Dear Future President,

This country is facing some of its roughest problems, for example, ISIS, but a problem just as important is women’s equality.Women’s equality is a big issue around the world because women have been getting body shamed on and offline and there have been problems like the wage gap making an appearance for women in a workplace.

Many women have been getting body shamed on and offline because they are either fat, skinny, tall, short, flat chested, and or busty.Little do people know that body shaming leaves negative physical and mental outcomes on women. Eating disorders associate with intense behaviors towards food and weight(Becky Henry, Thom Rutledge and Dr. Elizabeth Winter). Some of these eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and body image disorder(Becky Henry, Thom Rutledge and Dr. Elizabeth Winter). 50% of women use unhealthy behaviors to lose and or control their weight and 70% of women from ages 18 to 30 don’t like their bodies (Becky Henry, Thom Rutledge and Dr. Elizabeth Winter). When body shaming occurs on and offline, it lowers a woman's self-esteem and confidence, which leads to 33-50% of women dieting, using drugs, or having suicidal thoughts("11 Facts About Body Image."). Women already feel pressured to look their best and 58% of college-aged girls feel pressured to be a certain weight ("11 Facts About Body Image."). Body shaming is just contributing to There are so many women who are being body shamed daily at school, work, anywhere, but people don’t realize how big of an issue this really is(Codner, Dixie). It’s hard to believe that over 80% of 10 year olds are worried about being too fat(Codner, Dixie). About 53% of 13 year olds are unhappy with their bodies, but the number soon grows to 78% by the time the girls reach 17 years old (Codner, Dixie). Many women compare themselves to magazine models, their friends and family, and to random people they see without even knowing. This comparing trait in women comes from magazines, reality and regular TV, along with social media. The more exposure women have to these sources, the more they feel the need to size up or down to the body they see. Body shaming makes women feel insecure, like they’re not good enough or worth it. The one thing that makes body shaming really unfair is that women get bullied on their bodies while men could be as big or small as they please and they wouldn’t be shamed.

Women in a workplace suffer from an unfair wage gap because women work as hard as or harder than men in the same position, but get paid much less. Over the years the wage gap between men and women has been closing but it still exists. Women work very hard but earn less. Why? According to Wage Project there is a wage gap because of gender discrimination in hiring, promotion, and pay, occupational segregation, and bias against mothers. For women it’s not only harder to make a living, but it is harder to provide for others. 2014 women’s median of full time, year round working as a percentage of men’s, shows that women of all races only receive or earn an average of 78.6 % of men receive or earn(New, By The Numbers. & "Earnings." ). This also shows that there is a 21.4% wage gap(New, By The Numbers. & "Earnings." ). White, Non-Hispanic women earn 75.4%, Black women earn 82.4%, Asian women earn 81.4%, and Hispanic earn 87.7% of what men are earning(New, By The Numbers. & "Earnings." ). As women get older the wage gap between them and men is only increasing(New, By The Numbers. & "Earnings." ). There are only two occupations (1.7%) where women make the same amount or more than men(New, By The Numbers. & "Earnings." ). Those two occupations are stock clerks and order fillers, and health practitioner support technologists and technicians (New, By The Numbers. & "Earnings." ). These days women are starting their careers better educated than men. Women are taking their education by storm but the higher they climb the higher the wage gap is. By the age of 65, a woman would lose more than $430,000.00 over her whole working lifetime because of the wage gap(@resourcefulmgr.). Also because of this wage gap women are more likely to have and unstable retirement (@resourcefulmgr.). So if women word as hard or harder than men and are more dedicated to their job, what is the real reason for this horrible wage gap? And more importantly what will you, Future President, do to close it?

Women do have equality because they have lots of equal rights and privileges that others don’t have. Women have rights and privileges that are equal to the right and privileges that men have. There are transgender people who don’t have the right to a public bathroom because they are transgender. That’s also a problem that needs to be fixed. There are also rights that women have that men don’t have such as the right to vote without agreeing to die, the right to choose parenthood, the right to lower jail sentences for the same crime a man could have done, and many more (Dakru, By.).

In conclusion, a change needs to happen because women all over the world are suffering from these big issues like body shaming and the wage gap for women in a workplace. As the future president, these problems should be given much more attention so this country can be equal for all its citizens. In the future, there should be hope and opportunities for all the women in this country so that they can achieve their dreams. What will change for this country? Will women have the equality they’ve been yearning for? As President, what will you do to make it happen?

"11 Facts About Body Image." DoSomething.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

Becky Henry, Thom Rutledge and Dr. Elizabeth Winter. "Statistics | Eating Disorders | Body Image Therapy Center | Maryland." The Body Image Center. N.p., 19 Aug. 2015. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

Codner, Dixie. "Body Image Tags: Barbie Effect, Beauty Culture, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Body Image, Body Shaming, Media Influence, Self Image ." Body Image Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

Dakru, By. "7 More Legal Rights Women Have That Men Don't • /r/MensRights." Reddit. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.

"Earnings." Women's Bureau (WB). N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

@resourcefulmgr. "11 Surprising Statistics About Women In The Workplace." ResourcefulManager. N.p., 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

New, By The Numbers. "Data & Statistics." Data & Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

"Why Is There A Wage Gap?" Why Is There A Wage Gap? N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.