Gender Based Issues in United States: Challenges for the New Government - Term Paper Example

 Gender Based Issues in United States: Challenges for the New Government Introduction Gender Issues in the United States are mainly concentrated on rights and opportunities of both American men and women. The democracy practiced in the country has continued giving equal opportunities for both genders through strong feminist movements and civil society movements. This paper analyses the current gender based issues being addressed today in the United States. It will tackle gender and race preferences in elections, abortion and equal work pays, religion, professional sports, ethnic differences and business and entrepreneurship. It will also try to assess on how the newly installed government led by U.S. President Barack Obama will try to address these issues and challenges in removing gender discriminations in United States. Gender Based Issues Gender and Race Preferences in Elections According to the article on racial and gender preferences on ballots, the author mentions that aside from choosing whether a colored American or a female American will occupy the two highest posts in the United States government, voters from the states of Nebraska and Colorado will come to a thought of giving black and female Americans their needed assistance for prosperity. These two states will lead the civil rights initiatives in putting out race and gender inclinations on public hiring and education. Ever since, efforts on banning racial and fender discrimination were neutralized by oppositions who have spent thousands of dollars in preventing the measures off ballots through dirty tactics like lawsuits and voter deceptions within the premises of United States. In the states of Missouri and Arizona, their signature campaigns were sabotaged wherein in the case of Missouri the disagreement with U.S. Secretary of State Robin Carnahan over ballot language left the state with only a little amount of time (90 days) in gathering the required 200,000 signatures. In the state of Arizona, the signatures gathered were confirmed not valid on questionable grounds. Similar initiatives were passed in democratic states like California and Washington. In the case of California, the Proposition 209 did not ended in decrease of minority enrollment as predicted. Even though black enrollment was reduced in Berkeley and UCLA, the system-wide minority enrollment garnered higher rates from the year 1997 until 2007 and graduation and retention rates improved. The recent U.S. Elections showed that the country is indeed ready for the change. The election of the new U.S. President Barack Obama serves as the proof that the America indeed, is free from race discriminations. Also by allowing a woman to run for vice presidency and a woman in the name of Hillary Clinton who participated in the Democrat Party primaries as a potential U.S. Presidential Candidate, gender preferences in the United States are decreasing. As a conclusion in this area, efforts in removing race and gender disparities are finally starting to materialize. Abortion and Equal Work Pay According to Catharine Mackinnon, (2008) the state of women still remains to be distinguished by sex-based poverty and impunity because of sexual abuse and the like. The existing laws for economic opportunities for women are often regressively interpreted. This is manifested on findings which show that women, on the average, have lower incomes than the average men. One of the reasons mentioned by the author is that women are paid less compared to men although both have the same work productivity. Kris Maher (2008) cites that the 1963 Equal Pay Act already prohibits pay discrimination based on gender. The result was an increase in the median weekly pay of women from 62.5 percent in 1979 to 80.2 percent in 2007. Another concern is the gender bias in the access of justice. As Mackinnon discusses, gender bias in the legal system hinders women’s rights for fair justice. The presence of enabling laws that grants women with equal rights and opportunities will remain only in writing not until the justice system will make meaning to these laws and regulations. In the case of abortion, since the year 1980 abortion was only available for women who can avail of it. This was manifested when the Supreme Court excluded abortion as part of Medicaid’s coverage. The result was poor women are hindered of their rights to choose of whether to continue their pregnancy or not. This argument of Mackinnon is challenged by the findings of Guttmacher Institute stating that the rate of abortion among women falling below the federal poverty level (9,570 for single woman) is four times greater than women who are above 300% of the poverty level. This only implies that poor women are having problems in seeking financial assistance to sustain their pregnancies. By 2007, a small majority led a federal abortion ban on a procedure that had no exemption for protecting women’s health. This affected the rights of even the wealthy women. It is important to have women representations in the U.S. politics but this is not enough. As the author implies, there should be policies for women who are in need especially those who have experienced or who are experiencing the conditions mentioned above. Gender