Why Women Still Can't Have it All.Discuss

Why Women Still Can’t Have it All
Introduction
Gender inequality, which is unequal attitude or treatment to people based on their genders, has been, is and still remains a very big problem in the society. For a very long time, the society has created a structure in which not everyone is given a similar position, but subjected to different treatments depending on their gender differences. In many communities, the males are perceived to be more superior to their female counterparts. For this reason, they try to dominate them both in the social, political, economic spheres. All these are possible because the society has made it easier for the males to exert more authority and dominance in the society (Paula 153). In most cases, it is the males whose voices are heard. Thus, they can even make important decisions affecting everyone in the society. However, if no measures are put in place, gender inequality will not cease at all. Instead, it will still be experienced by the females both in their homes, in the workplace and anywhere else in the society.
Literature Review
According to articles written by Anne-Marie (2012) and Jaffe (2013), gender in quality is a reality. It is a still a force to reckon with in the society. On her part, Anne-Marie reports that women can not actually have it all because of the numerous challenges that they face in their day to day lives. In her opinion, success does not necessarily mean the acquisition of education and a good job. As a career woman, she believes that success is measured by professional advancement and successful parenthood. Meaning, rather than attaining education, one should strive to raise a family. This has become a major challenge to many women because they find it so difficult to balance their careers and families. With a society in which the upbringing of children is almost left in the hands of women, female employees who aspire to be successful parents might be forced to sacrifice their careers for the sake of their children. Otherwise, they might not bring up morally upright and progressive children. This is similar to the position held by this paper. However, it will go ahead analyze and give a critical overview of how the situation can be rectified.
On the other hand, Jaffe acknowledges that feminism is a creation of the society. Since most of the societies believe in the domination of women by their male counterparts, inequality has become unstoppable. Unlike the males, the females have been taken as inferior people who should not be assertive, but accept to lie low and be downtrodden by their male counterparts. This explains why the males do who assume a masculine role and tend to be heads of their families. The occupation of such a dominant position makes it easier for them to attain economic and political superiority. For this reason, it is men who hold senior positions in many sectors of the society especially the most lucrative ones (Paula 157). Although she acknowledges that some women might rise to leadership and top managerial roles in organizations, Jaffe recounts that such women might not have much influence since they are still controlled by men. Therefore, it is clear that they do not have enough room to exercise full authority and influence the making of decisions which might help in liberating the womenfolk from the yoke of suppression. Indeed, Jaffe gives a candid presentation of the real scenario. However, she does not dig deeper into the appropriate measures that n be taken to address the challenge of gen inequality in the society.
Research
The evidences provided by Anne-Marie and Jaffe clearly demonstrate that gender inequality is global problem. It is arguably a universal challenge that is not peculiar in US alone. Since it is a man-made problem, it is human beings who should come up with well-thought and feasible strategies to ultimately deal with it. During the research, it was found out that, indeed, gender inequality is a very big problem. Being that it applies to all communities implies that it has historical roots that can be traced to the ancient times. Many people link it to roles of sexuality, ideology, traditions and family structures, which encouraged intimidation to and violence against women by the men. However, much more still need to be done in the contemporary society in which cases of gender inequality are practiced in all sectors of life. However, this is blamed on political processes and structures that have left loopholes to be exploited by the male chauvinists who still believe in the dominance of the men (Friedman and Marshall 28).
As it is now, women might not get it all as they expect. Even if some women might count themselves as successful professionals, they still face a lot of challenges in the workplace. Most importantly, they find it extremely hard to balance their jobs with their families. The research found out that for women to lead a happier life, they need to be healthier, more productive in their careers and have enough time to be with their families whom they tend to value most. It is because of such challenges that even successful career women quit their high profile jobs to get adequate time and ample opportunity to attend to their children. This is what was done by Anne-Marie herself amongst other women such as Michele Flournoy, Karen Hughes and Mary Matalin who were compelled to leave their jobs for the sake of their families.
Analysis
According to this research, gender equality is still far from being attained. As insinuated by Anne-Marie, ‘Women still can’t have it all.’ The societal conditions can existing today; can not make it possible for them to succeed as professionals and parents. If the current structures and systems are not changed, women might succeed either way or fail to do so at all. As Anne-Marie argues, the climate of the workplace in both the public and private organizations does not favor such ambitious women. Therefore, for them to be liberated, a total overhaul of the entire system should be done (Wood 261).
First, these women should be caution to marry the right person who can support them to build their careers and families. Besides, they should have a proper plan on how they want to develop their careers. They should have a reasonable timeline on how they should accomplish all their objectives. Failure to do so might frustrate and demoralize them from concentrating on their jobs and children. Moreover, the society should support women in their struggle to bridge the gender inequality gap. Apart from redefining success, it should change the working culture and become more innovative (Friedman and Marshall 28). This will help in creating a new system to support a flexible and accommodative work schedule to support the women to succeed in their personal, family, social and professional pursuits. If left alone without any support, the women might not be able to accomplish anything substantial, thus, losing the battle of competing against their male counterparts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, gender inequality is a major social problem in the contemporary society. It is a deeply rooted problem which traces its origin many years ago. As Anne-Marie exclaims, the efforts put in place to fight it might be fruitless if no stern measures are taken to ultimately eradicate it from the society. This might be so because the society has put in place structures that favor the success of men and hinder that of women especially the career ones who aspire to succeed as professionals and mothers. Therefore, to enable such women to ‘get it all,’ action needs to be taken. The family and social structures should be changed to make them more accommodative to career women. This will make it easier for such women employees to manage to balance their jobs and families at all times. Thus, they will become successful professionals and parents who will not necessarily need to sacrifice their professional dreams to remain at home to care for their children.

Works Cited
Friedman, Ellen, and Marshall, Jennifer. Issues of Gender. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004. Print.
Paula, England. “The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled.” Gender & Society 2010 24 (2): 149-166.
Wood, Julia. Gendered Lives. 6th Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005. Print.