Gender inequality in the United States has been diminishing throughout its history and significant advancements towards equality have been made beginning mostly in the early 1900s. However, despite this progress, gender inequality in the United States continues to persist in many forms, including the disparity in men's and women's political representation and participation, occupational segregation, and the unequal distribution of household labor. The alleviation of gender inequality has been the goal of several major pieces of legislation since 1920. As of 2021, the World Economic Forum ranks the United States 30th in terms of gender equality out of 149 countries.
In addition to the inequality faced by women, inequality, prejudice, and violence against men, transgender men and women, as well as gender nonconforming individuals and non-binary individuals, are also prevalent in the United States. Transgender individuals suffer from prejudice in the workforce and employment, higher levels of domestic violence, higher rates of hate crimes, especially murder, and higher levels of police brutality when compared to the cisgender population.
History
Gender inequality in the United States, despite significant progress throughout the 20th century and the passage of numerous laws since 1920, still persists in various areas of society. Women face challenges such as underrepresentation in politics, occupational segregation, and the unequal division of household labor. In addition, transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming individuals experience widespread discrimination, including workplace bias, domestic violence, hate crimes, and even greater levels of police violence. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2021 report, the United States ranks 30th in the world in terms of gender equality. Pdf.
History of government policy
In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which ensured women's suffrage (although some individual states allowed women the right to vote as early as 1869), was ratified. In addition, the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor was created to monitor working conditions for women in the workforce.
In 1961, the President's Commission on the Status of Women was established, initially chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. This commission found that women were suffering considerable workplace discrimination. Two years after the Commission's establishment, the modern feminist movement socially and politically evolved following the publication of Betty Friedan's novel The Feminine Mystique in 1963. Friedan openly challenged assumptions that women were content in their domestic roles and argued that women should pursue their own professional and personal identities.Lawless and Fox (2018), Chapter 1 – "Triumph and Defeat: Election 2016 and the State of Contemporary Feminism" Once women joined the workforce, the novel compelled them to confront legislators about unfair hiring practices, wage discrimination, and sexual harassment in the workplace.
In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was passed, which made it illegal for a woman to be paid less than a man working in the same position. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 also made discriminatory employment actions on the basis of gender illegal. These unlawful actions included discharging, failing to hire, or discriminating with regard to an individual's compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. The affirmative action policy of 1965 was expanded in 1967 to cover women as well as racial minorities. The United States government implemented these policies in response to the creation of and support from the National Organization for Women in 1966 for these policies.
In 1973, women's right to safe and legal abortion was established by the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade. In 1968, sex-segregated job advertisements were declared illegal by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1973; this allowed women to apply for higher-paying jobs formally restricted only to male applicants. In 1972, Title IX of the Education Amendments, which reads "No person in the United States shall, based on sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance," was passed.
In 1986, in the decision of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, sexual harassment was established as illegal and discriminatory. The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 guarantees that new parents can retain their jobs for 12 weeks after the birth of the child; this unpaid leave is the only form of paternal leave protected by law in the United States. In 1994, the Violence Against Women Act provided legal protection, as well as funds and services, for rape victims and victims of domestic violence. United States v. Virginia established in 1996 that gender-based admission practices violated the Fourteenth Amendment, and establishing a separate all-female school would not suffice as an alternative to integrating an all-male school. Most recently, in 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 provides employees (usually female) who suffer from pay discrimination with a way to file a complaint with the government.
The Equal Rights Amendment, which reads, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex", was first introduced to Congress in 1923 and successfully passed both houses of Congress in 1972. However, it failed to be ratified by an adequate number of states and died in 1982. The United States is one of only a few countries that have not ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (the US has only signed the treaty).
Current issues for women
Social attitudes While attitudes towards gender and societal roles were increasingly egalitarian for many years, the growth in support for equity dipped in the mid-1990s. Data from the General Social Survey's questions about gender roles used to track gender attitudes reveals that the previously rapidly growing egalitarian attitudes that reflected the blossoming gender revolution began plateauing or even decreasing during the mid-1990s. The gender revolution had stalled, with some of the lowest points occurring in 2006. After 2006, however, there was a rebound, and by 2012, egalitarian gender attitudes were back up.
