Introduction
The problem of equality between men and women in the United States has been there since ancient times. After the Second World War, the panel of people who came together to find solutions the problems that resulted from the war was made up of men only (Torild 37). Efforts have been made to promote gender equality in the US. Legislations such as Title IV and allowing women to vote and join the military have enhanced equality. While some of the efforts and interventions by the government have enhanced equality between the men and women, certain social, cultural and structural challenges inhibit full achievement of gender equality. There are no equal rights for men and women in the United States despite the fact that the citizens advocate it. Equality challenges are manifest in the workplace, families, political and corporate leadership and reproductive rights.Discussion
In the United States, women are discriminated against in terms of employment. Majority of the employers in the United States would prefer employing men than women. This is because of the perception that women are generally weak. Women in the United States have been mainly preferred for the positions of secretaries, teachers, and librarian. In the case where an engineer or a doctor is required to be hired a man would be chosen (Robert and Bettina 1). The employers in the United States prefer men employees to women employees because women have other inevitable activities like going for maternity leave. Employers view this as a disadvantage to them since it affects the productivity of the company in the sense that it will take some time for the women to come back (Torild 40). At the same time, the employees who are mothers have been found to have less attention in the workplace which also reduces their productivity in the workplace.
There are no equal rights for women and men in the United States in the sense that women are still discriminated against in terms of leadership (Torild 40). Men hold majority of the positions in the congress. According to Torild (51), women only occupy less than 7% of board positions in the Fortune Companies. Politically, America has never had a female president or vice president. This discrimination cuts across all states because voters have been found to prefer electing a man to a particular position than a woman. Men have been assumed to be better leaders than men. This is because women are viewed as incapable of leadership. This is wrong because in some cases women have been given leadership positions and have even performed better than men (Torild 50).
Inequality between men and women in the United States has been observed in the families during allocation of chores. The manner in which household responsibilities are shared between a man and his wife does not border equality (Roberta, 34). Majority of the household chores have been left aside for women. These duties include taking care of children, preparing food and housekeeping. These according to men are easy work meant for the weaker sex. In the real sense, these household tasks are complicated and need to be shared.
Women have also been discriminated against in terms of payment. Despite the fact that Equal Pay Act exist in the laws of United States majority of the employers discriminate against women in terms of payment such that a man would be paid more than a women holding the same position (Torild 52). The wage gap is still manifest in the US work place. This is because of the perception that men are more productive than women in the workplace Women have also been discriminated against in terms of service such that a man would be served efficiently and faster in different offices than women. While more women hold degrees in America, they are the most poor, in terms of numbers, because of the inequalities in the economic sphere.
Women are not treated equally as men because they lack reproductive rights. Feminists, human right activists, policy makers, judicial and legislative systems have had divergent views on women and the issue of reproductive rights (Roberta and Bettina, 23). The universal declaration on human rights and the American supreme law recognize the fundamental human rights. The rights advance human dignity, ability to chart a self-determination path and be free from any discrimination or abuse. Freedom from a coerced reproduction makes the process a fundamental human right. Every person should have and exercise reproductive in terms of timing, intervals, and number of births. The constitution and UN the declaration, therefore, oblige the government to protect the reproductive freedom at any time. However, women suffer since many men view reproduction as not a pure women issue. They argue that the issue concerns both women and men since reproduction requires participation either directly or indirectly of both genders. This argument is however vague and has no basis. Women should be free just as men to determine their reproductive rights, when to give birth and determine the number of children to bear. Freedom of women and their equality with men is curtailed since the clamor for reproductive rights excites not only the feminists and the female in the civil society, but also the political class. The political class that is primarily male-dominated makes laws that in turn affect the reproductive rights policies and health services. They also influence the allocation of resources to promote a given reproductive agenda of the government such as population control. For example, the Hobby Lobby Case attempts to ‘revise’ Obamacare, a law that generated a lot of political heat during its debate, passage and implementation. Reproductive rights debates should be encouraged and go on unabated. However, the emerging issues such as Supreme Court case on Hobby Lobby attempt to connect the issue of reproduction with the religion and gender. The attempts to relate reproductive rights and religion somewhat negate the concept of secular law, equality and respect for women.Conclusion
Equality challenges exist in the USA because of the structural challenges that affect implementation of anti-discrimination laws such as Title IV Act. Despite the fact that the equal rights amendment Act was accepted it has been half way ratified. This is because some of the organization in some of the states in the United States declined to equal rights between women and men in the United States existed (Robert and Bettina 1). This is because the equal rights amendment act calls for indiscrimination against women in one way, or another. The amendment also empowers women so as to ensure equal rights for men and women. The challenges call for efficient administering of the affirmative action laws and policies and full enforcement of the laws that promote equality in the society.
Works cited
Torild, Skard. How Were the Equal Rights of Women and Men Included in the Charter of the
United Nations? NY: Forum for Development Studies. 2008.
Roberta W. Francis and Bettina Hager. Why we need equal rights amendments. Washington: National Council of Women’s Organizations. 2013
