Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Gender equality in the modern age
Gender equality in the modern age
Introduction of the topic women empowerment
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Gender equality in the modern age
There is a philosophy in which women are valued -- a movement that dreams of a world in which women and men are equal in social, political, and economic agendas. This movement is known as feminism. Feminism first started during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, when the U.S and UK experienced what is known as first-wave feminism, a legendary movement because it gave women suffrage and property rights. Second-wave feminism took place during the 1960’s and lasted through the 1990’s, crucial because it brought up issues such as family, the workplace, and reproductive rights. The second wave is why women now serve in the military and work for the media, it also established rape crisis centers and women’s shelters (Rampton). Third-wave feminism began mid-1990’s and is still going on to this day. However, society has its doubts on why we need the changes that the third wave is bringing, but the truth is that feminism is still relevant in this day and age because despite popular belief, men and women are not treated equally.
When we hear the word feminism, the most recurring issue is the gender wage gap. Farrell and Glynn state that women are paid 77 cents to every dollar their male counterparts earn. People who believe that this is not an issue will argue that women should be paid less because women take more time out of the workforce to start a family and indeed, recent research shows that the “median pay for a single, childless woman under the age of thirty is nine percent higher than their male counterparts”, this being because more women are going to college than men (Noguchi). Nonetheless, nobody should have to choose between being paid what they deserve to be paid based on job qualifications or starting a family -- those...
... middle of paper ...
...ren."Weblog post. WPSD Local 6. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Dictionary, Marriam-Webster. "Feminism." The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. New Edition ed.Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2006. 265. Print.
Farrell, Jane, and Sarah J. Glynn. "What Causes the Gender Wage Gap?" Weblog post. Labor and Work. Center for American Progress, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Jerpi, Laura. "Male Nurses Defy Stereotypes." Weblog post. Male Nurses Defy Stereotypes. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Noguchi, Yuki. "50 Years After The Equal Pay Act, Gender Wage Gap Endures." Weblog post. NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Perry-Giles, Shawn J. "Hillary Clinton in the News: Gender and Authenticity in the News."UI Press. University of Illinois Press, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Rampton, Martha. "The Three Waves of Feminism." Web log post. Pacific. The Magazine of Pacific University, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
It amazes me how a few decades ago can seem like a whole different world. A course of time can impact our lives more than we know it. In the article, A Day Without Feminism by Jennifer Boumgoidnei and Amy Richntds, both of these authors created this piece to inform their audience that although women have gained more rights over time, there was still more progress to be made. These authors gave many examples of how life for women had been, the obstacles they had to overcome, and the laws women had to break for equality.
Fay Faraday, a Toronto human right lawyer argued, “The pay gap fosters an environment in which women have less economic security and less economic power”. It is proven women are paid less than the same job performed by others. This creates women to lose their self esteem and self confidence. With unequal pay, especially for women, this causes less buying power and less savings for the future. Furthermore, “The push for increasing women’s wages started in the 1960s with the Equal Pay Act, individual lawsuits and action by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The message, then and now, is so powerful that when people hear it they begin to take action. For example, the California Fair Pay Act, authored by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, passed with bipartisan support and gives California women the strongest fair pay protection in the nation” (Sure, Equal Pay Day is about what’s in women’s paychecks. It’s also about fairness., The Washington Post). Women’s rights have been fought in the past but now they need to be reinforced and acted upon. Women have been fighting for many years, it is now time those rights be listened to and peace can finally be restored. The Equal Pay Act was not only fought for equal paychecks but for fair pay for similar work. Unequal pay will never be solved without understanding the importance of
Despite the great lengths society has overcome in regards to gender inequality, social issues regarding the difference between men and women still exist. Women in today’s society still continually earn less than men in almost every single occupation. Women were given the right to vote in 1919, yet in 2016 they still have not achieved full equality in comparison to their male counterparts. Gender equality related to equal pay is concerning not only in my own community, but the entire nation.
Feminist beliefs have been around for centuries. However, the first real “wave” of feminism occurred in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (History, 2010). This wave focused mainly on women’s suffrage, which was achieved in 1920.
The feminist movement in USA was one of the most remarkable movements in its history. Women raised their voice and protested to achieve their basic rights which they were deprived of. Every women worked collectively for its success. The history of feminism is primarily described in three secular “waves” - as they consider every aspect of feminism which include the success and failures, goals and accomplishments in that particular period of time.
