Inequality Now
By Sydney Rice
Inequality: the quality of being unequal or uneven (Merriam-Webster dictionary). Many things in this world have always been, and may always be unequal. In America we have made great strides to have equality for all but we still aren’t there yet. Quite a few things need to change before there is equality for everyone. Men, women, black, white, young, and old, everyone has some inequality in their lives, some more than others. Laws need to change as well as people. No matter how good of a person you are, your still human and probably have treated someone unequally at some point.
In the current workforce women are confined to lower paying jobs and career paths. The jobs that are provided more openly to women such as receptionists, nurses, and educators just don’t pay as much as “mens” jobs. The jobs more open to men typically pay higher, with jobs such as such as firefighters, mechanical engineers, and chief executives. The highest paying “womens” job is nursing, making a little over $1,000 a week, while the “mens” is chief executive making nearly $2,000 a week. Now this isn’t to say there aren’t women out there in the “mens” jobs but it is very difficult for them in the male environment. This is proven when you seen that less than 10% of auto mechanics, firefighters, truck drivers, and airplane pilots are women. Although the past statement is true the future’s looking brighter with around 20% of computer software engineers and chief executives jobs being held by women.
A new movement came out in 2006 started by Tarana Burke as a way to help women who have survived sexual violence, called Me Too. The movement didn’t gain much attention until around 2017. In October of 2017 the movement took off again after various actresses started to pursue men who had sexual harassed them. On October 15th 2017 Alyssa Milano gave the movement the big starting push it needed when she tweeted “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet,” . Since the second wave of the Me Too movement, thousands of people have come forward to tell their story and try to get their violators prosecuted. This has had a tremendous effect such as companies changes policies and women feeling untied and supported.
There’s more to inequality than women not being treated equally, people of different races in America are treated unequally as well. Besides the hate and backlash many people of different races face, they also have a more difficult time getting good housing, employment and health care. According to Futurity an article based off a Stanford study only 41% of African American families and 45% of Hispanic families actually own the house they are living in. While 71% of Caucasian families can call their house their own. Paying rent can take up to 50% of the families income leaving much less of the little they had to go towards food, clothes and a good education. The article also talks about how “the deck is stacked against blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans…”(3 Areas That Show America’s Racial Inequality). People of different races are more likely to be born into poverty and don’t have as many chances to get themselves out of those poverty situations. So the cycle continues as it always has never giving people the chance they need to break free.
From the beginning of time it’s always been a man with a woman but some people don’t feel the way they “should” about the people they “should” like. Many people love other people of the same gender or love people of both genders. Some people feel they should be a man when they were born a woman and vice versa. In recent years the views on this group of people has changed as the LGBTQ community has grown. Only 3 years ago same sex marriage was made legal in all 50 states. And besides the laws being against them they have experienced hate and have had viciousness pinned against them that has long been ignored. Now, things are better, but things such as conversion camps where an adult tries to change a child’s sexual orientation, along with hate crimes, are still happening. In some states same sex couples aren’t allowed to adopt a child and in other places it’s very difficult. Once a person “comes out” almost everything in their life becomes more difficult from getting a job, finding love, getting married, having a child and even just walking down the street. These are difficulties that just don’t need to be added to an already stressful life we all live.
There is one last group of people who have the most inequalities found in their lives, and those are the people who don’t fit what society has set as the beauty standard. They may be to tall, to short, to skinny, or maybe they weight to much, but either way they don’t fit the standard. According to Walden Behavioral Care there are three ways that body shaming is done. The first one is shaming ourselves and telling ourselves that we aren’t pretty enough, aren’t skinny enough, or don’t have enough muscle. The second way is shaming somebody to their face telling them if they eat that they will only get fatter. The final way is shaming them without their knowledge like telling your friends well at least you don’t look like them. Bodies are made the way they are, no one can make themselves taller or shorter. You should never shame someone for things that are out of their control.
There are so many different people in this world, from different backgrounds, different families, and different views. But no matter the person’s race, sexual orientation, gender or weight everyone deserves to live in a world where they are treated the same as the person next to them. What a person looks like, how they speak, or the amount of money they make isn’t what really matters. What really matters is who the person is and what they stand for. A good person is a good person, no exceptions. Every person deserves equality. Every person deserves to be happy. So remember, as you walk out of your house to respect everyone and follow the golden rule, treat others the way you want to be treated.
“Body-Shaming: What Is It & Why Do We Do It?” Walden Eating Disorders Treatment, 10 Sept. 2018, www.waldeneatingdisorders.com/body-shaming-what-is-it-why-do-we-do-it/.
“Conversion Therapy.” The Free Dictionary, Farlex, medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/conversion+therapy.
“Inequality.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inequality.
“Same-Sex Marriage in the United States.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States.
Hawbaker, KT, and Chicago Tribune Staff. “#MeToo: A Timeline of Events.” Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 23 Jan. 2019, www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-me-too-timeline-20171208-htmlstory.html.
“3 Areas That Show America’s Racial Inequality.” Futurity, 23 June 2017, www.futurity.org/racial-ethnic-inequalities-united-states-1467732-2/.
“20 Facts About U.S. Inequality That Everyone Should Know.” Inequality.com, 2011, inequality.stanford.edu/publications/20-facts-about-us-inequality-everyone-should-know.
