Artifact 3 seeks to express the fews I have on the global gender gap as I have learned about it as a result of this course. It discusses a few of the things I personally have noticed in our country and attempts to offer some solutions as well as compares the gender gap in a few countries all throughout the world.

   The global gender gap is the differences in the way males and females are treated, the things they are expected to do, the resources they have readily available, and ultimately the quality of life. It’s sad that there is such discrepancy in the way healthcare is accessible throughout the world, especially when comparing men to women. When compared to other countries the US ranks 28^th in terms of the global gender gap in 2015 (The Global Gender Gap Report 2015). The top few countries, particularly the Nordic countries have a socialist based economy which lends itself to a smaller gender gap as healthcare is public and everyone has access to the same options. The US does not rank very high on this list, but it is not very surprising when you do a bit of research on the pay gap between male and female’s here in the US. The US Women’s Soccer team is vastly underpaid compared to their male counterparts according to a PBS news article published by Laura Santhanam. Seeing things put out so obviously like in the article it is clear that the US still has a lot of work to do to in order to close this gap.

       With this in mind, I believe that the US must first fix the wage gap as this is likely one of the most prevalent and not talked about issues that affects thousands upon thousands of women. There is also the issue of the luxury tax on things like tampons and pads and other feminine hygiene products, which are essential to staying healthy and are needed regularly. It doesn’t make sense that women should have to pay for more something that is a necessity while the definition of a luxury tax itself is “ a tax placed on products or services that are deemed to be unnecessary or non-essential” according to a definition found on Investopedia (investopeida.com). These items allow a women to remain clean and healthy and yet the must pay significantly more for no apparent reason.

Now that the US is looking at its potentially first female president it will be interesting to see if we can’t make hte 10 ten contries in terms of the gender gap. With the US’s history in segregation, the women’s rights movement, and now the fear of immigrants it is no surprise that we still struggle with this gender gap and even a nationality gap if there is such a thing. That being said if you do the research it becomes apparent that the gender gap has been narrowing, but has since stalled since the last major improvements in the 1980’s (econlib.org). The US has much work to do to further close the gap in the years to come.

Cadet Jonathan Verhoff

VMI Class of 2017 BI-218X

HR: <http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/GenderGap.html>

< http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/luxury_tax.asp>

<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/data-how-does-the-u-s-womens-soccer-team-pay-compare-to-the-men/>

Artifact 2 discusses the gender roles and patrilineal based culture as seen in China and compares and contrasts it to the only remaining matrilineal culture found in China, the Mosuo. This artifact goes in depth on the bases for China’s patrilineal society and it’s implications today after millenniums of traditions.

China has always been an agricultural based society and it has required it’s people to do labor intensive based work. This combined with the practice of female foot binding contributed to  a very distinctive gap between the roles of male and female and how the society as a whole viewed them. The structure of Chinese society mitigated any potential resistance to state power. Under this system men were rewarded simply for being men and women had all power stripped from them and helpless and truly believed that things were supposed to be this way. This understanding came after thousand of years of tradition and despite laws and regulations in place today the differences from China today and China 150 years ago is somewhat less significant than might be expected.

In Chinese culture a male son is prefered over all. There are many ceremonies that only a son can perform, they carry on the family name and  get payed more to help support the family all while women’s pay is given to the husband or father, the are looked at as child bearers and housewives, the would be forced into child marriage. This alone created a feeling of required obedience to the male. Even Confucius preached obedience to Emperor, son to father, and woman to man and because of this, male dominated society became what was expected. While all of this was the normal in the vast majority of China there was another culture in China that varied extraordinarily, the Mosuo of China.

In Mosuo society gender roles are defined very differently. Woman still learn the same basic household skills, cooking, cleaning, livestock care, and weaving while men primarily focus on food production. This is very similar to the greater China, but what is so vastly different is that Mosuo families define their lineage by the females side of the family. Males and females practice “walking marriages” which replaces marriages in the typical interpretation. They are essential relationships that are very fluid rather than the strict obedience based relationship that marriage in China affords. Again, women hold the power in these relationships as it is the male that embarks on these nightly visits and must then leave in the morning. At it’s very core Mosuo culture is not entirely different from the rest of China, however, it’s distinctions are of note and provide a unique way of life that can not be found anywhere else in China.

Looking at China as a whole it is interesting to see the two different structures with regards to gender roles. Even more interesting is it to look at the reasons behind it. Thousands of years of philosophical text and code lead to where China is today. Great improvements have been made in the last 50-100 years as far as equalling the gap between males and females, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

Cadet Jonathan Verhoff

BI218x

VMI Class of 2017

HR: None other than handout provided in lecture

Artifact 1 seeks to provide some information on my background and upbringing and as a result it establishes my beliefs coming in to this lecture. It also expresses my hopes for our culture as a whole and my opinion on how misinformation or at the very least not being informed at all is what creates the most problems when it comes to gender roles and respect.

          Prior to enrolling in this course, I really did not even give much thought to “sex” and “gender,” much less think

about what either one of the terms meant. From pre-school to high school, I attended a private and Catholic school.

The curriculum and the lack of resources, never really allowed for any education on gender and sex outside of

religious text. Before lecture, I thought that the terms “sex” and “gender” were interchangeable and both described a

person’s biology. Now that I know the differences between the two concepts I have begun to think more about how

each one of the terms affects an individual’s life.

          Being more educated on the difference, I know better understand how restrictive these terms are on people. I

can better grasp the difficulty that transgendered individual may face. Biologically being one sex and personally

identifying as another. I believe that the lack of education regarding the matter is what causes such conflict and

controversy around the world, but more specifically in the United States (i.e. the “Bathroom Bills”). I think that if all

were educated on the topic and understood that gender is nothing other than a concept that society itself has created,

then people would be more understanding. This understanding, in my opinion, would also shatter the notion that

women are less capable than men, and therefore deserve to be paid less for holding and completing the same role as

a male counterpart.

          The implications on the way that we define sex and gender are tenfold. As I previously mentioned, just by being

more educated and better understanding the terms our society will adjust the roles that it ascribes to gender into

making them equal and as a result the expectations of both genders will also be equal. This goes beyond the home or

workplace, in my opinion it will lead to decreasing levels of homophobia and a more welcoming culture.

Jonathan Verhoff

BI218X

VMI Class of 2017

HR: NONE

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