English 116
22 September 2014
Identity Discrimination Individuality and Identity is a gift. In a world where the average person is spoon fed information, or misinformation, from media outlets, propaganda websites and TV shows, it is hard for some of us to find our identity when so much influences it. Finding ones identity also comes with finding out that not everybody accepts the same views or beliefs as one another. The United States claims that people have freedom of expression and that they implore individuality, but we sometimes see that people or groups of people get discriminated against for their ideals or way of life. Discrimination is strong in religion, lies within ideas or beliefs, in the workplace, and on a physical appearance level as well. There a many groups within the United States that express their individuality and get criticized for it, Amish people, gay people, and women even still to this very day get discriminated against. Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable and should never be tolerated under any circumstances. I believe discrimination happens because Americans share a perception of what normal is and what it means to be normal. All in all discrimination is never justifiable and women have been at the helm of discrimination for centuries.
Woman have been discriminated on since the inception of man. They have always been looked down as inferior to their male counterpart. They had the stereotypical roles of cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children and housework in the “Golden Age” of America. Fast forward 70 years and some of those roles still exist but woman are pushing the norm while being faced with adversity. American woman have a harder time making progress within the workplace than men. In fact, woman “get paid year-round just 77% of men’s earnings.”(Forbes) American society today implores that woman go out, get an education with a good paying job and to be somebody yet it is hard to do that when most men still look at them as inferior in the workplace. Maybe it has to do with sex and how the media portrays woman? Because after all sex sells. One could argue that pornography is an expression of sexual individuality, yet it is met with very mixed reviews about how it objectifies woman and makes them seem like they are nothing more than a sex toy which helps to undermine the image of a women. These mediums like pornography and sexy adverts help to discriminate against woman by creating stereotypes that we as citizens sometimes believe. Woman during WWII wartime had to take up positions that men had left behind because they were off fighting the war. During that time many women had come to the realization that they too could work just as well as men. But when the men returned to the country the woman were expected to leave the positions and go back to being housewives because that is what they did. This didn’t sit well with many woman and they fought for their right to work and be a bigger part of society. Woman expressed their want to be more than a house wife and to express more of themselves by saying that they too could be effective at creating business, clothing brands or could have the next big idea and have the ability to go out and do something about it. Like many things that bring change women were met with discrimination during this time but now women hold positions such as scientists, doctors, political officials and one day, a woman may become president of the United States. Another group that gets discriminated on in America is the Amish.
Let us begin by identifying what the average American views as normal because it is people’s perception of what is normal that gives us a medium to judge someone by. Normal to an average American is having a good paying-job, maybe one or two children, a spouse of opposite gender, a nice big house, and generally seen as friendly within the community. Their activities include having a night on the town with their friends, maybe see