Gender roles that women are placed in are not advancing gender equality more. Women are discriminated against by being molded into stereotypical gender roles such as that of the homemaker, the stay at home mom, the trophy wife. Why is gender inequality such an underrated issue? Why is it considered so different than other types of discrimination? As previously mentioned, women are held to a higher standard in the workplace when they are mothers. When they are applying for jobs, their applications are viewed differently than that of a man’s or that of a woman’s without children. Society, however, views a man with children as a reliable figure. He seems less hostile, easier to work with, and overall more likely to get promoted (curt-rice.com). 

 

Discrimination is not men explicitly deciding not to hire women; it occurs from subconscious decisions and distinctions. In psychological studies, identical files are evaluated differently, depending on whether the applicant is male or female. If the profile also states the woman is a mother, the applicant is held to a higher standard than men or women without children (Rice). Benefits allotted in the workplace to fathers who have children are known as the “fatherhood bonus,” while the higher standard women are held to in the workplace when they are mothers is known as the “motherhood penalty.”

 

 

Double-standards are also rampant when concerning sexual abuse towards women. As mentioned before when discussing religious reasons for gender inequality, the over-sexualization  of women’s bodies arose. Women and men are held to a double standard when it applies to dressing, acting in public, and shockingly: abuse. In the summer, men are allowed to wander around shirtless, exposing body parts, because no one over sexualizes their bodies. Girls, however, are held to dress codes in schools, and punished for showing their shoulders or wearing shorts. These dress codes exist to teach girls to respect themselves, but they also exist so boys can control themselves. What kind of message does that send to girls? It teaches them that they are responsible for boys not being able to control themselves. It tells boys that it is alright to blame girls for their feelings of losing control.  Dress codes implemented in order not to distract boys are one of the reasons why gender equality is ridiculed among the youth (Valenti). Sexual abuse inflicted upon girls because of the way they dress is another example of gender inequality. Less boys are sexually harassed for the way they dress than girls are because less people over-sexualize boys’ bodies. Other factors of discrimination occur among men and women, such as a man’s actions of sexual harassment being excused because he was inebriated, but a woman’s actions of being sexually harassed are condemned because she was inebriated (Beck). 

 

Violence is viewed differently based on whether a male or a female is at the committing end or the receiving end. In light of the recent Elliot Rodger shooting where Rodger planned to massacre “hot” girls at a UCLA sorority because he was frustrated with women. In his manifesto, he details how he has been frustrated with women his entire life because they do not pay attention to him. They give their love and attention to other men, who are not like him, a “supreme gentleman.” Basically, Elliot Rodger wanted to quarantine women so that no man would be greater than another by experiencing love. He was a misogynist to the core who planned to massacre because no one would date him (Brean). Responses to his massacre have been varied: feminists are horrified and demand women’s rights, the populace in general is horrified, but some even view Rodger as a hero. Many responses across the internet state that it was the fault of the women in Rodger’s life. They made him the way he was. If they had only given him a chance, then maybe he would not have killed all those people? That argument in itself has no foundation because it returns to the patriarchal argument that men are entitled to everything from women. In reality, men are entitled to nothing from women. Whatever men receive from women must be received freely because men and women were made to be equal. This unhealthy mindset that “nice guys deserve girls” is ingrained within America, and it is incorrect. Nice guys do not deserve girls because girls are not a prize to be won at the end of a race. Girls and boys, men and women are equal and one gender should not be viewed as subordinate to another.