According to Google, the definition of gender equality is: “The state in which access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender. Legislation that reflected the principles of gender equality.” No matter the gender, everybody should have the same rights. The reason why this is such an important issue is that everyone can have a better future if treated equally. Everyone is affected by gender inequality even if you aren’t a victim of rape or discriminated against based on your gender. Someone you know and/or love may have been a victim. Based on our genders we are given specific roles. Men are supposed to be providers and women are supposed to be at home moms, doing all the chores. This is not how today’s society is supposed to be. We have evolved.

We’ve made progress, such as more job opportunities for women, but there is more to work on. Equal pay for equal work and equitable cost for products for all genders are two areas that we can work on. According to National Women’s Law Center, “American women who work full time, year round are paid only 80 cents for every dollar paid to men — and for women of color, the wage gap is even larger.” There should not be a wage gap. No matter your gender, you should be paid based on how good of a job you have done.

You can be part of preventing it; discrimination/inequality against any group/person is dangerous because it can be the beginning of inequality for everyone. People can feel safer being themselves and be more comfortable if gender equality was more recognized.

In order to make this work, we all need to vote in favor of laws and political candidates that promote equality. We should also boycott products and services that charge more or less based on gender. For example, men’s personal hygiene products (such as shampoo/conditioner and body wash) are cheaper than women’s. If we make these changes we could have a better society.

TJ Ariz, Woodinville