This essay discusses the types of gender inequality that persist in our society, and several ways to combat it.
IIntroduction
People working for civil rights are often asked why blacks don’t just move on; isn’t 140 years long enough to get over slavery? Women face the same argument: isn’t 50 years of progress enough to make the feminists happy? The answer in both cases is no, it’s not enough. Blacks may have been freed, but freedom without opportunity is useless, and whites did not accept them. Even today, many blacks are still very far from being considered equals.
Women have made strides, but equality continues to elude them as well. And in both cases, racism and sexism have gone underground, where they continue to thrive.
This paper looks at the persistence of gender inequality, and the trends being implemented towards equality.
IIInequalities
In their article entitled “Subtle and Covert Forms of Discrimination,” Nijole Benokraitis and Joe Feagin describe examples of the types of gender inequality and discrimination we find throughout our contemporary culture. Some of the discrimination—much of it, in fact—is unconscious, so deeply ingrained in us that it requires a true effort to change our thinking. But other examples show that there are those who deliberately set out to “sabotage” women; a disheartening and depressing commentary on today’s society.
Subtle discrimination manifests itself as “condescending chivalry” and “benevolent exploitation.” The first is the type of action that is usually seen as protective and paternalistic, but in reality makes women seem weak and helpless, and in need of close supervision. Such chivalrous actions as opening doors, carrying packages, and ordering for the woman in a restaurant are examples of this kind of subtle but damaging discrimination.
The Essay on Gender Inequality 2
The issue of gender inequality or discrimination has existed in the financial industry of the United States. This paper aims to present the existence of such practice in the financial world of some of the famous yet lawsuit-stricken Wall Street firms. In particular, a book written by Roth, which has studied and presented the many incidents of gender prejudices, will be critically analyzed. To make ...
Other examples include using pet names for women—all women. The use of terms such as the “little lady” is common (along with “babe,” “honey” etc.), as are remarks such as “don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” They are so ingrained in our culture that we hardly even react to them any longer, but we should, because they are demeaning and ugly. Calling a woman by anything other than her name, in the form she prefers to have it used (Mrs., Ms., Dr., Sue) is a subtle form of discrimination. First, it diminishes her; when a term like “little lady” is used, it actually physically indicates that she is small. And secondly, the practice is applied only to women, never men. Calling a man “little boy” is unacceptable, as it indicates that he is a child, and calls his masculinity into question as well. But it is acceptable to treat women as children, further degrading them.
A remark like “don’t worry your pretty little head” is another put-down, indicating that the problem, whatever it is, is obviously beyond the woman’s grasp, and is more properly the province of men to solve. It removes a woman’s power and standing in the organization, and is part of a pattern of systematic exclusion of women from consideration for positions of power and authority.
Nijole gives the example of a faculty lunch at which the discussion centered on the need to promote someone to the dean’s position. Of four women mentioned, all four were disqualified because of their personal lives—they either had children, were planning to have children, or had children grown and out of the house (in which case the woman obviously wanted peace and quiet and not the stressful position of dean).
Not one of the women, all highly qualified, was given serious consideration “because it is generally assumed that women should stay in presumably ‘safe” positions where there femininity, motherhood, and ability to fulfill wifely duties will remain intact.” (P. 216).
Essay On The Profound Effects Of Child Sexual Abuse
For all intensive purposes, my paper considers the use of the masculine pronoun with offenders, and the feminine pronoun with victims, though I recognize that it happens either way. Imagine Think back to third grade. Think of the classroom you sat in at school, and think of the clothes you were wearing, the teacher at the front of the room. Think of every detail you can remember. Now try and ...
Here we have women defined, and denied opportunity, by their biology. But another source disputes that.
