What Does Gender Inequality - 1395 Words

What fuels gender inequality? What are the reasons gender inequalities are still so high in today’s society? Gender inequality refers to the unequal treatment of an individual based on his/her gender. Gender is defined as the amount of characteristics and attributes distinguishing that person between, masculinity and femininity. Although gender is a part of our character, society has taken gender to an increased level of discrimination. Gender inequality sets social difference between male and female this prevents them from participating equally in cultural, political, economic, and social life. When did gender discrimination start? Why is it that women are seen as an accessory and not an asset in life or in the workplace? Throughout this†¦show more content†¦The belief that women cannot do certain jobs or maintain roles as well as a man has sculpted society into a hierarchy that places the male figure at the top. Education could be one of the causes of gender inequal ity; Victor Hiller (2014) studies the educational gender gap that might explain the development of high gender inequality. Hiller (2014) states that through the pre-industrial society, individuals were not required to have education and men were seen as more beneficial than women and supply superior labor, concluding that social norms favor men. While this does not explain exactly where gender inequality came from, it gives us a good idea on where to start looking. During the 1800’s and 1900’s women were seen has the maids of the household, and the nannies to the children. Women did not perform any real labor work outside of the home, and were seen as the inferior to the men as we see in today’s society nothing much has changed with the gender roles for women. Hiller (2014) uses quantitative research to indicate that the social norms chose men over women in economics, and that the pre-industrial era is when women were labeled inferior to men because of the lack of physical strength and labor skills. Hiller’s (2014) quantitative research includes a cross-sectional relationship between income and the participation of women, stating that female participation is U-shaped and that the bottom of the curve was the 1920’s, and has