Gender Inequality

1840 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Portrayal of gender roles in the media argument

It is only recently that sociology has begun to explore the topic of gender. Before this, inequalities within society were based primarily on factors such as social class and status. This paper will discuss gender itself: what makes us who we are and how we are represented. It will also explore discrimination towards women throughout history, focusing mainly on women and the right to vote, inequalities between males and females in the work place and how gender is represented in the media.

The term ‘gender’ was coined by John Money in 1955: “Gender is used to signify all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself/herself as having the status of a boy or man, girl or woman, respectively” (Coleman and Money, 1991, 13). In sociological terms, gender is a division between men and women which is clear in society throughout the past - for example, in Ancient Egypt with the idea that there was little point in teaching women to read and write. Gender inequalities can be seen throughout many different aspects of our daily lives – from the gender pay gap, to gender discrimination in television adverts.

These inequalities are accepted readily in today’s society and most fail to see that direct gender discrimination is still very much a problem in society today. In 1988, Bretl and Cantor conducted a study into gender representation in television programs and advertisements. It was found that women were more likely to be filmed in a domestic situation and portrayed as being unemployed, working part-time or in low paying jobs such as catering and sales. It was also found that 90% of the time a narrator would be male, and women were more likely than men to be seen advertising household goods (Furnham, A. Mak, T. 1999, 414). It...

... middle of paper ...

...eadmin/DU/Academics/course_material/hrge_04.pdf (Accessed 19/10/11)

Wright, O (2011). ‘Princesses to be given equality of succession’, I newspaper.

OECD (2002) ‘Women at work: who are they and how are they faring?’

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/28/58/18960381.pdf (Accessed 18/10/11)

Arnst, C. (2007) ‘Women and the Pay Gap’ Bloomberg Businessweek

http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2007/04/working_women_a.html (Accessed 17/10/11)

Carmen, D. (2007) ‘Why do men earn more? Just because’ Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5735341 (Accessed 17/10/11)

Barclay, A. Clarke, G. Drew, A. Morrison, I. (2007) Higher Modern Studies Course Notes. Leckie and Leckie.

Allen, K. (2010) ‘Equal pay for women not likely till 2067, says research’ The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/19/equal-pay-women-2057 (Accessed 23/10/11)

Show More
Related

  • Brenda J. Allen's Article On Gender Matters

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book Difference Matters, Brenda J Allen, begins writing about how gender matters in society. One of the main topics that she talks about is how in today’s society the male gender is the more predominate gender. As the reader, she has brought to mind many new ways to view how males earn more money then females, how we classify jobs as masculine or feminine, and also how society excepts males’ vs females to act and preform in the work force.

    Read More

  • Gender in the Work Force

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    The characteristics and behaviors associated with men and women are called gender roles. Gender can also be interpreted as the social, psychological, and cultural interpretation of biological sex. Gender as a social construct has been a term throughout history that explains the social distinction between men and women and is reinforced in social interactions. The crisis of the global economy brings about gender dimensions and different meanings for men and women in society. Men and women have been hierarchy organized and valued. Throughout the 19th century, women’s contributions to society were regarded as less significant than those of men. Stereotypes were put on genders, which included assertive, strong, and competitive for masculinity and submissive, weak, and emotional for femininity. Gender inequality arose as economic crisis took place throughout the 19th century. The changing conditions of work in the global state impacted the roles for men and women and many feminists started to challenge the idea that “biology is destiny”. With post-Fordism, a new gender order emerged, and Women occupied a broader place in the work force. However, sexism is still prevalent in society to some extent whether it’s unconscious or conscious and affects the lives of many women.

    Read More

  • The Social Construction Of Gender And The Joys Of Parenthood

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Social Construction of Gender” talks about gender as a concept created by society. In it, the author explains why society felt the need to create gender as a social institution and how gender is embedded into everyday life. The labeling of people as male or female is used by societies as a way of deciding who takes over which responsibilities and who does which tasks. The author of the article concludes that gender and gender inequality is created by society

    Read More

  • Gender Issues In Rape Culture

    1789 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gender inequality is defined as “unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender”. In our society there are a plethora of gender inequality related issues, and it is vastly important that these issues are brought to light, and ultimately resolved. In society today, the feminism movement is at an all-time high while lots of gender oriented issues are being questioned and analyzed. The portrayal of women in the media is a major issue in todays world. Various issues such as female athletes not being adequately compensated for their efforts, the media portraying a master image for all females to meet, as well as slut shaming are all vast issues in todays world that must be acknowledged. However, contrary to popular belief,

    Read More

  • Feminism Essay

    2377 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lips, Hillary M. "The Gender Pay Gap: Challenging the Rationalizations. Perceived Equity, Discrimination, and the Limits of Human Capital Models." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality: The Gender Gap Between Men And Women

