Like others, a social problem that is widespread in American society is Gender inequality. It is a problem that has had a negative impact on American society. Gender inequality can be found in many sub-systems of America. It is important to understand what gender inequality is in order to identify and correct the problem. Two sub-systems that gender inequality can be found are in the family and in the workplace.
Gender inequality, in my definition, is the unequal and biased treatment between the two sexes. I strongly believe that the unequal treatment of women is something that should have stayed in primitive times. We are in the present now and we are far more advanced than we ever were and yet we are old school in our thinking of how men and women should be treated. I can strongly identify with gender inequality because many of my closest friends have faced it or still face it. Materialist theories define gender inequality as a result of how men and women are tied to the economic structure of society. They believe that women's role as a mother and wife are devalued by society and deny access to highly respected public opportunities. Gender stratification refers to the ranking of the sexes in such a way that women are unequal in power, resources, prestige, or worth. Materialist theories indicate that gender stratification is increased where women's work is dedicated toward the family and men's work is dedicated outward trade and the marketplace. There is an old saying that can apply to gender inequality; "This is a man's world." No matter how much one argues, that statement is still true. Women have always been a step behind men because society has not accepted that women are just as capable as men. Knowing this to be a fact, its hard to accept that society can be so insensitive to women. Even in the sophisticated world that we live in, we can see gender inequality play an active role in many sub-systems.