Sexism In Women

When the United States was formed in 1776, women were treated as mere second-class citizens. They could not earn wages or own property until 1900 and they could not vote until 1920 (“Women’s Rights Timeline”). To earn these rights, women had to struggle for years upon years against the stubborn sexism of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Now that women have these rights, however, many people believe that the fight is over; that men and women are finally equal. Sadly, that is simply not the truth. While the sexism of today is less pronounced and less severe than that of previous generations, it is still here and it still needs to be eradicated. Until that happens, both men and women alike will be held back from achieving their …show more content…
Today, women only hold about 25% of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) jobs despite the fact that opportunities for women have increased dramatically in recent years (“Women in STEM”). There is much debate on the cause of this underrepresentation, but people generally agree that it is at least partially due to women simply not being interested in these fields. What causes this disinterest? Is it human nature, or is it something more? A report by the AAUW Educational Foundation suggests that “children—and girls especially—develop beliefs that they cannot pursue particular occupations because they perceive them as inappropriate for their gender” (“Why So Few?”). Later in that same report, they also assert that “Two stereotypes are prevalent: girls are not as good as boys in math, and scientific work is better suited to boys and men” (“Why So Few?”). If people believe that they cannot go into certain careers because they believe them to be inappropriate for their gender and people also believe that women are not suited for math and science, then clearly, the reason that women are not going into STEM occupations is because they do not think that they belong in them, which is an absurd idea. Some of science’s greatest minds have been women: Marie Curie, Jane Goodall, Rosalind Franklin, and countless others. The only obstacle preventing more scientific minds like these from emerging is the sexist belief that science is meant for men. If people saw girls as equals in society and encouraged them to participate in STEM fields, unbelievable advances in science, math, technology, and engineering could be made as there would be more people with fresh perspectives working together to solve today’s