equality for Mackinnon (2008) can be promoted in different areas like employment, education, reproductive rights, and the suppression of violence against women. Laws protecting the rights of women are present but it is up to the courts to interpret these laws for the sake of the oppressed women and girls. The amendments on the Title IX of the 1972 education law permits equal access to education for female individuals. Barack Obama during his senate years supported the ruling that allows filing of suits of affected workers who experienced wage discrimination prior to the last discriminatory paycheck. As quoted from Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, “Reaching across ideology can win legal arguments, but who judges those arguments, at this moment in time, could make or break women's equality in law, hence in life, for generations.” (Mackinnon, 2008) Religion Kathryn Lopez (2008) mentions a case involving women priests. On August 2008, a group in the name of Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordained three women in Boston through the vesting of chasubles and red stoles. This event is not encouraged by the Catholic Church as it is quoted, “Catholics who attempt to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the women who attempt to receive a sacred order, are by their own actions separating themselves from the Church.” (Lopez, 2008) According to Mother Assumpta Long, a Dominican sister in Michigan, the Catholic Church is already recognizing the equality of women. This statement can be very vague in terms of equality on identical opportunity. For example, if men can be priests, why women cannot? This is the reason why there are the so-called women priests existing today. The womenpriests as reported by Lopez (2008) came from a rebellious feminist tradition of the Catholic Church. The Eucharist symbolizes Christ and thus, implies a male priesthood. In 1994, the late Pope John Paul II stated that the Church has no authority to permit priestly ordination to women. Even before, the Catholic Church does not permit women to become priest. They can serve God by becoming nuns and staying in convents. However, the desire of being a sister is not anymore seen today. According to the data of Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research, the numbers of nuns are declining from 179,954 sisters to only 59,208 today. (Lopez, 2008) Business and Entrepreneurship Sue Shellenbarger (2008) cites that aside from the rising unemployment which hit the women workers more, the credit-market crisis also tends to give hard impact on women-owned businesses. As mentioned by the author, these businesses owned by female businesswomen represent the “best and the brightest hope of gaining control over career and work-life balance.” (Shellenbarger, 2008). Women entrepreneurs are increasing in numbers in the business category. In the research of Center for Women’s Business, the report illustrates that around 40 percent of private firms are owned by women. These businesses owned by women employ approximately 13 million employees and generate 1.9 trillion US Dollars worth of sales annually. (Shellenbarger, 2008) The credit-crisis can pose threats on these women-owned small businesses in terms of loan applications. According to National Economic Research Associates vice president Jon Wainwright, “women still face discrimination when they ask banks and other lenders for small-business loans.” (Shellenbarger, 2008) This statement is very hard to take especially for young and aspiring women who want to enter the business industry. It will discourage potential sources of employment and added income for the states and the federal government. Wainwright also adds that women and minority who owns business are less likely to have loan applications be granted as compared to loans filed by white male business owners. He adds that if the loan applications are granted, they suffer the higher interest rates. He also challenges the previous research that credit-market bias against women and minorities has decreased since 2003 because in the recent crisis, discrimination is still evident. (Shellenbarger, 2008) A recent study from the Equality and Human Rights Commission of Britain shows that women engaged in business, politics and the public sector are “losing the battles for gender equality in workplaces after years of progress.” (Donner (a), 2008) Professional Sports In the article published in Wall Street Journal entitled Game Players: Women and Professional Sports, that women comprises half of the viewers and ticket buyers of professional sports such as basketball, football, and baseball. A predicted number of 45 million women watch a professional football game and an estimated 46 percent of Major League Baseball apparel is bought by female aficionados. Yankelovich researches also show same pattern for NBA games. An example was during the Super Bowl XLII were 44 percent of women ages 18 to 49 viewed the football series. Overall, women comprise the 62 percent of people tuning in to professional sports. (Cuesta, 2008) On the other hand, even though the figures show that women contribute much for the success of today’s professional sports, the article cites that female individuals are still underrepresented in the world of professional sports. This is