Dear Future President,

I’m writing to you concerning the issue of women’s inequality in the U.S. Did you know that women earn 79 cents to every dollar a man earns? Even as a kid I believed that men and women should have the same rights. But seeing this statistic makes me really angry. Men and women that do the same job don’t get the same pay. There are so many female historical figures such as Harriet Tubman, Alice Paul, Anne Frank, Rosa Parks, Michelle Obama, and Malala Yousafzai, to name a few, that empower women and girls all over the world. I believe that gender shouldn’t be the basis of how we judge a person; their actions should be.

According to the Huffington Post article “For U.S. Women, Inequality Takes Many Forms,” Ariel Smilowitz explains that: “14.5 percent of women ages 18 and older had family incomes that placed them below the federal poverty line, compared to 11 percent of men.” This means that women are more likely to become poor. That to me is horrifying. Also “by the time a college-educated women turns 59 she will have lost almost $800,000 throughout her life due to gender wage gaps.” A women could've used that money for health insurance, their child’s college funds, a new car, a new house, etc. Now those women will have to work even more to get what they need, instead of getting what they deserve. According to an International Labour Organization article “Gender Inequality and Women in the U.S. Workforce,” “Women surpass men on education attainment among those employed aged 25 and over: 37.1 percent of women hold at least a bachelor’s degree compared to 34.9 percent for men.” This shows that even though women have higher level education than men, women still earn less money.

For years people have been living and believed that women should stay in the home. For example in the 1950s TV shows the mothers were expected to cook dinner for their families, do laundry, wash the dishes, etc. They didn’t really have a choice of what they wanted to do. It just wasn't fair.This issue affects the U.S. today because this expects young girls and women to abide to society’s stereotypes. This is bad because it can lower a girl’s self-esteem and it prevents women for pursuing jobs or hobbies  that they don’t usually do. They can let the stereotypes define them instead of them defining themselves.

These issues are important to me because I’ve been a feminist my whole life. Women have done such great things for our country, both in the home and at work, and I feel that people really don’t acknowledge that in our society. In some cultures women are considered “better” than men because they do the cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children. But in our society this stuff isn't considered “actual work”. What people do shouldn't be labeled as "actual" work. Everyone's work should be important to them and their family. I really believe that there is no “better” gender or "better" job . Everybody should be equal and everyone should be entitled to be happy about who they are and not want to change themselves to appeal to others. Whether it’s your gender, age, religion, or race, you shouldn’t be judged because of genetics or culture. 

People shouldn’t be blamed for being themselves. It’s supposed to be that everyone accepts everyone for who they are. I know it's not like that now, but I hope my influence and others' will change that for the future generations.

I really appreciate you reading this and listening to my opinion. I know that women's equality has definitely gotten better over the years but it’s still not at its full potential. I really would appreciate if you would talk to your fellow politicians to make men and women’s wages the same. Hopefully over the years everything that men and women do will have equal appreciation.

A loyal American citizen,

Anabella C.

Sources:

"Gender Inequality and Women in the U.S. Labor Force." International Labour Organization. International Labour Organization, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2016 <http://www.ilo.org/washington/areas/gender-equality-in-the-workplace/WCMS_159496/lang--en/index.htm>.

Smilowitz, Ariel. "For U.S. Women, Inequality Takes Many Forms." Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 3 Nov. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ariel-smilowitz/for-us-women-inequality-takes-many-forms_b_7064348.html>.