Abigail Cates

Professor Davis

ENGL1213

2 April 2017

Isnt It Unfair?

In todays society, there is so much of comparison between women and men and who is

expected to do more. I think this will always be a controversial topic because each side views it

so much differently. Reports have shown that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

received over 95,000 workplace discrimination charges in the year of 2012 alone and these

numbers have not decreased (EEOC Reports). I do believe that the attainability of success and

stability in todays world is gender biased. Gender discrimination has been a consistent issue in

the workplace for many years and we need to take responsibility for our actions and look at

gender discrimination differently to try to put an end to it.

When we take a step back and look at the circumstances to why gender discrimination

exists, it becomes clearer. Gender discrimination is still happening in the workplace and

according to a study done by Sarah Kliff, a majority of Americans believe that it is hard for

women to succeed in many professions. Her study comes back to show that women do not

receive more gender bias then men do, especially when it comes to jobs in politics. People tend

to blame gender bias for issues in politics but we look at the bigger idea, we see that the media

has perceived us to think this. However, it is a fact that most women receive lower wages than

men do, even when they are working the exact same job as a man. According to an article in

Forbes published just last year, in almost every job category we can find more men working than
women. Forbes Magazine states that women are unable to break through to senior positions

unlike men. This results in paying women less than men for the same work.

There are still women that are discriminated against in the workplace because of the

traditional views that the world has on women. Women make up over half of the population, earn

the same degrees as men, but only a few of them are big company owners. There is a ton of

stereotyping towards women and they are portrayed as the main caregivers and housekeepers,

anything but superior to men. I grew up thinking that women are the caregivers while men are

the ones who work to provide for their families. Even though women do hold their own jobs just

like men, we can see men working in much higher and even harsher conditions than any woman

typically would. Study after study have shown that it is harder for women to succeed in the

workplace rather than men. There are of traditional roles of women that infiltrate our society

today, but women are partially to be blamed for highlighting these traditional roles. Women will

normally choose their children or family over work when needed because they feel obligated and

I think that this in itself adds to the image that woman are portrayed as in todays society. Just

because society says that we have to do this or do that, does not mean that is what we are

obligated to do. Once we are able to realize this, we will be able to start and try to put an end to

the huge gender bias controversy across the nation today. According to the US Department of

Labor in 2014, only 53% of women held jobs in major retail categories and the pay and only

64% of those women received the same pay as men (Womens Bureau).

I do believe that women and men have to make a choice to either further their careers, or

choose to start a family instead. There are many women who are discriminated against because
of the traditional positions that are offered to them rather than upper level jobs that men would be

offered. Men tend to find women in the workplace at a disadvantage and mistreat them because

they believe that women are not up to the task, and this is unfair. A study done by Joseph Grenny

and David Maxfield show that womens perceived competency drops by 35% and their worth

drops by $15,088 when they are seen as being forceful or assertive (Caprino). This alone

shows that the gender bias has become an issue and tends to keep women from being able to

fully succeed in many leadership roles within the workplace. There are a few things we can do to

help stop this from happening. We can work to help train women by having workshops and

campaigns to try and help them succeed just as a man would. Society as a whole will need to

stop looking down on women and see that they have just as much potential as men do to be

successful. Women should take some personal responsibility as well because we add to societys

opinion of how we are portrayed. If we start to work harder and make it noticed that we are just

as good as men, maybe even better.

Gender discrimination in the workplace is a huge and serious problem. It has been a

consistent issue in the workplace for many years and we need to take responsibility for our

actions and look at things differently to try to put an end to it. The only way we will be able to

make a change and fix the problem is if we individually look at things differently and change the

way women are viewed not only in the workplace, but in general. Everyone has a chance of

being the victim of gender discrimination and with a little bit of work, we as a whole can try to

put an end to gender discrimination.

When Judged as Being Forceful. Forbes, August 25, 2015, www.forbes.com. March 23

2017.

"EEOC Reports Nearly 100,000 Job Bias Charges in Fiscal Year 2012." EEOC Reports Nearly

100,000 Job Bias Charges in Fiscal Year 2012. U.S Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission, 28 Jan. 13. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Kliff, Sarah. A New Political Science Book Makes a Provocative Argument: Women In Politics

do Not Face Gender Bias. Vox, Jun 28, 2016, www.vox.com. March 24, 2017.

Warner, Judith. "Fact Sheet: The Women's Leadership Gap." Center for American Progress.

N.p., 7 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Webb, Jonathan. Women Are Still Paid Less Than Men-Even in the Same Job. Forbes, March

31, 2016, www.forbes.com. March 30th 2017.

Caprino, Kathy. Gender Bias Is Real: Womens Perceived Competency Drops Significantly

When Judged as Being Forceful. Forbes, August 25, 2015, www.forbes.com. March 23

2017.

Caprino talks about gender bias in relation to when women take control of situations instead of

letting men deal with them. She runs an experiment with actors being forceful and normal to see

how people react to them. Kathy Caprino is a personal success coach and is dedicated to the

advancement of women worldwide. Forbes is a business magazine that discusses many different

topics. This article was published within the last two years. This article isnt biased and will be

beneficial to my paper.

Kliff, Sarah. A new political science book makes a provocative argument: Women in politics do

not face gender bias. Vox, Jun 28, 2016, www.vox.com. March 24, 2017.

Kliff ran a poll asking if people found it harder for women to succeed in politics rather than men

and many of the answers came back as yes. She concludes with how she believes that gender

bias exists in the media but not under actual circumstances. Sarah Kliff is one of the country's

leading health policy journalists and also discusses politics. Vox is an American news website.

This article was published within the last year and touches on a lot of good points. It will be very

beneficial to my paper.
Webb, Jonathan. Women Are Still Paid Less Than Men-Even in The Same Job. Forbes,

March 31, 2016, www.forbes.com. March 30th 2017.

Webb talks about how women receive much lower wages than men in todays society. He talks

about many different reasons why this happens. Jonothan Webb is the Head of Strategy Research

at Procurement Leaders, which is a global community. Forbes is a business magazine that

discusses many different topics. This article was published within the last year and has diagrams

and direct links tied to it. This article will be beneficial to my paper.