Dear Next President,

             My name is Azaria Vazquez-Rosa, I live in Philadelphia and I’m a Junior at Olney Charter High School. I’m going to be talking about my opinion on women’s rights, this is important to me because I feel that people don’t take this topic very serious. I’m gonna tell you a story about it, some facts, and a hypothetical situation.

             Let me tell you a story about my experience with women's rights. In my family my grandmother and great grandmother experienced discrimination because of their gender. My great grandmother had to stay home take care of her husband, do the chores, have everything done because for her husband it was her responsibility. My grandmother had to take care of her children and couldn’t work because my grandfather didn’t let her. These stories shows the problem of women’s rights in the United States.

            I'm not the only one that cares about women’s rights; in fact Alice Paul also cared about women’s rights. Let me tell you about the facts surrounding women’s rights. The most prominent of the activist was Alice Paul, a suffragist and women's rights leader who first wrote and proposed the amendment in 1923. The Equal Rights Amendment passed in 1972 stated, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Many women still today face discrimination and inequality because of gender.

             The way women are viewed in culture it affects the way they are paid. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the earnings ratio hasn’t had a significant annual change since 2007. At the rate of change between 1960 and 2015, women are expected to reach pay equity with men in 2059. If changes continues at the slower rate seen since 2001, women will not reach pay equity with men until 2152. An example would be the annual earnings both men and women receive which is $51,212 for men and for women is $40,742 which leads to 80%. The pay gap affects women from all backgrounds, at all ages, and of all levels of educational achievement, although earnings and the gap vary depending on a woman’s individual situation (www.aauw.org).

               The role of women were long ignored. In the 21st century writers have emphasized the distinctive strength displayed inside the community of women, with special concern for minorities among women. Women are ignored because people don’t believe that women are capable of great things, or at least of great things in the outside world. Also, because men feel threatened by accomplished women and so seek to downplay their contributions.

                In conclusion, I’ve given you some important information about women’s rights. This topic is important to me because I feel it hasn’t been enforced enough because there still some inequalities between men and women. You should care about this issue because is something that will affect many coming generations. There are many ways you can help to stop the inequality between men and women, like making the same wage gap for both genders, making sure that there is no discrimination because of gender, ect. I look forward to see changes that will benefit the women of our generation, as women from future generations.

Sincerely,

Azaria Vazquez-Rosa