Revised: Does Gender Inequality Still Exist?

Word Count: 1920

An Essay Prepared For

English DE

Block 2

Mr. Palmer

Elyca Azad

January 12, 2020

 Table of Contents

I. Introduction

A. Brief Overview of Paper

B. Thesis

II. Job Segregation

A. Income Inequality

B. Job Titles

C. Unequal Education Opportunities

III. Lack of Choice

A. Rape

B. Abortion

IV. Societal Mindset of Women

A. Religion

B. Stereotypes

V. Conclusion

VI. Works Cited/Bibliography

 I. Introduction

The colonies adopted the English system, declaring the action that no woman can own

property in their own name nor keep their own earnings, expropriating it all, in as early as 1769.

A short 8 years later, in 1777, all states inaugurated a law ensuring all women’s rights to vote

were prohibited. From the first ever attempt to assemble a national movement for women’s

rights, the Declaration of Sentiments, in July of 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, to modern day

feminists, gender inequality has been a struggling battle-being fought to solve every day. With

the failed attempt of the plea for the end of discrimination against women, in 1866, the 14th

amendement was established by congress with the terms “voters” and “citizens” defined as

“male”. Women, from the start have been identified as the “inferior sex” proven through actions

of the government and political leaders over the years. In 1873, the Supreme Court imposed a

rule stating that every state has the right to deny a married woman from practicing law.

It took over a century, specifically, a long 131 years, until the first action-in women’s

favor, was taken as a result of the first wave of feminists in 1900. Every state passed a law

conceding women the right to own property in their own name as well as keep their own wages.

1920 marks the year that women were finally granted the right to vote, documented in the 19th

amendment. The creation of the Equal Rights Amendment was the ratification of the 14th

amendment, restating that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the

United States or by any state on account of sex” in 1923 (Colohan, 2018). Women went from not

being able to participate or hold any positions under the legislation, to the 2020 presidential

election, with the country’s first ever not only woman, but woman of color, being titled Vice

President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris. Feminist history is commonly referred

to and divided into three waves. All three waves, working to better the rights and status of
women in the United States. The question needed to be asked is not, “did gender inequality

exist”, it is “does gender inequality still exist?” Feminists have and are continuing to fight for the

government to take steps in the right direction regarding gender inequality, however it is still

present in modern day society seen through job segregation, lack of choice, and the overall

societal mindsets regarding women.

II. Job Segregation

To begin, comparing the United States to its fellow industrialized countries, it has been

labeled number one- since as early as the year of 1915, for the highest level of income inequality

(Horowitz, 2020). What is income inequality? Income inequality is a term referring to the uneven

distribution of money among a certain population. Even in today’s workforce, gender pay gaps

exist, however are being fought to solve. In collected information by the International Trade

Union Confederation, women were only earning 46.7% of what men were earning for the same

amount of labor, most often, more labor. As years went by, this number increased to 62%, and is

now sitting at 81%, providing evidence for the statement that gender inequality in the workforce

is still present in modern society (ILO, 2011).

To continue, income most often relies on the type of labor one performs or the job title

one holds. From the beginning of time, women were always referred to as the “caretakers of the

house and children'', while men were out facing the real tasks. People today are still strong

believers that women are incapable of performing certain tasks men perform and how they, to put

in simpler terms, “belong in the kitchen”. The first time women were ever able to hold real

responsibilities in the workplace was during World War I. As a result of war demands, women

were given the opportunity to cover the common man’s job in factories and such. Even then,
performing the same labor tasks- in these unhealthy and dangerous environments, they were paid

less than half of what men were making (Kim, 2003).

Both points mentioned above, stem from one issue, that being the type of education one

has received. A direct statement, from Susannah Hares, co-director of Education Policy,

summarizes the main idea, that being, “worldwide, women are more educated today than at any

point in history, but we are still not as educated as men (Hares, 2019). With the support for

equality for all increasing, job segregation is declining however matters with other branches of

gender inequality are on the rise.

III. Lack of Choice

Released in the FBI’s annual crime reports, rape rates have increased by 20% in the past

7 years (Jackson, 2018). When putting 5 women in a room, 1 has been raped (18.3%). Compare

this statistic with a man, every 1 in 71 (1.4%) has been raped (NSVRC, n.d.). The cause of this

drastic polarity is toxic masculinity. What is toxic masculinity? This term refers to the abidance

to the long-established gender roles of male characters, that limit their emotions and drive males

away from being dependent or in admittance for help. “There is only nature in nature, Shpancer

wrote.” Biologically, men are given the physical strength to dominate women. “Anatomy is

destiny... a man who wishes to impose his will on a woman often has the means of physical force

available to him” (Shpancer, 2019). Ever since the first motion-story picture film was released

back in 1888, males were given the strong, hero-like figure, while females stuck to the feminine,

gentle beings. These teachings established a false hierarchy that women are the inferior sex,

leading to men thinking they can do whatever they are capable of, whether it be right or wrong.

