Apparent today and across the globe is the inequality between men and women in terms of wealth, income, and status, termed gender inequality. However, women or so it seems are affected by gender inequalities more so that men. For centuries, women have been common victims of gender inequality, fighting to eradicate differences between them and their male counterparts. Women experience gender inequalities everywhere they turn, whether it is in the workplace, home, or school. Also, women tend to be targets of sexual violence. Gender inequalities have definitely made a huge impact on the lives of women.
Furthermore, serving as an example of gender inequalities is the work setting. Women have difficulty climbing the job ladder, in contrast men have it easy. While women have to break the glass ceiling, men can just cruise through by the glass escalator. It is apparent that the glass ceiling is hindering females on their way to the top but for men the glass escalator allows them to smoothly transition to the top without even a struggle. This invisible barrier prevents women from attaining higher paying leadership positions in the business world. Although much progress has been made, men still occupy the majority of the companies highest levels of leadership, according to the article “What Policies Would Promote Social Justice for Women?”. In a female dominated profession, males are thrusted into executive roles whether they want it or not, just because they are men. In addition most women have to ask for a raise, when men just get it handed to them without even asking. This could be because women are seen as likely to interrupt their careers to car for young children, no matter how senior a position they might have reached therefore are disadvantaged, compared with men, in their career opportunities. As far as the politics go, women are far from achieving equality. Men outnumber women in politics at all levels.
Some theorist have posited that women's earnings remain lower than men's because of choices that they make in the workplace, however gender discrimination is the source for the inequality. As long as this gap persists, women, society, and especially children will lose out on opportunities for growth and success. Among all the working age adults, the gap is considerably wider, women's income is less than half men's. One view suggested by the author Stephanie Seguino of “Women Do Not Choose to Make Less Than Men” is that women choose to enter “female” occupation that are lower paid and require less skill and time commitment in order to care for children. Others say the wide sex gap in pay is due to policies and social institutions, which confine women to jobs characterized by low wages, little mobility, and limited prestige. Employers and male employees are seen as actively discriminating against women, who are denied promotion and training opportunities that men have. A large part of the wage gap is discriminatory, and only a part is due to differences in male and female occupations and women's greater time off of care for children and the elderly. A common phenomena is that women and men are segregated in different jobs, making wage discrimination less obvious. Less noticeable is that even if job's don't seem segregated, most top jobs are given to men. This tells us the barriers many women face in moving up the job ladder, and the reprisals they face it they challenge the gender hierarchy that keeps them at the bottom. Ultimately, many women accept the status quo, but one cannot call that choice, acquiescence would be a better description emphasizes author of “Women Do Not Choose to Make Less Than Men”, Stephanie Seguino. It indicates that that at least part of the earnings gap between men and women is due to discrimination, the perpetuation of gender norms that suggest women belong at the bottom of the hierarchy. Some believe women's wages are lower because they prefer jobs that are give them flexible work schedule to be home with the kids part of the time. Wage gaps are the result of gender hierarchies that play out at various levels of society, and are so embedded, we are often blind to the processes that lead to this inequality. Blaming women's childcare responsibilities for their low wages suggest women are victims of choice.
Most women nowadays are stuck with jobs that have been subjected to domestic and service sector such as maids, nannies, teachers, because it is thought to be more naturally fitting. These jobs is an example of gender-typing, designation of occupations as male or female, with women occupations such as secretarial and retail positions, having lower status and pay, and men's occupations, such as managerial and professional positions, having higher status and pay. There are three possible reasons as to why women were underrepresented in the science and engineering fields. One reason is women often desire to focus on family instead of work. The small number of women in the scientific fields could be explained by the innate difference between the capabilities of men and women, which is highly controversial and indicative of gender bias. Our society has failed to develop policies so that women can attain economic equality and independence. Gender gap pays are a problem for the many women whose life choices are limited and who find it difficult to exit painful relationships because of inadequate income. Many qualified women fail to get jobs they deserve that instead go to unqualified men. Discriminatory pay gaps leave women in precarious financial straits and contribute to children's poverty.
