Would You Rather Be Born a Woman or Man in Today’s Society?

Amanda Cauley

CC103

March 31, 2015

Would you rather be born a woman or man in today’s society?  What would make your experience different depending on your gender?  Or would it be the same?

In todays society the experience of being born a man or a woman would not be the same. Gender inequality is still evident in today’s society; particularly there is a lot of discrimination against the female gender. Therefore your gender makes an impact on the life one can live.  Due to this discrimination against the female gender, I would rather be born a man in today’s society.

        Throughout many decades women have been struggling to be equal to men, both at home and in the work place. Women have come a long way and are certainly fighting to change gender equality in todays society. They have become important in life from birth, and still society continues to push these gender roles. Gender roles can be as simple as your babies name; it’s based off of if your child is a boy or girl.  Gender roles play a part in the toys a child can play with, or the color of the nursery that the child will be in. These gender roles tend to lead to a gender equality problem in our society. The treatment of the male gender is very different from that of the female. For instance, many people don't believe that women belong in high-powered positions. Many men believe that women aren't aggressive enough and strong enough to handle the sometimes-high pressure that comes with some positions. In fact, women are less likely to hold managerial or supervisory positions, and when they do, their positions carry less authority. In addition, only 38 percent of women are managers of business ("The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Spring 2015)").  Many people believe that women are better off taking the traditional gender role and staying home to take care of the family and household chores. This belief against women is unfair and unfit to women who are looking for jobs to support their families in the work force. There is a gender wage gap between men and women. In fact, women still make only about 77% of what men earn full time work.  On average, full-time working women earn just 77 cents for every dollar a man earns ("Did You Know That Women Are Still Paid Less Than Men?"). This significant gap is important because it means that women are bringing home less money each day. The less money they have, the have less for everyday needs of their families and hardly anything can be saved. A 2012 study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that, while the pay gap varied by occupation, “Women’s median earnings are lower than men’s in nearly all occupations, whether they work in occupations predominantly done by women, occupations predominantly done by men, or occupations with a more even mix of men and women” ("The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Spring 2015)"). This shows that women face a gap in pay in every occupation opportunities. Overall they are paid less than men in female-dominated, gender-balanced, and male-dominated occupations.