Bias in our world today
Gender disparity refers to the unequal treatment or perception of individuals based on their gender. It arises from the differences in socially constructed gender roles. To say that there isn’t a bias on gender in America today is to be ignorant. For the past 137 years, the women’s movement has been fighting for equality between men and women, and as these movements have progressed, have involved racial equality as well.
Women make up close to 51% of the population, but only comprise 25% of the Senate and 23% of the House. The status quo of older caucasian men leading the nation is one that is outdated and needs to be replaced. If we are to believe that the scars of our history are healed, we can’t keep adding new ones in their place. The evidence shows that in America today equal opportunities are not granted to everyone. Some people will never get to achieve their dreams, because of their social standing.
While it is important to remember the people who started this country, it is equally important to remember the ones who fought with their lives to protect what the Founding Fathers set out to do. When creating the nation we live in today, the Founding Fathers of America were not focused on creating equality in our nation. In the time that the constitution was written, African Americans weren’t even considered as human beings yet, and a woman’s role was to uphold the household and raise their children; they had no place doing anything else. As history moves forward, some of these issues have not seemed to change. People of color are still not treated the same and women are still, in most instances, lesser than their male counterparts.
It is time to shine a light on people like Harriet Tubman, who played by her own rules to achieve what she wanted. Harriet Tubman is one person on a list of names of people who have stood up for themselves and their people. People like Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth and Mildred Loving may have a statue or have a school named after them; but have never been given the recognition that is given to the people who caused the issues they fought in the first place. The “American Dream” is to do what needs to be done to achieve equality of opportunity and allow the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved. It is the job of all American citizens to do their part to reach these goals. By handing the spotlight over to people like Harriet Tubman, we are taking strides to fulfilling the American dream.
In America, there are laws so that you can’t be discriminated against based on things like race, gender or sexual orientation, but that doesn’t mean that people are not given opportunities because of these things. Girls all across America are being forced to stop playing high school sports, because they aren’t biological females. When do we cross the line from equality to nonsensical? Is it once every single person has to be the exact same or else nothing is equal? Or is it once we decide that the world isn’t an even playing field and that everyone is different and that’s okay.
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