Despite the United States making efforts for the past half a century to combat gender discrimination, sex-based prejudice still runs rampant in American society. The government and its courts have disseminated a sex-based slant on rights and freedoms that in reality, protect men far more than women. This bias has resulted in the federal government allowing various forms of gender discrimination to fester in the United States under the guises of income tax liberty and parental rights.
The Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963 was enacted with the specific goal of fighting the gender wage gap. However, this problem remains prevalent in the U.S., as Joe Biden recently signed an executive order on preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. The gender pay gap is even wider for women of racial minorities, women at higher-level jobs, and women in occupations and industries typically deemed ‘masculine.’
Research shows that the uncontrolled gender pay gap (‘uncontrolled’ due to its lack of acknowledgment towards compensable factors, it is the ratio of the median earnings of women compared to those of men) has decreased since 2015. While this may be seen as a victory, the decrease is a measly $0.08. This gap is a tangible measurement that highlights the barriers that women face in attaining the higher paying positions of power that men often hold in society. This research led to the discovery that, in 2021, women make only $0.82 for every dollar a man makes (uncontrolled). A ‘whopping’ one cent more than they made in 2020. The controlled gender pay gap, which measures equal pay for equal work by accounting for factors like job title, years of experience, education, industry, location, etc., has also decreased since 2015. This time, by a pitiful $0.01. Women in the controlled group do make more in comparison to the woman in the uncontrolled group. And yet, still less than a man makes – $0.98 compared to every $1.00. Women are still making less money than men, even when they are excelling in the exact same position.
The pay gap is a commonly cited effect of the glass ceiling, an intangible barrier to advancement in a profession affecting women and members of minorities. While the law officially dictates that rights and pay should be equal regardless of gender nonspecific policy still allows for gender pay discrimination. It takes an astounding wealth of evidence for a woman to sue for gender pay discrimination, and even more to win. In most cases, women are fired before they have the opportunity to either recognize the gap in their company or compile the necessary evidence to sue. Unfortunately, the pay gap is not the only discriminatory practice present in the U.S. and enabled by federal law.
In fact, the federal government actually allows for sales tax discrimination against women – often referred to as the ‘pink tax.’ The ‘pink tax’ is a catchy name for a genuine problem – as it alludes to the extra amount of money that women are required to pay for specific female products and services. It is also known as price discrimination or gender-pricing. Almost all states in the U.S. exempt non-luxury necessities – like groceries or medical prescriptions – from sales tax. Yet, those same states charge tax on menstrual products – including tampons, cups, and pads – despite these items being considered a necessity by the majority of women. The biased nature of the law forces women to pay unreasonable amounts of money for menstrual products, as a result widening the wage gap between men and women. Women simply have less money to save for things like retirement and medical bills. It is estimated that the average woman spends over $6k in menstrual products over her lifetime.
Decades ago, the tax policy of the United States was formed. The politicians of the time, a majority male, had to decide which products would be subject to a sales tax and which would be tax-free. But the world has changed drastically since these decisions were made. Even with more women in politics, tax policies have not changed to reflect the times. Some items, like women’s clothing and skincare items, have higher tariffs when imported from abroad than do men’s items. Research on the pink tax has led to the discovery that in the United States, women pay more than men for the same products 42% of the time. The only difference? Color and branding. This accumulates to about $1,300 more a year in extra costs.
This is not to say that the United States is not making progress in terms of gender-based tax discrimination. Under the Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, insurance companies can no longer charge men and women different prices for identical services and plans. However, with the progression comes regression. In 2018, Democratic Representative Jackie Speier introduced the Pink Tax Repeal Act, intended to “prohibit the pricing of consumer products and services that are substantially similar if such products or services are priced differently based on the gender of the individuals for whose use the products are intended or marketed or for whom the services are performed or offered.” Unfortunately, the bill failed. In 2019, lawmakers in 22 states introduced bills that would repeal the tampon tax, but none became law.
