2013-03-10, 12:49 AM
Chew Wrote:Also what inequality? Women are getting more PHD's than men, if a man and a woman postulates for the exact same jobs, guess who has more chance to get the job?
IfA woman gets up to -40% of charge. If a man gets 5 years in prision, a woman just for being a woman can get only 3 years.
I agree that there's still some inequality between women and men but the gap is not that big as the media tries to impose us.
Oh goody, so we can get PhD's. What about the reasons behind why women might be attaining higher education? Some of the social reasons why there are more women in post-graduate education fall into the category that we often have to prove our intelligence more. Other minorities fall into this category as well. We have to do more work proving why we're valuable.
Let's also look at a few things. While working in HR, I noticed my bosses were less likely to hire women in full-time positions (or positions that may've had forced overtime, because that's just a brilliant aspect of working for bad companies regardless of who you are). Why? Because women are more likely to take time out of work for their families. Women in my age range often receive the thoughts of "We'll probably have to replace her in a couple years." Why? I have a uterus and that clearly means I'll want children one day.
As a cross-family issue, let's say that I get married and have a family. People still expect that it will be me who takes time out of their career in order to raise the family. Most places in America do not offer a comparable paternity leave for men (furthering a poor stereotype that men don't care about their families as much as women do). If my husband does it, he's seen as weak and needy; he's seen as being 'whipped' and catering to my every desire. He's seen as being effeminate and "womanly." And that's completely ignoring the fact that maybe he wanted to do it. Also, there are still places that don't offer significant maternity leave for women. The entire system surrounding family issues is disgusting (and that says nothing about vacation time for individuals in the work place -- all of these issues are intertwined).
When comparing jobs/experience, men receive higher wages than women for the same job. This is even true of fields where women are the majority (teaching, nursing and social work). We receive 82% of a man's median weekly income, and female execs sit at 69%. (This is ignoring other issues such as class distinction.)
As a societal issue, girls are not frequently encouraged to participate in fields involving maths and science. This can be seen in the toys marketed toward boys and girls. Boys' toys encourage active play, most often supporting spatial skills. Girls still get crap like dolls, which encourage domesticity. While this has changed (somewhat), it still happens more often than should be allowed. It also supports the masculine stereotype for men, which essentially denies them access to these more "caring" and "cooperative" and "interpersonal" interests.
Let's look at language. Tell a boy to "stop being such a girl," it's a negative thing. Women aren't positive, we're weak and fragile. Don't act like a woman because you might be showing your emotions. Blahblahblah. "Be a man" is constantly used for guys, trying to reinforce the idea of stoicism and physical strength. How many words related to masculinity are used in statuses-as-insults? Not many. I'm really only stuck with "don't be a penis" and its variations (which are few). Whereas I know that parts of a woman's body are used negatively, and it's not just what falls between her legs; it's also our gender that's used negatively.
And, to be fair, if we opt in for equality for all? And actually pay attention to the stereotypes and try to change them? Then things seem to change positively for all people involved.
Sadly, I think you're blind to what the media is actually saying. I can point out a lot of other areas where women are overlooked just in the entertainment industry.
1. How many older female singers can you name who are still actively producing material in the same ways that their male counterparts were? If they're active, how much advertisement are they getting in comparison to the men who are active?
2. How many older female actresses can you name who are still in the spotlight in the same ways their male counterparts are?
3. How are female politicians talked to in comparison to their male counterparts? (Hint: It frequently is more about their clothing and style choices than their beliefs.)
4. How many females work in the behind-the-scenes aspects in any major movie/television production? How many are writers? Directors? Producers?
Seriously, even for shows that are predominantly female, look at the crew. And it's no wonder we get what could be otherwise great shows (because of the characters in it) that randomly fall into a race/gender/class trap.