One in five lawmakers in the United States congress are women, this supports America's fear of female power. What is female power? In the eyes of many it means for women to be given equal opportunity, equal pay, and equal treatment as those who are male. But much like the word feminism, women empowerment has been morphed by some into thinking that it a movement to get more power rather than equal power. Female power is one of the most complex topics in today's society. Besides strictly social issues, women are underpaid for the same work as men, and women are deprived of leadership positions because of the condescending idea that men need to be the “boss.”
Somehow this problem that women face seems exceedingly insignificant to the plethora of other issues our country faces. Our economy is crumbling, our environment is failing, and our democracy has quickly become a reality show. But social issues cannot be ignored. The fact that women have been fighting for hundreds of years just to fix this ongoing inequality is nothing short of devastating. It shows the lack of importance of the issue, and much like racism, sexism will only be solved if acted upon. This fear of women in power has developed further over the past years. As women take positions in the workplace they are expected to act a certain way. They must maintain their composure, be gentle and delicate, and overall embody the women regardless where they are employed. When women don’t fit this mold they are often perceived as rude while a man who acts the same way is assertive and strong willed.
Although women hold almost 52 percent of all professional-level jobs, American women lag behind men when it comes to representation in leadership positions. Women earn 60 percent of undergraduate degrees, and 60 percent of all master’s degrees. They are 47 percent of the U.S. labor force, and 59 percent of the college-educated, entry-level workforce. Yet they are only 14.6 percent of executive officers, 8.1 percent of top earners, and 4.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs. These numbers are staggering and speak to the problem. Concrete numbers and statistics easily show how corrupt this issue is.
Some argue that these statistics might just represent men’s superior work ethic. Or that regardless man or women the people that are hired are employed because of their capability. But, women are capable of any job that a man is, yet somehow that is ignored. Women have scored higher in IQ tests during various studies. Why can’t our society just acknowledge that sex is a factor when hiring and is a set back if you are not a man.
Women are not only deprived of daily work positions, but also held back from political positions or representations. Women today hold only 18.5 percent of congressional seats, and they are just 20 percent of U.S. senators. Even worse, women of color represent only 4.5 percent of the total members of Congress.
Do people fear women in power, like they fear new ideas? Does questioning social standings make people uncomfortable because it is going against what has become second nature? I thought that our country was past Camrynif women are good enough. I thought our country was finally understanding that a women's only use is not in the house or raising a family, that women have the capability to contribute to the workforce, and to our country’s voice. Before we start planning for the future we need to put in perspective the important things, and equality is one that should be at the top of every list. When hiring, companies need to look past sex and look deeper. Because, they are just hurting their business and workforce by not hiring women with equal if not better credentials.
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