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Discrimination in Women Discrimination in gender is a reoccurring problem throughout the world that virtually all women have to go through at some point in their lives. Some women even experience gender discrimination throughout a lifetime. Wage and Job discrimination between men and women is also a major problem today which has been around for as long as we can remember, along with gender discrimination in different countries.
As you can expect, this kind of harsh discrimination causes many physiological problems for the women and every woman goes through their own stress and coping recess, some better than others. Although there is a great lack of progression in equality for women, Gender discrimination has come a long way and improved immensely on its long hard battle towards equality. Women can experience gender discrimination in different ways and in many different times in their life.
The way a child, teen, or mother is discriminated against are all very different and have their own set of problems and scenarios. Gender discrimination in children is most commonly seen when it comes to education. For example, in sub-Sahara Africa, only 17 percent of the girls are enrolled in secondary school. This little amount of girls in school can be extremely consequential to the economy of the country (“Keeping the Promise: 5 Benefits of Girls’ Secondary Education” 2) so that is a main factor as to why girls should be given the same education opportunities as men.
Another big factor is the fact that more educated women tend to be healthier, earn more income, have fewer children, and provide better health care and education to their children. All of these things eventually come together to help the overall well-being of all people and can, in most cases, help lift families out of poverty (“Keeping the Promise: 5 Benefits of Girls’ Secondary Education” 5). Adding onto this theory, May A. Rain states that, ” First, Education is a human right, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations convention on the Rights of the Child.
Second, girls’ education is a strategic development investment- evidence shows that countries with greater gender equality are more likely to have higher economic growth” (“Keeping the Promise: 5 Benefits of Girls’ Secondary Education” 8). That being said, it is crucial to ensure that girls and women around the world have the name exact chances as all men and boys because it will be extremely beneficial to all in the long run (“Keeping the Promise: 5 Benefits of Girls’ Secondary Education”14 ). Although many still do not understand this concept, May A.
Rain says that, ” Remarkable progress has been made towards achieving gender equality in education. Over the past three decades the ratio of girls to boys enrolled in school has risen drastically (“Keeping the Promise: 5 Benefits of Girls’ Secondary Education”17). So, many people are beginning to realize what must be done in order to better this world as a whole. Gender discrimination in teens is a bit different from gender discrimination in child marriage and premature parenthood, sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking, sexual and reproductive health and HIVE/AIDS (About Gender Equality and EUNICE).
Children are also discriminated against when it comes to forced labor, domestic work, child soldiers, camel Jockeys, begging, work on construction sited and plantations (About Gender Equality and EUNICE). Although these kinds of discrimination can be seen at virtually all stages for development in women, these are the ones most commonly seen in teens throughout the nation (About Gender Equality and EUNICE). EUNICE adds, ” Among the greatest threats to adolescent development are abuse, exploitation and violence, and the lack of vital knowledge about sexual and reproductive health, including HIVE/AIDS. About Gender Equality and EUNICE). ” That being said, there is a greater chance that teens will be subjected to this kind of abuse and discrimination because they have very little knowledge on the subject (About Gender Equality and EUNICE). Gender discrimination is also very common when it comes to motherhood and old age. Although laws have been made to protect pregnant women and mothers from coordination, especially on the Job, there are still many occurrences of this kind of discrimination (Discrimination Against Pregnant Women and New Mothers Is Not a Work-Life Balance Issue).
For example, “In Trapeze v. Hartford, Inc. , the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found an employer violated Title VII by refusing to consider a mother of two for promotion, based on the assumption that she would not be interested because the new position required extensive travel” (Discrimination Against Pregnant Women and New Mothers Is Not a Work-Life Balance Issue).
As you can see, gender discrimination when it comes to mothers generally involves bias and stereotyping of pregnant women and mothers (Discrimination Against Pregnant Women and New Mothers Is Not a Work-Life Balance Issue). This problem is not going away either. Diana Basks adds, “lawsuits filed by pregnant women and new mothers have increased dramatically over the past decade, and employees are prevailing far more frequently in these cases than in other types of employment discrimination cases” (Discrimination Against Pregnant Women and New Mothers Is Not a Work-Life Balance Issue).
Because this problem is o persistent in workplaces all around the world, many laws have been made, such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and more, to challenge unfair treatment at work and all have been successfully used to challenge unfair treatment at work (Discrimination Against Pregnant Women and New Mothers Is Not a Work-Life Balance Issue). Wage and Job discrimination also plays a big part when it comes to discrimination in women. On a global scale, it is proven that women cultivate more than half of all food that is grown, yet they get very little credit for all of the work they do.
