Inequality of the sexes
Traditional gender roles are slowly fading out of existence with each year or even day that goes by. There are more women in the working world every single day and there are more women in positions of power than ever before. Still, the world we live in is not entirely perfect, and there are still gender biases in the majority of workplaces, whether they are conscious or not and there is even a bias within our own government.
It is not just in the working world within which women experience inequality. This inequality is prevalent in many aspects of the world that many people don’t think are an issue any longer. A big example of this is within the media, such as in tv, film and print media. For example, statistics have shown that for every one woman in movies, there are two point two four men, as shown by a study done by the Geena Davis Institute of 120 theatrical releases. This showed that less than a third of speaking or named characters were women. Not only that but there also exists a test called the Bechdel test, in which movies either pass or fail the test based on three main criteria; two women being present, the two women having a conversation and that that conversation is about something other than a man. As of April 2015, only 58% of films could pass this test, with the condition that the women conversing had to be named. This shows the disparity of the representation of women in media, especially in comparison to their male counterparts.
Another example of a place where there is a persistent gender inequality hits a little bit closer to home, namely in peoples homes. The gendered division of labour within a household is something that has never been entirely equal. At first, it was because of the gender roles that were present in society, the domestic labour was expected of the women and perhaps even female children to take care of as part of their gender roles. Despite the progress that has been made over time, it still isn’t entirely equal. From the British Social Attitudes Survey in 2013, it was found that while men did around eight hours of housework within a week while women did around thirteen hours a week. This shows the large disparity between the amount of domestic labour done between men and women.
Although these are only two examples of the gender inequality faced by women in the modern world, they clearly demonstrate the bias towards man within both past and modern society. Though it is a problem that we are gradually working to fix, there is no clear solution to this problem that we have been presented within this life. Perhaps one day in my lifetime, I will see a day in which everyone is truly equal. But until then, it is pertinent that we continue to push forward in our fight for equal rights for not just women but for all.
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