“Where, in our lives, is gender [in]equality the most prevalent today?

Hear them in their own words with an [X]press Magazine podcast

Monika Weiss, health education major, 27, Long Island, NY
“I’m gender variant. So where there are forms, that ask “male or female,” I don’t identify as either, so there’s never a checkbox for me. I have to find single-stall bathrooms on campus because I don’t feel comfortable going into either a male or a female bathroom. Not conforming to prearranged gender roles has biased people against me. It makes it hard for people to relate me, just because I don’t fit into either one of those paradigms, which is very very very frustrating.”

Carrie Doung, industrial art major, San Mateo, CA
“In education, in the elementary school level, you have male teachers who are also as nurturing and attentive to their students, but they have a very fine line to cross. Sometimes people suspect that they might be sexually abusing the kids or doing something inappropriate. There is a sexual bias. It’s difficult for male teachers.”

Seif Foda, economics major, 28, Moraga, CA
“Gender inequality is more of a cultural thing. In the United States, there are laws in place to protect women who are subjugated to any kind of gender inequality. They can fight for their rights. It turns to a cultural issue, and that is something that everybody deals with in a different way. Anybody that works in an environment, where gender inequality is an issue, knows what the laws are and knows that it is an issue, so there’s more defense mechanisms built into that. I’m willing to bet that such cases are a lot less now than it used to be. So that’s a good thing. And it’s democracy in action.”

Clarisa Marcelino, hospitality major, 19, San Francisco, CA
“There’s certainly gender inequality in the medical field, where there’s more female nurses than male nurses, only because there is a stereotype that women are better at taking care of other people; they’re more nurturing, and they can understand people’s emotions better and are more sensitive. It’s always good to break stereotypes, so there should definitely be more male nurses.”

Faisal Imron, marketing major, 19, Dubai, United Arab of Emirates
“I’m from a place where women are not given equal rights. Coming out to San Francisco, I believe that women are given much more rights around here. Although it might not be equal to the same level as men, but it depends on the scenario. At the workplace, certain jobs are emotionally and psychologically more demanding. And I feel that men can do them better, but of course with the new age, women are more educated and they’re more in control. So it’s getting better. Inequality has reduced to great extent, but it still has to cover a little distance. Soon we will reach that point where men and women will be on the same level and no one will be there to complain.”

Olin Ottem, 22, e-commerce major, Santa Cruz, CA
“Gender inequality is most easily seen in professional sports. College female athletes do the same amount of work, and go through the same motions [as male college athletes]. When it gets to the professional level, there’s a large inequality; both in terms of salary contracts and endorsements.”

Kelly Hines, marriage and family counseling major, 31, East Lansing Michigan
“Women are not paid equally in work. It happens in terms of what women are trained to do, and how much they get paid to do that. Men in high school are trained to work on cars and women are trained to do nails, and you can often make a lot more money working on cars. In terms of doctors and nurses, nurses don’t get paid as much as a nurse practitioner, which a lot of men are starting to do now. As opposed to when it simply nursing and women didn’t get paid to do that.”