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Komi Afetse
Instructor: Chip Douglas
UWRT- 1102
Sepember,13, 2016
The Place of Women in The Society
Gender inequality is a notion that has always been the subject of a lot of controversy in
society. what is inequality? As stated by the website merriam-webster.com, inequality is: an
unfair situation in which some people have more rights or better opportunities than other
people. In this perspective, women and men have never been equals. In point of fact, women
have always been marginalized in favor of men. Since antiquity until very recently (second half
of the twentieth century), women had always been inferior to men. Their place was limited to
their home, and their only occupations were: the household maintenance and the education of
children. They had to obey their fathers and their husbands. However, from the nineteenth
century, women started to fight for their rights. They fought for gender equality. Today, women
consider that they are equals to men; but did the stereotypes of the past completely disappear?
Which industries have a smaller gender pay gap? Why? What can we learn from them?

What

could be the impact on society if the injustices against women disappear completely?
the economic situation of women is deplorable. The participation of women in economic
activities is very limited. They are the ones who suffer most from the lack of employment.
Hence, there is more unemployed women than men. As stated by the website unwomen.org, in
2013, the male employment-to-population ratio stood at 72.2 per cent, while the ratio for females
was 47.1 per cent. Besides the unemployment, women are often exploited. To say this in
another way, the salary of men is often higher than that of women. Globally, women are paid less

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than men. In the words of Robert J. Samuelson, writer for the Washington post, women earn
only 79 percent of mens average hourly wages. Not only that, women are often unprotected by
labor laws. As an illustration, according to the website unwomen.org, women were far more
likely than men to be in vulnerable employment in East Asia (50.3 per cent versus 42.3 per cent),
South-East Asia and the Pacific (63.1 per cent versus 56 per cent), South Asia (80.9 per cent
versus 74.4 per cent), North Africa (54.7 per cent versus 30.2 per cent), the Middle East (33.2 per
cent versus 23.7 per cent) and Sub-Saharan Africa (nearly 85.5 per cent versus 70.5 per cent).
Furthermore, globally women are poorer than men. In other words, they are those that are
most in need of funds. They do not have sufficient resources to meet basic needs like eating
properly (3 times daily), clothing, etc. As long as women are employed in precarious jobs, are
paid less, and spend more time to perform household tasks; they always suffer more poverty than
men. According to the website un.org, the majority of the 1.5 billion people living on 1 dollar a
day or less are women. In addition, the gap between women and men caught in the cycle of
poverty has continued to widen in the past decade, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "the
feminization of poverty". Worldwide, women earn on average slightly more than 50 per cent of
what men earn. What could be the impact on society if the injustices against women disappear
completely?
Injustices against women have a detrimental effect on the development of society. In
another way, if these injustices come to end, our society will enter in a great era of progress.
Indeed, all the areas would experience an important improvement. Women represent at least fifty
percent of the world population. The involvement of women as well as men in all activities,
would boost the economy enormously. This would result in the reduction of poverty and an
improvement living conditions. Gender equality is a way to get a good way of living. Gender

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equality is good for a countrys growth. Gender equality is also good for companies. These
companies have a higher rate of productivity. To sum up, gender equality is not a zero-sum
game but a win-win. (Kimmel).
I do not know a lot about the industries that have a smaller gender pay gap, so I decided
to focus my extended inquiry project on finding a response to the question: Which industries
have a smaller gender pay gap? Why? What can we learn from them? To figure out an answer to
my initial inquiry question, first, I plan to research the industries that have a smaller gender pay
gap, and why? Then, knowing the industries, I will try to answer the question: what can we learn
from these industries? Also, I will include in my project, what will be the impact on the society
if the injustices against women disappear completely. In this way, these are the questions which
will guide me in writing my extended inquiry project: Which industries have a smaller gender
pay gap? Why? What can we learn from them?

What could be the impact on society if the

injustices against women disappear completely?

I think that most of my responses will come from articles created by national and
international women organizations such as UN Women, and National Organization for Women
(NOW). I will also use statistical data and articles from sources other than women organizations
sources to support my statements. Furthermore, I believe that some magazines or journals will be
very useful for my project. I am hoping to enhance my knowledge about this topic during the
semester.

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Works cited.
Facts and Figures: Economic Empowerment. unwomen.org. UN Women. Web.14 September
2016.
Samuelson, Robert J. What's the Real Gender Pay Gap? washingtonpost.com. 1996-2016 The
Washington Post, 24 April 2016. Web. 14 September 2016.
The Feminization of Poverty. un.org. 1997-2007 United Nations. Web. 14 September 2016.