We Are All Equal
Professor Mendoza
ENGL 1020
1 November 2013
We Are All Equal In her essay Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society, Mary Wollstoncraft shifts the focus away from the reality of what society feels a woman’s duties should be in the eighteenth century to the inequalities that the nation’s women were actually dealing with. During the eighteenth century it was believed that a woman’s sole duties were to take care of her children, tend to her husband, and do the domestic things in the household. Wollstoncraft disagreed with that notion though. She believed that a woman was truly capable of doing just about anything that she saw fit. Wollstonecraft states, “for when they neglect domestic duties, they have it not in their own power to take the field and march and counter-march like soldiers,”(661). In which she meant that even though the battlefield front line is not where a woman needs to be per say, but if that woman decided to do so it should not be a problem. Wollstonecraft strived to shed light to a subject that was shunned upon at such a time in history where a woman and her rights held no value. Women are human beings and have the same exact born rights as men, yet are treated as subordinates or lesser than equal humans due to their gender. If it is capable of a woman to do the same job as a man, then why not get the same pay? So one must ask, how does two people that do the same amount of work yet make different pay? According to Jena McGregor, “the gender pay gap is a well established phenomenon: Women who work full time made about 79% as much as full-time male workers in 2007.” Women have shown to have the ability to work side by side with men, however society still wants to treat them as inferior. McGregor also states, “the gap is the widest for female CEOs of the largest companies, who make less than two thirds of their male counterparts.” It is believed that this gap McGregor speaks about, is due to
ENGL 1020
1 November 2013
We Are All Equal In her essay Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society, Mary Wollstoncraft shifts the focus away from the reality of what society feels a woman’s duties should be in the eighteenth century to the inequalities that the nation’s women were actually dealing with. During the eighteenth century it was believed that a woman’s sole duties were to take care of her children, tend to her husband, and do the domestic things in the household. Wollstoncraft disagreed with that notion though. She believed that a woman was truly capable of doing just about anything that she saw fit. Wollstonecraft states, “for when they neglect domestic duties, they have it not in their own power to take the field and march and counter-march like soldiers,”(661). In which she meant that even though the battlefield front line is not where a woman needs to be per say, but if that woman decided to do so it should not be a problem. Wollstonecraft strived to shed light to a subject that was shunned upon at such a time in history where a woman and her rights held no value. Women are human beings and have the same exact born rights as men, yet are treated as subordinates or lesser than equal humans due to their gender. If it is capable of a woman to do the same job as a man, then why not get the same pay? So one must ask, how does two people that do the same amount of work yet make different pay? According to Jena McGregor, “the gender pay gap is a well established phenomenon: Women who work full time made about 79% as much as full-time male workers in 2007.” Women have shown to have the ability to work side by side with men, however society still wants to treat them as inferior. McGregor also states, “the gap is the widest for female CEOs of the largest companies, who make less than two thirds of their male counterparts.” It is believed that this gap McGregor speaks about, is due to
Cited: McGregor, Jena. "Women Executives Earn Less than Their Male Counterparts." Are Women Paid Fairly? Ed. Jennifer Dorman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "The Gender Pay Gap: Still Alive at the Top, Too." www.Businessweek.com. 2008. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 1 Nov. 2013. Murray, Una, and Patrick Quinn. "Girls Have Fewer Rights and Opportunities than Boys." Do Children Have Rights? Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue. Rpt. from "Give Girls a Chance: Tackling Child Labour, a Key to the Future." Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 1 Nov. 2013. Wollstonecraft, Mary. “Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctio Established in Society.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Lee A. Jacobs.