Gender Inequality In John Poole's Article 'Where The Girls Are'

All around the world, discrimination exists. Religion, race, sexuality, and gender are characteristics that cause unequal treatment of people. A developed country may overcome different social obstacles than a developing country, but certain issues are critical on an international scale. Women’s inequality in society is still a prevalent issue that should be addressed.

John Poole’s editorial, “Where the Girls Are (And Aren’t),” discusses the discrimination of women in populous countries. National Public Radio’s video journalist has used his expertise in video production to create multimedia works over various topics that have won Emmy Nominations. Early on in his fifteen years in this industry, he was a member of a team that established

The article follows Poole’s idea that a girl may face discrimination in each stage of life: birth, childhood and adulthood. An average reader could understand this interactive piece because of the organization of the text. Poole suggests that most girls “face discrimination simply because they are girls”(Poole). Throughout the entire essay he continues to point out his belief that girls are treated unfairly in different countries. Specifically, girls that live in India and China are the main focus because they carry the majority of female population. By dismantling the generally accepted view that populous countries including China and India, have an equal distribution of boys and girls, this article clearly points out, “But you’d be wrong” (Poole). Poole’s writing style appears to easily plant his claim in the reader’s head, as he or she is less likely to reject his ideas at face

When a young woman reaches the age of fifteen, she is no longer considered a child in many cultures. In India, many women are forced to live with their husbands and are encouraged to care children (Poole). Many young ladies are not able to receive an education because they are married as young as nineteen, and must leave school to start a family. A woman may also be held back from academic success because of social customs. Although Poole fails to note an exact number, he shares that “a large proportion of people...agreed that higher education is more important for boys”(Poole), reinforcing his thought that women often lose opportunities to improve themselves. Even in positions of power, women are perceived as inadequate, as “there’s an attitude that women don’t make good leaders” (Poole). The author appears to include bias in his editorial by using the United States almost as an authoritative body on social progression when he states that “even in the United States, around 18 percent of people agreed”(Poole) with the statement that men are better leaders than women. The inclusion of women in politics appears to be a marker of progression in a country to Poole as he explains that Pakistan has a greater percentage of females in leadership positions than the United States.

He continues with “a law that requires 17 percent of its (Pakistan’s National