Essay on Gender Roles
Will we ever see a day when gender roles no longer exist? Even though this probably will not happen in our lifetime, it is still a possibility. I never thought about this question until I read the first article regarding male fish growing female eggs along with the second article that was about women being more affected by climate change. Both of these points should not exist because both genders should be equally affected by climate change. Being a woman, I have experienced social inequalities in my job, the men were paid in $15 per hour in cash while we were paid $15 per hour with taxes taken out of it. This is just one example of gender inequality
I have experienced and I never want it to happen again. I believe that there are actions we can take to change the future of gender roles and inequalities. Through these articles, I have gained knowledge about gender in fish and humans as well as how gender is related to climate change. The main issue in the National Geographic article is how male fish are starting to grow female eggs due to water pollution that changes, blocks, or mimics male hormones. Males are not supposed to reproduce which is why them being able to is concerning. This is an example of intersex when a creature has a mixture of different sex characteristics. The second article explains how the poorest people, specifically poor women, are those who are most affected by climate change.
That is because women are usually in charge of providing their families with natural resources including water, food, and gas to heat and cook with. I am concerned about how male fish are affected more than female fish and how women are more affected than men. Overall, I feel that everyone, no matter their gender should be equally affected by climate change. As of right now, non-scientists can not fix the problem of intersex in fish, but there are ways we can help raise awareness to take action on this issue. If pollution is what is feminizing fish, scientists believe that it is worse than they thought. That being said, as I college student I need to raise awareness to stop destroying ecosystems. Because water-pollution was a reason for the intersex wish, we need to reduce dumping our own liquid waste into sewers or bodies of water.
To reduce gender inequalities, we need to take a stand through social media and protests. In conclusion, I feel that there are certain actions citizens can take to reduce pollution and gender inequalities. Pollution affects males more than females while global change affects females more than males. Usually, females are more affected by everything which is a plot twist. I believe that if people take action, stereotypical gender roles will not exist.
