Women’s month looks back on accomplishments
Mesa Legend
March is National Women’s Month, which gives America an opportunity to look back and ponder the history of women in our society. During the country’s infancy, America certainly did not give women the same rights as men. But, as she matured and went through the growing pains which befit a newfound nation, America began to bring women up to the same standard.
National Women’s Month lets us look at the cause we know as feminism and examine whether or not it still has a purpose in America. There will always be those who want to put one gender down beneath another. But in 2015 America, are equal rights something which we still lack? I don’t think the majority of America gives one group priority over another.
Look at Hollywood. Actresses are just as glamorized – if not more so – than actors. Female musicians are equally as successful as male musicians. Take the quadrennial Olympics. Track and field, swimming, gymnastics. All of these are sports dominated by men and women alike.
Now, the issue of pay is one which is still widely contested. According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, there exists a 16-cent wage gap between men and women. This has narrowed, however, from 36 cents in 1980. The trend is in the right direction. People should be paid based on their job title and performance, not gender. The fact that it has taken so long to reduce the wage gap is sad, but the numbers appear in a skewed fashion.
According to the Pew Research Center, women occupy more low-paying jobs than men do. This makes us ask, why does this happen? Well, look at how many children are born outside of wedlock. When the father takes off, this often leads the mother raising her child on her own. Raising a child can get in the way of finishing a college degree and getting a high-paying job.
Though many in America are given an equal shot at success, she who screams loudest, rules the world. If a group screams louder than the next, their redresses are met with more urgency than the next group. Feminism has – sadly – turned away from making women men’s equals, and has focused on dragging men down. Everyone should be equal, and that equality should come about as a result of everyone being raised up to the same level.
