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History of gender inequalities
History of the past and present of gender inequality
History of gender inequalities
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“Mind the gap” is a common phrase said in the underground subways of London. People mind the gap there so that they don’t trip or fall when entering or exiting trains. Here in America, we also need to “mind the gap,” but in a different way. There is the often ignored problem of a certain gap - the gender wage gap. We need to mind this gap so that we don’t keep “tripping” or “falling” back into the past, where women were valued less than they are today.
Throughout history, women have struggled to attain the same rights as men. It wasn’t until the late 19th and early 20th century that women began to actually gain a voice in a male dominated society. This was the time of suffragettes, women gaining the right to vote, and more women going to college
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54 years later, American women are still fighting for equal pay when it should already be theirs. The three main reasons for the gap are the “motherhood penalty,” negotiations, and employer bias (Farber, Madeline). Women are often given less opportunities and time for work due to the biological fact that they are the baby carriers and the leave they take during their pregnancy is viewed to be a major disadvantage. When it comes to pay negotiation, men often ask more than women, more often as well. Finally, although it may be masked with excuses, there is employer bias and gender discrimination in the workplace. In order to close the gender wage gap, these problems need to be addressed and …show more content…
Should women be encouraged to negotiate more or should pay negotiation be banned altogether for an equal playing field? According to a study of Carnegie Mellon University graduate students, when receiving job offers, 51.5% of men and 12.5% of women asked for more money(Miller, Claire Cain). “Challenging the legal relevance of the women don’t ask narrative in Title VII law is an important step” in achieving equal pay(Travis, Michelle). When it comes to pay, employers may use the “women don’t ask” excuse to justify gender discrimination in the workplace when it comes to pay (ibid). According to researchers Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, one small pay negotiation made by a man can make a huge difference years later (Elesser,
Today, women and men have equal rights, however not long ago men believed women were lower than them. During the late eighteenth century, men expected women to stay at home and raise children. Women were given very few opportunities to expand their education past high school because colleges and universities would not accept females. This was a loss for women everywhere because it took away positions of power for them. It was even frowned upon if a woman showed interest in medicine or law because that was a man 's place not a woman’s, just like it was a man 's duty to vote and not a woman 's. The road to women 's right was long and hard, but many women helped push the right to vote, the one that was at the front of that group was Susan B. Anthony.
During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...
The fight for women’s rights began long before the Civil War, but the most prominent issue began after the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments joined the Constitution. The rights to all “citizens” of the United States identified all true “citizens” as men and therefore incited a revolution in civil rights for women (“The Fight for Women’s Suffrage”). The National Women’s Suffrage Convention of 1868
“The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality,” this was stated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a very crucial women’s suffragist. Over time, women’s history has evolved due to the fact that women were pushing for equal rights. Women were treated as less than men. They had little to no rights. The Women’s Rights Movement in the 1800’s lead up to the change in women’s rights today. This movement began in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention. For the next 72 years, women continually fought for equal rights. In 1920, they gained the right to vote which ended the movement and opened the opportunity for more change in women’s lives. Because of the Women’s Rights Movement, women today are able to vote, receive
When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law, he hoped that it would allow working women to finally earn the same amount of money as men; however, more than half a century later, men continue to out earn women in almost every field of work (Lipman para. 4). Male dominated fields tend to pay more than female dominated fields at similar skill levels. In 2012, women earned an average of $691 per week while men earned an average of $854 per week. Furthermore, the majority of women remain unaware that they are earning less than their male colleagues (Hegewisch para. 1). The gender wage gap not only harms a woman’s ability to provide for herself, it also harms many children and families. Women are now the primary caregivers
The entire Women’s Movement in the United States has been quite extensive. It can be traced back to 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussions, 100 men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, this document called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. This gathering set the agenda for the rest of the Women’s Movement long ago (Imbornoni). Over the next 100 years, many women played a part in supporting equal treatment for women, most notably leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.
