Equality is one of the most important mechanisms in our society. Whereas many of us feel that it is growing one by one everyday, others still feel the necessity to fight for his or her rights. Equality isn’t something individuals see eye to eye on a great deal of time. For example, gender disposition is a very critical matter in our society as well as racism. Everyone wishes to be equal, yet that topic can never be reached. People have completely different views and opinions concerning those around them that have an effect on their judgement. This results in differences and inequality amongst others.
While equality is a great aspect that people today should incorporate in their lives and community, it affects how the workforce operates. It is known that women have a disadvantage to better pay whereas men don’t usually experience that problem as much. A lot of times, finding jobs are easier for men than they are for women. “The average 9.7% difference between the collective earnings of men and women suggests a structural disadvantage to women,” (Murray para 1-3). Because of inequality, men are often chosen first over women in the workforce and have a better financial status.
Not only do women have disadvantages when it comes to having a high paying jobs, it is also a fact that women had to fight for their right to vote for years. In the 1800s, women were working internationally to win more rights. Women had to risk their own freedom just to have the same rights as men. While gender inequality still exists today, it was a lot more critical in the 1800s-1900s. “Why were women excluded, both from many individual states’ laws and from the 14th Amendment? The framers of the Constitution—and many who followed them for more than the next 100 years—believed that women were childlike and incapable of independent thought. They believed that women could not be counted on to vote responsibly, so they left women out of states’ voting laws and the Constitutional amendments,” (Teaching Tolerance, para 2). Women were kept out of a majority of their rights based on the opinions of the government. They were mistreated and judged.
While gender equality is a big issue in the United States, racism also plays a role in our society. It is known that African Americans struggle the most in America. Even though racism was a much bigger problem in the past, it still exists today. For example, an incident not too long ago includes two African American males and a caucasian male. The caucasian male called the police on the colored men for ‘trespassing’ when they were only sitting down quietly at a local coffee shop. “The two men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were meeting a friend for an afternoon meeting. Nelson asked to use the bathroom but was told that it was for customers only. So he sat down, without purchasing anything, and waited. What happened next could only happen to a black man in America. Two minutes after they arrived at the shop, the store manager, who is white, called 911. Six police officers arrived and asked Nelson and Robinson to leave. They refused and were immediately arrested for what the police called, and I’m not making this up, “defiant trespassing.”(Cohen, para 5-6). This just goes to show how ignorant people can be. Inequality is a spiteful matter that affects many people. People may want equality in the society, but not a lot act upon the issue.
Equality was always a very popular subject that everyone talks about. It relates to many things such as stories and real life cases. For example, Kurt Vonnegut wrote a story called “Harrison Bergeron” that talks about equality in the society and the lengths the government goes through to maintain it. While the main goal in the story was for everyone to remain equal, it was nothing but degrading and unequal. In the story, the author says how everyone is equal meaning no one was smarter, better looking, or stronger than anyone else. The government drew those rules for everyone so that no one can be in competition with everyone. They would all be the same. Although, everyone weren’t as equal as they thought.
In “Harrison Bergeron,” in order for everyone to be equal, the intelligent people had to wear weights around their head as well as earphones so that they can be average like the rest. The best looking people had to wear ugly masks to cover themselves up. “And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, he had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times,”(Vonnegut, para 3). While this may be their definition of equal, it was nonetheless degrading and unfair. Even though these laws were meant for everyone to level out, those smart and beautiful people still stood out from the rest. When average people look at them, they can see all of those objects that are weighing them down are meant for them to be average. Those law changes were inhumane and unfair to those who had to suffer.
Equality is a big matter in the society that everyone talks about. Many people have to fight for their rights, and others have the advantage of not having to go through those struggles. There are all kinds of inequality in the world such as gender inequality and racism. It also exists in stories such as “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. While inequality was a major issue in the past, it still exists today in our society.
