Gender Discrimination Despite the Best Term Paper

Total Length: 1884 words ( 6 double-spaced pages)

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One of the problems with discrimination laws is that they the law does not have the power to completely cure social problems. For example, affirmative action was a necessary part of the effort towards equality because many employers were simply unwilling to give woman an equal chance at job opportunities. However, many areas of overt gender discrimination have been cured, or cannot be cured by quotas because of a lack of opposite-gender interest in the jobs in question.

Just because laws cannot completely cure discrimination does not mean that discrimination is inevitable or unconquerable. Anti-discrimination legislation handled the burden of the most egregious forms of discrimination and continues to protect people's rights to employment opportunities. However, society as a whole bears a burden in the fight against discrimination. By refusing to patronize businesses that discriminate on the basis of sex, society can use the power of the market to influence and eliminate gender bias, in a way that laws could not.

As long as society keeps its current views on gender roles, it is likely that gender discrimination will continue. However, laws have been developed that protect people from discrimination without requiring one to ignore biologically-based sex differences.
Federal laws and their ancillary programs, like affirmative action, have helped eliminate a tremendous amount of sex-based discrimination. However, it is now up to society to fulfill the promise of those laws and use the force of the market to bring about true gender equality in the workplace.

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