There has never been a female president in the United States. Since the country's inception over 200 years ago, females have been classified as having no say in "a man's world." In the world today, most people are still offended that men get paid more than women, and also have better jobs. Unlike 2 centuries ago, women are now elected to Congress and are CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies. I do not think men or women have a say so until they walked in the opposite sex's shoes. In "The Vastness of the Dark" by Alistair MacLeod and "The Men We Carry In Our Minds" by Scott Russell Sanders, both genders and their respective stereotypes are compared and contrasted in detail. Within these essays, both MacLeod and Sanders show how gender roles in society have changed drastically throughout the past.
In MacLeod's "The Vastness of the Dark", the roles of each gender is made apparent. "For today I leave behind this grimy Cape Breton coal-mining town whose prisoner I have been for all of my life," this sentence MacLeod shows how miserable a town James lives in (367). His father and grandfather have been miners all their lives, and want him to take over their same sense of accomplishment and pride that they have had. However, the mine has closed. James' grandfather states, "Once you start it takes a hold of you, once you drink underground water, you will always come back to drink some more. The water gets in your blood. It is in all of our blood. We have been working in the mines here since 1873" (367). James did not want to be like them at all. He wanted to go on his own. He watched what the work did to his grandfather and father, who both had gnarled hands, worked in extreme hazardous conditions, worked long hours, and suffered the effects of their occupation long time. They were forever going to rescue other miners whose mines have caved in, and James remembers that. He also saw the anguish his father went through due to being laid off since the mine closed. Now, his mother and he take care of his father's drinking binges and abusive behavior due to it.
Within the United States election season of 2012, we heard many of our current, and wanna-be elected leaders discussing a ‘so-called’ war on women. Coming into this years election cycle we will undoubtedly hear more of this discussion, which begs the question: Is there really a war on women in America? In America, women make up only 19% of the US Congress, 5% of the Fortune 500 C-level executives, and just 16% of the Heads of State [Nilges]. Whether it be in politics, the workplace, or through inherent speech patterns, gender bias influences opportunities afforded to both men and women. While tremendous improvement has been made within the United States over the last 3 generations, it is clearly a challenge that requires a persistent, collective effort.
In 2008 the first woman was awarded the position of Speaker of the House, and Hillary Clinton ran for president. While Hillary had widespread support leading people to believe that the two different genders had reached equality, there were several that doubted whether or not a woman has what it takes to be a president. The women that came into power that was generally held by men, needed to perform a balancing act. This balancing act was between the characteristics of women and projecting the masculine strength and leadership needed to hold their position (Jenen 14). This problem in society has been continuing on for a long time. In the 1970’s women had no standing in academia. That women were no use to the department they were studying and
Overall, the value of the American Identity is found in literature such as The Awakening, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Great Gatsby. Different historical events such as the Women’s Suffrage Movements define America as a male driven nation. These few evidences of many provide an explanation of how men came to control a lot of the activity in the nation and its impact. Currently, women are treated with more respect, have equal rights, and can do many of the things that men can do. However, there is still a great amount of gender inequality in many various aspects and it will remain that way because this nation has been male dominated since it’s independence. History and literature are two aspects of our nation’s cultures that have demonstrated the gender inequality and contributed to the strengthening of this male dominated society in the course of time.
On May 2, 2016 Jill Filipovic wrote an article in the New York Times that addresses the topic of women in power and how women can be at a disadvantage due to the fact that they just simply are not a man. Filipovic started her article by addressing the topic of race and how Representative Donna Edwards was accused of playing the race card during her election. In todays society many women have a hard time getting hired, trusted to execute a role, or even getting paid less by companies. Due to these issues many women such as Hillary Clinton is now being accused of “playing the women card” in her debates for presidency. The purpose of this piece of rhetoric is to argue that women are not just “playing the woman card” but that discrimination
Across the globe, women are starting to gain more political power and are able to have other jobs and rights, but this was only achieved recently, as women have always been second best. To start with, women were technically considered “slaves” or just above the standards of a slave. The main purpose of a woman was to cook, clean, raise a family, and to have sex or sometimes be raped, to please a mans needs. In Greece, they were seen as an object or property of a man, and were not given full rights, and in America, women were just given “all” rights not even fifty years ago. Plus, for women in power today or those who want to be, it’s still challenging to have the people vote for them, as people think that it’s different from the norm to vote for a female than a male. During the 2008 presidential election, Hillary Clinton ran against Barack Obama for the Democratic Party nomination, and it seemed that the country was more ready for the possibility of a bla...