In fact, any even go unpaid (Background on Discrimination Against Women). In many cases, the reasoning for this is that many societies cannot accept that there must be a change in “traditional” roles in order for their society to thrive as a whole (Background on Discrimination Against Women). One source says, “For many women, unpaid work in and for the household takes up the majority of their working hours, with much less time spent in remunerative employment. Even when they participate housework. Adding onto this, another source states, “When women work outside the household, they earn, on average, far less than men. They are also more likely to work in more precarious forms of employment with low earnings, little financial security and few or no social benefits. ” (Trends in work and employment. 55. ) That being said, the woman’s family also has to suffer and is negatively affected by this as well (Trends in work and employment. 56. ) According to officials, women are also more likely to work in low wage Jobs. One source says, “Approximately 39 percent of female wage and salary workers are paid low wages.
Even among women who were of prime working age ( Those between the ages of 25 and 45), 31 percent worked in Jobs that paid low wages. (Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work). The majority of the low- wage percent of females consists of young, less educated, and single women (Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work). Women also hold a great amount of the overall low-wage Jobs (59%) and they were still more likely to be low paid than male workers (Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work).
As you can expect, the little wages that women are given, based off of the fact that they are women can, in some cases, pull them into poverty. For example, ” Among all adult women who were aid low wages, 17 percent lived in poverty and 31 percent lived below the poverty level. ” (Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work). Of course, low wages do not necessarily relegate these woman to a life of living in poverty. In many cases, the woman may live with family members who earn a higher wage, increasing their total family income (Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work).
It is also proven that women are more so affected by the wage gap than men, and more specifically, single women (Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work). Kristin Mascara adds that, “The low-wage female workforce is a disproportionately young, less educated, and single” (“Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work”). The reasoning for his is that overall, women chose careers, for example, as librarians over plumbers, where plumbers are generally less educated but better paid (“Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work”).
Adding onto this, Kristin Mascara adds that , ” Women are underrepresented in science and math fields, which tend to lead to better paying careers. In spite of girls catching up to boys in taking college-level math and science courses in high school, only about two-fifths of science and engineering graduate students are women. ” (“Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work”). Although the wage gap between men and women is slowly closing up, women still make only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men which can be very frustrating for hard working woman around the world (“Women paid low wages: who they are and where they work”).
Gender discrimination is seen in all different forms and in many different ways around the world. Particularly in the U. S, you more so see gender discrimination in the workplace as well as in forms of sexual harassment (U. S Equal employment opportunity commission). Eeoc. Gob says, “Women continue to be passed over for Jobs and promotions for which they are qualified; to be paid less than men for equal work; based not on their abilities or their qualifications but on the fact that they are female. ” (U.
S Equal employment opportunity commission) For example, in 1999, nearly 24,000 sex discrimination complaints were filed in the U. S (U. S Equal employment opportunity commission). Eeoc. Gob says, ” Discrimination against women in the American workplace is very much alive and well. ” (U. S Equal employment opportunity commission). These kinds of discrimination affect all kinds f women around the U. S. They affect secretaries, saleswomen, prison guards, attorneys, factory workers, police officers, collage professors, and much, much, more (U.
S Equal employment opportunity commission). Discrimination in women and girls in developing countries, such as Afghanistan, is a devastating reality (Gender Discrimination: Why is it so bad and what can you do about it? ). Julie Mullions states that, ” When a boy is born in most developing countries, friends and relatives exclaim congratulations. A son means insurance. He will inherit his father’s property and get a Job to help support the family. When a girl is born, the action is very different” (Gender Discrimination: Why is it so bad and what can you do about it? . That being said, when there is barely enough food to survive, which is very common in developing countries, daughters become even more of a burden than they already are to the family (Gender Discrimination: Why is it so bad and what can you do about it? ). Julie Mullions also states that, ” Discrimination against girls and women in the developing world results in millions of individual tragedies, which add up to lost potential for entire countries. ” (Gender Discrimination: Why is it so bad and what can you do about it? ).
According to Eunice, nine million more girls than boys miss out on school very year in developing countries. While the boys go to school and get an education, the girl is stuck at home to do the large amount of housework, meaning they lose the opportunity to make something of themselves, as well as their country (Gender Discrimination: Why is it so bad and what can you do about it? ). Gender discrimination in the Indian Region is a very large problem today as well. A great problem when it comes to gender discrimination here would be sex selective abortions.
Researchers estimate that more than 500,000 girls are being lost annually wrought sex selective abortions, which is the abortion of female futures after sex determination. This elimination sometimes even occurs after the child is born (“Infanticide and sex-selective abortion”). Julie Mullions states that, ” The woman’s place is in the home, not in the world of men. In some parts of India, it’s traditional to greet a family with a newborn girl by saying, “The servant of your household has been born” (“Infanticide and sex-selective abortion”).
Due to this great amount of girls that are being aborted, seven out often babies born in India are male (“Infanticide and sex-selective abortion”). Julie Mullions adds that, ” Sex-selective abortion is the single most important issue in the next 50 years that India is going to face” (“Infanticide and sex-selective abortion”). Adding to this, In western Indian City, with a population of of 2 million people, 3,500 sex- determined abortions are carried out every year. And the gender ratio across India as dropped to an all-time low of 927 females to 1,000 males due to sex- based abortions.
