Connor Fitzgerald

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April 28, 2017
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Gender Inequality

Gender inequality is the idea that men and women are not equal. Gender inequality refers

to the unequal and unfair treatment due to one's gender. Throughout American history, men and

women have never been equal. Whether it be the pay gap or their physical build, it is clear that

gender inequality is a problem. The early 1900s were the beginnings of the pay gap. Due to

Americas industrial and population growth, thousands in need of work just to survive in this

new country. Economic situations and society are the primary causes of gender inequality in

Americas society today.

Pay gap, is defined as ...relative difference in the average gross hourly earnings of

women and men within the economy as a whole. Its no secret that this exists and has existed

since the beginning of society. Women have never been paid the same as men and probably

never will. In colonial times, women did many jobs that today are considered household duties

but were never paid, unlike men who farmed and traded to gain an income. Women were denied

many jobs during the beginning of the 19th century except for writing and teaching. Factory and

domestic work finally became acceptable jobs for women in the early 19th century. The

Progressive Era from the 1890s-1920s became a time when working women began to be more

well-known, due to the thousands of immigrants who came to America looking for a promising

future. This promising future was soon discovered as false due to the unfair and long hours

women worked in unsafe factories. By the end of the 19th century, nearly 25-40% of jobs

belonged to non-white, immigrant women. As industries grew, more women began to gain
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employment, but still not being treated or paid the same as men. Women were only being paid

60% of what men were earning during this time. Many of the highest paying jobs in America

during the early 1900s were given to white, middle class women who had somewhat of an

education. Immigrant women were given the low paying factory jobs that proved to be very

dangerous because of working conditions and long hours.

Even to this day, women arent being paid the same as men. Yes, the pay gap has

improved over the centuries, it is still not even close to what it should be, equal. Hundreds of

thousands of women in America are doing the same job as men but still arent being paid the

same. According to AAUW.org, ...in 2015, women working full time in the United States

typically were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid, this isnt because women choose

lower paying jobs, its because of how society and the economy is set up. Of course this gap has

significantly changed since the 1970s because of more education and workforce opportunities

for women. As the pay gap slowly increases, one tenth of a percent each year, women arent

projected to have equal pay as men until 2059. How is it possible for two people to be doing the

same exact job but one makes nearly 30-40% more than the other?

Fox News brought an expert on to discuss gender inequality in economic and financial

situations. One news anchor brought up that the pay gap isn't a bad things and that women look

to marry more successful men to benefit them and depend on them in the years to come. The

expert made a good point, Women feel more secure and protected marrying men who are make

a lot so the social class is up there too. She also discusses why men make more than women and

the anchors stated, Women look to marry men who make more so they can stay home and spend

time off. This is terrible to hear because it isnt the womans fault that there is a pay gap. They
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shouldnt have to be dependent on a man for finances when they are capable of doing the exact

same job. Studies show that the most common reasons why marriages end in a divorce is because

of pay from jobs. Finances will put a stress on to any relationship, if women made equal pay,

many of these divorces due to financial trouble wouldnt occur. Marriage shouldnt be seen as a

way for women to gain financial security, marriage should be seen as a unity of two people who

love each other regardless of their financial situation.

Commercials are a great way of showing two different perspectives of the same event.

The first commercial clip is about a boy and a girl running. The girl ran first, running as any

child would. But when the boy ran, he flared his arms as if showing hor a girly girl would run.

The boy was trying to prove that girls run differently than boys, as if they were not the same.

After they both ran the director then asked how do you really run? The boy then started to run

normal and when the girl started to run she ran exactly like a boy. They most likely offended a

lot of girls in the first go around but the second showed the viewers how similar boys and girls

really are. The difference in the two actors was that we as a society have put stereotypes on how

females do things compared to men.

In the second commercial, Roominate which was a play set made for both boys and girls.

Outside the box it had both a girl and boy playing and building the houses.The funny thing was

that the pieces inside the box were girl colors.The reason they decided to do this was to try and

get more females into playing with blocks and have them become engineers and builders.

Lastly in the third commercial clips was Mythbusters, in this episode we watched it

showed us girls actually take more time than boys in throwing a perfect strike straight down the

middle. They set up a pitching station where they had boys and girls throw a perfect strike in a
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tiny box with both hands. The boys dominated with the stronger hand of everybody. When they

had them switch and throw witht the left hand there was almost nothing different just about the

same. But the one thing that was different was how many times the girls got it in the strike box

while guys kept missing it. This commercial also wanted to test how fast they could throw so

they brought in a softball play and a baseball player.when throwing the strike the guy threw

faster with the right hand but when they switched to the left the girl actually threw faster. This

showed us how girls can do anything guys can if not the same but better.

In the end men and women are still not equal mainly do to the wage gap and some social

problems relating the two.The commercial clips show how society plays a role in gender

inequality, showing how women in today's society are trying to do men jobs.
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Work Cited

1) http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/

2) http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm

3) https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/industry/6.htm