The urge for abolishing toxic masculinity is continuously growing, however, famous celebrity
icons like Harry Styles and Justin Bieber are turning to their large platforms to spread the

message that an end for this is necessary, and necessary now. On October 9, 2020, 100 male

students attending a high school in Canada showed up in skirts, to protest against toxic

masculinity (Wakefield, 2020). Anti-toxic masculinity supporters are rapidly doubling, all in

hopes for a better future. In addition to women lacking control of their own body, they lack

choice.

According to the National Library of Medicine, 32,101 young women are impregnated by

a male character as a result of a rape incident per year (Gynecol, 1996). Of the 50 states of the

United States, 43 of them prohibit abortions. What is an abortion? An abortion is the term

commonly referred to as the action of using medical procedures to end a pregnancy. A long

going debate to whether abortions should be legalized and whether or not men should have a say

has been largely spoken about for decades. It is commonly argued by people of the anti-abortion

ideal or masculinists that men infact should have a say and be treated sensitively in the

discussion for an abortion (Nolan, 217). Counterarguing that, are the pro-choice believers, the

ones who fight for a woman’s rights to control her own body. Growing campaigns, like Ipas,

advocate for worldwide legalization of abortion with the belief that “women and girls who can

get pregnant, can’t determine their own futures without laws and policies” (Skuster, 2020). In

recent years, under President Trump’s presidency, Republicans have tighten the law of making

abortions illegal, in hopes to nearly ban it completely. With the death of Justice Ginsberg's,

leaving a Supreme Court seat vacant, Trump took advantage in aim to achieve his goal, and filled

it with an anti-abortion leader, Amy Cohen Barrett. With growing feminists, the United States

newly President Elect Mr. Joe Biden, and his promise to protecting women’s rights specifically

in terms of keeping abortions legal, the future for women is looking brighter.
IV. Societal Mindset of Women

Nobody is born knowing, it stems from what you are taught. One of the largest sources of

influence to contributing to the societal mindset of women, is religion. The two most popular

religions, Christianity and Islam, both responsible for well over 1.2 billion different people, hold

the key to spreading the false connotation to a woman’s character in modern society. The holy

book of Christians, the Bible, is known to be the most sold book worldwide, with over 5 billion

copies printed (Wattley, 2020). The holy book of Islams, the Quran, is known to be the second

most sold book in the world, with over 800 million copies printed (Mumford, 2015). Both of

which support the idea of man higher than woman. In every version of each holy book, it is

stated that man came before women and therefore are the superior beings. It is interpreted that

women compliment men but are not equal. And at a very young age is instilled into the youth,

that the male figure is the ultimate head of the household, the ultimate decision maker, the

ultimate power holder.

Scarcely ever, do we see men taking responsibility for or being known as the caretakers

of the house work or family. A young female recognized by the name of Aishwarya Dubey goes

on to spread her message, that “To Achieve Gender Equality, We Must Change Our Own

Mindset” (Dubey, 2020). Her words support the idea that it is not only the men’s viewpoints but

the women’s themselves that allow for these points of view to continue, almost encouraging

modern day society’s vision of what a woman’s life should look like. Common statements

regarding the societal mindset of women are “women need protection and to be sheltered;

women are incapable of decision making especially when it comes down to career, family,

resources, and education”. After centuries of suffrage, It is slowly but surely turning into the vast

majority of the population fighting for gender equality. Fighting a 7 year battle, the
 Women2Drive movement, in 2018, was able to overturn the Saudi Arabian legislation on women

driving, and granted them the ability to obtain a drivers license. One step at a time, feminists are

working their way, into giving women what they are truly worth. One can confidently say that

today, women have more rights than they have ever had in the history of the world.

VII. Conclusion

In conclusion, gender equality is at its best it's ever been in the history of our world,

however inequality does still exist. Women are constantly faced with segregation in the

workforce. For the same labor and same number of hours, their income is 19% less than a male’s.

Rape rates are on the rise, and in favor of men. Up to the present day, women still do not have

control over their own body or choices. And lastly, women still live up to the stereotypical

mindset that society has set for them from the early ages of time. The biggest gesture, in favor of

women, in the past numerous decades, is President Elect Joe Biden selecting a vice president not

only of color, but female. He continued on to sharing his agenda for women throughout his

campaign, discussing the Violence Against Women Act, improving economic security, helping

discard all health care inequalities, and overall equalizing the lives of women. With the new

generation, a new wave of feminism, and a new President of the United States of America,

gender inequality will continue improving, allowing women to live the lives they were once

always supposed to.

