Gender inequality has been a steady issue for as long as we can remember. It is the most widely talked about topic within the business industry, and it is a national known fact that women are not paid equally to men. In a video on Good4Utah, a reporter brings to our attention the controversy created by a bake sale held by Utah High School. The school’s Young Democrats Club held a bake sale, where they sold cookies to men for one dollar and to women for seventy-seven cents. This controversial difference in price was to represent the fact that for every dollar a man makes, a woman makes only seventy-seven cents. The hegemonic monetary difference among men and women is a growing concern among society, and feminists are working harder than ever to even out the wage difference, and to eliminate this androcentric gaze.
Probably the most frustrating part of the video was when the students who were not a part of this club were given the chance to speak out, and one young man took his claim to fame by saying, “I believe in what they’re doing, I believe in their standing for a cause, but I just don’t believe the statistics they are using are correct. I would love to have a debate with them, about what they believe in.” It is ignorance such as this among young adults today which is furthering the issue of misogyny.
The fight for equal women’s right has been an ongoing process since mid-nineteenth century. First-wave feminists focused their attention on voting rights, second wave feminists focused on sexuality. The second wave took place from 1960-1990s, and the movement’s energy was very much focused on getting the Equal Rights Amendment passed, which would ensure the rights of social equality among the sexes. Following that, the third wave of feminism began in 1990’s and is still ongoing. The wave focuses its attention on the destabilization of terms such as heternormativity (Rampton, M).
Waves of feminism are very important for today’s society, however there are still members of society who believe that being a feminist has a negative connotation, and that men who are feminists are not ‘manly’. It is important in society for clubs such as the Young Democrat’s Club of Utah High School to continue to get the word out there about the continuous gender polarization that so clearly still exists today. Although there has most definitely been a noticeable decrease in certain polarities among genders, it is not good enough.
Not only is there misogyny among the business world, however it is very present within the media. It can be argued that the media is a very patriarchal system, where too often are women portrayed as objects, rather than subjects. The oversexualisation of women in advertisements and television shows only continues to poison the brains of viewers. With the climbing amount of young children focused on the media, they are growing up believing that women are nothing more than a sexual object. Successful, athletic women are shown on magazine covers with nothing cover their bodies except for their hands over their breasts, and people pass by, glance at the cover and have no understanding of why they are on the cover, they just notice that it is an attractive, naked female. “Sex sells” is a widely used excuse for using nudity to sell beer or Axe. What makes all of this worse is the fact that men, although occasionally nude or topless, are rarely shown in the same sexualized light as females.
I am not saying that men do not have the same issue, just that women face this issue in a greater light than men. Women are paid less because they are more often “interrupted” from their jobs due to children, or because they do not have as high of a degree as a man. These are not reasons, they are excuses. The business world is one that is very patriarchal, and the fact that women are being stripped from their rights to be paid equally is a growing concern, which needs to be put to an end before it can get worse. The world needs more Young Democrat’s Clubs, more awareness, and more people need to admit to and accept this polarity between male and female pay. However, it is easy to say that they will be more awareness, what truly needs to happen is for people to step up and work harder than ever to ensure this issue is evened out once and for all. It is a necessity to ensure that our voices are heard, for the society we live in is slowly progressing, and we need to be the society that changes the world for the better for future generations to come.
Thanks for reading,
Carlisle, R. (2015, March 17). Gender equality bake sale causes stir at Utah high school. Retrieved April 8, 2015, from http://www.good4utah.com/story/d/story/gender-equality-bake-sale-causes-stir-at-utah-high/10246/0gE6cCkPA0mvNkLZEjyO4Q
Rampton, M. (2015, October 23). The Three Waves of Feminism. Retrieved April 8, 2015, from http://www.pacificu.edu/about-us/news-events/three-waves-feminism