While some of us may not have noticed or experienced it, there still is a sense of sexism in the world. Men and women aren’t treated equal, and it’s an attention that needs more attention in order to be fixed.
For one senior majoring in mechanical engineering at Eastern Washington University, he noticed that his female peers were treated differently from him, especially those that happen to be STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) majors.
Distraught and disgusted by the inequality, 34-year-old Jared Mauldin wrote a letter to his school’s student newspaper, The Easterner, addressing all the “woman in [his] engineering classes.”
He begins by saying that he and the women that are around him “are in fact unequal.” If you are a woman and reading this, it seems a bit ambiguous what point he is trying to make, but then he explains why.
He continues, “I did not, for example, grow up in the world that discouraged me from focusing on hard science. Nor did I live in a society that told me not to get dirty, or said I was bossy for exhibiting leadership skills.”
Jared is autistic and he suffers from Lupus and avascular necrosis in both his hips. As a result, he has had to work much harder than his peers to achieve the same results. However, despite having these conditions, he believes that his fully-healthy female peers have had to endure more pain and work harder.
He concludes his letter by congratulating and applauding the women in his STEM classes for overcoming the unprecedented odds set before them.
“So, you and I cannot be equal. You have already conquered far more to be in this field than I will ever face.”
Since it was published, Jared’s letter is going viral on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.
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One woman commented on The Easterner‘s website saying, “Jared – I’m 59 years old and I got my PhD in physiology more than 30 years ago. Thank you for this. You have reduced this tough-minded old feminist to tears.”
Another said, “You nailed it brother! Living under a microscope is not easy. Just having one male peer who “gets” it and has my back makes a world of difference in my everyday work life.”
Mauldin tells The Huffington Post, “Nothing I said was new, it has all been said a thousand times before. The difference is that I am a man. Maybe by standing up and breaking the silence from the male side, I can help some more men begin to see the issues, and begin to listen to the women who have been speaking about this all along.”
Please SHARE his letter if you agree with his opinions. We need to rally together to fight for gender equality!
