The concept of equality between men and women has been heavily deliberated for the past few decades, but as we discussed in class throughout the week, it’s become increasingly clear that people have drastically different ideas on what constitutes equality. Originally, when posed the question, I brought up the more prominent issues facing women in our society, politically, socially, and economically. Politically, I believe that for men and women to be equal, women need to be proportionately represented in government, from local offices to the oval office. I personally discovered the importance of this issue when I realized that women make up less than 20% of Congress, thus making men the primary deciders of women’s issues. This is a …show more content…
My classmate, Elise Favvia, added to this by dictating how, as a STEM major, she often sees women underrepresented in the field as well as noting that many other western nations allow women paid maternity leave, while the United States has yet to. Overall, these were my initial ideas on the conditions for equality of men and women in our society. However, through my small group discussion and class discussion, I realized that I focused on the surface issues but I overlooked the deeper underlying issues that should be addressed. For instance, Kexin Li brought up the idea intersectionality. She explained how it was necessary to recognize that women are not a single, homogenous group, but rather a diverse group with sub-sections that each have their own issues. This led her to discussing the difference between equity and equality, as equity implies noting people’s differences and reaching equality through helping each group with their distinct needs, while equality implies treating everyone equally, which, now knowing the concept of intersectionality, might not actually create equality of the sexes. I deeply resonated with these ideas, as I had heard of intersectionality before, but I had never thought of it as a “condition for equality”, however, Kexin Li’s explanation convinced me otherwise. An idea from the class discussion that resonated with me was Alexis Availes’ idea of “leadership rhetoric”, specifically in public documents. She
As long as an American woman is putting in the same amount of hours with the same qualifications and experience in the same occupation as an American male, and yet taking home a wage that is any lower, she is not being treated fairly as an equal. Contrary to many arguments, it’s undeniable that a wage gap exists, and while there are various ideas as to the most probable cause, there is no reason why this gap should continue to go uncorrected or unchanged. Our government should take concrete steps to close the gender wage gap because it violates women’s rights and equality.
Gender Equality is a big issue throughout the world, but what exactly is it? Well to answer that, it is the view that everyone should receive equal treatment and not be discriminated against based on gender. Today, most women are getting treated differently compared to men. Whether it is based on pay gap, power, or strength the problem comes up. Men think they are stronger and better than women and this upsets women because it makes them feel like they don’t have a place in this world. This is where feminism comes into place. I chose this topic because I can relate to it more than the racial option, although now it could be about the same.
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.
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.
Equality, gender roles, and restrictions are important topics that many activists, leaders, and speakers have worked towards in order to provide to the world. The society we have now has been created in part by the determination and perseverance of their actions, speeches, and rallies. The world was a different place about 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and even more than 50 years ago. Associating women with household work and children, and men with difficult jobs and hard work, were can be observed throughout time that were previously set in past centuries. Both women and men have changed in associations, as we can currently observe in today’s society. Gender roles have switched, and new decrees have enabled individuals to have their equality
In the 1800’s a women was suppose to have four things Piety, Purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. These principles shaped the “Cult of True Womanhood” an idea that women were to be seen but not heard. Women had no say when it came to politics, they couldn’t own property, they were not allowed to do many jobs, and they couldn’t even speak in front of men. They had the duty to be a mother and raise their children but even thought they had this responsibility it was the husband who had the complete control and guardianship of the children. Because of these ideas it was very difficult for change to happen. When women started to receive more education they began to ask questions about why they were being denied these rights, which began the
Equality between men and women has grown stronger, but in many ways, it is the same. We still live in a society where women are paid significantly less than men, women have less job opportunities,
Gender inequality has been a dominant and consistent struggle of human culture since its existence. To this day, women constantly face oppression, unjust treatment, and less opportunities. For centuries, women have played inferior roles compared to men, especially in marriage. When a man and a woman would wed, it was understood that the woman would serve her husband’s needs and demands. Over the centuries of human existence, however, many feminists and progressive revolutionaries demanded change in the treatment of females.
are women. However, women have come very far in heightening their status in society. An example of this is how many women can be seen in public office and how modern cities have a general lack of gendered spaces. Although there is still room for improvement, in regard to gender issues. For example, women “have had limited success in putting on the political agenda the key issues that challenge male dominance” (312). Despite this, I believe men and women both have fair opportunities to succeed. In today’s age more women are going to college and participating in the work force than ever
In today’s society, many people in the US believe that women and men are completely equal. This is a common thought because people think that if both sexes can vote, both are equal everywhere else. Of course, this is not true. Many of the issues referred to in this essay are hidden from the public eye. For example, sexual harassment is something that you know exists, but you never see it happen. Noticing the pay gap, and getting promoted is also something hidden unless you are a worker. Women may have gained their “equality” when they earned the right to vote, but today’s women still push for total equality. In the US, men and women are not treated equally because women are paid less than men, women are sexually harassed more than men, and
Many people believe that men have advantages over women when comes to a topic such as occupation. Although this may be true, in some cases it is in fact exactly the opposite. Today?s society is so concerned with political correctness and equal rights to women that it has almost completely forgotten about equal
It is only recently that sociology has begun to explore the topic of gender. Before this, inequalities within society were based primarily on factors such as social class and status. This paper will discuss gender itself: what makes us who we are and how we are represented. It will also explore discrimination towards women throughout history, focusing mainly on women and the right to vote, inequalities between males and females in the work place and how gender is represented in the media.
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
In this world, men have been seen as the superior sex and women have been considered the subordinate group. Clearly, gender roles have been set to support men. Women are not expected to have similar jobs or to have the physical strength men do, but instead they are expected to stay home, raise the kids, and take care of household needs. Men, being the strong ones, are the only ones required to have a job and do the heavy lifting. The current accepted views towards women’s roles create female inequality because women are being undermined just because
The desire for equality is one everpresent in American society. We see this intention presented throughout our history, branching all the way back to our country’s founders. The intent for equality is clear, however, we continue to come short of this goal after years and years as a country. The battles toward ultimate equality are never ceasing despite our obvious objective, as we have created gender specific stereotypes that prevent us from achieving this aim. The ideals shared by Americans for equality are not able to surpass the constant struggles of our society. After 241 years as a country, we have only just had the first female presidential candidate win the popular vote in an election. One may argue that this is evidence of progression in American politics as women are being better represented, however, this is a slow improvement and one held back by the gender stereotypes which Americans hold.