Class Project INTRO

by Jared Johnson
Gender equality aims to achieve genuine equality between men and women by planting the idea of
respecting human rights deeply into society's soil. This century is significant in that equality between men and women
has become accepted as a universal value and that the construction of the social framework has taken place to
materialize that concept for the first time in human history. Referring to suffrage, for example, which is one of the
most basic indices of male-and-female equality, in the beginning of the century, only New Zealand had given women
the right to vote at the national-government level. Almost a century later, there are few countries today that do not
extend suffrage to women. In line with efforts made by the international community such as those by the United
Nations, Japan has been endeavoring to establish laws and systems to realize gender equality in the post-war years,
ever since gender equality was enshrined in the Japanese Constitution. As a result, it seems that gender equality has
been achieved to a significant extent. In 1961, the President's Commission on the Status of Women chaired by
Eleanor Roosevelt was started. This commission found that women were suffering considerable workplace
discrimination.
In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was passed, which made it illegal for a woman to be paid less than a man
working in the same position. The Civil Rights Act in 1964 also made discriminatory hiring on the basis of gender
illegal. The affirmative action policy of 1965 was expanded in 1967 to cover women as well as racial minorities. In
1973, women's right to safe and legal abortion was established by the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade 1968,
sex-segregated job advertisements were declared illegal by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This
decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1973.This allowed women to apply for higher-paying jobs formally
restricted only to male applicants. In 1972 Title VII of the Education Amendments which reads "No person in the
United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected
to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance," was passed. All
these acts were attempts to equalize the treatment of men and women. However, has the problem of gender equality
been solved? We will show evidence of these equality issues we still have happening today and some other
examples from the past.

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

by Eric Borland

In 2013 Sheryl Sandberg wrote the book, Lean In. This book became a huge success and provides definite
evidence of the current unethical dilemma of gender equality we face in this generation. Sandberg has personally witnessed
the inequality of genders in the workplace as she has developed her professional career. In her book, she not only discusses
the personal dilemmas she faced as she has progressed in her professional career, but also the social norms that have
been developed that confine the female gender from reaching their full and deserved potential. The strongest points
Sandberg provides that support the issue of gender inequality in her book are that society restricts women and creates
expectations of how women should be. Throughout her book she includes a variety of convincing stories and facts that
support each of these claims.

Growing up in our society, an individual develops certain social norms. As a child grows up, they seek to find truth
and to obtain an opinion. Every current individual is a combination of past experiences, big and small, that define them.

These social norms can be deeply ingrained into the mind of the individual. Reading, Lean In, gave eye opening
experiences because there were so many aspects of sexism that have been ingrained into my life without me even knowing
it. Sandberg dug deeper into the issue of gender inequality to find out the why. What she found and shared enlightened me
and helped me realize how deep the problem is rooted into our society. Even from the moment we are born, boys and girls
are treated differently. As I read this, I instantly disagreed. But, as I continued on, I read,parents tend to talk to girl babies
more than boy babies. Mothers overestimate the crawling ability of their sons and underestimate the ability of their
daughters. Reflecting the belief that girls need to be helped more than boys, mothers often spend more time comforting and
hugging infant girls and more time watching infant boys play by themselves. This helped me to realize where Sandberg was
coming from. Until I heard this I wouldnt have ever considered the fact that how we are treated and raised as babies would
impact the rest of our lives.

Birth starts the process of gender inequality but it only progresses with the growth of the child. As children enter
school they face social norms that become ingrained into them. The boys are expected to lead, to answer questions, and to
be dominate. Whereas, the girls are expected to take a different roll. If a boy begins to show leadership skills they are
praised but Sandberg points out that when a girl tries to lead, she is often labeled bossy. Boys are seldom labeled bossy
because a boy taking the role of a boss does not surprise or offend. This follows woman through their lives, anytime a
woman tries to lead she is shot down instantly. Looking at it from the perspective of starting at the youth, there is no wonder
that the work force is currently unequal for the different genders. In the workforce there is often an unspoken assumption
and thought that men have the right and ability to lead. Therefore, most leadership positions are held by men resisting
women from even wanting the position. In order for equality in the workplace to occur this social needs to change.

