Landon Alexander

Dr. Oskar Milik

Soc 101

18 April 2019

Gender Inequalities

All around us are inequalities whether it be gender, race, income, and many others. An

inequality that I have personally experienced in my life would be gender. In high school and the

real world gender is unequal in many different aspects. Personal experiences for me have

occured in high school sports, only men must register for selective services. Another would be

a club selected by staff that is completely one gender.

Men and women, they are just two different genders why would they be unequal?

¨Gender inequality arises mainly due to the differences in socially constructed roles in genders¨

(women 2017). Gender inequality has been around forever, people have a lack of education of

the causes of gender inequality which also affect the unequal opportunities for each gender

(Women 2019). The point is that there is gender inequality and it is happening in big cities and

even small town schools.

Gender inequality is the idea that men and women are not equal and that gender affects

an individual's lived experience (wikipedia 2019). Gender inequality is a major barrier affecting

human development. In the real world this is a real problem. Gender inequality is directed at

women most of the time in business and pay, but in high school I have experienced inequality

towards men. Women in my high school have more opportunity than the men. They can

participate in more clubs, more sports, and are even favored by a majority of the teachers.
Teachers favoring the females dates back to when school first began, this is the case due to

most teachers have always been female.

For sports in high school the genders are divided and on their own team. Girls play

softball and boys play baseball. Girls basketball teams and boys basketball teams. But why can

a girl be on a boys team but a boy cannot be on a girls team? This is one of the inequalities that

I am experiencing in my school. There is a girl who is playing on the boys baseball team even

though she has the same opportunity to play on the girls softball team. But i have a friend who

is a guy and cannot be on the competitive cheer team. This is a prime example of an inequality

because the opportunities are not equal. This is a problem that is addressed in title nine but

does not completely address all situations. It is unequal for girls to be allowed in boys sports but

not boys being allowed in girls sports.

¨Men and women are equal¨ that is what we have been told for our entire schooling

careers, but why would women not have to register for selective services. Men have to register

as soon as they turn eighteen, this is to potentially sign their life away. But women do not have

to, that is not equality. In school there are only posters for selective services in one place, the

mens bathroom. If men and women were equal these would be all over because all people

would have to register, but instead it is just men. If a man does not register for selective

services he is breaking the law (SSS 2019). It is unequal for a man to have to register for

selective services and for women to not have to if it is a law pertaining to just men.

In school a majority of the teachers are females, and these females tend to favor the

female students. This is a result of staff hand picked extracurricular clubs that are completely
female in my school. One of which is called the Student Improvement Team or SIT, this club

volunteers at school events and has meetings to see what can be improved in our student body.

You must write a paper and fill out some questions to get into SIT. There were both boys and

girls trying to get a spot, but only girls were awarded with one. The staff member that is in

charge of the club is a female and decided to only take female participants. This is another

example of how I have been affected by gender inequality. Even staff in my school choose to

favor one gender over another and give them greater opportunities.

Gender inequalities have been decreasing over the years. Major strides have been put

into place to reduce the inequalities and get more gender equality. The problem with all the

programs trying to reduce gender inequality, is that a majority of the programs are put in place

mainly for females. For example, when researching gender equality in sports one of the big

sources is the olympics. They talk all a how women need to be given more opportunities. ¨Sport

is one of the most powerful platforms for promoting gender equality and empowering women

and girls.¨ (Evans 2019). This relates directly to the personal effect this has on my school with

the gender equality being based more in favor of women. People want women to have more

opportunity and power, but it now seems as though that will be surpassing what the boys have.

They allow females to play in male sports, but men cannot participate in women's sports. This

does not fix the inequality for all genders.

Gender inequalities is not a problem that could be easily solved, but strides are being

made to close the gender gap. Women are the big influencers on the push for gender equality,

a way to help gain gender equality would be to get men in on the movement as well. ¨...men
benefit from gender equality as they too face gender-specific issues such as lower life

expectancy, bad health, lower education levels and rigid gender norms.¨ (EIGE 2019). Not only

women need things changed to get gender equality. The best way to get equality between the

genders is for both genders to come together to make a difference. Another way to fix gender

inequality would be to educate people, tell them where gender inequality started, the

consequences, and give ideas on how to take care of the problem (Women 2017). Once people

are educated on a given situation they have a better understanding of the problem at hand and

how to handle it.

Gender inequality is real and relevant. It is mostly noticed for females, but can also be a

problem for males. I have experienced unequal opportunities in my own school towards my own

gender. Whether it be in sports, the real world, or even school organizations. There is still

gender inequality.

Work Cited

“Gender Inequality.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2019,

“Men and Gender Equality.” European Institute for Gender Equality, 9 June 2017, eige.europa.eu/men-

and-gender-equality.

¨Promotion of Gender Equality in Sport.” International Olympic Committee, 28 Mar. 2019,

“Registration.” Media, www.sss.gov/Registration/Why-Register

Women. “Women.” Women Unlimited, 27 May 2017, www.womenunlimited.org/gender-inequality-and-its-

causes/