Let me set the scene: A young girl at the age of 8 developed a burning passion for football. She’d watch every game that would be on TV each Sunday night. She would beg her dad to play catch with a football with her to the point that she would throw like Tom Brady and catch like Odell. It has then become her dream to be part of the NFL someday. After years of practicing, training, learning and obsessing, the young girl believed she was finally prepared to try out for her city’s football team. She got her gear on, got her helmet and football ready and she headed to the field where the tryouts were being held with her head held high and the widest grin on her face. So imagine the heartbreak she felt when the coach told her that she couldn't try out as it was “too aggressive” for her, it was “too violent” for her. She was “too delicate”, “too fragile”, “too feminine”. She was a girl. She was a girl, therefore she could not play football. Unfortunately, many cases like this occur in many females’ daily lives which often sparks the debate of “Are men really superior to women?” and they aren't. Women aren't superior either. We are equal. However, in society today, it is widely evident that that is not the case through gender inequality from childhood, wage gaps between the genders and assault and harassment cases.
Point #1:
To begin, straight from childhood, youths are almost immediately exposed to sexism and gender inequality. Little boys always tell little girls that they can’t play with one another due to their genders. In elementary schools, boys were typically favoured for sports and athleticism whilst girls were given the assumption that they’re the Frida Kahlo's of the art class. Boys were generally presumed to be science prodigies while girls were speculated to be musical geniuses on the flute or clarinet in music class. Boys were always expected to be stronger and smarter than girls while the girls were meant to have a more feminine role in the school environment (Unknown 1) which often leads to those males believing that they’re stronger and smarter while girls are generally weaker. In other words, boys would be superior to girls and this mentality follows them through their elementary school careers as girls will be excluded from sport teams and certain clubs. Boys will genuinely believe that they are better because of this. Also, from elementary school ages to teenage years, sexism was conveyed in a different way: through social media. In recent years, there has been a spike of sexist comments made on the internet by teenagers. 4 years ago, a survey was conducted on 5000 students from grade 7 to 11 across Canada about how they feel about the comments and what they do about it. Although 47% of those who were surveyed agree that it’s crucial to tell an adult or to report the content, they all have many reasons to keep their own mouths shut. Among those 47%, 57% believe that those who say sexist comments don’t intent to hurt others. Another 45% believe that it's not their place to say anything. Finally, the worst statistic of all is that 44% of students, almost half of the students, surveyed don’t speak up against their own friends when they make sexist comments as they believe that they “don’t mean anything by it”. On top of that, the survey showed that girls are significantly more likely to be concerned and offended about sexist comments compared to boys as it is the boys who find the comments “harmless”. Which makes sense because it is boys who are 3 times more likely to be making the rude comments online. (Loney, 2 – 3). In all, the sexist bigotry happening from childhood doesn't end there; it grows up into the adult world.
Point 2:
To continue, it is a well known fact that women get paid significantly less than their male coworkers, even though they do the same job. In 2016, when full time workers’ earnings were compared, it was shown that women only earn 75 cents for every dollar their male counterpart makes. However, Statistics Canada also factored in the fact that some women work a few hours less than men do due to familial obligations, so they’ve evened out the scales to the point that women earn 87 cents for every dollar her male coworker makes (Unknown 2). No matter how one would look at it, no matter how one would calculate and crunch the numbers, there is a 13-25 cent wage gap in Canada and no amount of arguing is ever going to justify it. Now here is a graph that visually shows the difference in annual earnings between the genders and different age groups (Elkins 2). All women everywhere around the world are helpless, insulted, hurt and absolutely pissed. Can you blame us? After another survey was conducted by Plan Canada on 1000 Canadian students from ages 12 to 17, 48% believed that men should be responsible for earning the income, thus almost validating that men “should be paid more than women” (Unknown 1). This old – fashioned and traditional mentality needs to be obliterated. It was believed decades ago that men would go to work while women were designated to be at home and cook and clean. On that note, of the boys who were being surveyed, 31% of them believe that a woman’s most important role is to stay home for her family and to wait on their significant other’s hand and foot (Unknown 1). This mentality is absolutely outdated, unjust and discourteous. This mentality suggests once again that men are the superior gender. Once again, that is not the case; once again, we are equal.
Point 3:
All over the world, harassment and sexual assault cases occur to both males and females; Canada is no different. Here, there are about 37 cases of sexual assault against females per 1000 Canadians. Among these 37 cases, 71% of sexual assault incidents were from unwanted touching such as groping, 20% were sexual attacks and 9% were sexual activity where the female victim was unable to consent due to some sort of intoxication and manipulation. To no surprise, these sexual assault offenders were men, just under the age of 35 (Conroy, Cotter 1,3). Men often know that they are typically stronger than females, more powerful. They know that women are compelled to stiffen up while they are uncomfortable, unable to do or say much, and if they do try, it doesn't work much in their favour. On the other hand however, there is also 5 cases of sexual assault per 1000 Canadians against men (Conroy, Cotter 1,3). Although that number is not as big as the statistics in regards to women, it does not make it any less important. A common misconception about assault and harassment cases is that it only occurs to women when in fact, it happens frequently to men as well. Men are physically and sexually assaulted regularly yet aren't reported as often as they should be. Women who sexually assault men believe that as they are men, they enjoy that sort of attention when in reality, they make men just as uncomfortable as men make women feel. Both men and women get assaulted and assault each other with the mentality that the other person is too weak to say anything about it. That outlook needs to come to an end as it is time, it is urgent and crucial to start seeing each other as equal genders, rather than one gender is stronger than the other.
Conclusion:
All in all, society itself really enjoys emphasizing the inequality between men and women through sexism among youths, gender wage gaps and the constant assault cases filed for both genders. It needs to be understood that one gender is not better than the other. I remember in eighth grade my elementary school had this organization called “Girls On The Run” where a bunch of girls would come together and run after school as training for a 5K marathon that was coming up. I remember needing to get a shirt for the big marathon. I picked a shirt from my favourite store that said “Girls Can Do Anything”. I love that shirt with my whole heart but I’ve always found one little issue with it. It shouldn't be “Girls Can Do Anything”, and it definitely should not be “Boys Can Do Anything”; it should be “Girls and Boys Can Do Anything” because boys and girls, men and women, males and females, are equal. We are equal.