A very crucial element to a successful society is the birth. It needs to happen in order for the population to continue
on. More than that, the children born should also be raised in a constructive environment that will strengthen the children
and direct them into highly functioning members of society. Often a motive behind keeping women out of the workplace is
that many believe that the responsibility of women is to raise children. The medias view of a working women is often one of
neglect to her children or one of consumption into her career to the point of no personal life. Movies such as The Proposal,
Working Girl, and I Dont Know How She Does It All, portray this view. This assumption is wrong and Sandberg makes a
strong battle against this belief. Sandberg calls in her personal life and points out that she has children of her own, and
although she is not perfect, her and her husband are able to both work and both develop a flourishing family. Often in society
high expectations are created of women to the point that it is expected for women to do it all.

Sandberg gives a reassurance to women by saying that, trying to do it all and expecting that it all can be done
exactly right is a recipe for disappointment. Women are often expected to raise children, do housework, cook, and now to
work. This is unrealistic and is setting women up for failure.

Women in combat
by Shantell Cameron

I have read several articles in which outline the good and bad things happening with women in the military. The
articles centered the American Hero Jessica Lynch. Even though she showed true bravery and amazing physical strength,
the enemy used her against us and hurt her on behalf of our government. But she is the reason for my interest in this
topic.In 1948, women were limited on career advancement in the military. Only limited access was given to women, but in
order to move up, they need combat training. They called this the, Armed Forces Women Integration Act.

Skeptics believed that this would undermine the capability of the military, but despite this, women have a long
distinguished record of service that dates back to the revolutionary war. In WWII, over 300,000 women were in with the
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES). Because of
this act, women in the military made up only 2% of the amount enlisted in the military.

In 1973 Richard Nixon eliminated the Armed Forces Integration Act and replaced it with the All Volunteer Force
(AVF). This opened more positions and offered higher pay for the women in the military. However, feminists still tried to say
that after the AVF was set forth, women still were offered unequal pay and limited career opportunities. Because of this, the
Armed Forces opened up more positions and offered higher pay for women in the 1970s and 1980s which made it so the
enlisted women number grew.

After Desert Storm, womens placements were all lifted which gave women more opportunity in high combat
probability situations. Skeptics contended that women are not as physically strong as men which created a sense of
wariness in male officers that a women cant be relied on to perform essential functions on the battle field. They say that the
average female is five inches shorter than the average male soldier and has half the upper body strength as well as, lower
aerobic capability and 37% less muscle mass. Menstruation and pregnancy also was viewed as an impending unit cohesion.
Critics believed that women would use pregnancy to get out of service which would interrupt the level of bonding and
cohesion of the unit. In attempts to control this issue, all women were given birth control to avoid pregnancy.

The military did avoid these types of skepticism and offered gender binding physical fitness tests which ensured
that those that meet the standards required to accomplish the task inherit the military specialty male or female. This
eliminates the beliefs that the military is unfair to men and women by making the requirements equal for both. However, if a
33 year old man were to do 43 pushups, 55 sit-ups, and 2 miles in 15:18 minutes he would receive a score of 233 points out
of a possible 300, which is considered a average on the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). But. if a woman scores the
exact same and is the same age she would receive a score of 272 and would be considered vastly in better shape than the
male. Further comparison, a 21 year old male and a 21 year old female would score the same on 43 pushups, 55 sit-ups,
and a 2 mile run the, women would score a 263 and the male would barely pass his APFT with a score of 192.

Inequality for women in the workplace

by Sanela Mukic
Statistics show that even though women are performing better in school than men are, the pay for women is still
less than what men are getting paid. In fact, statistics show that women get 80 cents less for every dollar men earn. The
difference comes from stereotypes and expectations of the womens role in society.

For women, a workplace is a constant battle to prove that we can do the same, if not, better than men. More
women than men are enrolling in school to get higher education, but the battle begins once they are ready to enter the job
market. Sometimes even getting that interview for the job is denied because of the gender. Women cant travel and work
overtime where men can do all this, this is another argument they provide.

