Gender Stereotypes & Wage Gap

  Gender equality, or rather inequality, has been a conflicting argument for a very long time, all over the world. Gender inequality has affected how people think of women, including boys and men to make them think it is alright to objectify women. Women are often not given enough credit for the work they do and become undervalued and “tend to stagnate in their careers”(Pay Scale). Gender wage gap refers to the fact that a certain gender has a higher wage than the other, in modern day it is usually the male gender that gets the higher pay. On average, “women still make only $0.79 for every dollar men make in 2019”(Pay Scale). The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, are trying to accomplish gender equality and, as the UN states, “end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere” which includes the wage gap.

  Stereotypes have influenced children everywhere today and have corrupted their minds with how they think they should act. A stereotype is an assumption or opinion made that society influences. A lot of the time stereotypes are made about girls and boys. In a patriarchal society for example, stereotypes made about boys/men are that they have to be the leader of men and women. Power has often been associated with men. Men are the ones who make the money. When it comes to girls/women, they are the ones to stay at home, take care of the kids, and make the food. Women are the caregivers in today's society. It depends on how someone thinks, or what people believe but some enjoy this way of living. Today a significant amount of people are working to get rid of these stereotypes because they believe these stereotypes are wrong.

  Women do not have the same opportunities as men, this is partly due to lack of role models. An example of a substantial role model is the Burka Avenger which seems small but has a big influence on younger generations. The Burka Avenger is a cartoon of a Pakistani heroine who stands for peace, justice, and education for all. She is a great role model for young girls, empowering them to stick up for themselves in a place where women are generally viewed as dependent on men. The creators of this cartoon decided to portray the Burka Avenger in a way that differs from, for example, Catwoman or Wonder Woman as they are sexualized and objectified. This cartoon is an effective way of promoting gender equality, as it shows that women can be heroines and stand up for themselves in a way that does not come across as disrespectful.

  US’s wage gap average is at about “19.3%”(Kiersz). It differs on each state, for example Louisiana has the largest pay gap of “31.2%” (Kiersz) in the nation. Most states have agreed upon gender non-discrimination laws and “the 1964 Civil Rights Act which protects women at the federal level” (Kiersz); this act ends discrimination of race, sex, religion, etc.

  The displeasing wage inequality in the U.S.A. has grown in an undesirable way. The difference has gotten significantly greater in South Africa and Korea topping out with a 9% and 15% gap. Although the US has gotten bad when it comes to wage equality “South Africa has the world’s highest wage inequality overall”(The Simple Truth). It depends on the occupation where the gap differs, for example, “in South Africa’s technology industry, men are paid 22.9% more” (Villiers), and “men in healthcare are paid roughly 28.1% more than women”(Villiers). “Women continue to be paid 28% less than men”(The Simple Truth), in South Africa. There are likely no occupation where men and women are paid the same amount.

 KH, 2019

The graph above shows how much less women get paid on average in different countries. Today, Romania has the smallest documented average pay gap in the world, with “1.5%”(Gender). Korea has the largest documented pay difference in the world, with “34.6%”(Gender). Also described in the graph, South Africa’s average documented pay gap which is “28%” (The Simple Truth); the United States average documented pay gap is “18.2%”(Gender).

  Overall, women from a young age are undermined for their work, and do not get paid sufficiently. There needs to be a change or reasonable solution when it comes to this wage gap. All over the world the gap differs with some countries doing better than other to decrease this exemplification of separation between genders.

Works Cited:

“Gender wage gap” OECD Data, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Web.       27 Oct. 2019.

Graf, Nikki, Anna Brown, and Eileen Patten. “The Narrowing, but Persistent, Gender Gap in Pay.”     Fact Tank, Pew Research Center, 22 Mar. 2019. Web 23 Oct. 2019.

Kiersz, Andy, Sonam Sheth, and Shayanne Gal. “7 Charts That Show the Glaring Gap Between Men and Women's Salaries in the US.” Business Insider, Insider Inc, 26 Aug. 2019. Web 23 Oct. 2019. 

“The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap in South Africa.” Mining Review Africa, Spintelligent,      12 Aug. 2019. Web. 23 Oct. 2019.

“The State of the Gender Pay Gap 2019” Pay Scale, PayScale, Inc, Web. 25 Oct. 2019.

Villiers, James de. “South African Men get Paid Much More Than Women - Here are the Worst         Industries.” Business Insider South Africa, Business Insider Inc, 17 Jul. 2019. Web. 23 Oct. 2019.