By snoadmin
Yesterday, Cal State Long Beach students held events for Equal Pay Day, bringing awareness to the fact that women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar men make. The event gives us a chance to consider how far gender equality has come, and how far it has left to go.
First, we assert that women should be paid the same as men for the same work. It seems obvious that discrimination should not occur due to race, sex, disability or any other traits that people are born with. True, just 100 years ago, women lived in a world where they faced blatant discrimination at every level and had very little freedom. Women spent their days working around the house while their husbands went to work.
However, thanks to generations of activists, women have made leaps and bounds: According to USA Today, women are now earning the majority of all higher education degrees, from Bachelor of Arts to doctorate. Women have ascended to serve in some high governmental and corporate leadership positions, and middle and upper class women have a wider variety of choices for their lives.
So yes, one could argue that men have more experience in the workforce, and are therefore more competent, but women have accelerated their representation in society and the workforce. It’s time for the U.S. to conform to today’s day and age by realizing that women are just as competent. What better time to continue this progress than now?
Because of how far women have come, some young people scoff at the idea of feminist activism, thinking we live in a world where women are successful in school, can vote, drive and work. So we have gender equality, and feminists’ job is over, right? Wrong. Despite these advances, women around the world are still subject to gender-based violence, earn less money, own less property and are woefully underrepresented in almost every leadership position.
In the U.S., women face sexual violence and domestic abuse at alarming rates, and everyday gender discrimination has taken on subtler forms: women are expected to conform to strict guidelines of beauty and uphold an impossible sets of standards; they must be sexy but chaste, career-minded but also family-focused and hardworking but nonthreatening to men. One step outside the line can label a young woman a slut or prude, bitch or bimbo.
In the professional and governmental world, women are still underrepresented: According to the Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, in 2007, women held just 15 percent of board positions among USA Fortune 500 companies, and from 1945 to 2007, the percentage of women in parliament worldwide has failed to ever reach 20 percent.
Even the United Nations lacks in women representation. Since 2003, the UN agency with the highest representation of women is the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), set at 35 percent. Furthermore, since its founding date in 1946, the UN has had eight Secretary Generals, zero of which have been women.
It’s not surprising the U.S. still holds such hushed, demeaning beliefs regarding women’s overall proficiency. In 1979, The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) treaty, which establishes a set of minimum expectations women are able to hold governments responsible for. Two years later, in 1981, the treaty was put into action. According to the Penguin Atlas of Women, “Goverments that ratify CEDAW are obliged to develop and implement policies and laws to eliminate discrimination against women within their country.” All of the countries in the world besides for eight have signed and ratified the treaty. The U.S. is among two that signed the treaty, but did not ratify it.
The U.S. needs to look at things individualistically, rather than thinking in stereotypical, traditional terms of which gender is more qualified or skilled. Who’s to say women wouldn’t be able to excel if given the chance?
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.