Society has this expectation of women to be a maids, mothers, a wife, and working women, if anything, I think
women should get pay more because we are capable of doing all of those jobs. Another issue in societies eyes is that
women are getting pregnant and taking a leave of absence to stay with home with their baby.

Europe displace a fair and reasonable solutions for maternity leave, for example, France has three years paid
leave for moms. In that three years their job is secure if she wants to come back to work. Moms also have the option of
splitting this time off with their husbands. To me this sounds like their society has equal benefits and opportunity for men and
women.

We do need more support from our Government in changing laws to lead to the equal pay and better benefits for
working moms. Women can do a lot on their own and I think we did come a long way, but we also need our Government to
get involved and our society. After all, we all have mothers, sisters, and wives that work really hard everyday to better our
community.

Why is it so hard to recognize this hard work? The way I see it we need to stop worrying about gender and see
who can bring the most benefit to the company. A lot of women are capable of doing hard labor jobs, and if they are good for
that type of the job, then why not hire them for that job and pay the the rate men are getting paid.

Has Gender Equality Stalled?

by Trevor Wells

Gender equality has come a long way from the 1960s. A book, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, talks
about transforming womens personal consciousness instead of political proposals that could change the status of women. It
also talks about how people react to the book in the modern day.

In 1963, Americans didnt think about gender equality because they thought it wasnt possible or desirable. The
mindset was that it was hard for women to have a successful career and still be a successful mother at the same time. A
survey done in 1962 by the University of Michigan, recorded that the majority of women stated that important decisions were
meant for the man. Women were in this suppressing state for so long that they didnt think of anything different from the
social norm at that point in time.

The key point of Friedans book was a stepping stone for women everywhere. Her idea was to challenge the
assumptions that they are supposed to stay at home and take care of the children, while the men are the ones who are
supposed to take care of the financial part of the relationship. This idea would be far more effective than having a political

proposal to bring the up the gender equality. Because majority of congress is compiled with men, they would ignore it and
would make changing the social norm that much more difficult.
.
What surprised me was that during the 60s there was a big movement that got stalled in 1977 due to two-thirds of
Americans still believing that men should be the only one providing for the house. It wasnt until 1994, when a survey
showed that two-thirds of Americans rejected the standard model of men and women. A survey over a decade ranging from
1994 to 2004 of this standard family model for the family rose from 34% to 40% of people accepting this notion of how our
families should be run.

On the other hand, from 1997 - 2007, mothers were actually saying the opposite. They were saying that too much
time was being sent away from the home and that they would prefer working part-time compared to full-time to be home
more taking care of the house. It is an interesting situation to see that 50 years ago women were fighting to get out of the
house not back in.

Has our society given up on this idea of having gender equality, or is this just a low point in history. Will the
argument change again when we get a female president? Gender equality might have stalled, but, there have been many
advancements in other areas like the military where they they now have more opportunities for women.

Interview
by Susana Hernandez

To better understand how a workplace is making sure that they are following the law, I talked to my HR Manager,
Deborah Hamer.

Susana: How does Spillman Technologies make sure they do not discriminate based on gender during the hiring process?
Deborah: When you go on to our online website www.spillman.com/careers/openings we have clearly stated that Spillman
Technologies is an equal opportunity employer. I personally find it important that we state that from the beginning of the
entire process so people dont feel like they arent getting the opportunity to apply for a position based on the type of gender.
We ask for a persons resume and based on experience and skills the person has we decide if we want to meet with them in
person. We want to make sure they qualify meaning we make sure that their experience or skills matches the job title that is
listed. We then ask a few questions to all the applicants but the questions are the same for both men and women. After that
process the manager makes the final call.
Susana: How does Spillman give raises how do you decide if an individual deserves a raise?
Deborah: Every year we have annual reviews where your manager will sit down and talk to you about how much of a
percent we are allowed to give an employee. That percentage is decided by Lance the C.E.O based on where the company
stands and how much we can allow in our budget. For example we tell managers they are allowed to give their employees

up to 3% raise from what they are making know. Your manager will have to decide on if you get the full 3% or not based on
how well you are doing your job. Are you meeting all expectations you were given since the beginning and are you going
above and beyond your basic job duties.
Susana: For my final question do you believe that in todays world women are starting to become equal to men? If not how
do you think we can resolve this problem?
Deborah: I think first of all we need to overcome the idea that we are all the same no matter what gender we are. Also we
need to start looking into the skills and talents a person has when applying for a job. We need to value the work that is being
done and then take that into consideration

