By Karla Rodriguez
Tiarre Pierce, a senior human sciences and pre-nursing major at Texas Tech, remembers feeling oppressed while studying abroad in India. During her clinical rotations, she witnessed first-hand the inequality women experience.
Feminism has become so mainstream in the West that it is even used to sell designer clothes, as illustrated by this staged women’s rights demonstration by models promoting Chanel’s ready-to-wear spring 2015 collection. Photo from Chanel.com.
“They go and get a second opinion from a male doctor and don’t feel like you’re worthy enough because you’re a woman,” Pierce said. “It’s not as bad here because we still have a voice, but they don’t. Women over there really have to fight to have one; it’s kind of disheartening.”
Full-time female employees earn about 78 percent of what their male counterparts do, according to The White House. The difference is even greater between Hispanic and African-American women and white men, no matter what their education and experience.
The Huffington Post recently reported that three U.N. emissaries sent to evaluate gender equality in the U.S. were “horrified” by what they saw over their 10-month visit, suggesting the country falls behind many others.
Women are the target in our society because it is dominated by men, said Stacey Contreras, a junior psychology and sociology major at Texas Tech.
“We’re objectified by men with things like our bodies, and instead of helping each other, we are competing with each other,” Contreras said. “I feel like society pressures you to be this ideal, perfect being, so every woman is struggling to be that being, and in doing so, they see everyone else as competition.”
Amaris Garcia, a Texas Tech alumna and railroad official, said she thinks it is important for women to speak highly of each other to earn positions of power in male-dominated workplaces.
“That’s how it is at my job,” Garcia said. “I am the only female out of 80 guys. I definitely think it’s important we keep raising each other up, so that way we can take those positions and see that women equality rises up to what it’s supposed to be,” Garcia said.
People do not think women go into transportation and railroad industries because they are a mislabeled as a men’s field, Garcia said. After being hired, she asked to be paid the same amount as her co-workers for doing the same amount of work.
“I faced so much resistance to it,” Garcia said. “They were like, ‘Nobody makes that kind of money, not any other ladies that work in this position. I let them have it, and at the end of the day, they gave me my pay raise.”
Contreras said she has experienced gender discrimination at home because of the culture within her family. She recalled her father instructing the boys of the family to do yard work, while the girls were told to work in the kitchen.
“My dad was the only man in the world that would make me feel like that, and it wasn’t because he was purposely trying to make me feel inferior, that’s just how tradition is,” Contreras said. “That’s when I realized that this was not right, that I didn’t want to be treated that way.”
Women in the U.S. are content and take for granted the freedom they have by not realizing how important it is to speak up for equality, Contreras said. She said it is important to always fight for more.
“We shouldn’t settle for what we are given,” Contreras said. “We have a lot of opportunity, but still, we need to help each other. We could do so much better. We can get paid just as much as men if we fight for it.”
In November, Latin sorority Lambda Theta Alpha hosted a Women’s Empowerment Conference, where attendees were encouraged to support and educate each other about their rights. Pierce, Contreras and Garcia all attended the conference. The sorority hopes to make it an annual event.
To encourage gender equality, Pierce advises women to begin by surrounding themselves with other women who are doing something momentous and who empower others.
“Don’t have those people or women in your life who aren’t doing anything,” Pierce said. “Be with the ones who are bringing you up or being positive women in your life that are teaching you something.”
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