Dear Mister or Madam President,

First off, I’d like to say congratulations on winning the election! I’m writing to you to discuss a big problem in our world that I think you might be able to fix: gender equality. There are several things that need to be fixed in the category of gender equality: the gender pay gap, dismissal of females, etc.

Let me start with the gender pay gap. In 2015, on average, women were only paid 80% of what men were paid, and now, women are still only being paid 81% of their male counterpart’s income (“Pay Gap”). Even now, at the rate of change in the gender pay gap, women will not receive equal pay until 2059; that’s 43 years from now (“Pay Gap”)! Why wait Mister or Madam President, when you can make a difference now? Just last year, New York had the smallest pay gap with women being paid 89% of what men were paid, but Wyoming had the largest pay gap that had women being paid only 64% of what men were paid (“Pay Gap”). My home state of Pennsylvania had a gender pay gap of 79% (“Pay Gap”). The gender pay gap is even worse for Hispanic, Latino, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and African American women (“Pay Gap”).

However, the most depressing part about the gender pay gap, is the fact that education does nothing to help the problem of gender equality. A women could be an extremely well educated person who works really hard, and still get paid less than a man who had a horrible education and barely even tries (“Pay Gap”).

Teenage girls even have a better chance of excelling in school than boys do, simply because some boys don’t pay attention (“Outperform”). Many adolescent boys study one hour less a week than girls do. After school, many more boys spend time playing video games than girls do, and they even read less than girls (“Outperform”). Teenage boys are even more likely to say that school is a waste of time than females, yet girls still get treated with less respect.

Women are especially mistreated in business. When girls ask for what is owed to them, like a promotion or a pay raise, they are seen as bossy or aggressive and receive social disdain (“Pushback”). Females are ‘valued’ less and less as they age (“Pushback”). Girls who try to work out a deal are 65% more prone to be told that they are pressuring, overbearing, or pushy, than girls who don’t (“Pushback”). Women are also more likely to receive that type of feedback than men. If a man is aggressive or tries to negotiate, nobody bats an eye (“Pushback”). However, research proves that gender equality is as great for business as it is for people (“Pushback”).

According to information from the Census Bureau, more United States women go to college than men (“To College”). Girls have achieved over half of the bachelor’s degrees every year since the beginning of the 1980s (“To College”). Most boys even get into more unfortunate predicaments than girls do from elementary school through the rest of their lives (“To College”).

In conclusion, Mr./Madam President, negativity towards women, just because of their gender, needs to stop. That doesn’t mean that we should start being sexist towards men, just that we need to level the playing field. Sexism is a black mark on the world’s record, but we can erase it, starting with the United States of America. I know we can because we have many strong and willful people in our beloved country, and we can do whatever we want (within reason) if we try.

Thank you for reading my letter, and I hope you take my advice into consideration.

Sincerely,

Madeline E.