Media Project

Besem Etta-Ashu

Media Project

December 4, 2019

GENDER EQUALITY

The social movement that I will be addressing in my post is Gender Equality. Gender Equality is a very important topic that I am incredibly interested in because I am a black female who is being affected by the wage gap between a male and a female salary. When it comes to gender equality, it is no doubt that the amount of money being distributed amongst genders is not equal, yet each gender is expected to complete the same tasks. For example, male mechanics are paid a median wage of $50,027 while female mechanics are paid only $31,754. There is a difference of over $18,273 between a male mechanic's salary from a female mechanic's salary. Over 63.5% of this occupation are females who are violated off their rights to rightful get paid what they deserved and worked hard for.

The amount of hours completed by each gender is the same yet the salary is not. 

Why do women only earn 94 cents from every dollar a man makes? Why are women expected to work the hours like men but get paid less than men? How would men feel if they get paid the 94 cents while women get paid the entire dollar? These are series of questions that have been a continuous debate for several years regarding the wage gap. Females represent more than half of the world's population so that means more than half of the world's success and potential is accomplished by women or the female gender.

The movement for gender equality began several years ago and this movement is still going on today. This movement first began in the 19th into the 20th century but in the form of women's right to vote. Back then in the 19th century, women did not have much of a right to anything. They were under the control of males and could not do anything without the permission or supervision of male authority. Gradually as the years began to pass, women began creating movements and fighting for their rights to be provided the same opportunities as men. In 1995, Madeleine Albright became the first female secretary of the state and in 2007 Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House. In order to be given the recognition in which women deserve or the rights they solely fought for, women had to work ten times harder compared to men. Finally, in 2012 the Paycheck Fairness Act was passed. This Act's main purpose was to prevent gender discrimination in the workplace but unfortunately was not accepted as an official Act or law. Although there are still people who are against gender equality mostly the superior males in power, women are constantly fighting every day and proving their worth and what we are capable of doing. For example, women have also begun running for the Presidential position such as Hilary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and several other women. This is an act of gender equality movement because women are not supposed to have power in the White House or even think of running for such high political powers as Presidential powers.

Nobody ever expected a black man to one day become the President of the United States, so one day there surely will be a female president. The process of the United States finally having the first female President is definitely going to take some time just like it took us several years before we had our first black president, President Barack Obama, but the day will soon come for our first female president. One day women will finally be able to receive the entire dollar instead of the 94 cents from a dollar and receive full recognition for the work they have done.

Work Cited:

Kiersz, Andy. “30 Jobs in the US Where Men Still Earn Wildly Higher Wages than Women.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 7 Mar. 2019, www.businessinsider.com/gender-pay-gap-jobs-2019-3.

Burkett, Elinor. “Women's Rights Movement.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 13 Feb. 2019, www.britannica.com/event/womens-movement.

Salam, Maya. “The 6 Women Running for President Have Answers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 June 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/us/elections/female-candidates-president.html.