Addressing Gender Inequality Essay

Gender inequality is not only a problem within the United States, it is an issue involving the entire world. Feminism has been stereotyped that fighting for women’s rights is an act of man-hating. It is often claimed that being a feminist is aggressive, isolating, and anti-man. But with that said, I can say that that is untrue; and that this ideology of how women’s and men’s voices and feelings should not matter should be addressed for change. I contend that the non-justice for women’s rights, incorrect and misguided teachings of men, and gender inequality should be something innovated and talked about. 

To begin, women’s rights have been fought for decades. Although on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was put in place, many women have suffered inequality through unequal pay, societies rules and mentality, discrimination, and much more. For the first addressed topic, women in the U.S. working full and part-time make 85 percent of what their male counterparts earn, according to the Pew Research Center. In other words, women would need to work an extra 40 days a year to make as much as men. And it’s not just unequal pay in the U.S., worldwide women make 77 percent of the amount paid to men, according to a report from the United Nation’s International Labor Organization. Society has put the mentality of their fellow living beings on this planet that women are less strong, less wise, and less human than of a man. But what makes a woman different from a man to which she should be paid less than her male counterparts? What makes a man more educated in his sex than a woman than of his knowledge? And in what ways makes a man more human than of a woman? The simply answer to those questions is nothing. Because women and men are equal in far more ways. 

Society has taught its men to believe that they are expected to be stronger and more successful than women, and put into other words: better. Many young men have suffered from mental illnesses from being unable to express their emotions from the fear that it is unnatural for a man to be sensitive, and the fear of expressing one’s deep emotions would make them appear to be weak. Men have been made broken by the distorted sense of what implies male success. As well as women, men don’t have the benefits of equality either. Society does not often talk about the self-imprisonment that men face from gender stereotypes, but the societies rules for men and the non-justice for women are both the cause for gender inequality. When the expectations of a ‘man’ change, things will also change for women as a natural effect. “If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled” (UN Women – Headquarters: Emma Watson). Gender inequality is not only an issue for women, it is also an issue for men. 

Gender inequality does not only harm women and girls, but also men and boys. Most people see gender issues only as a women’s issue, even though by definition, feminism encompasses males and females, and other gender identities. And by definition, it is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of political, economic and social equality of the sexes. While the HeForShe movement organization by the UN Women works to engage men and boys in gender conversations, there is still a long way to go and for many voices to speak out. Not only should women be invited to be seen to speak up, but men too. After all, it is an issue involving them also. 

Not as a woman as myself, but as an equal being between all sexes, I believe that gender equality is an issue between both women and men, and I consider this issue to be the problem in our futures if there is not anything to be done for change. Because the reality is that if we do nothing then nothing will change. It sounds simple, but it all starts with your voice and the courage that comes with it to speak.