Hannia María Chávez Quezada

Gender Discrimination

In this picture, there are two kids, a boy and a girl. Each of them with different
thoughts, thoughts that have been implanted by society. On the boy’s brain we can see
some tools, like a hammer, a drill, pliers, a wrench. And on the girl’s brain we can see
makeup, perfume, a hair dryer and a comb.
The message is pretty clear. Boys are taught to work and maintain the family.
They’re supposed to focus on work, rarely be at home, and not show signs of vulnerability
because they are supposed to be tough, confident, leaders and problem-solvers.
While girls have been taught to depend on boys, they have been taught to be thin,
emotional, and to wear dresses and makeup. To take care of children, cook, and clean the
home.
These expectations of how men and women should be are called stereotypes and
they are the principal causes of gender discrimination.
Nowadays, women are more aware of their stereotypes and they’re trying to break them
and be more independent, but unfortunately there still men who don’t want this to
happen. In fact, there are also some women who doesn’t let this happen.

Can you explain the terms stereotype and discrimination?

According to the Oxford dictionary, “Stereotypes are a widely held but fixed and
oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”. If someone is
stereotyped as something, people form a fixed general idea or image of them, so that it
is assumed that they will behave in a particular way. Stereotypes only prolong and justify
gender discrimination.
Also according to the Oxford dictionary, discrimination refers to the unjust treatment of
different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. There are
many different forms of discrimination, but the most common are direct discrimination,
indirect discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment.
Clearly, discrimination and stereotyping go hand-in-hand, because if ignorant people
believe some stereotype about gender roles, or race or religion, there is a good chance
that they will discriminate people based on these prejudices.

Where does gender discrimination occur the most in your opinion?

I think in workplaces. I recently read an article that said that about four-in-ten working
women (42%) in the United States say they have faced discrimination on the job because
of their gender. To Begin with, during the hiring process, a woman can apply for a job as a
sales executive, but a lot of companies will hire a man simply because some of the
company’s long-time clients are more comfortable dealing with men. Promotions are
another example. Men with less work experience are often promoted ahead of women
who have worked there longer. Also, sexual harassment is very common, women bosses
often say inappropriate comments to their employees about their bodies and they can’t
say anything because are afraid of losing their job. But, the most obvious form of
discrimination in workplaces is the unequal pay.

Why in your opinion are there so many feminist nowadays?

Because women all over the world want the respect that men get. They want equal pay
and freedom from fear, but history had them taught that they won’t be believed, heard or
taken seriously. But fortunately, nowadays women are beginning to speak out and be
understood.
Women who are in position to speak out need to keep trying and speak their truth so that
in a future, another woman will not have to wonder when in history she lost her voice.

Do you think that gender discrimination also affects men?

Of course, traditional stereotypes are often just as difficult for men too. We barely see this
because the numbers say that women’s situations are worse, but that doesn’t mean men
don’t suffer. For example, men receive custody of children in only about 10% of divorce
cases in the U.S, or when a man and a woman commit the exactly same crime the men get
longer prison sentences than woman. Also, domestic violence committed by women
against men are almost invisible crimes.

Many people throughout history have fought for equality, is there one figure in
particular that you admire, and why?
Yes, Martin Luther King, What I most admire about him was his vision of justice. He
changed the world by fighting for freedom and against racism. Of course racism still exists
but people are more aware of it nowadays, as they have more open minds. There is a
quote by him that inspires me and that I learned by heart: “We´ve learned to fly the air as
birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas as fish, yet we haven’t learned to walk the earth as
brothers and sisters”. This phrase motivates me to keep fighting for justice. To show up,
stand up and speak up. To remove gender discrimination completely, in order to create a
better future for all. We all need to be on the right side of the story. HER story as well as
his.

What do you think, is the solution to the problem of gender discrimination?

Eradicate stereotypes. The problem is that we can’t destroy stereotypes, but there is
some hope. According to Debra Pryor and Nancy Nelson Knupfer, they said that If we
become aware of stereotypes and teach critical viewing skills to children, perhaps we will
become informed viewers instead of being manipulated. We can be aware of and
therefore change stereotypes by confronting bias in the media, and people’s mentality. In
the movie Miss Representation Katz said that people learn more from the media than any
other single source of information and that if we want to understand what’s going on in
today’s society in the 21st century, first we have to understand the media, and I couldn’t
be more agree because media is the mirror of our society.
We should all fight together against gender discrimination because it’s not just a female
issue, it´s a human issue. It affects us all.