seen as male sports are frequently broadcasted than female sports. Another issue is that women are often left out on decision makings of sportscasters, team owners, or coaches. In the interview with Gameface co-author Ericka Boeke for the issue of Journal Women, the issues involving women and professional sports were addressed. According to Boeke, the reason why a number of female individuals are not that engaged in sports is because of language barriers and terminologies surrounding these sports. The said gender gap in the field of sports is because people were used to male voices covering male sports such as American football. The American society was used to male sports anchors and the biggest professional sports in today’s generation involve male players. (Cuesta, 2008) Women now are increasingly gaining the limelight in professional sports. In the case of Susan Myers, being a coach of a football team (Texas Prince of Eagles High School) is a big achievement for a woman who engages in a male dominated sport like football. An M.B.A degree holder and a former investment banker, Mrs. Myers came to love the sport when she was encouraged to watch a football game and a football training camp. She started coaching in 2000 at Covenant Christian Academy located in Colleyville. Even though her team lost only one game, doubts from people regarding her capability in directing football plays which involves a lot of physicality and aggressiveness. This led to the Covenant management to relieve her of her duties. She did not stop and got a tight ends coach job in Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas which won championships on that year. According to her, she even changed her name in application forms to “Chuck” in order to hide her gender. But her dedication and love of the sport made her one of the respected coaches in American Football. This is manifested as her book entitled The Complete Handbook of Coaching Wide Receivers, became one of the best-sellers concerning the football receiving techniques. (Adams, 2007) In the article of Mei Fong and Rebecca Blumenstein (2008), women participants in the Olympic Games are continuing to increase every occasion. In the recent Olympics in Beijing China, 42 percent of the 10,500 total athletes are women. This percentage is the highest recorded ever which eclipsed the 34.2 percent record during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In the case of the United States, it sent 285 female participants in the recent Olympics which is also a record. The U.S. male competitors that were sent were 311 or just 26 more than the female ones. According to Anita DeFrantz, chairman of IOC’s Women and Sports and former bronze medalist in U.S. Rowing Team, the upcoming 2012 Olympics in London, England can expect 50-50 participation from both genders all over the world. These developments only imply that gender equality is also observed in sports. Gender doesn’t matter as long as one brings home the bacon. In the case of China, as reported by the authors, female athletes undergoing Olympic training programs are more funded than male athletes because the Chinese female competitors are consistent medal bearers. (Fong and Blumenstein, 2008) Ethnic Differences Deborah Kotz (2008) presents another case wherein women are involved through giving birth to offspring. Research findings show that ethnic differences between couples pose a health risk on women upon conceiving a baby. Findings specify that women of Asian origin who are married to white men have a 30 percent increased rates of cesarean sections as compared to Asian or White couples and White women married to Asian men. The reasons for this is that former studies expressed that the size of pelvis of an average Asian woman is relatively smaller that an average white woman’s. So it cannot accommodate babies of a certain size. These cases do not really required cesarean sections automatically. According to the experts, there would be prolonged labor for these cases because vaginal delivery will be difficult. Another health risk which was found out and published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology is that pregnant women who belong in the same category (Asian-white couple) are more likely to have gestational diabetes than white-white couples. Not only Asian women married to white men who risk having gestational diabetes but also white women married to Asian men. Experts see that this study must be further investigated for certainty. (Kotz, 2008) Today researchers are also studying the possible connection between ethnic or genetic differences among African-American women and breast cancer. Current studies show that African-American women who are descendants from Bight and Biafra region for slavery are more likely to have inflammatory breast cancer which develops in their 20’s or 30’s. On the other hand, there are researches explaining that some African-American women are less likely to have breast cancer than white woman, although they have higher death rates. Studies are also focusing on breast cancer differences among Asian women. (Kotz, 2008)This area of study needs further research findings to see the relationship on ethnic differences and breast cancers on women. Challenges for the New Government With the rise of Barack Obama as the Head of