Double Standards

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Within today’s society, many people believe that we treat everyone with more equality than we used to ten years ago. However, double standards are a part of virtually everyone’s lives at every moment of their day. Coined in 1912, the term double standards refers to any set of principles containing different provisions for one group of people than for another, typically without a respectable reason. Plainly, it refers to the fact that we have different norms for the behavior of different groups of people. Anyone can fall into being a victim of double standards. The most common double standards are between men and women. However, there are also racial double standards. In addition, children can be victims too, especially when they have other siblings. I have personal experience with this, since I grew up with an older brother. The double standards that I faced growing up are just minor ones compared to some truly cruel double standards that exist in our society today.
Perhaps some of the most unfair double standards are that of women. One common one is the notion that women shouldn’t fight in war. Women are said to be too weak and unable, mentally and emotionally, to handle the aspects of war. When the men of our country left for World War II they had to abandon their jobs. Having work that still had to be done but with a majority of the male population gone and fighting in the war, the only reasonable solution was to have women take over their jobs. After the war was over and all of the men fighting in it returned home, they took their place back at their old jobs, removing the women. Women were seen as being more suitable at home tending to the house and children, rather than working in factories. Why is something that was sociall...

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