There is but one side to the argument concerning gender inequality. No one but an asinine misogynist would dare argue that women do not deserve to be equal to men. This, however, does not prevent some from retaining such antiquated and erroneous
beliefs to themselves. After all, gender inequality is a millennia-old phenomenon, and oppression, of whatever form it may take, tends to benefit the oppressor.

While gender inequality no longer constitutes oppression as it once did, its continued effects are omnipresent in all respects of life.

However, the issue no longer finds itself atop the list of reform agendas, for gender inequality, at this time, is a nebulous and confused matter. Its workings are often hidden and difficult to discern, which can be attributed to a number of factors.

For one, in this country, private employers need not reveal the wages of their employees. Thus, pay differences are just about impossible to observe.

Moreover, the gender divide leads to unique biological differences between the sexes. This can be extended by some to justify women’s unique involvement with the family, and ultimately who is to decide who is responsible for what respect of family life?

Lacking a clear cut answer, many Americans default to what they find natural, and what they find natural are the patterns they see in their society and in their past.

This conservative approach results in the propagation of past gender roles, many of which constrain women’s potential.

The perceived severity of the issue is lessened by the reality that women do hold positions of power, both in government and in corporate positions. Nonetheless, far more men occupy these positions.

The laughable argument that this is due to superior male suitability to these jobs by more appropriate intelligence or likewise groundless and sexist claims is insupportable considering that women far surpass men with respect to the education they obtain. In 2012, according to the Pew Research Center, 71 percent of young women enrolled in college compared with 61 percent of young men.

However studies done by a number of sources, notably the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Pew Research Center, indicate significant pay differences to this day. A 2012 Pew Research study revealed that women earn 84 cents for every one dollar a man earns. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an even grimmer estimate, finding that in 2012 women earned 81 cents to the dollar.

Exacerbating the issue posed by unequal pays is the reality that the United States is especially retrograde in terms of women’s rights compared with its developed counterparts.

The U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world that fails to provide paid maternity leave. In fact, of the 167 countries studied by the International Labor Organization, only Lesotho, Swaziland and Papa New Guinea join the U.S. in failing to provide paid maternity leave. Some company.

Moreover, it must merit mention that many, myself included, find that women continue to suffer from regulations that limit their rights to their own body.

However, most sickeningly of all, the firestorm that has broken out in recent weeks and the federal government’s investigation into Title IX violations at 85 universities highlight the continued prevalence of sexual assault across the nation – a vomitous plague to moral sensibility and human progress.

Rape remains exceedingly common, even in this supposedly civilized society. Conservative estimates, as those done by the CDC in 2010, indicate that one in five women, over the course of their lifetime, become victims of this indefensible depravity.

Amid these sobering and painful truths is hope. The pay gap has significantly closed over the last few decades, and over time, it will continue to close, and eventually will disappear. Sexual assault has declined drastically since 1993, with estimates indicating that it has been cut in half. With more progressive, and grounded thinking, women will no longer suffer the same abuses of their rights at the hands of duplicitous dissemblers.

Nonetheless, without an active awareness for the current situation, such progress cannot simply be awaited hopefully. After all, deeply engrained diseases ought not to be neglected, but need to be actively combated, for only then can their vile trace be purged and our lofty principles of equality for all strengthened.

True gender equality starts with splitting the check.

I am going to expound upon a serious inequality in our society: the unfair expectations for men.

Yes, you read correctly.

Men and women are far from equal. As of 2013, women were paid 84 cents for every dollar that a white man makes according to the Pew Research Center. In addition, women pay more for health care, are underrepresented in fields such as engineering and are burdened with the traditional roles of the past.

But, it is important to bear in mind that the antiquated viewpoint that pays women less than men and restricts their reproductive rights is the same viewpoint that tells men that they need to pay for the entire date and act as the leader of the family. I do not take kindly to either side.

Gender equality means equality in all aspects – including ones that we may not like – and this includes the way that men and women are expected to treat each other.

Why is it that we demand to be paid the same for the same work but judge the man if he wants to split the check?

I understand that I am not speaking on behalf of all women when I argue this. In 2013, researchers at the American Sociological Association presented a study that found that 58 percent of women say that men should pay for any entertainment on dates.

According to the same study, though 57 percent of women had offered to contribute some money to pay for the date ­–39 percent hoped that the men would not accept it.

It could be argued that this is simply a polite custom in our society, but women cannot rationally argue that they should receive economic equality in the workplace and maintain financial inequality outside of the office –  non sequitur. Moreover, it is not a good trend that a man must pay for the entire date to prove his masculinity. Having an amiable personality and a sense of humor would suffice for me.

But footing the bill for a date is a generally innocuous example. Many are far more harmful.

According to analysis from the Pew Research Center, women are the breadwinners in roughly four in ten American households with children as of 2013. Somewhat unsurprisingly, a sizable chunk of America is uncomfortable with with this.

In a related Pew Research study, 28 percent of respondents believed that it is better for the marriage if the husband, rather than the wife, is the breadwinner of the family. While 79 percent of respondents agreed that women should not assume the traditional roles of the past, that logically leaves 21 percent of the population that thinks women should go back to the kitchen.

Now, this is not to say that women should feel compelled to live out the modern, workingwoman standard. Many of us have stay-at-home mothers, and I myself am indebted to my own mother, who chose to stay home for several years and raise me. However, if parents decide that one spouse should stay home and take care of the children, the decision should be based on personal choice, and certainly not be based on the roles of the past – and just to be clear, stay-at-home moms and dads are not, in any way, any less than their out-of-home spouses.

Much of achieving gender equality is on the women’s side: equal pay, reproductive rights and fixing the expectation that women must do the cooking and the cleaning. But, we must also pay attention to where gender inequality affects men: no paid paternity leave, lack of acceptance for stay-at-home dads, and the fact that women often expect men to foot the bill for dinner. Equality under the law simply is not enough to do that.

All told, gender equality means equality in every aspect of life. I do not believe that our society can achieve this without throwing away our traditional expectations of men, just as we must do the same with our traditional expectations of women. Undeniably, this process will take years, if not decades. But true gender equality is worth the trouble of overcoming our antiquated ideas.

This is the future that I want for myself, and having to split the check is a miniscule price to pay for that future.