Examples Of Gender Inequality In Society

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Gender inequality is still very real, even in today’s society. This inequality is evident in the makeup of families. Men and women have always had specific roles when it comes to families. Some structure when it comes to roles is good, however, they can be extremely stifling as well. Because the United States is a patriarchy and always has been, the wife is in charge of the cooking, cleaning, and raising the kids. Meanwhile, the husband is supposed to be the emotionless breadwinner. Often, as Americans we like to think of ourselves as a part of a progressive nation, however it is unmistakable they we are still a patriarchal society. According to the book Families and Their Social Worlds, patriarchy means “rule of the father.” Fathers still …show more content…
During the Industrial Revolution the ideology of “separate spheres” came about. This ideology meant that women who are married with children should stay home and the men should work outside of the home. The result of separate spears caused many women for years to believe the epitome of success was raising the cutest children and maintaining the best home according to the text book. It is not the drastic today, however, child raising, cooking, and cleaning is still thought of, much of the time, as “women’s work.” Working a full time job is now normal for women, but often women go home after work and perform a “second shift” of daily tasks at home. Both of these roles put unneeded stress on both parents, which can hurt the family’s life chances. Slowly these roles are starting to change for the better, however, much work is still needed to help better …show more content…
Sadly, “dividing and conquering” was not just an 18th century trend, it has been continuously used in this country since then, even today. Racism which is defined as “the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of one particular race,” towards blacks stems directly from it. First with slavery, and then with the Jim Crow Laws which were discussed in class to be “laws that continued to separate black from white.” Some examples would be segregated bathrooms, restaurants, schools, and water fountains, as well as, Anti-Miscegentaion Laws, meaning no race mixing. After World War II, when white families were given home owning loans for very cheap blacks were not given those same opportunities. Owning a home is a great way to start building equity and assists. Blacks were not allowed to move into the suburbs for a while, and once they were allowed in, the housing value there went down. Today, the net worth of black people in the U.S. is only and 1/8 of the white people’s. Allowing black people easier access to owning their own homes in the 40s and 50s would have helped close that gap. All this inequality helped benefit the white elite, now known as the top one percent. This

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