive to the chance of getting the job one desires and even to the extent of effecting one’s salary. From as early as 1800’s gender inequality, unequal treatment of individuals wholly due to their gender, has been an issue and still continues today. Before World War II many women only worked at home and did housework rather than working in factories and offices. Although gender inequality is not that extreme these days, it still has a major impact on things like the salaries of men verses women.

There appears to be a consensus in the literature that parts of identity are socially constructed, including gender and ethnic identity (Blackstone, 2003; Steensma et al., 2013). Gender socialization in westernized culture is based on the idea that gender is binary, either an individual is male or female (Blackstone, 2003). Overtime, society has constructed roles that are deemed appropriate for differences in gender. It is as if there lies an invisible protocol to think, feel, and behave depending if the individual is a male or a female. However, this is not found in United States culture. In the Native American culture, there is the concept of two-spirit, a gender identity to describe similar variances in gender as what is seen in the LGBTQ community (Lang, 1997).

As we are all birth equally throughout the world, there is still contingency that causes a barrier between human kinds. What barriers are we talking about that can’t be changed through our DNA? That is our gender. When each of us are born into the world, we are labeled as male or female due to our genetical DNA and different types of organs (WHO). Yet, society still isn’t as balance enough and there are still so much discrimination in gender in even today’s society.