Women: The Oppression Of Young Girls

The oppression of women is evident throughout history. Society commences its oppression of women since their childhood. Young girls often encounter unrealistic and unreasonable expectations with respect to their career interests, appearances, and family responsibilities. As a result, girls confront and suffer these social pressures at a young age, which is detrimental to their character and career development.

To begin, society limits girls’ career choices by suggesting certain fields are more suitable and “appropriate” for women than other fields. Through gender-based toys, society influences young girls to pursue more “female-appropriate” careers. For instance, the adventure books sold at Mastermind reflect a sharp contrast between the social

Both my sister and I have been taught to do household chores at the age of seven, while my brother learned them at age ten. My mother assigns me more chores, but dismisses my brother from his share of household duties. When I questioned, she would respond, “How can you not learn to do chores as a girl?” It was until a few years ago that I realized that I am not the only in this sexist ideology of girls carrying more family responsibilities. According to another survey done by Gender Equality for Kids, on average, young girls are instructed to do chores four years earlier than boys. This blind belief that girls must make more family contributions than boys engraves into young girls’ minds, and they pass this onto their future generations. Furthermore, to fulfill their families’ needs, women are forced to sacrifice their careers. A survey by Employment Services Canada reveals that 52% of women exit the workforce permanently after they conceive and take maternity leaves. Out of these women, 75% say they wish to stay in the workforce, but couldn’t due to external factors such as social pressures, family expectations, and employer discrimination. After investing their time, money, education, and effort to reach their career goals, many women ultimately quit their jobs for the stability of their family. Ever since their youth, women are taught that girls “should” do the chores and care for their families, that girls

These actions have long-term effects on women’s career choices and goals, mental and physical well-beings, and ultimately, their pursuit of happiness. Although society has progressed with increasing awareness of gender inequality and the women’s rights movement, we still have a long way to go in the fight for equality. This begs the question: how can we empower young girls to overcome social pressures and encourage them to become leaders of the future generation, if we don’t support them