Henry, Astrid (2004). Not My Mother's Sister: Generational Conflict and Third-Wave Feminism. Indiana University Press. p. 58. ISBN 9780253111227.
In the recent article of 2016, “What is the Gender Pay Gap and is it Real?”, the authors Elise Gould, Jessica Schieder, and Kathleen Geier give an ample amount of statistics that prove that women are paid less than men; for example, a woman was paid less than a man of the same education, experience, and occupation. In Kevin Miller’s article “The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap,” he states that full-time working women get paid 80 percent of what men are paid (Miller). According to the two articles mentioned above, factors such as age, stereotypes, and ethnicity can be the cause of the gender wage gap. In the 2016 article of “Four Ways the Gender Pay Gap Isn’t All It Seems,” author Simon Maybin claims that the gender wage gap does not exist
Women are more than half the work force and are graduating at higher rates then men and continue to earn considerably less then men. There are several contributing factors to the gender wage gap. Women experience gender discrimination in the work force even though it’s been illegal since the Equal Pay Act in 1963. One of the challenges for women is uncovering discrimination. There is a lack of transparency in earnings because employees are either contractually prohibited or it’s strongly discouraged from being discussed. Discrimination also occurs in the restricting of women’s access to jobs with the highest commission payments, or access to lucrative clients.
The origins of Third Wave feminism are highly debated, as there is no clear commonality that this wave uses to differentiate between the First and Second waves that occurred prior. Emerging during the 1990’s, Third Wave feminism sought to build upon the achievements and ideas that were accomplished during First and Second wave’s, by increasing the significance and accessibility of its ideas to a greater spectrum of people.
A lot has changed in the last fifty years in regard to women in the workforce. While it is true that women can work full-time and raise families there is, however, a gender wage gap that continues to exist. In the second article, “No, Women Don’t Make Less Money Than Men,” states that the wage gap is practically nonexistent because the gap is merely five cents. Although, their figures may be true, but I disagree on the point that if women are paid basically the same then why does a gap even exist as in the example the article gave regarding female white house staff. However, I do agree with the article’s explanation on why women have been stigmatized and more often than not they are drawn into to “pink-collar” jobs. I feel that here is where
16 Feb. 2014. Farrell, Jane, and Sarah Jane Glynn. What Causes the Gender Wage Gap? Americanprogress.org - a website for Americanprogress.org. Center for American Progress, 9 Apr. 2013.
The wage gap has been a national issue in the United states for decades. While it was first officially recognized in the 1960s by the Equal Pay Act, it is still a huge issue today. The Equal pay act of 1963 stated that employers cannot discriminate against employee’s salaries based on gender. Although this act did set the precedent for equal pay, it did not solve the problem completely. Today a woman earns eighty cents for every dollar a man earns, a wage gap of 20% (NWLC, 2017). This gap also increases for women of color. A To every dollar a white man makes, an African American woman makes 63 cents and a Hispanic woman makes 54 cents. This issue is affecting women in 98 percent of professions (NWLC, 2017). Education is not the only solution
The previous century together with the current one has witnessed intensified calls for gender equality and calls for greater opportunities regarding women empowerment. Most first-class nations are doing well in empowering women in different aspects of the society. However, women are still earning lower wages as compared to their male counterparts across all Western countries as asserted by (Kunze, 2017). This gender niche has been present for many years although it has witnessed some significant developments. In the United States, the issue of gender pay discrimination afflicts women of all races, educational backgrounds, and ages.
Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism introduces ideas by Becky Thompson that contradict the “traditional” teachings of the Second Wave of feminism. She points out that the version of Second Wave feminism that gets told centers around white, middle class, US based women and the central problem being focused on and rallied against is sexism. This history of the Second Wave does not take into consideration feminist movements happening in other countries. Nor does it take into consideration the feminist activism that women of color were behind, that centered not only on sexism, but also racism, and classism as central problems as well. This is where the rise of multiracial feminism is put to the foreground and a different perspective of the Second Wave is shown.
This unfortunate truth that the average woman makes twenty percent less than a man’s salary is a strong argument for women to use to fight for new legislation where women are treated more fairly. Without change, the U.S. Census Bureau has stated that the pay gap won't close till 2152. Supporters argue that these numbers are because women work less hours to raise their children and that women are not offered higher starting wages for the same job as a man and when raises are presented are less likely to ask for more. Men are overrepresented in higher ranking positions and in turn this lends them to hire applicants like themselves, overwhelmingly men. The men in these positions continue to hold these aforementioned stereotypes, and are unwilling to change in their rigid