Dealing with the gender issue through politics

During our discussion on Thursday, someone asked a question stating: If we all have the same ideas about gender inequality and gender roles, and we feel that action needs to be taken, why has nothing changed? Well, if you take a look at who controls the House in our government you will see why. The majority of GOP representatives are white males. If you reflect on the 2012 presidential campaign, it is obvious that these issues that women experience because of their attained characteristics due to their body type, are just as prominent as they were years ago. Equal work, equal pay still doesn't exist in the work force, and questions about whether or not women should be able to do with their body what they want are still in play. Take the Republican nominee, Romney, for example. He presented speeches and plans that showed how he views the gender roles of our society. From using women as a special interest group, to attempting to gain back women voters by stating how he wants pay equity for them, which just ended up into a gaffe (binders full of women) blown up by the media; some say that Romney seemed to use women to his advantage to gain the attention of voters and benefit himself. It is obvious that the gender stereotypes have been so intertwined and cemented into our ideology that attempting to change them via the government just turns into a really biased and in this case, tough and awkward situation. However, there is no doubt that our country is working to fix the gender inequality. We have lifted the ban on combat for women and have broken a record for having 20 women in the Senate, one being openly gay. Similar to our country's race and ethnic issue, the gender inequality issue has not dissipated because of these few significant breakthroughs. We still see unfairness not only in jobs, the media, and politics, but in everyday facilities and situations, as well. Some may argue that women are not at a disadvantage because they have the option to be just as successful, if not more, than men; but that doesn't mean that the issue has been eliminated. Do you think the gender issue will be completely irrelevant in future years because of the progress we have been making?