Social equality in the society is a state whereby, all people living in a society are of the same status but only in aspects. Socially, the term equality will apply to rights provided by law such as freedom of speech, assembly, right to security and to own property. It also defines the parameters of access to education, healthcare and other social amenities. Social equality is defined more by the social equality rather than the economic equality. In a perfect society, equality is an ideal situation that does not exist because of the capitalistic system that is adopted by most economies. Social equality was later referred to as ‘death of class’ (Healy, 2009).
Since it was passed as a rule that women work away from their homes, life at the workplace has turned into a serious dilemma with women getting paid much less and receiving promotions less often than their male counterparts. They have also been treated less professionally than males in the same position at work. Over 40 years ago, the first idea towards female empowerment was hatched which led to the inspiring of an entire generation of women to reject stand up against oppression and sexist ideologies.
In the 1970s, just two percent of executives were of the female gender, but today, more than 52 percent of the middle management leaders are female. Great strides are being made toward eradicating the generations’ long mentality of oppressing women, and there is progress being made in the right direction. In the 1980s- 1990s, differences in female and male salaries in the workplace, narrowed tremendously and saw more women graduating from colleges than men in the 21st century. In the past, it was argued that women chose less demanding jobs than men or were less ambitious than men, hence chose careers such as secretarial jobs thus received less pay. However, more women are graduating and holding middle management positions in companies with their eyes on promotions. So all in all, we can say that the main engine driving women toward fighting harder for equality is the fact that ambition is no longer a male trait in the society (Lyonette & Scott, 2010).
With the current rate of women graduating from college, the workforce will now have more females in leadership positions and will become the future of the workforce. Logical employers should adopt the women into corporate offices. Again, discrimination in the 1970s saw corporate America spent over $700 million in damages within a period of 10years. Women reported being talked to or touched in an unprofessional manner.
The history of the plight of women is quite fascinating in their search for equality, spanning over 40 years during world war two. The point that solidified their ground and proved their seriousness came in 1963 when The Feminine Mystique was published. It was credited with pioneering the feminism concept in America. Betty Friden authored the book and described what at the time was called ‘the problem with no name’ which truly much spoke about the troubles that women had to endure. At the time, women were split between those wanting to join corporate America and those just willing to remain as mothers and housewives. The book inspired millions of women to either get a job or better yet, get an education first then a job later. Congress, in the same year, passed the Equal Pay Act which prohibited all employers from discriminating against sex when it came to payment. Traditionalists fought this idea, but women kept joining the workforce in large numbers every year.
Inequality within the society is conventionalized as the difference in access to scarce resources. In the 20th century, income, power and prestige were the key resources that drove the society. Access to the said resources raises the issue of inequality since it is measured by how much control the person has to the said resource. To have some level of command to the resource, then a person has to have some level of income. The reason to this is just pragmatic. Political inequality is in the modern day and age a hindrance to democracy according to Professor Robert Dahl. All thinkers except for Aristotle and Neitzsche believe in freedom and equality for all. According to Neitzsche, for people to develop excellence, there should not be any form of equality whatsoever. On the other hand, people like Marx and Rousseau hate inequalities.
The difference between these two sets of people is the fact that the previous are more rightist thinkers while the latter are more leftist thinkers. Leftist thinkers argue that freedom allows people to achieve higher goals in life and for that to happen, society has to create conditions for individuals. As most companies see pregnant women as liabilities, they tend to discriminate against them for the simple notion that the child will take precedence over the job. They feel the need to replace absentee employees even when they on maternity leave. With the rise in health costs, employers will be reluctant to hire more women into their companies and hence the increase in law suits which exceeded an amount of $300 million. With time, discrimination is being flunked out of the system as people are getting to appreciate the value of women in the society and realizing how much they contribute towards the growth of the company. With the decline in sexist thinking, failure in the corporate sector will not be attributed to the number of female employees but to the overall weak performance of the entire team.
Empowered women in the society greatly contribute to the growth and productivity of families and generally improve prospects for generations to come. Gender equality in particular is acknowledged as being a key to achieving the ‘Millennium Development Goals.’ Yet, discrimination against the feminine gender, including gender-based violence, reproductive health imbalance as well as harmful traditional practices like F.G.M has been persistent in the society for decades. Women and girls in general have had to endure many atrocities during humanitarian emergencies and more so during armed conflicts. The United Nations Population Fund has been fighting for women’s rights for more than 30 years and has experienced tremendous progress in creating awareness and allowing women to follow their dreams (Ridgeway, 2011).
Women have failed on the other hand, to contribute to the research carried out in the workplace. They probably do so to avoid rubbing their superiors the wrong way and risk losing their jobs. Another reason why the women will opt not to speak out against this vice is because most believe everyone in the corporate organization is on a level playing field (Tembon, 2008). Men and women are all treated equally and face the same challenges in the company. This is hardly the case. On the corporate front, men and women will continue to be treated differently until women choose to open up.
Conflict theories best explains gender inequality in the present society. It suggests that inequality is a prime source of conflict in the modern society. Marxism is more concerned about economic inequality in society; how the owners of the means of production exploit workers. Karl Marx argues that all social change occurring in the history of the world is attributed to class struggle. He hardly speaks about gender inequality. Neo-Marxism theory can help explain gender inequality. It is much less determinist mostly about the outcomes but the total transformation of the system. Culture had it that the woman was to be left to take care of the family at home while the man was to find work and provide shelter and food for the family (Scott & Lyonette, 2011). However, in the modern society, the woman has taken a more active role in providing for the family.
In conclusion, gender inequality has been around for many years but, as people embrace modernity, they realize that as the woman becomes empowered, then she becomes motivated to work just as hard as their male counterparts. Statistics show that in some countries, the number of human resource managers who are women exceeds the one for men. This shows an inevitable turnaround that has already begun. Most African communities where gender discrimination and male chauvinism was dominant have made big strides, moving away from this.In the next ten years, gender inequality will be a thing of the past.
References
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