For all women, inequality has been with us since the 1776 Declaration (Affirmation) of Independence (Freedom), which states, "all men are created equal," and that men institute governments. Is that what Thomas Jefferson meant when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, that only "men are created equal?" Is the creation of Jefferson's document “a reason” why unfairness between women and men continue to increase in intensity? There is no mention of fairness whatsoever in Jefferson’s document of women being equal? Was that Jefferson's intent, to give only men all the power?
At that time in history women had no power (they were considered property) and were not given power. Instead, women were confined to the home to take care of the domestic housekeeping duties and the children.
Since then, and years past, Congress and State legislators adopted "new amendments" to the Bill of Rights, which excluded women. The Fourteenth Amendment, which supposedly guaranteed equal protection to all persons, used the words "male citizens." The Fifteenth Amendment was created to give only men the right to vote until Alice Paul stood up for women and formed the Women's Suffrage Movement.
Although no one can deny that we have all come a long way, and that equality between women and men has, at best, improved through the years. Yet, there's still so much conflict sandwiched between women and men today, as there is religious arguments and racial discrimination. These two issues alone seem to indicate that the majority of people are reluctant to accept change and abandon the traditional roles we were raised to embrace.
Once upon a time, the traditional role of the man was to have a job/career, make money and financially take care of his family. The traditional role of the woman was to stay at home, raise the children, clean the house and cook.
Because traditional roles are still very much pervasive in our societies, chauvinistic ideas not only continue to exist, but also are viewed and practiced as normal behavior. That is, men are traditionally raised not to show emotion. Women are raised to show emotion. Men who are sexually promiscuous are applauded while women are criticized. In the political playpen, male politicians are perceived as levelheaded while women politicians are viewed as cold, despite the similarities in behaviors.
Is the purging of sexism (and the power connected to this bigotry) and the promotion of equality really what women and men want?
This ongoing struggle for power is proof that plenty of women and men are against change, particularly if change means giving up their power. All around the globe, people struggle for power, to stay in power, to gain power - women and men, parents and children, rich and poor, white and black. Everyone wants to control perhaps because they fear that change, no matter how positive, will only take away their power to control and then end up being controlled (A good number of people prefer to control.)
Survival is difficult and agendas are being fought over so that it isn’t surprising that because of the inequality battle among women and men, we have more clashing differences all over the place. That is, fixed ideas, favoritism, discrimination, wars, class conflicts, slow and weak changes.
Then the women's movement formed and resulted in tremendous and positive changes for both women and men with respect to the progresses made to traditional sex roles. Yet, injustice knocks again, seeps in and we're facing another show of inequality - The Equal Pay Act.
Historically, men have earned more money than women. In the 1950s, women earned only half of what men earned. In 1963, The Equal Pay Act was created, making it illegal for employers to pay women a lower salary for an equal job. But instead of paying equal salaries, some employers changed the job titles and/or altered the job descriptions for women employees. (Fairly, some law-abiding employers followed The Equal Pay Act, narrowing the gap by the 1990s, seventy-two cents on the dollar as opposed to 50 cents in the fifties. In 1990, the median income was 29,172 for men and 20,586 for women. Unfortunately, the increase stopped there, making the workplace the second unfair environment. (In this day and age, why is it that most companies often pay women less than men even though they do the same work?)
In white collar corporations and blue collar industries, where certain jobs or positions were considered male-oriented work - police officers, judges, construction and welding workers, corporate executives, lawyers, doctors and politicians - women are being hired. But these women still do not receive the equal pay men receive, especially in the corporate world.
Yet another show of sexism is that today there are more men who become stay-at-home dads while the moms return to work. But moms who return to work are still looked upon as the one who is abandoning or neglecting her child/children. If a new mom returns to work and the father stays at home, she is at fault if the child isn't raised properly. If both parents work, the mother is at fault. If a mom stays at home and the father isn't contributing to parental obligations the way they both should, the mother is at fault. Despite the role changes, women are still expected to stay at home, raise the children, cook, clean (and maintain a job outside of the home.) Juggling all this, if the child is disrespectful or misbehaves, the mom is criticized and at fault for not doing a good job at raising the children.
It seems that despite these times we live in, there is still one set of standards that apply to men and another set of standards that apply to women at home, in the workplace and in society.
Who knows? Perhaps one day we may achieve equality when we realize that we really want the same things in life after all. That is, love, peace, harmony and happiness. But of course, a desire for equality for either gender requires a change in society's views of traditional roles and the Equal Rights Amendment. Until then, women will not have the same rights as men under the Constitution.
References
www.un.org - Women and Men Sharing Equal Responsibilities
www.suffragist.com
www.huffingtonpost.com - August 3, 2008
www.freedomhouse.org
www.seattlepi.com - Seattle Post Intelligencer - Sexism's Alive and Well on the Right
www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith - June 25, 2008
