Gender Inequality Essay

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Gender Inequality
Think about gender equality today in the United States usually leads to the popular belief that we are all equal. Gender takes a place in the back of our minds, though the inequality of gender is still prevalent in todays society. People are lacking in gender equality not only here in the
United States, but also many places throughout the world as well. This development of gender inequality is a state of mind that you can be socialized to from a young age to anytime in your life. Though it can be just how we think of how a specific gender should or might be, it affects people in their everyday lives. Jobs, wages, and social standing are real things that gender equality can and do effect now. We often see this issue as dealing with women being treated unequal in these areas, but it’s not only women that are affected, but men as well. The way society has socialized these gender roles for traditional men and women has led people to stratify those that don’t fit those traditional roles often leading to problems with equal treatment.
Human beings aren’t innately born with these perceptions of how men and women should act and behave. Somewhere along the line children are socialized to this thought process that men and women have different roles to play that make them less or more like their gender specifies. “Young children also know that male stereotypes are high in power, whereas female stereotypes convey fear and helplessness (Ruble & Martin, 1998)” (qtd. in Neff, Cooper, Carey 682) Children pick up these thought processes through watching family and other things around them. Media plays a large role in the socialization of children towards these mindsets as well. Society still depicts traditional gender roles t...

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...le children were needed to help work the farms, having a female child could be seen as negative. Cultural and religious traditions are difficult to move away from and it has caused gendered inequality in these regions this way.
In essence, we do not have gender equality in our world today. It is a part of life that has persisted for ages, though has gotten better in some respects, and may remain for the foreseeable future. Much of this inequality is based on the fact that society has placed views on how genders should perform, leading to lasting stereotypes and discrimination. It can be learned unknowingly as a child and stay with us as we try and figure out how we should grow. It affects both men and women in society and the job system and is all throughout this world. Gender inequality is a trait that describes humans as a species and may for generations to come.

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