Reflection on Discrimination in Gender: Opinion Essay

Discrimination is very common in daily life. It could be based on various things, for example, ethnicity, race, religion, and gender just to name a few. Discrimination can take place on massive scale, and go completely unnoticed. This means it could be happening more often than you think. In this essay i’m gonna focus mainly on gender discrimination, which is when someone is treated differently based on their gender. This topic is discussed in great depth in the article written by Juliana Menasce Horowitz. Your gender, believe it or not, has the potential to make your life a whole lot easier, or a whole lot worse. The most common areas this type of discrimination takes place is in employment, pay, and promotion.

Gender is a big factor in employment. Forty-three percent of women said they have experienced gender discrimination, but the same survey showed that only eighteen percent of men say they have experienced gender discrimination. These numbers show that a large number of both men and women are experiencing gender discrimination, but women are affected a lot more. About Forty percent of these women have experienced discrimination at work, especially elderly women. More than fifty percent of these elderly women say they have experienced discrimination in receiving promotions, getting a job, and salary. It is possible that this is caused by more attractive and younger employees snagging jobs or promotions because of their looks. The men in the survey that say they have experienced gender discrimination, mainly bring up discrimination at work. Thirty-five percent of these men experienced unfairness in the hiring process, their salary, and receiving promotions. The second most common example is, Seven percent of them say people have made speculations about them because of how they look (Juliana Menasce et al). As you can see, both men and women are experiencing high levels of discrimination, mainly at work. This is unjust, no one should be treated differently based on their looks, age, or gender.

A major area of unfairness is salary and pay. There is a gap in wages between men and women. Men are paid more than women for doing the same job. The gap has steadily been getting smaller and smaller, women are getting more jobs and getting paid more for them. Men have also been getting paid less and less. In 2016, women’s median hourly earnings were $16.00, up from $12.48 in 1980. This is a big increase, but not when you realize it was over a 36 year time span. Men earned a median hourly wage of $19.23 in 2016, down slightly from $19.42 in 1980. The wages of men are still higher than women, even though their pay has remained consistent. Wages are declining even more sharply for young men between ages 25 to 34 than for other aged men. With the wages for women on the rise and the decrease in wages for men, this has resulted in a narrower gender wage gap. In 2016, women earned about 83 cents for every dollar earned by men. This is a whole 17% less income than men. In 1980 women earned around 64 cents for every dollar earned by men. The wage gap is still prevalent today and the reasons for that are complex. Women usually begin to make less about 10 years into their work lives due to facing challenges and trade-offs that come with balancing work and family life (Juliana Menasce et al). Women’s pay is starting to catch up to men’s pay, but they should already be paid the same. It’s been decades since knowing about the wage gap, yet it seems the gap is getting smaller at the same pace it already was. Gender discrimination is still extremely prevalent today when it comes to salary and pay.

An individual’s gender can have a really big impact on their life. A person’s gender can greatly affect how they are treated, and the course of their life. Gender discrimination is a real problem and it is everywhere. Based on your gender you can either get paid more, hired more, and be promoted more often. You can also be favorable in court, which is dangerous for the other party, and sway the judges in your favor without having any clear evidence. Gender discrimination is also extremely prevalent in education. Based on your gender, others will either value your opinion or not, and even leave you out of crucial things, such as decision making. Gender discrimination is real, not imaginary, and it is a major issue.