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Women's Rights In The United States

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Throughout the history of the world women have been lagging men in terms of rights to the individual. Even today, in some countries, women have little to no rights making the men in charge of everything. Women were not allowed to vote in the United States until the nineteenth amendment was passed in 1920. Women groups had to fight for the simple right to vote for who represents their common interests and lead the country they live in. Sexism is defined as, “The systematic oppression of women and the prepetition of violence against women because of their gender” (Womens International Network News, 1993). The ideology of sexism is based on the idea that men have more natural rights and are superior to women from birth. There is much debate on …show more content…
Many women’s rights groups have fought for equality to make great leaps but the equality is still not quite there. Women can hold the same position that a man does but will statistically make less money. Objectification is another large sexist issue that some women deal with on a day to day basis. Women are treated differently based solely on their sex and the way that they look. Harassment from focusing on women’s bodies and unnecessary commentary that follows can be a daily struggle for some women. There is a large amount of domestic violence that takes place in the United States. A large portion of women have physical interaction that is unwanted whether it is sexual or some form of abuse. The amount of rape and abuse is incredibly high in the United States. Some girls must fear for their well-being the second that they walk out of the safety of their …show more content…
There is a significant decrease in earnings in the same position between a man and a woman. In 1973, women were earning fifty-eight cents for every dollar that a man was earning. With the many movements to end sexism, the salary gap has gotten closer but women are still not earning as much as men. According to Michele (2015), “Fast forward to 2015 and despite the advances women have made in the workplace, the pay gap has endured, with women now making on average 78 cents on the dollar.” Objectification is possibly the largest type of sexism because many women are affected every day. “Sexual objectification, which arises in part from Western cultural norms that sexualize women, occurs when women are reduced to their sexual body parts and evaluated to be used by others” (Fredrickson & Roberts 1997). Women are viewed as objects rather than people at times and are unfortunately treated as so depending on the situation. Western culture is most prominently associated with objectification and at times results in radical actions. Objectification can lead to things like rape and domestic violence. Women are often stuck in abusive relationships, “But for a wide variety of reasons, including intimidation and fear of retaliation, the victim often finds it difficult to report the offense to authorities or to an agency that might be able to help” (Kramer & Finley,

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