Globally, around 120 million girls have forced intercourse or another forced sexual act in their lifetime (Borgen Project 2018). The ubiquity of sexual assault and violence against women is rooted and systematic, making it one of the most prominent examples of gender inequality to date. Gender inequality is the idea ad situation that women and men are not equal, usually favoring men. Women inch behind men in many fields, including education, labor market opportunities, political representation, and in pay. It is evident that the majority of the women are oppressed as in turn the men being the oppressor.
In the United States and around the world, women continue to be underrepresented in high-level, highly paid positions and overrepresented in low-paying jobs. Women of color and transgender individuals experience particularly high levels of poverty, unemployment, and other economic hardships. Gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace contribute significantly to these tenacious economic divides. In other countries such as Iraq and Afganistan, women are held at a lower position to men. Those countries consider women property rather than human beings, dismantling their natural rights.
Why does gender inequality occur in the world today? My guess is the stereotypes that have been put in place since the early ages and are continually displayed in some way today. In the old days, the “exemplary” females are the ones that usually are housewives, staying home, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. While the males typically are the providers, supporting the family by going out to work. Fast forward to the modern society that we live in today, the thought of the average “housewife” has changed. Though still bad, no doubt there has been a progression in gender inequality since the early days in United States history. Over time women’s stance on their own capabilities, duties, and rights have changed, but it was not easy.
Women have been in a constant fight for their freedoms for decades. In “The Great Gadsby,” which was set in the 1920s, there are more than a few examples that show women and men were clearly not equal. From the beginning of the novel the reader knows that Tom Buchanan is cheating on his wife, Daisy Buchanan, it is even known by Daisy yet she does nothing about it because she cannot. In addition, Tom violently abuses his mistress, Myrtle, in front of many bystanders but not one person speaks up (chapter 2).
This shows how little power woman had compared to the power that was bestowed on men. Had this story occurred in today’s society, the whole tale would have changed dramatically. Though a sluggish process, women have gradually become more equal to men. They gain privileges and rights. To start off, a woman in the early twenty-first-century has the same respect as a man does but going back to the early twentieth-century women were seen as mere sides of men.
On August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote, also called women’s suffrage. Now, women have achieved the right to reap the same wages as men get, though many would argue that is false. It is truly amazing to see women doing things many thought they would never get the chance to do. Only recently has there been a woman coach and a woman referee in the NFL, a sport which is certainly male-dominated in every perspective. You also see a surge in girls playing American football at a young age and in high school, because they are not as afraid anymore after seeing these women on tv.
The world should be excited about what women may be in charge of later down the road. While it is true that many would say women still do not have exactly the same rights as men, one could definitely see how the design of females has changed. With so much progression, why does gender inequality persist? Well, that answer is only partially elucidated. There must be on-going social methods constantly recreating gender inequality.
It is widely known across the United States that gender stereotypes are “common knowledge” to people. Social scientists and others have accumulated lots of proof confirming that stereotypes and assumptions about men and women form common personal interactions and shape gender imbalances in jobs, wages, authority, and family obligations. Males tend to be more dominant, intuitive, and authoritative while women tend to be more sensitive, cooperative, and passive.
