Social Action Spoken Words and Gender Equality, Essay Example

Conversational styles, attitudes and writing are different in every segment of the society. As inequality, anti-discrimination initiatives and policies are introduced gradually into government and company missions, it is time to examine what causes the difference in expression of feelings, the self between women and men. The below review will address race and gender differences through the history and in current times, in order to determine what causes the great inequality that is present in the society.

Social dominance of white males and their voices in politics, leadership has been discussed by several authors recently. The social dominance theory also suggests that discrimination is created through giving different amount of opportunities to different social, gender and ethnic groups, to express themselves. This theory is mainly based on the patriarchal system that was dominant for hundreds of years. The hierarchy of races and genders is still visible today, and it is expressed in several ways. Below we will cover some of the aspects of gender and race discrimination in written and spoken words.

Non-discriminative language. Discrimination through language appears in different forms. The most common way is stereotyping, which appears in everyday writing, speech and even literature. Women are often described as inferior, invaluable and “cheap”. Further, the action of omitting to mention various groups’ views and circumstances is a language-based discrimination. When politicians talk about people, they necessarily sometimes build their citizen image on the “norm”, not representing minority groups. Likewise, over-representation of white straight males has already been confirmed by several authors. When looking at popular magazines, there is hardly any expression of women’s values. Indeed, when featuring women, men’s magazines often make them appear as a subject of desire, more like an object than a feeling person. This, alongside with negative labeling and trivialization of women’s feelings, emotions is an obstacle of representing female and minority groups’ voices. Another important belief in the society is that women who are “man-like” are the only who can build a successful career. Therefore, successful women are often degraded into someone who is imitating male virtues and neglects femininity.

Stereotypes are also present in movies: Asian males can usually only be either violent fighters or villains. The virtues of Black men, people from ethnic minority groups are not balanced with those accredited to white males in movies.

Do Women talk too much? One of the main (and most commonly accepted) stereotypes used in media and communication is that women talk too much. Indeed, this is not true. Women talk differently. They do try to establish connection, instead of expressing themselves. For a male, speaking is a tool to impress others, emphasize his own importance and show off his knowledge. Women are more comfortable talking to people they know can connect to, while men use talking as a power tool. Therefore, the stereotype of women talking too much is not confirmed. As Tannen states, male talk is report-talk, while female one is rapport-talk. The views of men finding women’s talk and chat unimportant and useless creates the stereotype, which is not based on reality.

What does it take to have your voice heard? In the age of rising inequality democracy is unable to represent all groups within the society adequately, due to suppressed voices. While the voting and political rights are given equally to women, men, as well as ethnic minorities, their representation in the media, government organizations through communication is far from being equal. Majority culture rules today’s world, and this is very hard to change. Before starting to fight the above mentioned stereotyping and sexualization patterns in media and movies, women and minority groups need to discover their voices. It is, indeed a hard task, because for centuries, communication in public was oppressed by the rules of society. Women were considered unable to think the way males could, while ethnic minorities did not matter and were not even given basic rights. Therefore, re-discovering one’s values is the first step of the process. Without this, it is impossible to effectively communicate them towards the public, including majority groups. The representation of women in the movie industry is a good example of gender voice inequality. Smith et al. (2) confirm that as of 2009, 96.4 percent of directors were male, while 86.5 percent of writers and more than 78 percent of producers were men. Likewise, the stereotypes on screen are present in the form of sexualization, social role and personality.

In order to influence the society, through writing, speaking and adequate communication, women and minority groups are able to influence media so it does not represent gender and race inequality. While inequalities are cultivated by media, books, movies, the entertainment industry, featuring stereotypes and discrimination, women’s and minorities’ voices will not be listened to. Norms have to be changed, and this requires an open system that is not built upon hierarchies. Media, politics and companies have to become inclusive, to encourage “voiceless minorities” who are afraid to speak out to have their voices heard.

Works Cited

Smith, S., Choueti, M., Gall, S. (2010) Gender Inequality in Popular Films: Examining On Screen Portrayals and Behind-the-Scenes Employment Patterns in Motion Pictures Released Between 2007-2009. Web.

Tannen, D. (1995) You& Just Don’t Understand. William Morrow Publishers. Print.