Women's Issues In America

Women's Issues in America

Throughout history a recurring theme in society has been a fight for equality. The need to be equal to one another expands past language and nationality, time period, and government type. Women have continuously fought for equal rights since the inception of the United States of America. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed that "all men are created equal". Seventy two years after its signing, women were tired of being excluded from this groundbreaking sentiment, so they held the Seneca Falls convention. Seventy two years after the Seneca Falls convention, the 19th Amendment was ratified which gave women the right to vote. Equality does not move quickly but with persistence improvements can be made.

There are many types of sexism that have varying ranges of impact on individuals. Benevolent sexism has a more positive component and is a form of prejudice (Bradley- Geist). The mindset that women are the fairer sex and need to be rescued by men is an example of benevolent sexism. This form of sexism is often overlooked and not recognized as a problem. On the other hand, hostile sexism is the most obvious form of sexism, which includes believing that women should not have equal rights as men and are too easily offended (Bradley-Geist). Either form can be detrimental to a women psychologically and emotionally, so it is important to address sexism. The best way to change a sexist viewpoint is to teach the next generation acceptable behavior. Elizabeth Cady Stanton realized the damage that social customs cause for women politically, economically, and psychologically, so she worked to change people's perspectives (Strange). Stanton started the change of gender roles and sexism. After her, more people have tried to continue to change

The wage gap has been a hot topic of debate for many decades and has improved over time. Currently, the gender pay gap in the United States is twenty one percent (McGregor). "To say we're better off doesn't mean that we're anywhere near done" states Ellen Bravo, Executive Director of Family Values at Work (Johnson). The gender pay gap is so hard to diminish because there are many different causes of the gap. A prevalent cause of the wage gap is that women are expected to do the majority of unpaid work such as caring for family members and doing household chores (Simmons). Traditionally, women work inside the house while men work outside of the home. Consequently, women choose jobs with less hours and pay to balance family and work (Johnson). Women have a higher cost of raising a family than men do because they are often expected to choose to take care of their family over having a job which just increases the gap (Johnson). There is no single fix for wage disparity between