    1339 Words  | 3 Pages

    To acknowledge inequality without acknowledging the inequality as a result of gender it is simply irresponsible. Gender plays a clear role in inequality, with women being treated worse than men in a variety of aspects including wages, family life, education, and occupations. Though the gap between men and women has steadily decreased, there is still a clear difference. The importance of gender, the existence of a "glass ceiling," the evidence of a "second shift," and gendering of occupations all point to the existence of gender gap. The importance of gender within society starts from birth, with everyone asking whether a newborn is a girl or boy, and the expectation to dress a child in "appropriate" clothing based on their assigned gender.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In Society

    2320 Words  | 5 Pages

    For the past century, the United States of America has made countless advancements in technology, medicine, and many other fronts. As a society, it has advanced at an incredible rate, becoming a major world power in an incredibly short period of time. The biggest barriers that America is working on are currently taking place within its own borders; civil rights and the battle for equality have men and women of every race up and arms. Specifically, the fight against sexism is the most modern struggle in America. Discrimination against women is harmful to both men and women; it holds women back into a useless position and forces men to take the brunt of the work. Men are expected to work, but women are almost expected not to, and instead "be nothing more than dangling, decorative ornaments--non-thinking and virtually non-functional” (Chisholm 4). There is progress to be made in the American society in its attitude and treatment of women. Gender inequality continues to be a social problem in the business, family, and personal lives of women.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In Sociology

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is no secret that in history women have been generally looked down upon, in the United States women were not allowed to own property (seeing as they were already considered such), vote, or sign legal contracts (Henslin 2011). Of course, over time women have gained more rights and have worked towards an equal footing with their opposite sex shown with the rise of feminism. This, of course, doesn 't mean that the footing is equal. Being a woman still comes with negative connotations seen in casual sexist sayings such as: "you throw like a girl", "she 's just PMSing", and "do not be such a drama queen" all meant to demean and portray females in a negative light. It 's these types of comments that illustrate why girls can typically be too "mean" to each other. Internalized misogyny perpetuated through negative female stereotypes creates a competitive attitude between females. The sociological concept that best fits this hypothesis is symbolic interactionism, the textbook definition being "a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that

    Read More

  • Gender And Gender Inequality

    1924 Words  | 4 Pages

    Being a feminist today has altered from a political position to a more general position. Contemporary feminist is shaped by the past, but now is integrated in popular culture by popular figures. The definition of feminism is the belief of social, political, and economic rights, especially with regards of equality of the sexes. There are many dimensions to being a feminist and we have a tremendous number of people supporting the feminist movement. The need for feminist movements is because gender inequality still exist. Gender inequality is very broad and complex topic. Both men and women are unequal in various ways. However, the big question is why? The purpose of this paper is to understand gender inequality in the sociological framework of

    Read More

  • The Glass Ceiling - Does It Still Exist?

    2683 Words  | 6 Pages

    Nelson, Anne V. " It's Lonely at the Top". Women.com Buzz: Equal Pay in the Fortune 500? Not yet. Online. Available. http://www.women.com/news/buzz/d1112wagegap.html

    Read More

  • Discrimination of Women in the Workplace

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is very important to be concerned about the issue because it is constantly increasing throughout the United States. It upsets me that women are paid less than men because women have the same ability and work ethic as men do, but they are looked at differently. According to AAUW, women make 77 percent of what men make. This rate hasn’t changed since 2002 (Hill, 2013). Statistics show that women will never make as much as men due to the thought of never being comparable to men (Williams, 2013).

    Read More

  • Sexism In Society Essay

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    The discrimination of a person based on their sex has always been prevalent in society, and even though both genders can be affected by sexism, it has typically been associated with females. In the article “Sexism in Society,” the author states that “sexism is an oppression that is hard to avoid, as it is difficult to rid ourselves of the social institutions of gender that we have been taught at a very young age.” Throughout history, women have been expected to avoid vying with men regarding education, employment, politics, and the media.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality

    2970 Words  | 6 Pages

    Whoever said men and women are equal must be blind. Women have always taken a back seat to men in American society. This occurrence is not only found in the United States, but in other countries as well. It's safe to say that the Declaration of Independence started it, and it has continued to the present. There is one set of standards that apply to men, and another set of standards that apply to women. This is evident in the home, workplace, and society in general.

    Read More

  • Gender Pay Gap Essay

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today in the United States, men make more than women in various sectors, including education and other trades favoring women workers. The gap gets bigger when comparing the wages earned by men to those of women in jobs favoring men workers such as construction or other physically demanding jobs. Women are less likely to work those jobs, therefor; men have the advantage of having more experience and get paid better. In addition, employers would rather hire a man instead of a woman because they believe that a man will be able to sustain the difficulty of the job and work longer hours which crate a disadvantage for women because they are unable to gain experience and become skilled in that certain field. Gender pay gap based on this information is explained as the result of the discrimination of employers toward the feminine sex in terms of pay, which discourage them to work certain jobs leading to create a bigger gap due to the lack of

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality: Problems and Solutions

    1662 Words  | 4 Pages

    and wages. It will also tackle what is being done to solve this problem and what

    Read More

More about Gender Inequality

Open Document