The Gap

For centuries, women have been considered the inferior sex under the shadow of male dominance. Any American history class can tell you that: initially, women were limited to operating within the domestic sphere, waiting hand and foot on men, and, steadily, began to fight for their individual rights, most notably starting at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Certainly, the gender slowly moved out from under the shadow and established many rights no matter how basic they were (e.g. suffrage, admission into the military, etc.). With time, more girls received the same education as boys and eventually adopted into workplaces.

Yet, a pronounced gap still remains between the genders despite the long-lasting fight for equality. Even in 2018, women are still looked down for no substantial reasons. The most apparent indicator of this inequality is the prominent wage gap. Overall, women only earn 79% of what men do. Even if men and women’s incomes were compared by career or race or education or other aspects, a significant gap still exists as shown by the graphs below and above. However, discrimination is also prevalent in the workplace and beyond it. This degradation of women is caused by some men’s beliefs that women remain inferior, weak, and incapable. The results run on A clear example is the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault, including even rape, in many workplaces as well as everywhere else. Recently, many Hollywood stars have opened up about sexual harassment in the business as well as outside of it. Stars from Oprah to Madonna have shared their experiences with being sexually abused. To further increase awareness about the issue, most if not all the celebrities that attended the Golden Globes wore black to make a statement and show that change must be implemented.

Furthermore, we need to continue to make these steps towards equality for women since inequality does still exist everywhere from workplaces to homes. All of us need to face this problem head on by speaking up to increase awareness of the unequal society we live in and talk about the necessary steps to decrease the gaps. The Fearless Girl statue in New York exemplifies this: the new generations of women need to begin to face the bull (aka male dominance) head on with no fear. Otherwise, women will always be lagging behind.