From the year 1848 to the 1920s, women fought the belief that they were inferior to gain equal rights in the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Before the twentieth century, women were not allowed to own property, vote or work most jobs , but the longer they fought for equality, women gain more rights and the beliefs of many people started to change. With the more rights women gained, they gained more power in society, government, and over themselves. Before the start of America, American women were responsible for raising the family and running the household while the men were out working and making money for the family (Marisco 9-10). Before the 1830s, teaching, nursing, or clerical or domestic positions were careers meant for women.
The United States has one of the highest gender pay gaps among the developed countries. In the country, the gender pay gap is measured as the ratio of female to males yearly earning among workers in full-time, year round (FTYR) earnings. In 2009, female FTYR earned 77% (0.77) as much as the FTYR male workers (US Census Bureau, 2013). The history of Gender Gap earning reveals USA has made big strides towards reducing the gender pay gap from 1980. For instance, in 1980 the gender pay gap ratio was 0.62 while in 1990, the gap stood at 0.72. Further from 1990 to 2000, the gap reduced to 0.73 and then to 0.77 in 2009. Currently, the gender pay gap stands at 0.76 and continues to persist (US Census Bureau, 2013).
Sabreena Fearn English IV Ms. Surrett 4/30/15 The Gender Wage Gap and How It Affects Women Today There are many people that argue that the gender wage gap is a myth, or that it doesn’t exist. It is, in fact, an issue that all women in the workforce face today because women of all ages, races, and education levels continue to earn less on average than men. Some of the topics that will be discussed in this paper are the reason why women earn 78 percent of what men earn, how different occupations only account for a part of the wage gap, why women make up the majority of low paying jobs, why closing the gender wage gap should be a goal for all women, and the difference that can occur from the gender pay gap.
Some companies refuse to discuss wages with their female employees, and some are even threatened like Lilly Ledbetter, a woman with firsthand experience of payment discrimination, who “was told [she would] be fired if [she] shared salary information at work,” (Ledbetter). Although women are allowed to sue their company if they know they are not being fairly paid, only 12% of those that sue their employer win their case (Cooper). Women are being denied an attempt at fair treatment and those who do not win their case are then put in danger of being demoted or even fired. These situations are what prolong the wage gap between men and women of the same occupation.
Women have fought for their rights throughout history, but even in the present the fight isn’t over. The gender wage gap has been around for a long time, and we still have yet to take the actions to close it. About half of the American population are women. That means that a hundred and fifty-seven million people may not be getting paid what they deserve (Howden and Meyer 2). Some citizens say that the wage gap is completely a myth.
From the beginning of time, females have played a powerful role in the shaping of this world. They have stood by idly and watched as this country moved on without them, and yet they have demanded equal rights as the nation rolls along. Through the years the common belief has been that women could not perform as well as men in anything, but over the years that belief has been proven wrong time and time again. So as time marches on, women have clawed and fought their way up the ladder to gain much needed equal respect from the opposite sex. However, after many years of pain and suffering, the battle for equal rights has not yet been won. Since women have fought for a long time and proven their importance in society, they deserve the same rights as men.
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
Some people may say that women and men should be paid differently because they execute different styles of work. There are gender pay gaps in the labor industry, where the wage gaps are more significant for higher skilled and higher qualified employees. Wage gaps, also known as gender pay gaps, are statistics that are often used to show the status of a woman’s pay compared to a man’s (“The Wage Gap”). In addition to women who already have more restrictions in the labor industry because of their family responsibilities, women in the workforce have little variety of job alternatives (Popescu 128). Not only are there wage gaps and limited choices in occupations for women, there are more gender inequalities in the workforce.
Throughout the 19th century, feminism played a huge role in society and women’s everyday lifestyle. Women had been living in a very restrictive society, and soon became tired of being told how they could and couldn’t live their lives. Soon, they all realized that they didn’t have to take it anymore, and as a whole they had enough power to make a change. That is when feminism started to change women’s roles in society. Before, women had little to no rights, while men, on the other hand, had all the rights. The feminist movement helped earn women the right to vote, but even then it wasn’t enough to get accepted into the workforce. They were given the strength to fight by the journey for equality and social justice. There has been known to be