Throughout time, there has always been that sort of feud between genders. What gender has it harder? What gender struggles the most? Both genders provide valid reasoning as to why they think their gender has it harder. Most men think that they have it harder, and because of this, they seem to think that the world revolves around them. Men think that their life is so hard and that only men have to struggle. This leads to one of the most central gender issues that women and young girls face. To explain, the central gender issue that women and young girls face is males having the thought process that because they are women, their problems do not matter, or in other words, men thinking that women’s problems do not matter and are not worth thinking about. Some may even think that because it is a women’s problem, it is always an issue to find a solution. 

To start off, the central gender issue that women and young girls face is males having the thought process that because they are women, their problems do not matter. To explain, in the article titled AIDS Has a Woman’s Face by Stephen Lewis, in paragraph 6 he states “ The reason we have observed and still observe without taking decisive action ----- this wanton attack on women is because it’s women. You know it and I know it.” In this article, there is a disease that is going around and is spreading to most women in Africa. This quote helps to prove that men do not think that females problems matter, because in this quote the author is stating that while many women are dying because of the disease, many people choose to be bystanders and just observe what is going on instead of trying to figure out a solution. All because this disease is mostly affecting women, many people choose not to help, which shows that because it is a woman it is less of a problem than if more men were to have this same disease. 

Next, the central gender issue that women and young girls face is males having the thought process that because they are women, their problems do not matter, and also that because it is a women’s problem, it is always a women’s Issue to find a solution. For example in the poem, Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, states “ Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs. She was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile, and wheedle. Her good nature wore out.” This quote helps to prove the point above because the girl in this poem is being teased about her body features, and since she is a girl, she was advised to “play coy” and to exercise, and diet. This girl was teased by others, and instead of fixing the bigger problem of the teasing issue, the young girl chose to try to fix her “problems”  all by herself, but in the end, it wore her out. Just like in reality, men expect so much from women, and most women are just advised to brush it off or change for men, but when women start to struggle because they are trying to change for men, then that’s when all of a sudden it only becomes a women’s problem.

Lastly, the central gender issue that women and young girls face is males having the thought process that because they are women, their problems do not matter.  To explain, the article titled Professions for Women by Virginia Woolf, states “ she still has many ghosts to fight, many prejudices to overcome.” Also, she states “ there are many phantoms and obstacles.” This helps to prove my claim because it shows that men are not the only ones who struggle with problems. In reality, males can think that just because she is a woman, that her life is easy and she is not going through anything, but in actuality, women are dealing with the same amount of problems as men if not more.