Women as a Minority Group Essay -- essays research papers

Women as a Minority Group   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Women have been discriminated against since the beginning of time, as early as the first people, Adam and Eve. Eve was called the evil one, who ate fruit from the tree of knowledge. Once she had the knowledge to know right from wrong, she chose to do wrong and give the fruit to Adam. Examples like these can be shown all over history books, in stories, tales and legends across the entire world. Women have been subordinate to men in virtually all societies throughout history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ideology that one sex is superior to the other is called sexism. The presumption of male sexism led to patterns of prejudice and discrimination against women. These prejudices and discriminations have led to many beliefs or ideas of why women are inferior to men. They range from brain size to sexual differences, including personalities based on genitalia. Cross-cultural studies demonstrate how the socialization process and societal expectations of men and women produce variances in sex-role norms and behavior. As the realization of women as an exploited group increases, the similarity of their position to that of racial and ethnic groups becomes more apparent. Women are born into their sexual identity and are easily distinguished by physical and cultural characteristics. In addition, women now identify that they are all sufferers of an ideology (sexism) that tries to justify their inferior treatment. In all societies around the world, women are treated as if they are a minority group, just like any racial or ethnic group that is out of the norm. The justification for considering women as a minority group and the existence of sexism becomes clear through the examination of social indicators, including education, employment, and income.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Education was sex segregated for hundreds of years. Men and women went to different schools or were physically and academically separated into â€Å"coeducational† schools. Males and females had separate classrooms, separate entrances, separate academic subjects, and separate expectations. Women were only taught the social graces and morals, and teaching women academic subjects was considered a waste of time. Even after these prejudices were overcome, the education system still maintained sexism in both obvious and subtle ways. Books rein... ...nses for maternity and family medical leaves. If a woman chooses motherhood, then she must lower her occupational goals and expectations. A woman with children will fall behind a childless woman in earnings, as the childless woman goes up the corporate ladder faster. Women will then risk career advancement by having children. Also, a working mother must not only juggle a family and a career, but she must find child-care as well. Child care costs are the major reason why most women end up just quitting their jobs. The majority of a working mother’s salary goes directly to the child care provider. If women were paid equal to men, more families may be able to pay for child care expenses and working mothers could continue to work and get ahead. Women have been treated unequally since the beginning of time. Just recently have things began to change for the better for women and the future of our society. The increase in women’s equality rights will take time, but some day women and men will be treated equally. This cannot happen until each of us is able to look at a person and just see another individual, not a male or a female, white or black, rich or poor†¦ a person as just a person.