The coping process with all of the stress that gender discrimination creates for women is not always easy. In fact, most research suggest that some people deal with Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”). Annie Or states that, ” Higher reports of discrimination have been found to be associated with higher odds of problem drinking and alcohol disorder” (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”). It has also been proven by researchers that there is a relationship between occupational stress and alcohol consumption and many of the women experience gender discrimination in the workplace. According to Annie Or, ” Like racial/ ethnic discrimination, gender discrimination has also been identified as a tresses, making stress and coping framework a plausible mechanism to health outcomes” (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”). Researchers also found that people who have reported discrimination, one out of four of those people were more likely to have had negative consequences in their life as a result of drinking” (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”).
Along with alcohol abuse, Gender discrimination is also closely related to both lifetime and recent hard drug abuse (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”). Annie Or states that, “There is a significant total effect of gender discrimination on lifetime hard drug use such that higher reports of gender discrimination are associated with higher odds for lifetime drug use” (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”).
The reasoning behind this is that gender discrimination is closely linked to stress which consequentially results in different situations of drug abuse (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”). Adding onto this theory, Annie Or states that, “Gender coordination would be positively associated with stress, which in turn would be positively associated with drug use” (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”). In conclusion, severe cases of gender discrimination in women can result in major health outcome that come with the abuse of drugs. “Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”). As well as abuse of drugs and alcohol, gender discrimination also causes many physiological imbalances such as depression, anxiety, and premenstrual symptoms (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”). Annie Or states hat, ” Despite progression in gender equality in the United States, gender discrimination remains a key determinant of woman’s health outcomes” (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”).
The reasoning for this is that as women experience the stress that comes with gender discrimination, the stresses cause emotional and physiological imbalances which can be extremely consequential to the woman. Adding into this theory, Annie Or says that, ” While women can experience discrimination as a result of may different characteristics, gender discrimination appears to independently impact women’s mental and hysterical health” (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”).
To show an example of the kind of stress gender discrimination brings upon women, researchers preformed a survey on women about discrimination. 50% of the women reported that their experiences of gender discrimination were “a little stressful” while over 30% reported that they were “stressful/ very stressful” (“Effects of Gender Discrimination and Reported Stress on Drug Use”). This Just comes to show Although many measures have been made towards equality for women, gender discrimination is still wildly tolerated throughout the world.
Progress has, on the other hand, been made when it comes to female education rates but advances have yet to be seen in equality in employment, politics, and social relations (“Women’s Rights”). Small Shadbush states that, ” We will not see sustainable progress unless we fix failures UN health systems and society so that girls and women enjoy equal access to health information and services, deduction, employment and political positions” (“Women’s Rights”).
Even after the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAR), many girls and omen still do not have equal opportunities as men. Adding to this, Small Shadbush states that, “Governments are not living up to their promise under the Women’s convention to protect women from discrimination and violence” (“Women’s Rights”). Woman’s rights has also not been observed as much as it should be in many countries so for that reason, there are still countless numbers of women all over the world who experience gender discrimination (“Women’s Rights”).
In the U. S and other countries around the world, many laws and acts have been passed in order to secure woman’s rights. For example, the EPA (Equal Pay Act) was eased to ensure that employers do not reduce wages of either sex because of their gender (“Women’s Rights”). Small Shadbush adds that, ” Much has changed since the enactment of the civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act, And other prohibitions against employment discrimination based on gender” (“Women’s Rights”).
Another example of certain acts being taken to lower gender discrimination would be in March 2000 when the federal government agreed to pay $508 million to a class of more than 1,1000 women who claims that the Voice of America and U. S Information Agency denied them Job openings because of their gender (“Women’s Rights”). Small Shadbush writes, “The EPA prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in payment of wages or benefits, where men and women perform work of similar skill, effort, and responsibility for he same employer under similar working conditions. (“Women’s Rights”). Measures have also been taken in other countries as well. For example, in India, a bill was passed that was intended to better protect women from sex crimes. Making these kinds of laws will in the end improve Woman’s overall security and health and encourage other countries to do the same. Gender discrimination today is nothing like it used to be years ago. For example, in the United States, in the sass’s, women had no access to higher education, could not work in a professional Job, and did not even have the right to vote (“The American Woman”).
William H. Chafe writes, ” Women in the past were disadvantaged from higher education. Even when women were encouraged to pursue higher education, they were assigned subjects that were less intellectual” (“The American Woman”). During the 19th century, woman began to gain more rights such as the right to vote, they began to become more accepted in collages with men, they were accepted into certain Jobs, and more. “The American Woman”). William H. Chafe adds, “Just a little more than half a century ago, the woman of America gained the vote.
At the time, many Women’s rights advocates believed that enactment of the nineteenth Amendment signaled a triumphant turning point in the struggle for sexual they gained a new sense of hope that they would soon be equal to men. It gave them a greater measure of freedom and independence that they had never experienced before and from then on, life for women in America has never been the same. (“The American Woman”) Gender discrimination has been a major problem for as long as we can remember ND will most likely be something that all women will have to deal with throughout all times in history.