Dear Mr./Mrs. President,

I am writing this letter to address an issue that has been an issue as long as the existence of humanity. Gender Inequality. One would think that gender inequality would not be an issue in this day and age, especially when considering the fact that our rights are protected through the constitution, but inequality still prevails. Surprisingly, we still live in a society where it is often acceptable for women to be treated inferiorly to men. As much as people seem to think that this it is hardly an issue, I would like to point out that we are far from living in equality. Gloria Steinem, an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist, said, “We’ve begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.” Among other things, including gender bias, Steinem points out that women are not treated as equal, but as second-class citizens. This approach needs to change. The issue of gender inequality that our world is facing has gone too far, women deserve to be treated fairly. As president, you have the power to change the world, at least our nation’s world. I am urging you to do so. Gender equality, along with being a fundamental human right, is needed for a world of peace and success. Gender inequality is a battle we can win, especially with your help. Women have more to offer than pretty faces. They have skills and talent and should not be denied the opportunity to contribute to society based on gender alone. Elimination of gender inequality needs to be pursued because gender often determines and diminishes the right of decisions, the right of happiness, and the right of equality.

The elimination of gender inequality needs to be pursued because gender often determines and diminishes our rights to make health-related decisions. Throughout history, and dating back as far as 3100 BCE, men have held the power to make decisions over women. For instance, in past years, a male held the right to commit his wife to an insane asylum, which is a hospital for people of poor mental health. Often times, the wife was of stable mental health, but to the man, it was easier than divorce. Women did not have the right to treat men like this. Gender alone should not determination of who has the right to make health-related decisions. Another example of this concerns reproductive health. The right to reproduce, or not to reproduce, should not be determined by males alone. It is unjust to say that a woman can not make the decision of what to do with her body. Also, we have to remind ourselves that “Men continue to occupy most positions of political and legal authority; globally, only 22 percent of parliamentarians are women” (“Gender equality”). And although there are some women in power roles, such as female court justices, more men than women are making decisions. Females often do not have the power to change policies because they are given limited access to roles of authority. For example, if abortion is the issue at hand, how many men to how many women get to truly debate the issue? I will admit, the inner skeptic in me is brought forth with abortion. I ask, is abortion ethical? Is abortion something that should be allowed? Currently, I do not agree with abortion, but I do believe that women in some situations should have the right to chose whether or not they wish to keep their baby. I agree with the right that an individual should have to make these decisions, but disagree with the ethical implications of it. Females need to know that they have choices, and should not be discriminated against when they make decisions. Understandably, some women who wish to have an abortion are victims of rape. In fact, “One in five women and one in seventy one men in the United States have been raped in their lifetime” (“NATIONAL STATISTICS”). As you can see, gender inequality appears even in this statistic, where one in five women compared to one in seventy one men are abused. Obviously, men do not get pregnant through rape. As for women, this situation is entirely different and thus requires a different approach than from a male's point of view who has little experience with the issue. Some may argue that women are represented equally in our world. I agree that gender equality has improved throughout history, but I disagree with the idea that women are equal to men. Do critics realize that our inability to make health-related decisions is based on gender inequality? Do they dismiss the fact that if women already had the ability to make these decisions they would not be fighting for them? Women need to be given rights to make personal choices that are equal to the choices that men make. In the attempt to strengthen gender equality and elevate women’s decision making power, our government should invest funds into protecting women’s health and provide safe and legal abortion, when necessary and appropriate.

The elimination of gender inequality needs to be pursued, not only because of health-related issues, but because gender often determines and diminishes available medical and social services. Many companies are known to give benefits to their workers, often for health and insurance purposes. Many of the females who work at these companies have been denied medical and social services because their employer has a moral objection to certain procedures. These objections are linked to abortion and these denied services are about health insurance. As a woman, I feel obligated to say that females should have rights, like males have, when issued health insurance benefits by their employer. When this inequality takes place, it is discrimination against women. Men are not treated like this. They do not have to worry about whether or not their employers will agree with their morals or about the dangers of childbirth. In fact, childbirth is is the number two killer of women who are of the reproductive age. Surprisingly, “each year more than 287,000 women die from pregnancy and childbirth related complications” (“GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT”). Maybe if these females had the health services to help them, they would not die. The government needs to offer health services, or at least enact a law to make it mandatory for companies to offer health services to all women. Women have a right. Women need a choice. Women need a voice.

