by Bonnie Kretchik

Created on: July 03, 2007

Does society favor men? Many would answer that of course it does. Men seem to have a much easier time in the workplace, they aren't discriminated against there, they aren't the victims of constant sexual harassment, neither do they have to raise a family and hold down a steady job at the same time. The list of reasons why men have an easier time in society goes on and on. However, if you really look at male and female roles, it's not as clear cut as it may appear. The truth is, in many scenarios, society can be equally as hard on both genders under different circumstances.

First of all, we can look at the work place. It's easy to say that men aren't discriminated against like women are when searching for jobs. In many cases, we do see more males in roles of leadership. It is surprising sometimes when we see a woman as CEO or president of a company when we expect this position to be held by a man. Here, we can argue that society favors men for these higher paying jobs for whatever reason. Whether they're perceived as smarter or more able is debatable. But, it is necessary to look at the other end of the spectrum. Look at jobs that favor women for example. Teaching elementary school is a perfect example. What if a man really does like to teach kids? He can be discriminated against or perceived as odd or weird for enjoying being around kids all the time. No, this doesn't happen all the time, but neither does sex discrimination for more high powered jobs either. The bottom line is that sex discrimination happens in all types of work places for both genders.

Next, we can look at sexual harassment. This is a horrible thing for any woman to have to suffer through. To be the victim of someone who is physically bigger than you or who has the ability to threaten your job because of where you and he stand on the corporate ladder can be an unimaginable ordeal. But, this doesn't only happen to women. Men too can be the victims of sexual harassment. And, the fact is that oftentimes female victims have more support from coworkers and police than male victims do. Male victims tend to become more the butt of someone's joke and not taken as seriously. Even though the physical threat may not be the same, the emotional pain it causes can be equally as devastating. Couple this with the fact that men may not gain the same support and one can see how in this situation, society is more protective to women.

The family. Now there's a topic worth some heated debate. For centuries women

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>