Equality for Women Essay -- essays research papers

How would you like to earn about an extra million dollars? Is this hard to do? Then answer is no, all you have to do is be born male and graduate college. Throughout history women have strived for equality. The informal slogan of the Decade of Women became â€Å"Women do two-thirds of the world's work, receive 10 percent of the world's income and own 1 percent of the means of production† (Robbins, 354). Throughout the world the disparity of rights for women is immense. The inequalities between girls and boys are evident prior to children beginning elementary school. Girls are made aware that they are unequal to boys as soon as they start. Even different behaviors are acceptable for boys than for girls, for instance. Every time students are seated or lined up by gender, teachers are affirming that girls and boys should be treated differently. Girls are praised for being neat, quiet, and calm, whereas boys are encouraged to think independently, be active and speak up. Girls are socialized in schools to recognize popularity as being important and learn that educational performance and ability are not as important. "Girls in grades six and seven rate being popular and well-liked as more important than being perceived as competent or independent. Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to rank independence and competence as more important" (Bailey, 169). A permissive attitude towards sexual harassment is another way in which schools reinforce the socialization of girls as inferior. When schools ignore sexist, racist, homophobic, and violent interactions between students, they are giving tacit approval to such behaviors. We as a society taunt boys for throwing like a girl, or crying like a girl, which implies that being a girl is worse than being a boy. According to the American Association of University Women Report, "The clear message to both boys and girls is that girls are not worthy of respect and that appropriate behavior for boys includes exerting power over girls -- or over other, weaker boys" (Bailey, 173). "Because classrooms are microcosms of society, mirroring its strengths and ills alike, it follows that the normal socialization patterns of young children that often lead to distorted perceptions of gender roles are reflected in the classro... ...ns taking action to stop discrimination and violence against women. Work Cited Bailey, S. How Schools Shortchange Girls: The AAUW Report. New York, NY: Marlowe & Company. 1992. Henslin. Essentials of Sociology, 5th ed. Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Longman. 1995-2005. 266–272 Mann, Judy. The difference, Growing up Female in America, New York, New York., Warner Books, Inc. 1994. 1-12. Marshall, C.S. & Reihartz, J. Gender issues in the classroom. Clearinghouse, 1997. 333- 338. Massey, Garth. Readings for Sociology Forth Edition, New York, New York. W.W. Norton & Company, 2003. 231-237. McCormick, P. Are girls taught to fail? Chicago, IL. U.S. Catholic, 60, 1995. 38-42. Robbins, Richard H. Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, Allyn & Bacon Publishers, 1999. 354-355 Sullivan, Marianne. â€Å"Women's Poverty Deepens Amid Slow 2003 Recovery.† womensenews.org, 30 August 2004, 29 October 2004, [http://womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1968/context/archive] â€Å"Wage Gap Increases Between Women and Men, US Census Report.† Feminist.org. 2 September 2004. 28 October 2004. [http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=8622]