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Hannia María Chávez Quezada Gender Discrimination In this picture, there are two kids, a boy and a girl. Each of them with different thoughts, thoughts that have been implanted by society. On the boy’s brain we can see some tools, like a hammer, a drill, pliers, a wrench. And on the girl’s brain we can see makeup, perfume, a hair dryer and a comb. The message is pretty clear. Boys are taught to work and maintain the family. They’re supposed to focus on work, rarely be at home, and not show signs of vulnerability because they are supposed to be tough, confident, leaders and problem-solvers. While girls have been taught to depend on boys, they have been taught to be thin, emotional, and to wear dresses and makeup. To take care of children, cook, and clean the home. These expectations of how men and women should be are called stereotypes and they are the principal causes of gender discrimination. Nowadays, women are more aware of their stereotypes and they’re trying to break them and be more independent, but unfortunately there still men who don’t want this to happen. In fact, there are also some women who doesn’t let this happen.

Can you explain the terms stereotype and discrimination? According to the Oxford dictionary, “Stereotypes are a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”. If someone is stereotyped as something, people form a fixed general idea or image of them, so that it is assumed that they will behave in a particular way. Stereotypes only prolong and justify gender discrimination. Also according to the Oxford dictionary, discrimination refers to the unjust treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. There are many different forms of discrimination, but the most common are direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment.

Clearly, discrimination and stereotyping go hand-in-hand, because if ignorant people believe some stereotype about gender roles, or race or religion, there is a good chance that they will discriminate people based on these prejudices.

Where does gender discrimination occur the most in your opinion? I think in workplaces. I recently read an article that said that about four-in-ten working women (42%) in the United States say they have faced discrimination on the job because of their gender. To Begin with, during the hiring process, a woman can apply for a job as a sales executive, but a lot of companies will hire a man simply because some of the company’s long-time clients are more comfortable dealing with men. Promotions are another example. Men with less work experience are often promoted ahead of women who have worked there longer. Also, sexual harassment is very common, women bosses often say inappropriate comments to their employees about their bodies and they can’t say anything because are afraid of losing their job. But, the most obvious form of discrimination in workplaces is the unequal pay.

Why in your opinion are there so many feminist nowadays? Because women all over the world want the respect that men get. They want equal pay and freedom from fear, but history had them taught that they won’t be believed, heard or taken seriously. But fortunately, nowadays women are beginning to speak out and be understood. Women who are in position to speak out need to keep trying and speak their truth so that in a future, another woman will not have to wonder when in history she lost her voice.

Do you think that gender discrimination also affects men? Of course, traditional stereotypes are often just as difficult for men too. We barely see this because the numbers say that women’s situations are worse, but that doesn’t mean men don’t suffer. For example, men receive custody of children in only about 10% of divorce cases in the U.S, or when a man and a woman commit the exactly same crime the men get

longer prison sentences than woman. Also, domestic violence committed by women against men are almost invisible crimes.

Many people throughout history have fought for equality, is there one figure in particular that you admire, and why? Yes, Martin Luther King, What I most admire about him was his vision of justice. He changed the world by fighting for freedom and against racism. Of course racism still exists but people are more aware of it nowadays, as they have more open minds. There is a quote by him that inspires me and that I learned by heart: “We´ve learned to fly the air as birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas as fish, yet we haven’t learned to walk the earth as brothers and sisters”. This phrase motivates me to keep fighting for justice. To show up, stand up and speak up. To remove gender discrimination completely, in order to create a better future for all. We all need to be on the right side of the story. HER story as well as his.

What do you think, is the solution to the problem of gender discrimination? Eradicate stereotypes. The problem is that we can’t destroy stereotypes, but there is some hope. According to Debra Pryor and Nancy Nelson Knupfer, they said that If we become aware of stereotypes and teach critical viewing skills to children, perhaps we will become informed viewers instead of being manipulated. We can be aware of and therefore change stereotypes by confronting bias in the media, and people’s mentality. In the movie Miss Representation Katz said that people learn more from the media than any other single source of information and that if we want to understand what’s going on in today’s society in the 21st century, first we have to understand the media, and I couldn’t be more agree because media is the mirror of our society. We should all fight together against gender discrimination because it’s not just a female issue, it´s a human issue. It affects us all.