Throughout the history of western civilization, women have fought for their rights to be treated as equal citizens. The problem of gender inequality has been prevalent for centuries. The movement for equal opportunity has gained traction in different eras but is still far from complete. Today, we are faced with an America that has made a choice. It has made a choice for division, for stagnancy and for retrogression. Women have been subtly told that their value does not rest in politics, nor in business, nor in leadership. After the results of the 2016 election cycle that subtly is gone. The America of today is different from the America of yesteryear. The underlying notes of sexism are no longer hidden. A society that was once working towards
Gender has played specific roles in societies all over the place. Men are usually seen as the dominant gender and therefore appear to be more important to society but women still have an important role. It was not that long ago that women did not have many rights or play an important role at all. In America, laws were put in place to make men and women equal and today many women have filled jobs thought of as a man’s job but there is still a common thought of women being less important in society than men. Before deciding if a woman’s role in society is complimentary or not, the role of all humans must be examined. A woman could appear to have a terrible role but maybe that’s because everybody has a terrible role in that type of society. Same
Women, in the past decades, have undergone a revolution. They have earned the right to vote and the right to be a man’s equal under the law. They have confronted the obsolete values of male superiority. They have even manage to destabilize the firm belief that only men could be in power. Despite these accomplishments, women have also made a point that we are not equal, simply, men aren’t superior to any women.
Women are numerically underrepresented in United States politics. Though people may see famous faces of women in politics around them, a mere 17 percent of leaders of the Federal government in the United States are women. Not only, at the Federal level are women underrepresented, but also at the state and local levels. Only in six states are there female governors, and members of city hall are predominately male in 92 out of the 100 largest cities in the continental U.S. Since the 1970’s the percentage of women in high political offices had been increasing, but in the last several election cycles there has been no net increase. The United States House of Representatives has plateaued in its percentage of female representatives and Senate suffered the first net decrease in the percentage of women serving since 1979. In terms of progress of women’s representation in politics, the United States is falling behind many nations. As of 2011, 90 nations have a higher percentage of women in office. (Lawless and Fox) Women in the United States have not achieved political parity, and are falling behind many nations in the election of women to office.
Beginning with the early nineteen hundreds, women from all over the country have bounded together, forming leagues and clubs for equal rights. However, it wasn't until today "at the dawn of the twenty-first century, states and international community can no longer refute the fact that humanity is made up of two sexes, not just one" (Oliveria 26). Why has the woman's move for equality just now started to balance itself out? Well, the answer is quite simple; women are just now being looked at as semi-equals. They are beginning to become corporate executives in businesses, and popular in the field of medicine and law. Women have tried hard to push themselves forward in society to create a balanced and harmonious economy and so far it has been successful. Barriers of all kinds have been broken, well, all except a few, mainly in politics and with the information I have collected I will show why.
To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.
Women are still seen as the weaker gender out of the two. Men are minded to be the “breadwinners” and the most prosperous in the sexes, and are see to be the most victorious as well. On an online website one gave his opinion on the topic said “Women aren't meant to be in the work force. They are meant to be a housewife. That their job is to take care of the family and house. It has been a waste of taxpayers money trying to fix equality in America. That women should have no say or take part in anything that the male population says that women shouldn't take part of.” This shows one person’s opinion, and how gender equality hasn’t advanced that much since the 20th Century. Women also get less reprsntation in the governemtn than men do because we have a smaller amount of females then males. America can still improve, to the extent where America has no gender gao, and women and men are fully equal. America has
For as long as humans can recall, women have been the victims of incorrect stereotypical classifications, claiming that the male gender is superior. This creates a greater struggle when pursuing conventional rights for women. The view of women has been positively affected by the Progressive Era, war participation, and women’s suffrage. Events that occurred in the past century have shaped the way women are viewed in today’s society as a whole.
Throughout history, women have always fought to gain equal political rights, but conventional roles kept women from getting enough political representation. Many suffrage groups founded by women challenged the conventional roles of women during 1840 to 1968 with the dream of obtaining equal political representation. In 1919, the nineteenth amendment, drafted by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was passed. The 19th amendment has been desired by many women for years. Although the 19th amendment passed and women thought that they were able to be equal in politics, many women did not get equal political representation due to their conventional roles at the time period. Women were not able to achieve high roles in politics, shown through the fact that there has never been a woman president in the history of the United States. The presidency of women did not occur due to the perceptions that generally, women should be protected and hidden, not out in the open and leadin...
When you think of a CEO of a company or of world political leaders, do you think of a man or of a woman? Many, if not most of us, see these positions as being held by men. In this essay, I will explain why women are still not equal to men. In the first paragraph I will discuss inequalities that happen in the workplace. The second section will show the differences that occur within the athletic world. Thirdly, I will explain the differences in education and home life. Even though we are approaching the twenty-first century, women in our society are still not equal to men.