Sex Discrimination in Society Today

Since the beginning of history, women have not had the same rights as men. Although this has increasingly gotten better over the years to the point where some would say that feminism is not needed anymore, there are still many areas of life in which women face inequality compared to men. These discriminations that women encounter are closely related to the theories of the social construction of gender, race, and disability. These theories suggest that any woman can come across greater inequities if she is not only a woman, but of a minority race or disabled in any way.

There has been much discussion among scholars in many different disciplines as to why women are always seen as lesser than men. MacKinnon suggests two different approaches: difference and sameness. The philosophy underlying the difference approach is that sex is differences between humans, while the sameness principle tries to grant women access to the same privileges men receive (MacKinnon 244). These approaches allow for women to be looked at in two different manners. MacKinnon further explains:

Under the sameness standard, women are measured according to our correspondence with man, our equality judged by our proximity to his measure. Under the difference standard, we are measured according to our lack of correspondence with him, our womanhood judged by our distance from his measure. Gender neutrality is thus simply the male standard, and the special protection rule is simply the female standard, but not to be deceived: masculinity, or maleness, is the referent for both. (245)

This notion of the male being the ideal gender in society is prevalent in many areas of life. MacKinnon contends that in medical school the male body is the only bod...

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...the cultures of the world in terms of traditional stereotypes. Therefore, feminism is still needed to open the eyes of those that are blind to these occurrences, in the hope that one day we will all be social equals in every area of our lives.

Works Cited

Hernandez-Truyol, Berta Esperanza. “Latinas – Everywhere Alien: Culture, Gender, and Sex.” Critical Race Feminism: A Reader. 2nd ed. Adrien Katherine Wing. New York, New York University Press, 2003. 57-69. Print.

MacKinnon, Catharine. “Difference and Dominance: On Sex Discrimination.” Theorizing Feminisms: A Reader. Ed. Elizabeth Hackett and Sally Haslanger. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 244-255. Print.

Wendell, Susan. “The Social Construction of Disability.” Theorizing Feminisms: A Reader. Ed. Elizabeth Hackett and Sally Haslanger. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 23-30. Print.