The Griffon News

Girls don’t do math well. Girls are more sensitive and emotional. Girls bake better pies. A girl will never make it to the White House. Women shouldn’t vote.

These are some of the stereotypes that Americans once touted as fact. Not theory, but completely accepted fact.

In less than a century all of that has changed. From the first steps of suffrage to the great strides of feminism and today’s race for the White House, American society has been a model for the advancement of women.

Unfortunately, there is still more to be accomplished.

As the inequalities between the sexes lessen, the goal of equality becomes harder to define. People become less confident about what it is they’re trying to achieve.

In this year’s political arena there have been two prominent women, bringing into question if gender still matters in present-day America.

Sarah Palin is the second woman to ever accept a nomination of a major party in a bid for the White House. In the few weeks since her acceptance she has brought questions of gender equality to the forefront of politics.

Can women be smart and pretty?

Even the media has exposed its own bias for pretty. This is a visual culture and Sarah Palin is not exactly visually offensive. Entirely too much discussion is devoted to Palin’s exterior and that should be insulting. Not to Palin, but to you the viewer. The implication is that a person’s façade is paramount in popular culture.
Even though equality in education has become a priority in American culture, the consequences of previous generations continues its legacy.

Traditionally math was considered a man’s subject. Women were not capable of the same endeavors as men. The uncontested bias prohibited women from enrolling in law school, medical school or countless other possibilities. This generation is fortunate to have equal opportunities for personal advancement.

When examining the composition of the male to female ratio of faculty here at Missouri Western, there is still a gender gap.

There are 81 male members of the faculty and 67 female members. With only a discrepancy of 14 the divide seems minimal.

The arrangement of the genders within departments is surprising when examined.

In the Computer Science, Math, & Physics department there are 16 men and five women employed.

In the English, Foreign Languages, & Journalism there are 10 men employed and 26 women.

Of the nine faculty members there are only males in the History, Philosophy, & Geography department.

It is evidence of residual gender bias rather than sexism at Missouri Western.

This is the consequence of stereotypes imposed on students about which disciplines they are best suited for based on gender.

Every department’s administrative assistant is a woman. Again, it’s probably nothing to do with sexism but who applies for the job. Mostly women.

Since Americans will probably not come to a consensus on when the sexes are equal, people tend to gauge progress by momentous events.

But the answer is subjective, largely influenced by each individual’s personal life experience. But all that really means is that everybody won’t begin just agreeing no matter what landmark events occur.