Iceland Vs. United States

Hi I am Semajah W. I am from GCE Lab School and what we do is we study real-world issues in the U.S and out we went on an FE (field experiences) to the "Center On Halsted" and we took a stroll around GCE. We also had teachers, visitors which are Professor Hewitt, Scout Bratt talked to us about anthropology and Scout talked to us about sex & gender equality +  the study of women vs.men in gender gap and other gender inequality's. From that experience, we take that information to build a mindset of our own. We also take different unit courses which the unit that we have now is Equality. I am writing about the gender gap and equality in women and the different jobs that women have vs. men. I'm comparing Iceland vs. the United States and explaining what's the difference and similarities between both countries also describing what Iceland have vs. what the U.S has.

Iceland despite it from being an island is not isolated from progress towards gender equality. " Worldwide its incremental progress can firstly be attributed to the solidarity of women human rights defenders challenging and protesting the monopoly of power in the hands of men and the power of men over women." According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2017, Iceland has now closed more than 87% of its overall gender gap. On January 1, 2018, legislation came into effect requiring companies and government agencies employing at least 25 people to obtain certification of equal-pay policies. Despite an equal pay act that dates back to 1961, Icelandic women still earn, on average, between 14% and 20% less than men. So Valdimarsdóttir and her association were one of many campaign groups to back a plan that finally resulted, last month, on the island becoming the first country in the world to legally enforce equal pay.

The United States is a worldwide state so for that being said they have many issues with gender equality and it sorts of having. Women and men in both political parties believe recent sexual harassment allegations primarily reflect widespread societal problems. About four-in-ten employed women (42%) say they have experienced some form of gender discrimination at work. Women are more educated than men, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. For the class of 2013-1014, women earned more than half of bachelor’s degrees (57.1 percent), masters degrees (59.9 percent), and doctorate degrees (51.8 percent). The United States' gender wage gap for full-time workers is higher than the OECD average, with the median full- time working American woman making only 81 cents to the median man's dollar. The annual gender wage gap is even larger when including part-time workers, the majority of which are women.

The differences and similarities are for similarity they both have a way they want to help achieve the gender gap and equality as in towards men and women, meaning like they all have meetings, protests, companies that are solving or trying to cover that issue by helping it. The differences for them is one is mainly lower than another, I think meaning that one has more experience towards this issue than the other country or region.

In conclusion, I believe that raising the bar level for women to be treated fairly as men or a higher standard is good because it leaves a mark for everyone that this is right or this is fair not only that but making the world a better place in this economy. I also learned the difference between both countries and how both of them support or oppose from Gender Gap & Gender Equality. Also I would choose Iceland to live in because they have a gender gap but not gender equality but their working on that issue.

Sources in MLA format:
 Oath, Inc. “Gender Equality: Facts Or Alternative Facts?” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 May 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gender-equality-facts-or-alternative-facts_us_5917de91e4b0bd90f8e6a630.

Rowley, Melissa Jun. “What America Can Learn From Iceland About Gender Equality.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 9 Mar. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/melissarowley/2018/03/08/what-america-can-learn-from-iceland-about-gender-equality/#1a0d80096bf8.

Henley, Jon. “'Equality Won't Happen by Itself': How Iceland Got Tough on Gender Pay Gap.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 Feb. 2018, www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/20/iceland-equal-pay-law-gender-gap-women-jobs-equality.