It’s the 21st Century, not the 20th

The clock strikes 8 o'clock and the test begins. This time, they have mixed it up and the writing section is first, followed by the multiple choice. It is either a surprise or the proctor does not know how to read directions. I open up the booklet and, just like my teacher warned me, there is a question about women. It reads, “Assess the ways in which women participated in and influenced TWO of the following: the Renaissance; the Reformation; the French Revolution.” However, another likely question could have been to assess gender equality and how were women treated during the 18th century, or any other century.
The matter of fact is that gender equality has been a major aspect of world history. The question above was taken from an AP European History test. Although gender equality, and mostly female inequality, has been an issue since the beginning of time, it is important to acknowledge that the times are changing, the 21st century is upon us. Therefore, with this change in time comes a change in importance of the issue.
Today’s society is geared towards equality in every aspect: religion, race, and gender of course. There might be some exceptions to this, like gender inequality in Saudi Arabia, but, for the most part, people are trying to improve equality. The entertainment business has long ago championed gender equality, but the workplace is making progress as well. More women are finally getting CEO positions, or even simply promotions. Since, progress is happening, it would be wise to let it grow on its own and focus on more concerning situations.
Saying this, I believe that society needs to partially avert its attention to issues of hunger, unemployment, and especially debt, here in the United States. The government needs to be concerned with the economy because the progression for gender equality has already been set in motion and will keep on moving on its own. This is not to say, however, that ignorance is to resume. Once people open their minds to the idea that women are as productive as men in the workplace, these people need to keep those minds open. In essence, one can’t merely block out one issue to solve another, but rather multitask with many problems at once.
Supporting evidence of the ‘moving on’ suggestion has been clearly made in a book by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay. The two women are, surprisingly, not attacking and blaming men for women’s inequality. They say that the laws have been laid down, and that there are no legal limitations for women like there were in the 20th century. Now, it is up to the women to succeed. One of the problems that causes this notion of gender inequality to still exist is the characteristic of confidence and the gap between men and women in this area. Men have always had the upper hand, dominating the work place and building strong self-confidence along with it. Women, on the other hand, seem to lack the great male confidence, and are, therefore, treated as inferior. The quality of a woman’s work might be equal, or even superior to the man’s, but low self-confidence is what is holding her back. Sometimes, appearance takes the dominating role over the work put into a project.
As I conclude, I feel that the past generations have been successful in bringing about an environment where women can succeed. It is the women’s turn now to take advantage of this new opportunity. Maybe in a couple decades, the work force will be more or less split evenly among the male and female gender, but why wait so long to start solving another issue. It is time to be less concerned with gender equality, and more with other persisting issues at hand.