Arguably, some women don't even get the chance to work because they have to stay home to take care of the children while the men work to earn the money, often looked at as the breadwinner. But the fact is women often take care of the kids because men frequently do not. Moreover, household work is exchanged for economic support because women earn less than men, they are more likely to remain economically dependent on their husbands and thus perform the bulk of the housework. Until the earnings gaps is narrowed, women will likely remain in their dependent positions.
Also, in the workplace or anywhere for that matter, we rarely see men as victims of sexual harassment or rape. It is highly uncommon for a males to become victims of sexual violence, virtually all rapes are committed by men against women. Scholars claim that men are socialized to regard women as sex objects, to feel a sense of sexual entitlement, and to instill fear in women by dominating them. In the household the spousal abuse also usually stems from the males towards the females. Women as well are victims of sex trafficking, or forced into prostitution, a reason for that is poverty and gender inequality promote prostitution. Many women and young girls have no choice but to become prostitutes. When families are too poor to make ends meet, girls are often forced to trade sex for much needed money. Rather than punish young girls who have become prostitutes, nations worldwide should eliminate the root causes of prostitution: poverty and gender inequalities, advices the article "Poverty and Gender Inequality Promote Prostitution.” Within every unit, that of family, community, and section, the weakest and the most vulnerable are women and girl children due to their life long deprivation in education, protection, shelter, skill learning and development, access to resources and rights. Thus globalization and gender prejudice in patriarchy make the girl fall as the first victim in every vulnerable family. Another example is female graduates go about struggling to get jobs only for them to be told that they have to go to bed with the directors of such companies before they could secure appointments. Some others get jobs with these new generation banks only to be told they have to employ their bodies for marketing in order to win rich clients/customers.
The continuing presence of discrimination in academic is another cause of gender inequality. There have been many reports of women encountering a glass ceiling in the academic setting as well. In school, boys received more teacher attention and instructional time than girls do, due to the fact that boys were more demanding than girls. Boys were eight times more likely to call our answers in class, thus grabbing the teachers attention. Research shows that even when boys did not voluntarily participate in class, teachers were more likely to solicit information from them than from girls. However, when girls tried to bring attention to themselves by calling out in class without raising their hand they were reprimanded. One could also argue that women have been shunned out of many fields and higher education. Gender discrimination restricts achievement in the academic sphere.
The global gender gap in education attainment, workforce participation, and political representation has narrowed in the recent years. Still, people around the world say gender inequalities persist in their countries and that more changes are needed to ensure that women have the same rights as men. In particular, many, especially in wealthy nations, say that men receive more job opportunities than equally qualified women and that life is generally better for men than it is more women in their countries. In addition to the general concept of equal rights, people around the world also tend to believe that women should have educational and economic opportunities similar to those of men. A study done by the Pew Research Center presents that majorities in all 22 nations agree that women should be able to work outside of the home. Moreover, publics in nearly in every country surveyed say a marriage where both husband and wife haves jobs and take care of the home is more satisfying than one where the husband provides financially while the wife cares for the household. However, support for women working outside the home and a preference for a more egalitarian approach to marriage do not necessarily mean that people think women should always have the same employment opportunities as men. Indeed, in half the countries polled, most people believe that when jobs are scarce, men should have more a rights to jobs than women. On the issue of whether women and men should have the same right to a job when few jobs are to be found, respondents with higher incomes and more education are often more likely to embrace the view that women should have equal opportunities. Surveys findings show that countries with greater support for equality also tend to have fewer gender disparities. However, in the wealthier countries surveyed, particularly in the United States and Western Europe, large majorities believe in equality and very few say that men should get preferential treatment in the job markets. Nearly everywhere, majorities believe that women should have the same rights as men, there is broad support for women working outside the home, and the notion that a college education is more important for boys than it is for girls is widely rejected. Yet, the survey also suggests that general support for equality does not always translate into support for equality in special circumstances. In particular, many still say that when economic times are tough, men should have more of a right to a job than women.
It is in fact, gender inequalities that hinder women from moving beyond what they are capable of achieving. Though women for centuries have taken a stance against this on going inequality in society, few people actually stood up to fervently fight for a total eradication of gender bias in the society. Perhaps, due to the fact that public still adhere to the archaic view that men are superior to women both physically and intellectually. Or possibly that, society is scared of changes in the social system, being that it would be is taken charge of by women.
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