What is gender bias and inequality? What is its impact on people?

Why should
organizations such as AAUW continue to work to change its practice?

Ever since we were kids, boys and girls have always been stereotyped and categorized,
though as children it was always playful. Everyone remembers that little rhyme, Girls rule and
boys drool. But even so, those playful games and rhymes seemed to have intertwined
functionally into our working society.Though I can only theorize based on my limited
knowledge, that little kiddie rhyme sounds awfully familiar to todays gender bias and inequality
issue.
Before this topic can be explored further, there has to be a firm understanding on the
definition of gender bias and inequality. Well, what is gender bias and inequality? Simply put, it
is when one group is more or less favored based solely on their gender. The key thing to
remember is: the person or persons is being treated differently for no reason other than the
gender group they identify in.
Now that there is a clearer understanding on the definition of gender bias and inequality,
we can focus on the issues regarding biases and inequalities thats prevalent in society today. The
workforce is one of the many areas where bias and inequality standards are actively in practice.
For instance, according to Intrahealth, Men and women are concentrated in different jobs and at
different levels in the health sector, with women in fewer jobs and at lower levels. This points to
unequal opportunities for men and women and an associated wage differential. A great example
for that instance is a stereotype society is all too familiar with: the female secretary or nurse
working for the male CEO or doctor. The issue even goes further into which health workers who
experience work-family conflict, have no support with family-friendly policies to help alleviate
it. For instance: there are no official breaks for breastfeeding mothers, no official child care
leave, only four days of paternity leave for fathers and the list goes on.
There are plenty of layers of inequality that go outside the workforce to peel and debate
on, one of which is my next topic-- gender bias and inequality through stereotypes in society.
The issues of inequality in genders go beyond the workforce. One that's been in place for
centuries and everyone is guilty of at one point is how men are looked down on when showing
any form of being feminine in the media, because men are expected to always be tough or
manly. And another is how women tend to always be shown as flawless and beautiful through
magazines and advertisements, and are always portrayed and expected to be dainty and
delicate. The media plays a big role regarding gender bias and inequality and is one of the
many factors why children at such young ages start to feel the insecurity and shame kids
shouldnt even know of yet.
Fortunately, there has been a great deal of awareness concerning these issues which
people are continually trying to change, like the feminists movement which stands for a great
cause and is fighting to make a difference. But, often times the methods of "fighting" becomes
jaded and wrong. Slurs are being used, judgement with no bases, bashing and name-calling. The
fight for what's right starts being fought in the wrong way. This doesnt apply to all activists and
feminists, but in the times that they do, theyre practically fighting for the wrong cause and go
against everything feminism and equality is all about. Often, the term feminism is used in the
way that only focuses primarily on women, rather than both women and men. According to
Merriam Webster, the definition of feminism is, the theory of the political, economic, and social
equality of the sexes. Though this definition states equality for all genders, many people who
call themselves feminist, only fight for one side which defeats the purpose of what equality is.
Though it is important to spread awareness of the unequal and wrongful treatment to women, it
is also important not to discriminate the other gender while doing so. Some may argue that
women have more bias and unequal treatment against them which may be true, but we have to
always remember what the main issue is-- fixing the problems of gender bias and inequality as a
whole. There should be no one sided argument, it should be a group effort to make all people
from whatever gender group or culture feel equally respected and that is achieved through
mutual respect throughout the entire process of the fight for equality.
Thankfully, we have organizations such as AAUW, to help fight against gender
discrimination and gender bias inequality. We should strive to make a better equal society for
every person no matter gender, race or sexualality, and work to make our society a place that
makes every person feel comfortable and equal. We are all humans of different background, but
still humans. So fight for that, as a feminist or whatever type of activist, just remember, in the
end, you are fighting for humanity."