Several patterns can be traced through the General Social Survey Gender Attitudes Scale data. Higher levels of education correlate with attitudes higher in egalitarianism. When the gender revolution was beginning to get back on track in the 2000s, the group that experienced the greatest increase in the extent of egalitarian attitudes was the conservatives. Overall, while the gaps in egalitarian views between generations are decreasing for newer generations, each subsequent generation continues to hold more egalitarian attitudes than the generations before it.
Benevolent sexism, sometimes referred to as chivalry, which holds women as something to be protected, also has psychological effects. Women who hold these views are more likely to have less ambitious career goals, and men who hold these views tend to have a polarized and stereotyped view of women, made up of both very favorable and very unfavorable traits. In such cases, the stereotyped view of women is "favorable in content and yet prejudicial in [its] consequences," and attempts to justify discriminatory behaviors presented as helpful or paternal.
Sexual assault
A 2007 survey by the National Institute of Justice found that 19.0% of college women and 6.1% of college men experienced either sexual assault or attempted sexual assault since entering college. In the University of Pennsylvania Law Review in 2017, D. Tuerkheimer reviewed the literature on rape allegations, and reported on the problems surrounding the credibility of rape victims, and how that relates to false rape accusations. She pointed to national survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that indicates 1 in every 5 women (and 1 in 71 men) will be raped during their lifetime at some point. Despite the prevalence of rape and the fact that false rape allegations are rare, Tuerkheimer reported that law enforcement officers often default to disbelief about an alleged rape. This documented prejudice leads to reduced investigation and criminal justice outcomes that are faulty compared to other crimes. Tuerkheimer says that women face "credibility discounts" at all stages of the justice system, including from police, jurors, judges, and prosecutors. These credibility discounts are especially pronounced when the victim is acquainted with the accuser, and the vast majority of rapes fall into this category. The U.S. Department of Justice estimated from 2005 to 2007 that about 2% of victims who were raped while incapacitated (from drugs, alcohol, or other reasons) reported the rape to the police, compared to 13% of victims who experienced physically forced sexual assault.
Research conducted at Lycoming College has found the enjoyment of sexist humor to be strongly correlated with sexual aggression towards women among male college students. In addition, studies have shown that exposure to sexist humor, particularly humor related to sexual assault, can increase male aggression and their tendency to discriminate against women. One study also asserted that the attitudes behind such humor creates an environment where such discriminatory and possibly violent behavior is acceptable. Men's tendency to self-report the likelihood that they would commit sexually violent acts has also been found to increase after exposure to sexist humor, as reported by researchers from the University of Kent.
In a national survey conducted in the United States of America, 14.8% of women over 17 years of age reported having been raped in their lifetime (with an additional 2.8% having experienced attempted rape), and 0.3% of the sample reported having been raped in the previous year.Tjaden P, Thoennes N. Full report of the prevalence, incidence and consequences of violence against women: findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. Washington, DC, National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000 (NCJ 183781).
Political representation
The Center for American Women and Politics reports that, as of 2013, 18.3% of congressional seats are held by women and 23% of statewide elective offices are held by women; while the percentage of Congress made up of women has steadily increased, statewide elective positions held by women have decreased from their peak of 27.6% in 2001. Women also make up, as of 2013, 24.2% of state legislators in the United States. Among the one hundred largest cities in the United States, ten had female mayors as of 2013.
In 1977, political science professor Susan Welch presented three possible explanations for this underrepresentation of women in politics: one, that women are socialized to avoid careers in politics; two, that women's responsibilities in the home keep them away out of both the work force and the political arena; and three, women are more often than men members of other demographic groups with low political participation rates. In 2001, M. Margaret Conway, political science professor at the University of Florida, also presented three possible explanations for the continuation of this disparity: one, similar to Welch's first explanation, sociological and societal norm discourages women from running; two, women less frequently acquire the necessary skills to hold a political leadership position from nonpolitical activities; and three, gatekeeping in party politics prevents women from running.
Workplace inequality