State and Government of the United States, several challenges and issues involving gender will be faced by the new president. First will be the effectiveness of the current laws passed on the legislative branch which give equal opportunities and rights between men and women in the United States. As mentioned above, the country can have excellent laws which will address gender based issues but the main concern is on how will the judiciary branch interpret these laws and on how will the executive department implement and push these regulations. Also, biases on justice must be totally eradicated because these will ruin the state of democracy in U.S. Second will be the women representation in the government. Women in congress and other branches of the government are continuously increasing in number which will definitely help the interest groups and other gender sensitive movements in pushing for bills related to gender fairness. With more representation, these bills being lobbied can have easy access in the legislative branch and can fasten the process for these bills to become laws. As quoted from the chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission of Britain, “The low representation of women is down to straightforward discrimination in some cases, but there are some fundamental ways in which our workplace culture still holds women back.” (Donner (a), 2008) However, this is not enough, the Democrat Party as well as the Republican Party must join forces in promoting equality between genders. This can be done through endorsing beneficial bills which will prevent wage disparities between male and female workers. Another is giving equal opportunities for both male and female business owners on acquiring loans. Obama, during his senate years has already pushed for the law concerning on filing lawsuits on wage disparities to promote equal pay. Now with him on the helm, gender disparities in the American society are likely to be washed out. Conclusion The four areas (gender and race preferences in elections, abortion and equal work pays, religion, professional sports, ethnic differences, and business and entrepreneurship) being focused in this paper pertain to how United States is trying to remove discrimination in its society. Gender as well as race is the most common area of discrimination which originated decades ago. With the help of civil society movements which pushed for gender equality and fair treatment, women in the United States gained the respect they wanted and the country is improving in eradicating gender disparity. The rise of successful women in different fields which are mostly dominated by men before is one sign that the American society is recognizing the efforts of women in their development. It is good to see men fighting for women’s rights and gender equality. This only show that Americans are becoming matured individuals in dealing with sensitive cases like this. Also, the installation of Obama in White House signifies that both race and gender discrimination will be history. List of References Adams, Russel. 2007. ‘Breaking the Grass Ceiling, Susan Myers quit her job as an investment banker and became one of the few female high school football coaches’. Wall Street Journal. (November 16), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119517705825195151.html Cuesta, Christina. 2008. ‘Game Players: Women and Professional Sports’. Wall Street Journal. (October 10), http://blogs.wsj.com/frontlines/2008/10/10/game-players-women-and-professional-sports/ Donner, Francesca. (a) 2008. ‘Of Note – Cracking Open the “Woman Voter,” Sewing Sisters, More…’ Wall Street Journal . (September 8), http://blogs.wsj.com/frontlines/2008/09/08/of-note-cracking-open-the-woman-voter-sewing-sisters-more/ Donner, Francesca. (b) 2008. ‘Of Note – Rainn Wilson Campaigns for Women’s Issues’. Wall Street Journal. (October 1), http://blogs.wsj.com/frontlines/2008/10/01/of-note-rainn-wilson-campaigns-for-womens-issues/ Fong, Mei and Rebecca Blumenstein. 2008. ‘A Woman’s Place is Here, Female Olympians Expected to Hit 50% by 2012’. Wall Street Journal. (August 22), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121934539939160961.html?mod=relevancy Lopez, Kathryn Jean. 2008. ‘The Problem With Liberation Ordination.’ Wall Street Journal. (August 22), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121935883317261753.html Mackinnon, Catharine A. 2008. ‘Obama is the Way Forward for Women, Abortion rights and equal pay are at stake in the election’. Wall Street Journal. (October 21), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122455083611552585.html Maher, Kris. 2008. ‘Obama Puts Spotlight on Women’s Pay Gap’. Wall Street Journal. (September 25), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122230058536773375.html 2002. ‘Racial Preferences on the Ballot, Well-funded opposition moves against efforts to ban preferences’. (October 20), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122445872052148477.html Shellenbarger, Sue. 2008. ‘Women-Owned Business are Hit Hard’. Wall Street Journal. (September 19), http://blogs.wsj.com/frontlines/2008/09/19/women-owned-businesses-are-hit-hard/ 2008. ‘There are Many Ways to Look at Women Rights’. (November 4), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122576192797895649.html Read More