By Jack Kelly, Business and Publishing Editor
Since the beginning of the Suffrage movement, the fight for gender equality has steadily grown, permeating every aspect of life; public or private. Most recently, it has been discussed in regard to the current election cycle. For the first time in American history, a female presidential candidate has made it to the general election.
As Americans watch the presidential debates and prepare to vote, many question whether or not the debate over gender equality is still an issue, or simply a thing of the past.
Some claim that in this day and age, we have in fact achieved gender equality, and that we should focus on more pressing issues in the world. However, the statistics show a shockingly different story in America.
According to a study by Save the Children, an international non-governmental aid organization, the United States is ranked 32 in the world in the Girls’ Opportunity Index. That places us below Kazakhstan and Algeria, two countries with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that is dwarfed by that of the United States. With the largest GDP in the world, the United States has the necessary resources to effect change in gender equality, yet it has failed to do so.
The study uses several different variables including child marriage, adolescent fertility, maternal mortality, governmental influence, and secondary school completion to evaluate and rank each country in the world.
America also has a lot of inequality between genders in the workplace. The wage gap is a term that has been used quite a lot in this election cycle. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average woman makes 80 percent of what the average man makes.
At the highest level of business, the gap is polarizing. In the Fortune 500, the ratio of male to female CEOs is 22 to 1.
While there are surely reasons to be concerned, it is important to acknowledge the progress that has been made. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed just 94 years ago. Previously, women didn’t even have a say in government. In 1890, women made up only 15 percent of the workforce; however, women today make up 47 percent of the workforce.
“We certainly… have come a long way… in my lifetime, but we still have some work to do,” said English teacher Ms. Colleen Carlson. “A fair amount of work to do.”
Another side of the gender debate that has grown in popularity recently is that of gender fluidity. Gender is not an option of two boxes, rather it is a spectrum. Those whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex at birth may choose to identify as transgender.
With gender neutral bathrooms becoming a new norm at college campuses across the nation, the U.S. government has taken steps to begin to recognize a group of people previously swept under the rug.
Most would agree that gender equality is an issue of great importance; however, the question remains, should we be focused on equality or the rejection of the confines of gender entirely?
“Gender fluidity will come as a part of opening people’s minds to the idea that everyone is valid,” said John Kehl, president of the Queer Spectrum Alliance. “We can start by paying [women] the same amount of money, treating [them] the same, giving [them] the same rights. From there we can establish, legally, that you cannot discriminate on the basis of gender. Then if we are saying all the people are equal anyway, does it matter if gender even exists?”
The relationship between gender equality and gender fluidity is sequential. Only once we recognize that gender should not be a determining factor in socioeconomic status can we begin to break down the restrictive nature of gender.