Hidden Unequality

Virginia Woolf once stated that in 100 years from her essay, she believed that women would no longer be the protected sex. This essay was written eighty years ago and it is easy to see how many would believe that we are, if not completely, nearly there. After all, women are now figureheards in business and education. Higher education classrooms have as many female students as male, sometimes the females make the majority. There are now laws against sex discrimination. If she qualifies, a woman cannot be turned down for a post based on her sex alone. Women are welcomed in the worlds of business, education, and armed forces. It would appear that the male superiority that Woolf noted has all but faded to extinction. But is it really so? Are males and females on an equal playing field?
Women have certainly overcome many obstacles over the years. No longer is a woman trapped like Edna was in The Awakening. A woman is able to have her own income and lifestyle, very different from Nora in A Doll's House. Finally, a woman is not barred at every door by a man as Virginia Woolf experienced in her lifetime. On the surface, men and women are truly equal. If that is so, why are there still discrepancies in everyday life?
A woman is no longer barred from the workplace. Yet, it is extremely difficult to find a "successful" career driven woman who is a mother. Or if she is a mother, one who does not seem distant and unsure with her children. Society has allowed women a place in the workplace, however to reach the milestones that men reach so early in life, a woman is forced into a decision. Does she follow her career or does she give it all up to raise a family? Men have no such issue. If we are equal, why do the women have to answer this question, while the men do not need to make a choice.
Women have been given equal rights by law. However, the courts favor women. during a custody battle, the mother nearly always gets the children. Despite backgrounds of drugs, abuse, or neglect, the mother still keeps her children. Good fathers often lose their children for no other reason than they are not their children's mother. If we are equal, why does the mother gain custody more than the father? If we are equal, shouldn't each custody battle be based on the merits of each parent?
Virginia Woolf claimed that women served as looking-glasses for men. By looking into the mirror, the men were able to see themselves larger than life, especially when the mirror was so small. Many would tell you that womankind no longer feels inferior to its male counterparts. Yet, woman fight for the attention and approval of men constantly. As young children, girls strive for the love and attention of their father. As young adults, girls work to get the attention of the star football player (or his equivalent). As women, the goal is to attain the love and attention of one man for the rest of his life. Women fight so hard to get this attention, that they often bring eachother down in the process. Gossip, name-calling, mud-slinging, all runs rampant in any setting that is dominantly female. No one is allowed to outshine the other. The goal is to meet the approval and needs of one man, more than anyother woman can. Sometimes, the consequences of such actions are not thought of. In today's society, where girls often "sex-up" for a man, have women really stopped serving as a looking-glass? or has the frame merely changed?
I believe that in many ways women have lessened the gender gap. The gap is no more feminine, more subtle. It is easy to say that the graduating class has a higher proportion of females in its upper half than males. It is easy to say that mothers now are able to get custody of their children. It is easy to say that a woman does not need a man to survive. It is not easy to say that women have all the opportunities and sacrafices of men. It is not easy to say that a mother and father has equal opportunity to custody. It is not easy to say that women do not build a man's ego. Our society is still transitioning, however, it would be wrong to say that our society is equal. Equality does not mean that one gender has more of an opportunity than another. Complete equality will come no one has an advantage over another by gender alone.