The Legacy of the American Dream

Ameera Razak

Ms. Brannon

AP Language and Composition

12 March 2017

The Legacy of the American Dream

The American Dream is a vision for many and an illusion for others. In The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams defines it as “[the] dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability of achievement”. Although this idea sounds great and reasonable, in reality, women have generally found it harder to achieve the same things as men. Because of unequal societal standards, women are held back from venturing into certain professions, receiving the same pay as men, and having certain rights, all which prevent them from becoming successful. Thus, even though it is true that a few opportunities have increased over time, the true, full American Dream still remains unattainable to 51% of the nation’s population.  

One way that societal standards impede opportunities for women is by expecting them to do most of the work at home like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of kids. According to the Women’s International Center (WIC), “Maternity, the natural biological role of women, has traditionally been regarded as their major social role as well”. Unfortunately, this biofact often prevents women from venturing into their dream careers. And despite women’s increased presence in the more modern workforce, they are still largely responsible for family care and housework. For example, the WIC also states that a man with an employed wife spent about “only 1.4 hours a week more on household tasks than those whose wife was a stay-home mom”. This meager increase shows that household work is still not distributed evenly. Most women do not want this domestic lifestyle; their dreams lie elsewhere. This limits their opportunities and women who want to be lawyers and doctors, careers that are time demanding, have a difficult time doing so because of society’s expectation of a woman’s role at home.

Another way is that women’s opportunities are limited is the fact that they are not receiving the same amount of money for doing the same job as men. In Confronting Inequality by Paul Krugman, he says that “A society with highly unequal results is, more or less inevitably, a society with highly unequal opportunity, too.” If the result is that women are paid 80 cents per dollar that a man makes, as given by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, clearly the opportunities were unequal to begin with. Furthermore, according to the National Women’s Law Center, a study of more than 50 years of data revealed that when women moved into a field in large numbers, the wages soon declined. This restricts women from achieving the American Dream because it makes it more difficult to get a house or a car because they have to work longer to make as much as a man does. They are not able to stabilize themselves as fast as a man would. A single man would be living easier and more financially secure than a single woman. The wage gap in America makes it strenuous for women to achieve success.

Additionally, Women have even more restrictions on them by having certain rights taken away by legislators. According the the Washington Post, Congress is 80 percent male and 19 percent women. Women do not have much of a say in rights that concern them, like when it comes to abortion. If a woman is not given the right to have an abortion, then she can be burdened with a baby that could jeopardize her financial situation and make her life difficult if she is not yet ready for a child. The Huffington Post states that it would cost about $15,000 per child per year for a two-parent family with a median annual income between $61,000 and $107,000. The cost of raising a child financially strains the parents and would be even more of a stress for single mothers who are forced to have a child because they are not allowed to get an abortion. Women who are restricted from having an abortion are left to deal with the burden of taking care of a child and cannot focus on their careers or getting an education, which in turn can prevent them from achieving the American Dream.

Some men in America believe that women are better off than they are. According to findings from a poll by PerryUndem, “...just over half republican men thought that it was a good time to be a woman, while only 41 percent of them thought it was a good time to be a man.” They feel this way because, as men like retired police captain Dennis Halaszynski put it, “Everything in general is in favor of a woman. No matter what happens in life, it seems like the man’s always at fault.” However, this is simply not true. In reality, women are not in favor when it comes to the pay gap as they are paid less than men. They are not in favor when it comes to abortion rights as they often are forced to keep a child that they cannot support on their own, a problem that men do not have to deal with. They are not in favor when it comes to succeeding in male-dominated career fields as they are denied because of their gender. Therefore, women are generally not in favor and those who do not believe that need to look at the facts. The achievement of the American Dream clearly favors men, not women.

When it comes to achieving the American Dream, women have evidently struggled more. The odds are against them when it comes to certain career choices, how much they are paid, and the rights they have over their lives. Until all of these obstacles are taken down, the American Dream is not equally attainable by all Americans.

Works Cited

Adams, James Truslow, and Schneiderman Howard. The Epic of America. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1931. Print.

Bump, Philip. "The New Congress Is 80 Percent White, 80 Percent Male and 92 Percent Christian." The Washington Post. WP Company, 05 Jan. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel K. Durst. "They Say / I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, with Readings. New York: W.W. Norton, 2015. Print.

Miller, Claire Cain. "Republican Men Say It's a Better Time to Be a Woman Than a Man." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Jan. 2017. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

"Pay Equity & Discrimination." Institute for Women's Policy Research. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

"The Wage Gap: The Who, How, Why, and What To Do." NWLC. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

Thomas, Emily. "This Is How Much It Costs To Raise A Child In The U.S." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Aug. 2014. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

"WIC - Women's History in America." WIC - Women's History in America. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.