Other examples of subtle discrimination include the idea that women cannot handle technology; thus they are routinely excluded from such jobs as computer programmer, because it’s “too difficult” for them to grasp. Female nudity in advertising is another type of discrimination, since it implies that the women in the ads are willing to engage in a sexual relationship with the men who purchase the products. (This is symbolic, of course—one would hope that a man who buys a new car doesn’t actually believe that the bikini-clad model comes with it. But the image of woman as possession, woman as accessory, woman as willing sexual partner in thrall to the man with the money to buy her favors is tremendously harmful—and virtually everywhere.)
Examples of deliberate sabotage include hiring women as tokens to fill a numerical quota; making it difficult for women in traditionally all-male professions (police, fire, armed forces); and making it difficult for women in traditional “women’s” job by such means as sexual harassment (the powerful boss and the far weaker secretary).
Nijole says that in gender-neutral positions, such as higher education or management, the sabotage is much more subtle than in the other positions, but even more intense. In one case, a company psychologist called a new woman hire once a month to see “how things were going.” She always answered “fine” and was pleased that the company took an interest in its employees. Then the bomb exploded. She was turned down for a promotion that was given to a far less-qualified man, because anyone who saw a psychologist on a regular basis wasn’t “management material.” (That one makes my blood boil!) (Nijole, p. 221).
Several feminist writers dispute all of this, as well they should, saying that the idea of women as inferior because of their biology is nonsense:
The Essay on Women Men Gender Society
Throughout many decades women have been struggling to be equal to men, both at home and in the work place. Women have come a long way and are certainly fighting to gain that equality, but gender roles are very important in our society. They have become important in life from birth, and society continues to push these gender roles. The treatment of the male gender is very different from that of the ...
“Women’s biology has been described by physicians and scientists who … have been mostly economically privileged, university-educated men with strong personal and political interests in describing women in ways that make it appear ‘natural’ for us to fulfill roles that are important for their well-being, personally and a group.” (Hubbard, p. 32).
In other words, men define women in ways that suit them, and give them the advantage; our entire society, when you think about it, is set up to support this male domination. Money, economic power, status, assumptions of competence, decision making, management skills—all are skewed to support the idea that men are just naturally better at it—whatever “it” is—than women.
IIITrends to Implement Equality
In order to make further progress, we first have to admit a problem exists. That means that men (and many women) are going to have to quit snorting, looking bored and condescending, and rolling their eyes when the subject of gender inequality comes up.
Second, we have to find new ways of allowing women to define themselves as they wish, rather than continuing to view them in terms of their reproductive function. Nobody would dare to suggest that a man shouldn’t be promoted because he has children, yet women are routinely denied advancement on that flimsiest of all pretexts. Men are not defined by their biology; women should not continue to accept this treatment, but should insist on their own individual personhood.
Finally, Lorber suggests that gender has become socialized, in that society dictates the rules of behavior that are acceptable for men and women. In order to get past discrimination, we must abandon the idea that certain people are able to do only certain things and not others. We must see that ability and gender are not connected; and that the fact women have not made as much progress as men has nothing to do with ability, but rather with lack of opportunity. And opportunity has been denied women because they are viewed first as mothers, wives and nurturing caregivers; in other words, as gendered beings, not simply as people.
IVConclusion
Gender inequality is an ugly, tenacious fact of life. If we are ever to develop a society in which everyone contributes fully, we are going to have to abandon our ideas of what defines women, as well as what is suitable for them, and allow them to be free, fully-functioning human beings.
The Term Paper on Men And Women One Gender Divorce
Randi Borenstein June 7, 2000 Final Paper Professor Umana, Law and Society 150 Getting Over the Gender Walls Men and women come from different worlds. Let's face it, they simply can not communicate. Take the following story for example: Tom and Mary were going to a party. Tom was driving and after about twenty minutes and going around the same block many times, it was clear to Mary that Tom was ...
VReferences
Benokraitis, Nijole V. and Joe R. Feagin. “Subtle and Covert Forms of Sex Discrimination.”
Hubbard, Ruth. “Rethinking Women’s Biology.”
Lorber, Judith. “The Social Construction of Gender.”
