Equality now! 

Opinion by Bea D.

Did you know that it would take another 4 decades at the pace we’re going now for there to be an equal number of female politicians to the number of men politicians? That’s right! According to the UN, it would take another 40 YEARS for women to be treated like men! I would be 50 years old by then! (Highlight on would, in hopes it changes by then) If you want to shorten this amount of time by who knows how many years, read this essay! 

Various issues on gender equality such as unequal pay, false theories on how boys are naturally stronger than girls,  sexual harassment, and the fact that women are promoted less often than men are all proof of gender inequality. The points on unequal pay are how, for example, an Olympic gold-medalist MAN would get paid an undefined amount more than female Olympic gold medalists. There’s a common stereotype that men are athletic and strong while girls are gentle and weak. If an unlucky child gets born into a family who believes in this, they will most likely live up to it because that’s what they're taught. 

In the old days, people thought that boys and men are the only useful ones, and females were considered emotionless rag dolls who were only good for chores and reproducing. This meant that men were the only people considered worthy of good education and jobs. Back then, women didn’t even have jobs, and if they did have them, (commonly sewing and cleaning) they would only get paid a half of what a man got daily, which is totally unfair. But enough negative talk, let’s get to the good stuff.... solutions!

When it comes to fixing these issues, it gets a bit complicated. But I came up with a valid solution. Let's start with the basics: all humans are equal, no matter gender, race, beliefs, and thoughts.  An easy solution to this is that women are treated equally to men. But then there are men who believe in the baloney that were the olden days, so it would be hard to change their minds. Of course, there’s the easy way,  brute force. But force should never be used, period. This would only result in more problems, arguments, and disagreements. 

So, we’ll have to use the other solution, negotiation. Of course, the better thing is always harder to do, sadly. Negotiation is a difficult and longer process than force, but it is a better solution.  Negotiation is a good solution. You can keep negotiating and little by little, we will get what we want: all humans being treated equally.