By Qu’Chae Madison

Illustration by Elizabeth Christopher

Equality affects all of us, no matter what our race or gender we are.  Equality, to me, means treating everyone with respect, no matter the race, nationality, or gender of the other person.

In the olden days, many people in the world believed very strongly in stereotypical gender roles. A gender role is the standard role that a man or woman takes in society.  For example, men work hard and bring home the bacon, while women stay home, cook, clean, and take care of children.  But as the gender roles have blurred, more women are working while taking care of children, becoming CEO’s while going to school, and making a living for the family.  At the same time more men are taking on the role of “manny,” taking care of kids while the mothers are out of the home.

Equality is a very important thing to me because I believe in treating everyone fairly.  Equality is about treating people with respect. I don’t think women are being treated equally right now. For example, if a woman and a man are competing for a job as a business-person, I think the man would get the job nine times out of ten. I think some men believe women are weaker and naive so it is easier for some women to be dominated by men.

I do not think girls are being treated equally at Pattterson either.  For example, sometimes students are categorized based solely on gender and the stereotypical thinking might be: “Oh, just because she’s a girl, she can’t beat me”, or ,”Oh, she’s a girly-girl. She might break a nail.”

If you label and stereotype people, you automatically put them in a group and do not give them the chance to be known as individuals.  I think women are being mistreated sometimes because of how people see them.  For example, if you see someone who is quiet and who is always looking down, someone would immediately think they can step over them, because of the visual impression they make on others.  Equality is something that is very important to me, and I believe we need to stand up for it.