The elimination of gender inequality needs to be pursued, in addition to the denied medical and social services, because gender determines and diminishes accepted violence that constricts happiness. More often than not, women are the victims of abuse by men. Women are not treated as equals and are often looked as inferior, weaker, and incapable. “On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States” (“NATIONAL STATISTICS”). Women are targets of abuse because they are women, and very commonly viewed as weak. Women, in my opinion, and the vast majority of people, are not weak and should not be abused. Many people tolerate a man abusing his spouse, and is sometimes brushed of as insignificant, or harmless. This is not harmless. Because these women are women, they are treated with disrespect and abuse. Many of these women have their happiness taken away because of the abuse and are silenced by the men most close to them. One example of women being silenced is with forced marriage. I know that forced marriage is not common in the United States, but it is in other parts of the world. Research shows that, “1 in 7 girls are married before her 15th birthday; with some child brides as young as 8 or 9” (“Let Girls Learn”). Like other types of gender inequality, forced marriage is a humans rights violation, taking away the freedom to chose and happiness of an immense amount of girls and women. And as that behavior suggests, gender inequality is present in many homes across the country. Some of these women live in pain and agony every day, yet they are afraid to speak up.

Men are born with no “natural” authority over women but society grants them the power to control. Because men treat women with disrespect often with no consequence, many women are often unhappy throughout their life. Some argue that feminism is “sexism” against men. I can see where they are coming from, and am not not one to underscore the contributions of men in our communities. Still, we can not overlook the fact that there is an incredible amount of domestic violence and social abuse, primarily from men. Often, this is not recognized as abuse. This is unacceptable. In fact, “One in three women and one in four men have been victims of physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime” (“NATIONAL STATISTICS”). Clearly, men are not the only ones to blame for abuse. With that said, though, men are the primary ones who cause the majority of the issue with abuse and gender inequality. To ensure happiness of women and promote gender equality, we should expand services and implement laws to protect women. Such laws could include the Violence Against Women Act and the Family Violence Prevention act to help women reach complete happiness. Violence and women are terms so close yet need to have no negative correlation as they do now.

The elimination of gender inequality needs to be pursued, along with the constricted happiness, because gender often determines and diminishes equal pay in the workplace. Women have rarely had equal pay to men. When women work just as hard as men and do some of the same jobs, they need to be paid equally. “It is a national disgrace that women only earn 79 cents for every dollar a man earns. The gender pay gap is even worse for women of color. Today, African American women earn just 64 cents for every dollar a white male earns” (Sanders). And since women earn far less than men, especially women of color, this is discrimination and another form of gender inequality. Why does this happen? For no logical reason. This treatment is unjust and needs to be eliminated. As of right now, most women are aware that their gender allows them to be treated unfairly. This unfair treatment continues as they grow older. “Elderly women are more likely than men to be living in poverty” (Sanders). With such a big wage gap between women and men, it makes sense that they will have a higher probability of living in poverty. Women should not be discriminated against in the workplace and their pay should not be lesser than a man's. In order to close the gender wealth gap, we should pass laws and amendments to ensure equality. One law that could be passed is the Paycheck Fairness Act and one amendment that could be passed is the Equal Rights Amendment. Women are worth more than money, but should be rewarded as equals when performing the same jobs.

To conclude, as Mr/Mrs. President, it is in the nation's best interest if you shield women from the bullets of gender inequality. Together, the elimination of gender inequality needs to be pursued because gender often determines and diminishes the right of decisions, the right of happiness, and the right of equality. It does this through health-related decisions and vital medical and social services, accepted violence that constricts happiness, and unequal pay in the workplace. We need to fight for women’s rights because as of right now, it seems as if we are in a war against women.

Sincerely,

Mallory Ferguson

Works Cited

"Fighting for Women's Rights." Bernie Sanders RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

"Gender Equality." UNFPA. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

"Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace." Harvard Summer School. N.p., 2016. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

"Statistics." Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

"United Nations: Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

@usaid. "Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment | U.S. Agency for International

Development." Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment | U.S. Agency for International Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

@usaid. "Let Girls Learn | U.S. Agency for International Development." Let Girls Learn | U.S. Agency for International Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.