VIII. Works Cited/Bibliography

CL;, Holmes MM;Resnick HS;Kilpatrick DG;Best. “Rape-Related Pregnancy: Estimates

and Descriptive Characteristics from a National Sample of Women.” American
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, U.S. National Library of Medicine,
 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8765248/#:~:text=Results%3A%20The%20national%2
0rape%2Drelated,result%20from%20rape%20each%20year.

Gender Inequality and Women in the US Labor Force, 23 Nov. 2011,

www.ilo.org/washington/areas/gender-equality-in-the-workplace/WCMS_159496/
lang--en/index.htm.

Hares, Pamela Jakiela and Susannah. “Mind the Gap: 5 Facts About The Gender Gap in
Education.” Center For Global Development, 17 June 2019,
www.cgdev.org/blog/mind-gap-5-facts-about-gender-gap-education.

Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Ruth Igielnik and Rakesh Kochhar. “Trends in U.S. Income
and Wealth Inequality.” Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends
Project, 17 Aug. 2020,
www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/.

Kelleher, Patrick, et al. “100 Teenage Boys Turned up to School in Skirts to Protest
Sexism, Homophobia and Toxic Masculinity.” PinkNews, 18 Oct. 2020,
www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/10/18/sexist-dress-code-protest-toxic-masculinity-ho
mophobia-canada-high-school/.

Lorber, Judith. “Gender Inequality.” Feminist Theories and Politics, 2010.

In this journal article, Lorber shares her viewpoints on gender inequality in

modern day society supported by facts, statistics, and primary sources. She starts
from the spark of gender inequality, back in 1769, when the first legislation was
passed declaring no woman can keep their own earnings nor own property in their
name, all the way to the troubles women still faced, in 2010. With a section of
vocabulary and definitions, and a notes section, it is an easy journal article to
understand and take information from. Breaking down the information between
the first, second, and third wave feminists, helped with keeping everything in
chronological order. The author asserts that feminists are strong and continuing to
grow day by day, in hopes of bettering the lives of women. The word choices and
style of this article make it easy to read and interpret, targeted to people with very
little prior knowledge.

News, Rankings and Analysis on Politics, Education, Healthcare and More.

www.usnews.com/.

Nolan, David. “Abortion: Should Men Have a Say?” SpringerLink, Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 1 Jan. 1998, link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-26876-4_17.
“An Overview of Abortion Laws.” Guttmacher Institute, 9 Dec. 2020,
www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/overview-abortion-laws.

“Primary Sources.” History of U.S. Woman's Suffrage,

www.crusadeforthevote.org/primary-documents-1.

This website has a collection of primary sources for several different sections of
times regarding female suffrage. A copy of a transcript portrays the first ever
convention for women's rights held in Seneca Falls in the year of 1848. A scanned
version of the Declaration of Sentiments can be found here. At the Women’s
Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, this declaration was accepted, in hopes of
changing the wording of just “men” in important documents, to “men and
women”, making them equal. The Declaration of Sentiments not only shows how
long women have been suffering, being dated back to 1848, but also emphasizes
on how the government of the United States granted rights to men that were no
given to women. With documents dated back to the beginning of gender
inequality, all the way to the 19th amendment, this website provides adequate
information, enough to inform someone with little to no knowledge on this topic,
the life of a woman compared to the life of a man. Every source being a primary,
allows for the information to be accurate and interpreted in different ways.

Seattle General Strike: Where Women Worked During World War I,

depts.washington.edu/labhist/strike/kim.shtml.

Shpancer, Noam. “When Men Attack: Why (and Which) Men Sexually Assault Women.”
Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 20 Feb. 2019,
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/201902/when-men-attack-wh
y-and-which-men-sexually-assault-women.

In this article, Noam Shpancer, an insight therapist, shares his findings from past
experiences with men, women, and sexual assault. Published a short two years
ago, the timeliness of his information is current and accurate. Incorporating
statistics from the CDC, and information learned by recent research studies
concluded at the California Institute of Technology, Neuroscience Institute at
NYU, Clemson, and UCLA, this article provides several fact checked information
useful when arguing that men feel superior to women. In all cases, the findings
concluded that it is in male nature to want to have the power to control a woman,
and biological, to physically have the power to overtake a woman's body.
Shpancer puts together his findings with numerous other valid findings from
valid, cited, sources, helping form an argument that the sexual attackers are
almost exclusively men, and it is all as a result of biology.
“Statistics.” National Sexual Violence Resource Center,
www.nsvrc.org/statistics#:~:text=%E2%80%9CNearly%201%20in%205%20wo
men,alcohol%2Fdrug%20facilitated%20completed%20penetration.

“We Need 'a Clearer View' of the Impact of the World's Abortion Laws.” Ipas,
www.ipas.org/news/we-need-a-clearer-view-of-the-impact-of-the-worlds-abortion
-laws/.