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Gender Inequality as It Exists Today

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Gender Inequality as It Exists Today
The issue of gender inequality is one which has been visibly echoing through society for decades. The problem is inequality in employment being one of the most pressing issues today. In order to examine this situation one must try to get to the root of the problem and must understand the sociological factors that cause women to have a much more difficult time getting the same benefits, wages, and job opportunities as their male counterparts. The world still conforms to the conventional notion that men should be the sole breadwinners as they have been for ages. This would mean that women should be left to deal with the family and household chores while their husbands go out and conquer the world. The phenomenon of women bringing back a higher wage compared to their other half is considered bizarre. With current economic recession and inflation on the rise, the rising cost of living is beginning to take a toll on families. Stress is placed on the sole breadwinner of the family, the being the head male of the house, to earn a better income to provide for his growing family. Again, a woman has to be able to hold the family together to make sure that the family doesn’t fall apart. This means that no time is given for women to excel in their jobs, which then adds to the fact that women cannot be the sole breadwinners. As mentioned earlier, women are constantly being lauded for being able to cook well and at the same time, keep the house spic and span. Adding on to that, the widespread fact that women belong at home, especially in the kitchen, is being constantly being portrayed in TV shows, popular movies, books, and on the internet available for everyone to see. However, in egalitarian’s defense, gender inequality has greatly shown signs of improvement. For example, gender quotas have been placed in some top parliaments with great female representations. These quotas ensure that some seats in the parliament should be reserved for females. Overall, we can see that even though gender inequality is slowly improving, it has not reached the extent that it has become non-existent, as is still evidently relevant in today’s society. It is still prevailing amongst a majority of the world. Though gender inequality still exists in today’s society, we can see that it is taking a turn for the better. With Forbes Magazine dubbing Oprah Winfrey the most powerful and influential woman, Aung San Suu Kyi winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin running for President of the United States of America in 2008, we can clearly see that the common stereotype that women are not as strong as physically and mentally as strong as men is slowly fading. Hopefully in the near future, we will be able to see both genders treated more equally.

References: http://www.iamapeacekeeper.com/genderinequalityinsociety.htm http://www.trustwomenpac.org/2012/03/gender-inequality-in-the-u-s-today/ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/opinion/global/gender-equality.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2013/03/08/55750/true-sustainability-requires-gender-equality/

References: http://www.iamapeacekeeper.com/genderinequalityinsociety.htm http://www.trustwomenpac.org/2012/03/gender-inequality-in-the-u-s-today/ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/opinion/global/gender-equality.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2013/03/08/55750/true-sustainability-requires-gender-equality/

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