Gender Inequality
History
Gender Inequality has been around since the time of the very first females and males. Throughout the different societies there has always been a distinct separation between what the norm for a male is and what the norm for a female is. One theory on how to explain this is that either sex acts one way because of biological determinism. Females all act similar because they were born and created that way biologically, or without their control. This theory has been adopted by some, while others believe culture has more to do with it. In any culture the majority of women will all act similar to each other, and the majority of men will all act similar. This can be explained by gender identity. A young girl will learn what being feminine means in her culture by how she sees her parents and other role models acting. Instead of taking on football or other "masculine" activities, the girl may play with dolls and learn to sew.Whether biologically inherited or based on cultural influence, males and females are viewed as different. When this happens many cultures believe men dominate the society because they have distinct differences from females. Men have dominated many of the important aspects of societies such as the work force and politics. Yet what a lot of people don't know is that not all cultures are like this. In certain cultures, the roles are switched. In the Mundugumor tribe of New Guinean, both males and females are influenced to act masculine. While in the Tchambuli tribe, the males are more dependent on the dominant females. If societies can survive with female dominance or equality, then why is our own United States society still focused on male dominance?
Present
There are a few theories as to why gender inequality still exists today. Functionalists who think everyone works together to help society, believe that women are ment to perform household tasks. It has been this way for centuries. Since it has worked this long, why change it. But in a changing world, this is no longer working. Through the conflict theory, it is believed that we live in a partriarchy society. With the domination of men, women aren't given the high status occupations because this could lead to the threat of them losing their control/power. Lastly, symbolic interactionism thinks the cause is from gender socialization. Girls learn how they are "supposed to act" to bd girl, and vise versa for boys. When girls learn to behave politely and patiently, behind boys, it influences them at a young age. At school if they call out an answer, they may be told to not be rude, while a boy in the situation would be praised for his boldness. Girl students who believe that they are less than the boys have lower confidence. When they don't have the confidence to succeed in class, they may not have that confidence to believe they can become a high status person, such as a doctor. Males or females who go against the norm of their gender will be looked down upon or with less respect.
We have come a long way in the United States with gender equality. Women now have voting rights, jobs, and have the freedom to do as they please without the support of a man. The battle isn't over yet, sadly. There is still sexism ocuring everywhere one may look. Women keep entering the labor force over the years, yet most of them are in lower-status/ lower-paying jobs. This occupational sex segregation keeps the majority of women out of high- status jobs, such as lawyers, that are currently being held by mostly men. Seldomly do women receive these high rankings, and when they do it's rarely handed to them. Currently, men are more likely to be hired then women. Men are also more likely to get a higher income in the same job as women do. In a society where money can lead to power, this leaves women at a dissadvantage.
Politics
Gender inequality in the political field is incredible. The United States is supposed to have freedom and equality as a goal, yet they are among on of the lowest country in the Western world in numbers of women holding public office positions. Women make up more than half of our population, yet they hold only a small portion of important political positions. Only 22 percent of U.S senators are female. If over half the population only has a small percent of the government fighting for their rights, they may not get the benefits they need. More female politicians are needed to set things right.
The United States doesn't even make the top 10 countries for Women in Government.
