A society's treatment of women is a key sign of how economically, intellectually, and artistically advanced it is. For a very long time, women in the United States were denied many basic rights, and today, the issue of equal rights still exists. Although America has made significant progress in recent years toward guaranteeing equal rights, more needs to be done to protect women's rights. Women still do not have access to the same opportunities as males in American society because of the numerous dangers and obstacles they encounter. Discrimination against women in the workplace is one of the issues that needs to be handled. Underrepresentation in electoral office and politics and sexual and domestic violence against women.
History and Overview of the Problems
Even though the United States was established as a democracy in the 18th century, for over 140 years, women were left out of the electoral process and were not allowed to take part in a lot of social aspects and professional life. (Infobase Learning, 2016) For example, married women were not allowed to sign contracts and for those who were lucky to work, the money they earned belonged to their fathers and or husbands. At the time, the fight for women’s rights was tied to the struggle to abolish slavery and hence most of those who supported women’s rights were abolitionists. In the 1850’s, the women’s rights movement grew but when the Civil war began, they shifted much of their attention to bringing slavery to an end. In 1869, Wyoming which at the time had not become a state became the first to accord the women the right to vote and in the next decades many other states followed such as Utah and Idaho in 1896 and Colorado in 1893 (Infobase Learning, 2016).
In 1920, the ratification of the Constitution’s Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed the American women the right to vote. In the 19th century, apart from pursuing political rights, women strived in not only the workplaces and higher education but also in their personal lives. In the 1960’s unlike in the 19th and the 20th century, feminist activism focused more on social equality (Infobase Learning, 2016). They struggled to break the traditional attitudes on sexuality, reproductive rights, family, sexual violence and harassment and discrimination against women in the American society. By 1980, the feminist movement had achieved much in altering the social attitudes and women joined some of the initially male-dominated spheres (Collins, 2009). Despite the achievements, American women still faced many obstacles and challenges such as gender wage gap, sexual violence and harassment
Discrimination at the Workplaces
Over the years, America has passed many laws that try to give women equal rights and the women have made lots of efforts to advance their own personal lives. However, the country still experiences discrimination against women continues in the workplace. The women are paid less money compared to the men for same work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for every dollar that a man earns, women earn only 82 cents (Miller, 2017). The discrimination is not only in regards to the wages earned but also the tops positions in the various workplaces throughout the United States. In America today, most of the highest-earning executives in most of the most successful companies are still men (Miller, 2017). Women hold most of the jobs in retail, food service and the health care sector which are still growing.
The wage gap between men and women in the workplaces in the American society is a clear indication that women are not given equal treatment. The unending wage gap indicates that educational achievements only will not solve the problem since even the young, highly educated and full-time workers to face the same challenge of wage disparity, though it is narrower. In the 1970’s the gap reduced mainly because of women’s advancement in education and workforce participation but today it does not look like the gap will disappear on its own. Women may only get pay equity in 2059, that is, if the rate of change seen between 1960 and 2015 remains (Miller, 2017).
Underrepresentation in Politics and Electoral Offices
Women are greatly underrepresented in electoral office and politics in the United States. The low number of women in politics and electoral office show how much the American society is lagging behind in achieving equal rights for women. Even though the global number of women in politics and electoral offices is low, the U.S. lags significantly behind many nations in the developed world especially the European countries. American women make the majority of the voters yet they make less than 25 percent of all the state legislators, about 20 percent of the Congress members and only about 13 percent of the governors (Infobase Learning, 2016).
The discussion on women’s participation in politics hit to gear in 2016 when Hillary Rodham Clinton contested to be America’s first female president. It sparked the views that both the candidates and the supporters held on the issue of gender equality. Hillary Clinton was discussed in many quarters in ways that she would not be discussed if she was a male even though some of her opponent’s supporters also thought she was using her gender to gain support. Clinton’s loss to Trump in the presidential race dampened Americans hope of having the first female president. Before the election that Clinton contested to be America’s president, the country had 44 presidents and her loss in an election that had more women voters than women is an indication that much needs to be done to have a woman occupy the top office in America.
Domestic Violence and Sexual Harassment
In 1994, President Bill Clinton ratified the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that sought to give federal monetary support to programs and services to help the victims of domestic violence (Collins, 2009). It was also meant to support violence prevention programs and legal help for the victims of domestic violence. The law expired in 2012 but it did not reduce the cases of domestic violence when it was effective and even after since cases of domestic violence still remains relatively high in the U.S (Infobase Learning, 2016).
Compared to men, women experience much higher rates of sexual and domestic violence. America still records high rates of domestic violence and harassments towards women, yet in year 2012 and 2013 they still had to struggle to pass the Violence Against Women Act. In the United States, each year, up to 1.3 million women fall victims of domestic violence (Infobase Learning, 2016). One out of six American females has been raped or experienced attempted rape in their lifetime. Such statistics in a country of the stature of the United States are disturbing and hence need to be addressed if the country is to have equal rights for its women.
Conclusion
American is one the oldest democracies and also has the largest economy in the world yet it still struggles with equal rights for women. Even though they have done much over the years, there is still a lot of work to be done. Most importantly, America needs to work on the discrimination against women at the workplaces, women underrepresentation in politics and the electoral offices and the prevalent domestic sexual violence and harassment against the women. It will remain to be seen whether in the coming decades the educational and the economic trends will favor the women than the men in the American society.
References
Collins, G. (2009). The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present. New York: Little Brown and Company.
Infobase Learning. (2016, February 22). Women's Rights: Is Further Work Required to Ensure Women's Rights? Retrieved from Infobase Learning: http://icof.infobaselearning.com/articles/rights-and-liberties/womens-rights.aspx?issueID=15891&hd=6344
Miller, K. (2017). The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Spring 2017). Retrieved from The American Association of University Women: http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