Changing our ideology can be a solution - Conclusion

by Jean Oreste

Based on the revelation of Sheryl Sandbergs book, society is struggling with woman equality. The current
generation of people is faced with an ethical dilemma regarding gender equality in America. We have concluded that
societys behavior toward women has been molded since birth and restricts the progression of womens success.
We are all a combination of past experiences, therefore, the way that men and women are treated as kid, shapes
them to be the person they are in the future. In addition, societys restriction cause some women to be blinded by sexism
around them. This is why the survey done by the University of Michigan in 1962 shows that women thought that important
decisions are meant for men.

Society also creates that the idea that women are the weaker sex. Even though women are accepted in the army
with the help of WAAC and later AVF, women are still viewed as the weaker sex, even though women get higher grades for
performing the same physical act as men. In class, women are not expected to be leaders or as smart as their male
counterpart.

A lot of companies have made efforts to hire people based on merit and not gender. Also by 1994, two third of
women rejected the idea of men being the breadwinner while the woman stays at home. This shows that we have had some
progress since then.

Job industries, are more than likely to hire a man instead of a woman even though most of them claim that they
dont. One cant doubt that a lot of companies hire based on merit. As long as we have that mentality that men are more
qualified than women, it will always be easier to see a mans capabilities before the capabilities of a woman.

Resolution / Recommendations
by Chris Roberts

Without reading a book or article, it is clear that society places women a bit lower than men. From televisions and
movies to the assumption that men are stronger than women, the battle seems to be never ending.

Sheryl Sandberg however, writes the exact opposite and sees change on the horizon. By teaching our kids and the
younger generation to respect women and that they can do all that men can, we will be able to shape the future for women
equality. Parents server the biggest role in solving this problem because it start with them.

According to Sandberg, the way that our babies are raised and comforted serves a part in the problem. Boys from
the start a trained to be stronger and more of a man by not being as comforted when crying and more encouraged to play
on their own. Baby girls however, are the exact opposite. They are more comforted and less likely to play on their own
because they are being more protected - resulting in them needing a leader throughout their lives.

Although there has been some changes made and we do see women leading companies and organization, we still
need to focus on equality and changing the norm. Changing the way society thinks is something that is not going to happen
over night. Leaders of today need to start by leading by example and getting out of their old ways. This means that women
need to be interviewed more, maternity leave needs to be respected, and women need to stop being overlooked when a
promotion is being available.

Treat others the way you want to be treated is simply the best way to put it. We all know how we want to be treated
so we need to consider how we are treating others. No matter what the situation that woman, again, is someones daughter,
sister, mother, wife, or grandmother How would you want your daughter, sister, mother, wife, or grandmother treated?

Sources

Sandberg, Sheryl, and Nell Scovell. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Valdes, Mario J., and Djelal Kadir. Literary Cultures of Latin America: A Comparative History. New York, NY: Oxford
UP, 2004. Print.

Barry, Jennifer L. "A Few Good (Wo)men: Gender Inclusion in the United States Military - JIA SIPA." A Few Good
(Wo)men: Gender Inclusion in the United States Military (2013): n. pag. JIA SIPA. Journal of International Affairs,
18 Nov. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

Hsu, Cindy. "Gender Inequality in the Workplace." The Harvard Independent. The Harvard Independent, 01 Dec.
2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

Coontz, Stephanie. "Why Gender Equality Stalled." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Feb. 2013.
Web. 21 Apr. 2015.

Source WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_inequality_in_the_United_States#Current_issues_for_women