There are several other forms of gender discrimination enabled by U.S. laws and policies, most recognizable are those of a physical and sexual nature. In Georgia, a recent legal precedent established that it is not illegal to take upskirt photos of women in public. ‘Upskirting’ refers to the lewd and sexually intrusive practice of photographing or videotaping another individuals’ private parts. The Georgia Court of Appeals (which consists of 15 judges, 9 of whom are men) ruled that the state’s invasion of privacy laws do not protect women from having “upskirt” photos taken of them unless they are “behind closed doors” (meaning within the privacy of their own home). In another recent case, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (whose judges are 80% male) ruled in 2016 that someone cannot be found guilty of forceable sodomy if “a victim is so intoxicated as to be completely unconscious at the time of the sexual act of oral copulation.” Therefore, if a victim is unconscious during forced oral sex, the perpetrator cannot be sued for the act. In Massachusetts, you cannot advertise birth control through the mail without facing either a $1,000 fine or 3 years in jail. In North Carolina, a woman was not legally allowed to revoke consent for sex and call subsequent actions rape until late 2019, less than 2 years ago. Therefore, before Governor Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 199 into law – a woman was not legally allowed to change her mind. Despite the national legal age to marry being 18 years old, most states have exceptions that allow for child marriages with parental consent or when the minor is pregnant. Rapists even have parental rights in seven states. In some cases, this has resulted in sexual assault victims being forced to co-parent with their perpetrator, meaning the rapist has visitation rights and stays in contact with the child and mother.
There have also been aggressive efforts by several states to overturn Roe v. Wade. The effect that Roe V. Wade has had on women’s rights is immeasurable, but we can deduce a small portion of its influence with the example of teen pregnancy’s effect on a woman’s education. Of all teenage girls who drop out of school, 30% cite pregnancy and parenthood as the key reasons. Of teen mothers, barely 40% actually finish high school; and fewer than 2% of these mothers are able to achieve a college degree by age 30. Educational achievement in turn affects the lifetime income and prospective career paths of these women. This is a contributing factor to the uncontrolled pay gap discussed above. Roe v. Wade has lowered these statistics dramatically since its inception in 1973, and therefore has been a primary factor in the closing of the gap. However, many conservative states are trying to overturn Roe v. Wade, or at least restrict abortions within their state lines. In 2017, Kentucky enacted a law banning abortion at or after 20 weeks post-fertilization. Arkansas has banned the use of a safe abortion method, called dilation and evacuation, which is typically used for second-trimester abortions. Republican lawmakers in Alabama have been pushing a bill that would ban nearly all abortions. In these cases, and many more similar situations, the politicians involved have cited religion as justification for such policy. Yet, the United States government is supposed to remain secular as per the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
The aforementioned law and policies create loopholes for the perpetration of sexual assault against women. A significant gap in law was actually guaranteed on March 28, 2021. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that if drugs and alcohol are taken voluntarily, a person who is sexually assaulted while intoxicated cannot pursue more serious charges against their assailant. Therefore, the assailant can escape punishment for the perpetration of rape, so long as the victim had willingly taken an intoxicant beforehand. As a result, sexual violence affects a much larger portion of women than men. In fact, the United States has one of the highest rape rates in the world. A person in the U.S. is sexually harassed every 73 seconds. Of American women, one in 6 have been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. Tragically, the rate for completed rapes is over five times higher than attempted rapes. Women 18-24 years old who are current college students are three times more likely than women to experience a form of sexual violence, and 90% of adult rape victims identify as female. While men also suffer from sexual violence, rates are significantly lower, as one in 33 American males have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.
The nonexistent or unenforced gender equality laws and policies in the United States create a system that enables the sexual assault of women. The 14th amendment is a prime example, as it does not account for sexual orientation, gender identity discrimination, and discrimination on the basis of pregnancy or childbirth. The amendment is not built to uphold women’s protection, and there is no amendment today that explicitly details the equal rights of women. The only amendment in the Constitution that accounts for sex is the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote. These incidents of sexual violence have horrific effects on the victims. It has been found that there is a statistically significant difference between the rate of suicide attempts from people with a sexual assault history and those without. 94% of women who are raped experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during the two weeks following the rape; and 30% of women report symptoms of PTSD 9 months after the rape. While there have been many laws and policies implemented in the U.S. to combat gender discrimination, it is still a massive issue facing the country. Laws such as the D.N.A. Bill of Rights (which requires rape kits to be crime lab tested within 120 days of submission) has helped address the problem, but it remains a constant uphill battle. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) demands the equity of rights and freedoms regardless of sex for all U.S. citizens and would be a valuable addition to the U.S. Constitution. When the ERA passed Congress in 1972 it was given a 7-year deadline. When that deadline eventually passed, the ERA was three states short of ratification. Of the 193 member states in the U.N., 85% have a provision in their constitution that specifically addresses gender inequality. Further, 115 of them have a condition that explicitly prohibits sex-based discrimination. For a country that touts being the freest and most just, the U.S. is tragically lacking legislation that protects 50.8% of its population. As a country, we are not nearly done eliminating sex-based prejudice and its horrific effects on women.
