Dear Future President:

        Gender discrimination has been an issue since the country was first formed, and while there have been laws and acts that lessened the discrimination, it has not been solved. Gender inequality needs improvement because it is still an issue today despite efforts to stop it. “While females have historically laid claim to the cry of unequal treatment, modern civil rights laws banning sex discrimination have been construed to protect males as well, especially in the area of employment” (“Gender Discrimination”). Although women tend to voice and face discrimination more, both genders face the issue of inequality. Over the last few years, gender inequality has gotten better with the advancement of society, but it is still an issue that should be solved and ended.

        A specific topic of gender equality that is relevant in society today is women’s rights. People have fought for women’s rights for decades and equality has advanced, but more can still be done. Improvement with women’s rights can be done in various areas such as the workforce, education, home environments, and social pressure. In the area of home environments, women, on average, are the ones doing most of the housework and caring of the family. It is a mix of social pressure and old ideology that makes people think that the man should be one making the money while women do domestic work, which should not be the case. “Mothers in 2003 reported doing almost three times more housework than fathers, averaging 17 hours a week. Fathers reported spending six hours, on average—down from eight hours a week in 1989,” (Gardner). Gender inequality is also shown in the workforce with women making less per year compared to men. “In the workforce, women's pay averages only 76 percent of men's pay (at a cost of about $200 billion for working families annually),” (Wendland). Women are discriminated against in many ways. In the 1910s, large efforts were made to allow women the right to vote which was finally allowed in 1920, but that was only one part of the issue solved. More needs to be done to ensure the equality for women in all areas, not just one.

        Although women face discrimination a lot more, and it is more well known, men also deal with the issue of gender inequality, social pressure, and discrimination in the education field. People have been focusing so much on trying to equalize the genders by giving women more rights that they are forgetting about men. In a cover story from May 2003, Business Week states “Boys are becoming the second sex” and that they are being left behind in the education system as teachers are focusing on catering the needs of girls. “Boys, they say, are being punished for ‘boyish’ behavior. They are being put more often into special education programs or disciplinary classes, and the outcome is that boys have a negative educational experience” (Wendland). On the issue of the wage gap between the genders, women are receiving less money, however men should not be blamed for this and they are also hurt by the issue. “Men and boys are hurt when their families suffer because pay inequity causes their mothers, grandmothers, sisters and aunts to lose income, get fired, face hiring discrimination... If pay inequity costs women $200 billion yearly, does this mean that men are enriched by $200 billion? The answer is no. These billions are savings in labor costs to employers” (Wendland). Gender inequality is an issue that needs to be fixed for both men and women.

        Gender discrimination badly affects both genders and in addition, the country would benefit from the issue being gone. The arguments about gender equality are widely known, cause many protests, and ignite debates. If the country had more gender equality, people would not feel the need to protest and argue, and the issue could be resolved after some improvement. “Gender and peace are closely linked: Peace is vital to promote gender equality, while gender inequality can also undermine peace and drive conflict and violence stated by Conciliation Resources and Saferworld. A number of studies have found a strong correlation between levels of conflict and gender inequality…” (Wright). I propose that more laws and acts should be created to ensure more gender equality in the country. We have already progressed so much within the last couple of decades, but more can be done to lessen gender discrimination in the country. As our next President, I hope you address this issue and solve it. 

Sincerely,

Nidhi S.