The social phenomenon in which people are not treated equally on the basis of gender. Gender inequality weakens women in many areas like health, education, and business life.
Gender Health Gap
Outside of Oncology, only 1% of healthcare research and innovation was invested in female specific conditions in 2020. According to the World Economic Forum, the women’s health gap equates to 75 million years of life lost each year. This loss is due to poor health or early death. Closing the gap would give the 3.9 billion women in the world today an extra seven healthy days a year. This equates to an average of 500 days over a lifetime.
Stereotypes about gender affect how doctors treat illnesses and approach their patients. For example, a 2018 study found that doctors often view men with chronic pain as “brave” or “stoic,” but view women with chronic pain as “emotional” or “hysterical.” The study also found that doctors were more likely to treat women’s pain as a product of a mental health condition. They were less likely to treat it as a physical condition.
A 2018 survey of physicians and dentists arrived at similar conclusions. Many of these healthcare professionals believed that women exaggerate their pain. This was true even though 40% of the participants were women.
It wasn’t until 1990 that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) required researchers to include women. This was for any clinical trials sponsored by the NIH. Before, clinical trials and research mainly studied white men, applying their findings to the rest of the population.
Female Reproductive Health
There is a persistent stigma surrounding female reproductive health concerns. Because of this stigma, plus a general lack of knowledge of the menstrual cycle — you’ll find more than a few news stories about doctors dismissing severe pelvic pain as cramps and recommending over-the-counter pain medication.
Later, some patients found doctors who performed more-thorough evaluations. These evaluations revealed the actual source of the pain. The causes included endometriosis, ovarian cysts, and even cancer.
Denying someone reproductive choice can create lasting economic hardship and continue cycles of poverty. Research has found that women who cannot access abortion care were more likely to face bankruptcy. They were also more likely to face eviction. They had increased household poverty and debt. The restrictions on access and bodily autonomy when it comes to reproductive rights further underscore the gender bias of women. Maternal mortality rates are sometimes twice as high in restrictive states. In supportive abortion states, the rates are significantly lower. Abortion is health care. The state governments are interfering with the delivery of evidence-based health care. They are trying to control women’s bodies. This leads to harmful consequences for individuals and population health.
The Gender Wage Gap
Overall, women are not paid as much as men, even when working full time and year round. On average, women working full time, year round are paid 83.7% of what men are paid. Women’s labor is undervalued. Most of the disparity in women and men’s pay cannot be explained by measurable differences between them.
The largest identifiable causes of the gender wage gap are differences in the occupations and industries where women and men are most likely to work. Women are 2 out of every 3 full-time workers in occupations that pay less than $30,000 per year. Fewer than 1 in 3 full-time workers in jobs paying an average of $100,000 or more. However, even within the same occupations, women earn less on average than men.
In 2022, women working full-time made 82 cents for every dollar a man made, on average. Data shows the median earnings for year-round, civilian workers aged 16 and over with earnings. Utah, Louisiana and Alabama were among the worst states for gender pay parity.
The Pink Tax
The “pink tax” is the concept that women’s products and services tend to be priced higher than men’s. This is a type of gender-based price discrimination. Over the years, this tax has been coined as the “pink tax.” Most manufacturers use the color pink to market and brand products specifically designed for women. Only two states — New York and California — have made it illegal to have gender-based pricing. The Pink Tax Repeal Act has been introduced in Congress more than once. However, there is no Federal ban as of yet.
The pink tax officially dates back to 1994. A report from California’s Assembly Office of Research found that 64% of stores in five major cities charged more to wash and dry clean a woman’s blouse. They charged less to wash and dry clean a man’s button-up shirt.
In 2015, New York City released the study, From Cradle to Cane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer. In it, researchers analyzed 794 products. They wanted to find out whether products marketed for women cost more than those marketed for men. Their findings found what many women already knew to be true. In 30 out of 35 product categories, the products for women were priced higher than those for men.
Women are paid less than their white, male counterparts in the same roles. They have to spend more than men to buy similar products. The Pink Tax Costs Women Thousands of Dollars Over Their Lifetimes. I challenge you to compare product prices next time you are shopping for essentials.
Gender Roles
Gender roles are the behaviors, attitudes, and actions that society feels are appropriate for a male or female. They are based on societal and cultural norms and traditions. Gender roles can create a lifelong cycle of inequality. Often women and girls are confined to fulfilling roles as mothers, wives and caretakers. Gender norms position girls as caretakers, which leads to gender inequality in how roles are distributed at the household level. Girls and women are expected to dress in typically feminine ways and be polite, accommodating, and nurturing. Men are expected to be strong, aggressive, and bold.
Nearly 80% of all of the unpaid work necessary to keep a household is done by women. Women also handle most of the care for family members, and these costs come to about $3.6 trillion a year. In addition, women make up half of the paid labor force. This really reflects the patriarchal structure of our society. Even though wives are increasingly earning the same or more than their husbands, marriages remain unbalanced. Women spend more time on unpaid chores and caregiving. Their spouses are freed up to spend more time on leisure and paid work.
In Conclusion
These disparities are being called out by sociologists and labor experts — not to mention women themselves, regularly. Yet, men continue to respond with their ego, denying the facts and trying to gaslight us. More women than ever are waking up to the lies we have been told. As we do, the patriarchy is trying to hold onto their control.
Women are being blamed for the “male loneliness epidemic”, declining birth rates etc. But the facts is, women are evolving and men are not. Hence the reason politicians like Donald Trump and his couch fucking VP, JD Vance are attempting to slander women’s suffrage. Denying our right to make decisions about our own bodies. Suggesting women stay in abusive marriages for the benefit of the children, despite studies showing the harm caused by that. Slandering women who are unmarried and childless, despite studies showing that is the happiest demographic of people. It’s all bullshit and we are DONE with it!
Ladies, if you take one piece of advice to heart, let it be this. ELEVATE YOURSELF!! Get an education, make your money and stay out of these men’s faces. Raise the standards you have for yourself and the men you deal with. If you want to be a wife and mother, by all means, do so. But, look past the ring, wedding and cute baby clothes. Stop involving yourselves emotionally, mentally and physically based on his potential. Will he be a good partner? What kind of father would he be? Is he emotionally intelligent? Do his morals, values and beliefs match your own? When a man shows you who they are, believe them! Stop ignoring your intuition and his red flags.
Ladies 30+, what advice do you have for young women? Feel free to leave a comment.
Recommended Reading
Daddy Issues: How to Detangle From the Sins of Our Fathers
Discovering the Inner Mother: A Guide to Healing the Mother Wound and Claiming Your Personal Power
Marriage NOT Required: Forget the Fairy Tale & Live Happily Ever After
We Are Not Born Submissive: How Patriarchy Shapes Women’s Lives
Women Money Power: The Rise and Fall of Economic Equality
1000 Reasons Why Not to Get Pregnant
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com
