Gender Equality Response

Gender equality is, in my opinion, not an issue up for debate. Females and males are

created equally and deserve to have fair and equal experiences, opportunities, and rights in

comparison to their male counterparts. This is basic human decency, yet females are treated

unequally in many aspects of society. Some of the most prevalent issues are the wage gap, sexual

abuse and assault, as well as academic discrimination; but these issues only begin to touch the

surface of the issue of gender inequality. Some examples of the above include the U.S. Women’s

National Soccer Team making less than the men’s team (while having much more success and

bringing in more revenue); former president George H.W. Bush, comedian Louis C.K., and

others having recently been accused of sexual abuse by many different females; and women

holding only 6.6% of CEO roles for fortune 500 companies. All of these examples illustrate that

women, despite their equality to men at birth, are not being treated fairly as they advance

throughout their lives and careers. As a computer science and mathematics major here at Loras, I

can attest to the academic stigma against females when it comes to major or professions in the

STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math). Throughout my high school career

and three years here, there hasn’t been a single math or computer science class in which females

outnumbered males. And it appears this is with good reason, as shown by the statistic pertaining

to fortune 500 CEOs: companies are not hiring females at high level positions nearly as

frequently as men. All of this evidence clearly points to a gender equality imbalance. I believe

that our society now holds much more progressive views than it once did about gender equality,

but there still exists a covert bias against women due to hundreds of years of stereotypes and

discriminatory experiences being passed down to our generation. Even though many know

equality is just, I believe that the patriarchy is so engrained in our lives and our society that it is
hard to abandon it. For many, the bias most likely hides deep down – one does even know he or

she is engaging in it when they make decisions or judgements. Despite coming a long way from

where society used to be, there still exists a minor gap between females and males that will be

very difficult to close due to biases many don’t even know they hold. Sexual assault, academic

discrimination, and the wag gap all illustrate that this bias still exists and, sadly enough, doesn’t

seem to be dissipating as the world moves towards more progressive views.