OPTION E: GENDER EQUALITY

Weve begun to raise daughters more like sons but few have the courage to raise our

sons more like daughters (Steinem). As much of an impact this quote has on raising children in
their preferred gender roles, it changes the way we see gender equality. Gender Equality is
defined as the state in which access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender. Society
would like to believe they are fulfilling this quality, but the truth of the matter is they are blinded
by the idea of women conforming to men and men are staying exactly where they are. This idea
isnt a two way street. I used believe gender equality was an ongoing progression, but we maybe
at a standstill.
Men seem to not be included in the conversations of getting in touch with their feminine
side. Why? I feel as if we are trying to address these issues, but everyone is stuck with that idea
of a man. I also have the idea that men are oppressed if they expose their feminine sides. I too
find myself set on the idea of how strange it would be if a man acted like a women. This I would
blame on society and the media by the way it projects genders and the roles they are supposed to
play.
To answer the question of if women can lead as well as men, I would like to say yes but
to a point. In the past our view on women as leaders wasnt as equal as it is today. Today we are a
lot more accepting of women taking those leadership roles, however, we still associate those
characteristics of leaders to be men rather than women. I would also like to bring the topic of
politics and more specifically voting on a president. There has been a lot of talk on a woman as
president and there is always that question that arises; can she really lead? With that being said a
woman has yet to be elected. In the Marriage and Family Experience it reports in November
2011 election...17 percent of the 112th United States Congress was female although numbers

of women elected to office increased over time males tend to overwhelmingly hold political
office (Strong, Cohen 114).
The next issue is societys thoughts on men and their nurturing skills. According to
Marriage and Family Experience, there is a drastic increase of men staying at home. With this in
mind, society might be more lenient towards men; however, there is still that idea of women
being closer to the children rather than men. In this case, society is still leaning towards men
being less nurturing because that is how men are viewed. I believe this is true that men are less
nurturing than women only because that is how I was raised in the society. However, I would like
to see a change in the way we describe men and women.
In respect to the double standard of aging saying that men become more distinguished as
they get older and that women dont, we need to change this divided spectrum. How is this
possible? Obviously women and men are very different, but it's time to stop considering gender
as the defining feature. Its important that we stop looking at gender and look at the other
qualities someone possesses. This first starts with society and their recognition in the part they
play with this conflict. If they could stop pushing gender roles and using stereotypes, media
would improve and so would everyone else.

Work Cited

Strong, Bryan, and Theodore F. Cohen. The Marriage and Family Experience. Twelfth ed. N.p.:
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2014. Print.
"Gloria Steinem Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/gloria_steinem.html>.