Gender Inequality
Nearly 100 years after women were given the right to vote, it is still evident that women and men are not viewed as equal. When women were granted the right to vote, it was thought that women would begin to become equal to men. Although society has made considerable progress, there is still a wide disparity between women and men in many aspects of their everyday lives.
As seen in Brady's "I Want a Wife", it is clear that some of the outrageous expectations placed on women by men have dissolved. Some of these include "if, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one" and "my wife will take the children and be solely responsible for them so I am left free". The piece also emphasizes how women are expected to take care of the children, maintain the house, keep a job, go to school all while being dominated by their husbands. As shown by Brady's essay, in the 1970s, husbands often held double standards. For example, Brady writes that wives are expected to listen to their husband's struggles and problems while husbands aren't ready to listen to the wives' issues.
Now expectations placed upon women are a bit less lenient but they are still in some aspects heavier than men; women are still expected to care for their family, keep a job and maintain the house. However, even in the workplace women aren't equal to men. There's a disparity between how much women and men are paid for the same job. In 2019, women made $0.79 for every $1 men earned.
Brady published her essay in a women's magazine possible to incite women to fight for their cause toward equality. It is common for women to take up society's expectations or inequality towards them without further thought. For example, in Brady's essays, the "wife" she describes most likely does the numerous tasks because she believes it's her responsibility to do so and that it is part for caring for her family. By inciting women, Brady encourages them to push for reform so that women can be equal.
Another reason why women and men are still viewed as unequal is possibly the numerous stereotypes that are still prominent in society. Stereotypes such as "women are bad drivers" or that "men are more productive" are used to justify the perceived inferiority of women to men. Even though many of these stereotypes have been proved wrong with research they continue to be rooted in society due to the inability to shift perspective. Perhaps they are also still widely distributed because it is a way for men to hold on to power and dominate women.
As seen in Brady's "I Want a Wife", it is clear that some of the outrageous expectations placed on women by men have dissolved. Some of these include "if, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one" and "my wife will take the children and be solely responsible for them so I am left free". The piece also emphasizes how women are expected to take care of the children, maintain the house, keep a job, go to school all while being dominated by their husbands. As shown by Brady's essay, in the 1970s, husbands often held double standards. For example, Brady writes that wives are expected to listen to their husband's struggles and problems while husbands aren't ready to listen to the wives' issues.
Now expectations placed upon women are a bit less lenient but they are still in some aspects heavier than men; women are still expected to care for their family, keep a job and maintain the house. However, even in the workplace women aren't equal to men. There's a disparity between how much women and men are paid for the same job. In 2019, women made $0.79 for every $1 men earned.
Brady published her essay in a women's magazine possible to incite women to fight for their cause toward equality. It is common for women to take up society's expectations or inequality towards them without further thought. For example, in Brady's essays, the "wife" she describes most likely does the numerous tasks because she believes it's her responsibility to do so and that it is part for caring for her family. By inciting women, Brady encourages them to push for reform so that women can be equal.
Another reason why women and men are still viewed as unequal is possibly the numerous stereotypes that are still prominent in society. Stereotypes such as "women are bad drivers" or that "men are more productive" are used to justify the perceived inferiority of women to men. Even though many of these stereotypes have been proved wrong with research they continue to be rooted in society due to the inability to shift perspective. Perhaps they are also still widely distributed because it is a way for men to hold on to power and dominate women.
Comments
Post a Comment