Gender Inequality in Society
Gender Inequalities in Society
Does gender create inequality? Throughout history, most societies have held women in an inferior status compared to men. This situation was often justified as being the natural result of differences between the sexes. People believed women to be naturally more emotional and less decisive than men. Women were also held to be less intelligent and less creative by nature. Many sociologists state that various cultures have taught girls to behave according to negative stereotypes of femininity, thus keeping alive the idea that women are inferior. But in past years significant changes in the work place, in homes, and have influenced the idea of gender inequality.
The division of tasks that originally had been determined by physical differences became a matter of tradition. Consequently, even after machinery cancelled out the advantage of male strength and birth after birth control gave women the means to regulate their childs birth, women continued to face barriers to entering many occupations. But today there are much fewer barriers than before. Women have proved themselves in most fields of work, but these changes occurred gradually and consistently.
The changes began with women's examination of their personal lives and developed into a program for social change. Women's groups discovered discrimination in the work place, where women received less pay and fewer promotions than men. They also uncovered barriers to women seeking political office and to female students striving for high academic achievements.
Informal women's liberation groups, which were first formed by female students active in the civil rights movement and in radical organizations emphasized self-awareness and open discussion to discrimination and to establish greater equality between men and women in marriage, education, and employment. Large organizations developed alongside the small women's liberation groups that campaigned for the passage and strict
Does gender create inequality? Throughout history, most societies have held women in an inferior status compared to men. This situation was often justified as being the natural result of differences between the sexes. People believed women to be naturally more emotional and less decisive than men. Women were also held to be less intelligent and less creative by nature. Many sociologists state that various cultures have taught girls to behave according to negative stereotypes of femininity, thus keeping alive the idea that women are inferior. But in past years significant changes in the work place, in homes, and have influenced the idea of gender inequality.
The division of tasks that originally had been determined by physical differences became a matter of tradition. Consequently, even after machinery cancelled out the advantage of male strength and birth after birth control gave women the means to regulate their childs birth, women continued to face barriers to entering many occupations. But today there are much fewer barriers than before. Women have proved themselves in most fields of work, but these changes occurred gradually and consistently.
The changes began with women's examination of their personal lives and developed into a program for social change. Women's groups discovered discrimination in the work place, where women received less pay and fewer promotions than men. They also uncovered barriers to women seeking political office and to female students striving for high academic achievements.
Informal women's liberation groups, which were first formed by female students active in the civil rights movement and in radical organizations emphasized self-awareness and open discussion to discrimination and to establish greater equality between men and women in marriage, education, and employment. Large organizations developed alongside the small women's liberation groups that campaigned for the passage and strict