Understanding Difference And Its Causes And Effects.

Understanding Difference and its Causes and Effects

[Name of the Writer]

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Understanding Difference and its Causes and Effects

Introduction

As the world came into existence and progressed, human beings formed various societies and started functioning in groups. As times passed there came the concept of differentiation based on class, gender, and race. There were certain roles assigned to both the genders and people started living based on societal expectations. As far as the color of the skin is concerned, having a darker skin hue turned into a stigma. People who had more money and had a lighter skin tone were considered the top of the class. This behavior was based on what society deemed satisfactory or not. If we look at the origin of mankind, there were no such concepts as these. So, it is safe to say that class, gender and race are notions that were formed by humans themselves. Time has passed, we are no longer living in the older times, but even the contemporary world has a lot of differences. There has been an improvement over time, but there are still some stark differences that cannot be denied. People talk about inclusivity and equality, but we are not even close to balancing things out. This paper will discuss the differences in society along with the causes and impacts.

Discussion

There is one very noticeable thing, the world might have come a long way but inequality has varied throughout time. In terms of career opportunity, one can look into the interesting read by Neil Irwin of two janitors working in top companies at different time eras. Looking into the difference between Gail Evans and Marta Ramos explains a lot of things. Evans worked as a janitor in Kodak in the 1980s and Ramos works as a janitor at Apple's headquarters in the present day. The entire story that both of them have or have had showcases how the opportunity of growth is not equal or even close to what it was. Ramos cannot even think about going to the top management, while Evans ended up becoming the chief technology officer of Kodak in less than a decade. Time has increased competition and even getting a better education and working hard does not get one the status that they deserve and strive for. In fact, people have stopped even having expectations (Irwin, 2017). The crunch and the fact that people are willing to work overtime for less changed the entire dilemma of the market. There are no longer paid leaves like there were in the past. People worry if they are going to miss out on a single day they will be left behind. The expectations of the employers have increased and they just expect the employee to conform to all that is thrown at them.

The inequality in regards to jobs has increased to the point that a person employed as a janitor regardless of how hard they work do not see a brighter future for themselves. This difference has caused people to stop expecting and go on a journey of very mechanical life. Additionally, life in America has become very difficult for people who are not financially stable. There are times when people cannot afford to pay telephone or electricity bills. However, there is no leisure given to them regardless of how long they have been a loyal customer of the company (McCoy, & Axelrod-Contrada, 2018). If for some reason a person cannot pay their electricity bill, once the power goes off they also have to pay an addition $250 for a new customer deposit. In general, things can be unfair if one does not have a heavy pocket. The majority of America's low-income families struggle a lot. On multiple occasions, they have to face very complicated situations. The issues are usually very easy to solve, but people usually get penalized for the amount of money in their accounts.

Coming to gender discrimination, there was a time when it was considered normal. Men were given obvious preference over women, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Then came the Title IX, which stated that no educational institute that is getting federal funding can deny benefits or discriminate based on sex. Women have faced discrimination in every step of life including life on campus. Women have been denied scholarships based on their sex and married status (Naff, 2018). Most schools and colleges believed that investing in women was not fruitful. Things were very grim when it came to sports as well. Women were not given a chance to practice in sports in the early days, in fact, it was frowned upon. Title IX created awareness in some teachers. On the other hand, certain teachers did not even know about it regardless of the training that they got. Other teachers knew about it but could not care less. The lack of awareness has caused a great deal of discrimination for women and it continues to impact them one way or the other.

Lastly, shedding light on discrimination based on ethnicity is the last nail on the board. This fact proves that there is a serious inequality problem, even today. We have come a long way, but there are still certain areas that require work. As far as discrimination based on color is concerned, there has been a whopping gap in the funding for schools (Morris, & Perry, 2016). The schools that were in the white districts got substantially more funding than the schools that were in the black districts. According to research, the main funds for the schools are obtained from property taxes. It is unfortunate but the white districts have wealthier people as opposed to the black districts. Certain states of America are trying to carry out a more balanced distribution of the funds, but that is not enough to make a difference nationwide.

The above-mentioned facts prove that we might have come a long way when it comes to inequality, but we still require more improvement. There is still a blunt inequality concerning class, race, and gender. The one thing that has improved over time is the level of awareness. People are more aware of how they are being treated lately, or how things were better or worse before. However, there are still no considerable ways to cater to these issues (Konold, Cornell, Shukla, & Huang, 2017). There needs to be a proper plan to handle these things better. The difference is something that can have a more negative than positive impact. Everyone has the right to an equal life in every regard.

Conclusion

Differences are something that can have an adverse impact no matter how minor. Certain things might seem small but the impact that they make is quite drastic. The differences that have been created over time are the aftermath of concepts that were instigated and set by mankind. The result is being faced by many people and it is safe to say that many ethnicities and genders have suffered because of it as well. Why did we ever have to come to the point of talking about inclusivity or inequality? These things were never to start in the first place if things were left in the natural order. So, segregation based on finding someone different led to a world that is fighting for equality, proper rights, and a good setup. Everyone needs to realize the magnitude of the drastic results that our ancestors have caused. Further, everyone needs to work on changing things. Only then can there be equality, inclusivity and real change.

References

Irwin, N. (2017). To understand rising inequality, consider the janitors at two top companies, then and now. New York Times, 9.

McCoy, E. L., & Axelrod-Contrada, J. (2018). Poverty: Public Crisis or Private Struggle?. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC.

Naff, K. C. (2018). To look like America: Dismantling barriers for women and minorities in government. Routledge.

Morris, E. W., & Perry, B. L. (2016). The punishment gap: School suspension and racial disparities in achievement. Social Problems, 63(1), 68-86.

Konold, T., Cornell, D., Shukla, K., & Huang, F. (2017). Racial/ethnic differences in perceptions of school climate and its association with student engagement and peer aggression. Journal of youth and adolescence, 46(6), 1289-1303.