Gender Inequality: Treating Women As The Second-Class Citizens
Gender Inequality is a term which indicates women, and men are not treated the same due to their biological differences. From the birth of mankind, men and women are treated dissimilarly, and expectations from the society are different for them as well. Males are portrayed as strong, independent, powerful and the breadwinner for the family. On the other hand, there are women who are viewed as weak, powerless, dependent, emotional and expected to raise children and take care of family needs. Gender inequality starts as soon as a child is born into the world. The discrimination against the women has gotten better than the past. However, still, even in the 21st century, many women face gender inequality starting when are at their mother’s womb to school, family and workplace. Some are even are being the victims of domestic violence, child marriage, and rape because of the unfairness treatment based on the human beings gender. Why do our society treat women as the second-class citizens compared the male’s populace?
First of all, gender discrimination starts even before a child is born and continue to grow, furthermore, as the child grows up. In the article, The consequences of son preference and sex-selective abortion in China and other Asian countries states “Parents’ preference for sons is common in countries in East Asia through South Asia, to the Middle East and North Africa. Sons are preferred because they have a higher wage-earning capacity, they continue the Thomas 2 family line and they usually take responsibility for the care of parents in illness and old age. There are also specific local reasons for son preference: in India, the expense of the dowry” (“NCBI”). Before a child is born, inequality among the genders starts from the parents itself. Many parents desire boys over girls. Especially in Asian countries daughters are seen as a responsibility, and sons are seen as the capable and reliable person for the family. Due to this way of thinking parents are not wanting girls. Countries like India parents are wanting sons due to the dowry. If they have a daughter, they have to make the dowry for the girl, but if it’s a boy they can get the dowry from their daughter-in-law side. At an early age, young girls are being treated indifferently which is affecting their self-esteem and destroying their future life. Furthermore, even in America gender discrimination is still occurring among the children. As children grow up society and many parents teach children to adapt and accept discrimination. Another example would be how society expects boys not to express their emotions all the time and it’s not okay for a boy to cry because he is a man! On the other hand, it’s okay for girls to cry because girls are emotional. “On the other hand, males are generally expected to be tougher and covert about their feelings. If a young boy comes home from school crying, his parents may comfort him and ask him what is wrong, but they might be less inclined to give him as much attention as they would if he was a girl. Instead, they might expect him to stop crying sooner”. Parents and older adults should not teach kids dissimilar behaviors because of their gender. Regardless of their gender, we should teach children that “it’s okay express yourself in front of others” and you don’t have to be a girl to express yourself. You simply just have to living being! Children are our future, so Thomas 3 when we teach them to accept inequality we are passing on discrimination to the next generations.
Numerous families are structured in such traditions where females have to play the core role in the household. Moreover, several women struggle to balance their career and family life. Yet some of them are forced to choose the family over there work in order to look after their kids and maintain a happy family life. Although compared to women, many men don’t face to go through these conflict nor leave work in order to take care of the household responsibility. The article, Off-Ramps, and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success states, “Men leave the workforce mainly to reposition themselves for the career change, the majority of the women off-ramp attend to responsibilities at home. 44% of women leave work for the family time”. Females are more obligated to take care of family compared to men. Most of the working women are not able to advance their career due to the obligation they have for the family. On the other hand, most of the men are having the chance to upgrade the career because many women make the sacrifices. There are some fathers who play the main role in the family and take care of children but the majority of the women are facing these challenges. “A 2013 Pew Research Center survey found that, among parents with at least some work experience, mothers with children under age 18 were about three times as likely as fathers to say that being a working parent made it harder for them to advance in their job or career (51% vs. 16%)”. The numbers 51% vs 16% is significant differences in the job advances opportunity and these numbers are these way because women choose to give up their career for their loved ones. Women are portrayed as more affectionate and responsible. Society expects women to play the major role in the family Thomas 4 than men. Males are responsible to earn money, and women are accountable to keep the inner peace of the home. Thinking in such ways are the causes of seeing women as the second class citizen compared to men.
One of the common places where women encounter gender discrimination is at their workplace. Back in the day’s women encountered discrimination in their jobs and wage. In some places, women weren't even allowed to work. However, even in the 21st century, this treatment of inequality has not completely disappeared. Definitely, it has gotten much better than previous years but the gender pay gap is still present in our society. The Bureau of Labor Statics mentions, “Over 2 million women worked in healthcare support occupations, with median weekly earnings of $533, compared with about half a million men, who had median weekly earnings of $597. About 150, 000 women worked in installation, maintenance, with median weekly earnings of $736. In contrast, over 4 million men worked in these occupations, with weekly earnings of $883” (BLS). Men and women are doing the same jobs, and they are giving the same effort at their jobs, yet women are getting paid less. Although when men do the job they get paid more which is simply just not right. We work so hard to earn money, but then being a man gives more opportunity to get paid more. Moreover, gender inequality also appears in jobs that people do. Most women are more associated with jobs that provide care and affection such as teachers and nurse. The Bureau of Labor Statics states, “In 2016, median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers were the highest in 2016 for female pharmacists ($1, 839), and nurse practitioners ($1, 753). Earnings for men were highest for chief executives ($2, 419), physicians and surgeons ($2, 343), and architectural and engineering managers “(BLS). Compared to females, many males have jobs in the authority Thomas 5 figures such managers, executive positions. Although there are women who do these jobs as well, the male population tends to be higher in these areas.
Acts of Violence against women are very common, and it is caused by gender inequality as well. One of the main reasons for the violence against women is because men are viewed as more powerful than women, which makes it look like females are weak. Therefore, many males take advantage of females by committing domestic violence, rape, and child marriage. Furthermore, World Health Organization states “Globally, 1 in 3 women have experienced intimate partner violence and/or sexual violence. Such violence has damaging and long-lasting effects on women’s physical including sexual and reproductive health, and mental health”. All over the world women are becoming victims because our society gave so much power for the males since the beginning and portrayed women as delicate which makes them easy to target for violence. Another form of violence against women is rape. Rape occurs without the consent of a female, and it is a forced action by a male. “Based on U. S. Census estimates of the number of adult women in America, one out of every eight adult women, or at least, 12. 1 million American women, has been the victim of forcible rape sometime in her lifetime". Men use their power against women and rape them. Many times they don’t even bother about age of the female it could even a child or elderly women. According to the article Rape and Sexual Assault, “21. 6% of first or only rape cases experienced by women happened before age 12”. Another form of violence is child marriage especially in Asian countries such as India and Middle Eastern countries. Young girls are getting married very quickly as soon as they become a woman. According to the UNICEF, “An estimated 12 million girls under 18 are married each year. Girls who marry before they turn 18 are less likely to remain in school and more likely to experience domestic violence. Thomas 6 Young, teenage girls are more likely to die due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth than women in their 20’s”. Young boys are also affected by child marriage, however, the majority are young girls. Child marriage occurs because females are seen as someone that should not study much. Instead, they get married and give birth to another child when that young girl is still a child. After the marriage, many girls experience sexual assault from their husband who are mostly much older than them. During the pregnancy, many girls die because of their age and weak body. Sadly it’s still happening in many countries.
To conclude, although men and women are human beings still, it’s two different classes for them in real life. In most parts of the world, women are seen as less than men. In many countries women don’t have control of their life, they obligated to listen to men such as their father and husband. Even in the US, we can still see pay gap differences based on gender. Also, some parents are teaching their children to accept this discrimination and teaching them to live with it. Why is the world different for men and women? Our world should be a place where people have the equal opportunity based on their performance not based on their gender. When can women also become the first class citizens like men?
