Gender Inequality

1444 Words3 Pages

In the 21st century, many people believe that we have overcome the obstacle of gender inequality and evolved into a society of fairness and righteousness. As many know, females can be just as proficient and qualified as males at any task. Though some efforts to off-set this gender imbalance is in place, it is still commonly acknowledged that many careers are stated to be a male job such as lawyers, and female jobs such as secretaries. Gender inequality is a visible fact in our society and in this essay, I hypothesize that gender inequality still exists as a result of factors such as post-secondary education differences of the two genders, role of females in families, female objectification, career choice differences of the two genders, and lastly the double standard for the two genders.

A closer look at the post-secondary education of the two genders reveals many differences. According to Statistics Canada (2001), 58 percent of university degrees are acquired by female as opposed to the historic trend of more male graduates than female. Before the invention of highly effective birth-control methods such as birth control pills, females pursuing a professional education degree required an expensive and long-term commitment along with abstinence and avoid dating (Maass, Vera Sonja, 2009). Though many females have moved away from the stereotypical female jobs such as secretaries and nurses, the number of females in jobs involving long hours, heavy physical requirement, mathematics, or engineering are far below the number of males. The reason being is that many females do not spend many years pursue a very high educational degree due to the traditional perception of females having a stronger family orientation compared to most males...

... middle of paper ...

...e pursuing a high educational degree.

Though our society is setup on the foundation of equality and fairness to everyone regardless of gender, the past customs of gender stereotypes are still commonly seen when it comes to the employment and social equality of the two genders. The wage of female workers are heavily affected by their education level, roles in a household, prejudice and objectification of women, their career of choice and the double standard that is imposed on both genders. This social inequality has affected the lives of many women in the past and will affect many more women in the future. Communities, governments and many organizations have developed strategies to combat gender inequality such as female scholarships, single mother government benefits and affirmative action, which is simply the process of attempting to off-set the gender imbalance.

Open Document