Sex discrimination is the unequal treatment of individuals based on their sex. Laws and traditions have helped create and maintain political, economic, and social inequality between the sexes in most societies throughout history. Sex discrimination has limited the opportunities of both women and men, but especially those of women. Until the early 1900’s, for example, nearly all countries denied women the same voting rights as men. In many countries, women still hold few or none of the most powerful jobs and political offices. This inequality exists even though women make up about half the population of nearly every country.
Views on sex discrimination
vary from culture to culture. Many people in Western societies view unequal treatment of the sexes as unjust. However, numerous people, especially in non-Western societies, believe it is natural and right that only women perform certain tasks and only men perform certain others. In some cultures, women have traditional roles. For example, in some Middle Eastern and Asian countries, tradition separates women of child-bearing age from the company of men except for members of their own family.
Certain religious teachings also define sex roles. For example, the Bible, the holy book of Jews and Christians, and the Qur’an, the sacred book of Muslims, have often been interpreted as describing distinct roles and duties for men and women. Many people are guided by such teachings.
Origins of sex discrimination.
Sex discrimination probably was originally based on physical differences between men and women. Only women can bear children and nurse infants. As a result, women assumed most of the responsibility for child care. In addition, women are, on average, smaller and less powerfully muscled than men. These size and strength differences helped define certain physically demanding or dangerous jobs as “men’s work.”
Through the years, physical and social barriers have prevented women from entering many occupations. Many societies have followed what is known as the separate spheres doctrine for men and women. In such societies, many people expected women to remain in the private world of the home, raising children, preparing food, and cleaning. Men, on the other hand, were expected to dominate the public sphere of work and politics. They should work outside the home to provide the family income. Some people still believe that the welfare of society depends on such a division of labor.
Sex-based laws.
Many kinds of laws encourage or discourage unequal treatment of the sexes. They include laws that deal with divorce, employment, property, social security, and voting. Until the mid-1800’s, for example, laws in the United States prohibited married women from making contracts, owning property, or controlling their own earnings. Until 1920, the laws of most U.S. states denied women the right to vote or gave them voting rights that were less extensive than those of men. In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States banned all laws that restrict women’s voting rights.
In many states, women were prevented from practicing law, serving on juries, or working in a wide range of jobs. Efforts to end this discrimination by challenging state laws in the Supreme Court of the United States were largely unsuccessful. In deciding such cases, the court often supported the ideology that physical differences between the sexes justified the limitations imposed on women.
Changes in laws.
Americans opposed to sex discrimination worked to add an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution. This amendment would make unconstitutional all state and local laws that discriminate by sex. The ERA was introduced in Congress in 1923 and approved in 1972. However, it failed to become part of the Constitution because it did not win approval from the required number of states by a 1982 deadline. Despite the defeat of the ERA, sex discrimination began to decline. Congress and state legislatures became more responsive to demands to end sex discrimination in employment and education and to increase opportunities for women in many other areas.
Since 1960, the United States has adopted additional measures to reduce sex discrimination. For example, the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires equal pay for men and women doing similar work. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits job discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex. Under this act, businesses cannot reserve specific jobs for only men or only women. They also cannot refuse to hire married women or fire a woman for pregnancy if pregnancy does not affect her job performance. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 bans sex discrimination by schools and colleges receiving federal funds.
Also during the 1970’s, the Supreme Court required that women wage earners receive the same benefits for their families that male wage earners do. Such benefits include Social Security, welfare, and workers’ compensation. Other court rulings have included refusing to allow sex to play a role in jury selection, and rejecting a woman-only policy at a state university’s nursing program and a men-only policy at military academies. The court also struck down a law that only permitted women to be awarded alimony. In addition, many states have laws enabling a man to collect alimony if his former wife has a larger income than he does. Canada has sex-discrimination laws similar to those in the United States.
Persistence of sex discrimination.
By the early 2000’s, many forms of sex discrimination had disappeared from Western societies. More women received equal pay and experienced fewer restrictions on opportunities to pursue a variety of careers and occupations—including active duty in the military. Many people now recognize that society has become more complex and that women function as citizens and wage earners in addition to their traditional roles as homemakers. Many workplaces have been restructured to allow men and women to share responsibilities for work and family.
However, many subtle forms of discrimination remain. For employed women with children, the conflicting demands of family and career are especially strong, because women are often still considered the main caregivers of children. Women have been able to enter a wide variety of jobs that had been closed to them. However, many occupations still are primarily held by women and others by men. In addition, women are often prevented from advancing to higher positions in business and the professions by an invisible barrier known as the glass ceiling.
