Gender Equality And Power

In 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was signed and to many, it was a common thought that it would single-handedly fix many problems that our country was facing. With gender inequality being a major problem that women had been struggling with and had made very vocal at this point, many naively thought that the charter would fix this problem. Nonetheless, for centuries women have been fighting for equal rights, so why assume that merely passing one law will fix everything? The patriarchy is so embedded in our society that simply stating that it no longer exists isn’t sufficient. Gender has everything to do with power, it “[is not] the consequence of gender difference, but rather power is what produces those gender differences

The hierarchy of gender and power has been continually reinforced since the beginning of time, and it is not something that can be fixed overnight. For so long it has been thought that there has always been a dominant gender, and those who decided that males were dominant were in fact males themselves. Ever since gender has become so socialized, masculinity has been defined by men to be the opposite of women (Kimmel and Holler, 2017). With all male traits being desired, and all female traits are contrasting of those possessed by men, it is easy to see why women had, and continue to have, such a hard time earning their place. Over the years, “doing gender” has become so normalized that in today’s society it completely habitual. Even the small things we do, without even realizing it we are acting in a gendered way. Everyday occurrences you probably don’t even notice, such as a boy wearing a blue shirt, or a girl playing with dolls. There are three main aspects of one’s life where gender continues to overtake: identity, interaction, and institution. “The processes and experiences that form core elements of our personalities, our interactions with others, and the institutions that change our lives” (Kimmel and Holler, 2017). As long as these vital sectors of our lives remain gendered, so does

The word “feminism” seems to be scary and threatening to many men, and so they take the position of opposition. Feminism isn’t about women wanted to receive special treatment or that women are superior; feminism is about equality. Equality between men and women in all realms is what is trying to be achieved, not trying to put women’s rights above men’s. As Huffington post (2014) puts it, “in order to be considered a feminist, you only need to be on board with one idea: All humans, male and female, should have equal political, economic and social rights.” Although we have made progress from a couple hundred years ago, society is still nowhere near where it needs to be. The work of amazing feminist groups has created a more inclusive and welcoming society for all genders compared to the reality of years ago. Women now have basic human rights, rights to vote, and are legally equal to men, which is a great step in the right direction. Now that the legality of gender equality has been covered, we need to cover to social aspects. People’s attitudes and beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, are not all where they should be. Since women have been dominated by men for centuries, it is still engrained in some peoples’ mindsets. We need to continue down the road of feminism and keep improving our