Gender Equity

Gender Equity
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 Gender Equity What Is It And How You Can Help

Global Goal Link:  https://www.globalgoals.org/5-gender-equality

 

 

Did you know that no country in the world has achieved gender equality? Equality means “the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.” Equality doesn’t mean more than or wanting to be treated better then. In this article I will address what is not equal for men and women, some things may surprise you. I will also discuss targets and how you can help reach them. 

 

Obviously the biggest goal is to end discrimination against all women and girls, then to end discrimination in all categories. Even though this is not feasible overnight there are small goals that we can take to get there. We can do things like educate ourselves on the major problems that women face. Things such as violence and exploitation, eliminating forced marriages and unequal pay etc. 

 

“I personally feel strongly on this topic, because as a woman it scares me that I could have the same if not better qualification for a job as a man. Then the man would likely get the job or get paid more for doing.” said by a 17 year old high school student. It is sad that as women grow up we are taught that men get paid more and that’s ok. Studies show that the average man in America gets paid $55,380 per year. Whereas the average woman makes $45,604 per year that’s $10,000 dollars less than men.  Now in the same work field they might get paid the same but there are subtle things like women have to take sick leave when carrying a child and don’t get paid as much just to name one thing. Sometimes you actually have a measurable pay gap between men and women with the same qualifications and job status.

 

Now this next thing I will be discussing does not seem like a big deal but I will go into detail on why it does more than just hurt women’s feelings. In addition to the very concrete and measurable pay gap difference between men and women, there are many underlying attitudes and mindsets that affect the unequal perception of men and women. Mansplaining  “the explanation of something by a man, typically to a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing.” Watch this short video explaining mansplaining. 

 

 

 

This is a simple and overexerted example of mansplaining but still very educational .  

Mansplaining is serious especially in the work field when a woman can say something then a man will say the exact same thing and the man will get credit. I feel like there is a huge misconception that mansplaining just hurts women’s feelings. When that is not the case it’s like if a woman came up to a man and said “hi” then the man said “hello is what you really meant right”.  Mansplaing is very belittling to women because men assume that women don’t understand simple because they are women. A good solution to this problem would be simply waiting for her to ask can you explain this to me just like you would do with anyone else. 

 

There is another huge problem for women which is the pink tax. Pink  tax is easy to understand. It is basically when women get charged more for products or services. For a simple example a pack of twelve triple blade razors marketed towards men is $1.89, for women a pack of four is $2.99 that’s a whole dollar more for less. I know it is hard to believe but this is the unfortunate truth. 

This image is just the tip of the iceberg of what women face in day to day life when shopping. We also have to consider the added cost of sanitary needs every month. The average woman spends 60 dollars per year on menstrual products. I know that some of these things seem silly like why are women complaining it’s only a dollar. But think about it, if a woman goes to a store and buys 100 things that’s 100 bucks a man would not have to pay.  

 

Equality is a hard concept for some  so I hope this article helped people understand that equal means the same not above. It’s also important to understand the difference between equality and equity. Equity means the quality of being fair or impartial.  I also hope that everyone takes away a few ways to help and educate people on the inequality of gender. To wrap up this article I would like to leave you with two questions. How are you affected by gender equality? How can you help move in the right direction of equality?

 

Fore more information on how you can act towards the greater social justice of gender equality. Below you will see some links, petitions and sites that can help!

 

https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5