An Illusion of Equality Within Gender & Race

Men and women are said to be equal by the early 1900’s, it is now the 21st Century and there are still debates going around about inequality between a man and a woman. Still, men and women are treated differently in jobs and politics. Women are seen as vulnerable emotional creatures. Sigmund Freud an Austrian neurologist states, “Women oppose change, receive passively, and add nothing of their own," inscribed in his 1925 paper entitled "The Psychical Consequences of the Anatomic Distinction Between the Sexes"” (Psychology). Freud’s ideas show how profound sexism is being imbedded in society. Women are frequently not receiving recognition in jobs and politics as men are. Not only is there sexual discrimination but gender race is also a problem, not only are females’ being discriminated but their race also has affect to their social status. Men on the other hand always get the upper hand no matter of their race. Men always get more than women do. U.S society is tolerating gender and race discrimination and as a result causing great damage to women’s lives. We see evidence of this in unequal pay, unfair promotions, and unjust hiring procedures. When women are treated unequal in terms in economics, they lack power and resources in politics and in the community.
As a result of gender discrimination in women, women are being seriously affected by the lack of equality in society. World Health Organization published that, “Gender specific risk factors for common mental disorders that disproportionately affect women include gender based violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, low income and income inequality, low or subordinate social status and rank and unremitting responsibility for the care of others” (Programmes and projects). The World Health Organization shows that not only are women being discriminated in the work force but are affected mentally. Women know they are sexually discriminated and have caused them mental disorders. Women know for a fact that they get lower income than males and do not have the same equality as men do, it is causing great harm to women the injustice of it all. The reason why society should care is because women are the reason we maintain a stable life. They are the ones who feed and clean babies when they need to be taken care of. Women sacrifice a lot when it comes down to it; they put their husbands and family before themselves they are not selfish creatures.
Women are being sexually discriminated in the work force by not getting paid equally as men when doing the same exact job. The National Organization for woman states, “In 2007, women's median annual paychecks reflected only 78 cents for every $1.00 earned by men” (NOW). This illustrates, that no matter what women do, they will always get seventy-seven cents on the dollar compared to men even though there is a federal law in tact that requires employers not to discriminate against sex, gender, race, age etc. In addition “the Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. Job content (not job titles) determines whether jobs are substantially equal. All forms of pay are covered by this law, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and bonus plans, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, cleaning or gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and benefits”(Types Of Discrimination). Still woman are getting seventy-eight cents to a dollar, why is that? The reason why women are getting paid less is because they get treated differently because of their gender. Employers see women as weak human beings so they think they can take advantage of women. This is important because it shows that women are not given the same amount of money as men because of their physical appearance. Employers and society are enabling women to gain equality in society. It also shows that employers are not following this law and should be convicted for their injustices. Women not only get less pay, but being a certain type of race can lower the salary. The National Organization for woman statistics says, “For women of color, the gap is even wider: In comparison to men's dollar, African American women earn only 69 cents and Latinas just 59 cents” (NOW). The National Organization for woman statistic determines that not only are woman being sexually discriminated by their gender but are also being discriminated by their race. Even though there is a law stating there should be no race discrimination in the work force. This is a crime, because it is the 21st century and women should not be tolerating this kind of behavior in the work force. This is an important matter because everyone is a person, and under that, the American people ardently preach equality yet fail to uphold one of the most prominent beliefs.
Women are being neglected in the political view. The reasons for this are: “The gender identity in the mind of elections in the same electoral district as a man, the chance for the male candidate is higher. Male candidates are often better equipped than female candidates. They are richer and have better networks to support them. That makes the majoritarian system more difficult for women, who generally get less support from their parties. If a political party does not put enough women on its party-list, you can make the party responsible for the gender gap and put the party under pressure.” This states that when voting the people subconsciously tend to vote for men rather than woman because they believe men are more contented than women. Another reason why woman even get put on board is because the party does not want conflicts to rise in the community because they do not want to be reliable for the gender gap. This all matters because this shows that people vote of appearance more than what the person has to offer to the party and that the party lets woman be on the board because they do not want problematic situations so they let woman get elected for being a woman not for what they know. Women get devalued in the work force by not getting a promotion that they deserve or the position they should be in because of their gender. Philip N. Cohen writes, “The pay in jobs that women hold is lower because women hold them. “Women's work" is valued less either because there is a cultural bias resulting from women's lower social status, because it's similar to unpaid work that many women do for "free" (like childcare), or because women are politically weaker and employers take advantage of it” (Business). What Cohen was saying is that women do not get the proper equality and respect as men do because they are women. He states that “women work” is devalued because of cultural bias from their social status. When he points this out he shows that society lets women get discriminated in the work force because employers are biased towards females and because women are seen lower than man. Employers discriminate women when getting promotions and such because they subconsciously choose the men over the women because they have grown up with the mentally that men are superior to women. This assertion is important because it shows that society needs to stop discriminating women because of their sex and start focusing on the more important issue, which is if they can do the job or not. Society and employers should be giving equal opportunities to both sexes.
Women are not perfect, I will agree. Sure women have their faults. But who does not? Majority of men make mistake yet they do not get the same humiliation as women do when they make the same mistake. Yes woman are subordinate emotional human beings then men. But that does not mean they do not have the stability to control their feeling when something is at stake. Women not only have the strength to bear a child but have the strength to juggle a career and raise a family. Being a woman is hard enough but being a mother is incredible challenging. A mother never stops being a mother she is on a twenty-four hour call seven days a week. Men are not capable of dealing with having a career and raising a family. Society does not credit women and mothers to their full potential to society.
Do not get me wrong. My point is not to encourage people to be feminists and create hostility at the fact that there is inequality in America, but to be aware that discrimination is still being tolerated in society and work environments. People need to know that they can make a stand and get everyone to have equality and make America an equal and peaceful country. If everyone had equal opportunities, everyone would be happy and full of life. Women would be able to live happy lives and not be dealing with the effects inequality has given them. Sexism causes damage to the work place because when people go home they have to deal with being discriminated and humiliated for not being treated equally. America should not be tolerating discrimination between gender and race and should be stopped because it is not a justifiable thing that should be accepted.