September 10, 2019 Gender Discrimination

Where gender discrimination comes from and its effects.

September 6, 2019

In today’s world, there are unfortunately many social injustices that persist to this day. One such phenomenon that seems to have taken prominence is gender discrimination. Gender discrimination, also referred to as sexual discrimination, is any action that will deny privileges, rewards or opportunities on the basis of gender.

As society has advanced, so too has the management of this issue. Despite that, it still exists. Discrimination based on gender happens to be most prominent when it comes to pay gaps. Not only does it persist throughout the United States, but it appears to be a widespread problem across the world.

First, it should be understood where the culture of gender discrimination came from. Unfortunately, this has been a long-standing issue, especially with men most commonly occupying the positions of power.

Women Objectification

While this could technically happen to both genders, women are disproportionally objectified and hypersexualized across all forms of media. This makes people not see women as actual, productive human beings, but rather objects to fulfill the desires of men.

Sometimes, this can predispose to men taking advantage of women and committing sexual crimes to not only fulfill a sexual desire, but to give them a sense of power. This is also something that may happen in the workplace. Such an act would require the help of a gender discrimination lawyer.

Cultural Practice

The discrimination of women also happens to be a belief and practice across many ideologies. In patriarchal societies, for example, males tend to have much more prominence than their female counterparts.

Men occupy the superior decision while holding power in both a physical and judicial sense. Not only do they have the physical attributes to dictate to make a woman feel powerless, but they also occupy seats in government that can determine laws that could specifically target them. Oftentimes, this is done with intentional harm.

In cases of severe discrimination, a gender discrimination attorney may need to be hired to actually prove that an opportunity was denied solely on the basis of gender.

This is the reason why women are much more subject to cat-calling as well as physical and verbal abuse. This commonly leads to women having issues with their own self-esteem and body image. In other cases, a gender discrimination attorney may be hired in order relieve some of the pain and suffering that specific people cause to them.

In addition, certain belief systems already operate on a system of discrimination. For certain faiths, women are not allowed to educate themselves, and in cases where they were, the educational gap was quite astounding. In today’s world, such opportunity denial could call for intervention from a trusted employment attorney.

Women’s rights have been a rallying cry for hundreds of years, and while society has come a long way, there is still much works that needs to be done. The advancement of women’s rights has been a very slow one, and unfortunately, men and women are not fully treated or paid as equals.

What many people fail to understand is that discrimination based on gender can have many harmful, residual effects. Here are some of the potential lasting effects that this discrimination can have on not only people, but businesses and society as a whole.

Mental Health

One of the most common problems that victims of discrimination suffer from come in the form of mental health issues. More specifically, anxiety and depression are direct results of that discrimination. Not only does it affect the victim of the harassment or discrimination, but it can trickle down to other members of the organization. This can lead to a huge drop in team morale, declining a team’s overall focus and energy.

This is a common issue in the workplace, and some of these problems could potentially be alleviated through representation from West Coast Employment Lawyers.

Stress

Stress levels are also elevated as a result of discrimination. If one is in a constant state of elevated stress, it can lead to problems with their physical health. One of the most common complications of stress that isn’t managed is an elevated blood pressure reading. This can predispose to harmful events such as a heart attack, stroke or even worse.

When it comes to the workplace context, employees may not want to work, and the business will suffer from a productivity gap as a result. This can also lead to an increase in health care claims, which will increase costs for the employer. Sometimes, the mental anguish can be so severe to the point where a gender discrimination lawyer may have to be hired in order to hold a business accountable.

Increased Employee Turnover

Employee turnover can also increase exponentially as well. Seeing as women are often left out of high paying executive positions (most commonly due to a lack of of opportunities given or no hours offered), employees may just want to leave altogether in the hopes of doing business with an organization that sees their worth. Unfortunately, in many cases, employee turnover can happen at more than one organization if the culture of discrimination still exists.

Bad Reputation

If there is one thing that will survive longer than a company itself, it is their image and reputation. If word gets out that discrimination is taking place within an organization, then it can leave a permanent stain on a company’s reputation which could take years, if not decades to rebuild.

A company’s image is very important, because it can determine whether or not prospective customers will want to do business. In today’s era of social media and awareness, word can get quickly about a company, and many people may be encouraged to not do business with an organization if the news spreads like wildfire.

Health Care Exclusion

Unfortunately, as cruel as it sounds, discrimination also commonly results in unfair treatment with one’s health. Studies taken from the World Health Organization have discovered that the ability for someone to obtain quality medical attention and health care may be predicated on gender.

As you can see, in today’s world, discrimination still takes place far too commonly. It seen in many forms and varieties. No matter what someone’s gender, discrimination is something that no one should ever have to go through under any circumstance. Actions can always be taken to punish those who seek to do intentional harm.

Discrimination has many harmful physical and mental effects for those who are affected by it, and these effects can rapidly spread into other areas of one’s life. Seek the proper representation if you or someone you know has suffered through this behavior. Action should always be taken immediately, as it can not be tolerated. The safest place to go would be the human resources department, and a copy for your records will always help.

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