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Salena Roberts

Dr. Cassel

English 1201

30 April 2019

Gender Inequality

Close to 85% of women believe that reducing hours or taking substantial time away from

work will hurt their careers, but only 70% actually make that sacrifice (Young). In the mid-1900s

an act was introduced that would make it illegal to pay women less than men doing the same

kind and same amount of work as each other. But it did not get passed. Gender inequality has

been a growing issue and still continues to be. There is a lot of controversy and many things

associated with gender inequality like feminism tied to it and also gender roles. Even though

many have stated their opinions and facts, there is still great reasoning for why women and men

shouldn’t be majorly separated in every aspect.

Feminism is one of the most commonly used words in today’s society. Feminism is the

advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. A lot of American’s believe

in equality and favor it, but are not keen on feminism because they still fail to support feminist

political efforts (Young). They say it is because feminist “do not perceive gender inequality as a

serious problem”. That statement is relatable to many because they think that feminist are trying

to tear men down and are primarily only for women but that’s not the case. Feminism wasn’t

about only supporting women and bashing men. It is about lifting women up and making them

realize that they have a shot at everything men do and are just as good as them.

The first movement came out of the abolishment movement around the mid-nineteenth

century, where upper class white women noticed similarities in the limits placed on the black
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slaves and opposite women of color (Feminism). Women could not own property, sign a

contract, or even vote. Even though it was quite some time ago some of those things are still true.

Still so much back and forth because when congress passed the fifteenth amendment, in 1870, it

allowed for black men to vote, but not women. Which started up feminist and made them even

more disappointed. It wasn’t until 1920 when women got the right to vote with the 19th

amendment.

Figure 1 chart showing the women to men voting ratio

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Works Cited

"Feminism." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2017. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/PC3021900064/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=O

VIC&xid=7a522d38. Accessed 21 Apr. 2019.

Stoet, Gijsbert, and David C. Geary. "A simplified approach to measuring national gender

inequality." PLoS ONE, vol. 14, no. 1, 2019, p. e0205349. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A568199226/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=f

db923f2. Accessed 17 Apr. 2019.

Young, Cathy. "Speaking of Sex: The Denial of Gender Inequality." Reason, Apr. 1998, p. 62+.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A20468733/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=4f

680031. Accessed 17 Apr. 2019