Okay so gender equality in the U.S. right now, January 2026, is honestly giving me whiplash. I’m literally sitting here in my too-small apartment in Denver, radiator clanking like it’s about to give up, snow piling against the window making everything feel muffled and urgent at the same time, and I’m thinking… we’ve got women running Fortune 500 companies at record (still pathetic) numbers, but also states where getting basic reproductive healthcare feels like a heist movie. It’s exhausting.
Like two months ago I was at this networking happy hour—sticky floors, overpriced IPAs—and this super sharp woman I’ve worked with for years casually drops that her male peer got a $18k bump last review cycle while she got “great feedback but no budget.” She laughed it off. I didn’t. I just sat there feeling like garbage because five years ago I would’ve laughed too. That’s the embarrassing part: I used to be that guy who said “it’s not that bad anymore” while literally benefiting from the system not changing.
Where Gender Equality in the U.S. Actually Stands in 2026
From everything I’ve been reading (and doom-scrolling at 2 a.m.), the big picture is… stalled.
The gender pay gap is still hovering around 82–85 cents on the dollar depending on which study you trust. For women of color it’s way worse—Black women closer to 67 cents, Latina women around 65. My coworker Maria told me over takeout last week she’s basically accepted she’ll never catch her white male counterpart. We were eating pad thai on my couch, sauce dripping, both of us pretending it wasn’t depressing as hell.
Reproductive rights? Yeah. Post-Dobbs the map is a patchwork nightmare. Some states protect access, others basically criminalize it. I had a friend drive 14 hours to another state last summer for care she should’ve gotten locally. She described the whole thing in a group chat at 3 a.m.—road-trip snacks, bad motel Wi-Fi, terror. I didn’t know what to say except “I’m sorry,” which felt useless.
And yet… there are these weird pockets of progress. Women’s sports are exploding—WNBA ratings keep climbing, college softball is packing stadiums. More men are taking paternity leave (still nowhere near enough, but moving). I took two weeks when my nephew was born last year just to help my sister. Felt strangely radical sitting on her couch folding tiny onesies while she slept.
The Stuff That Hits Closest to Home
I keep coming back to the small, daily moments that remind me gender equality in the U.S. isn’t some abstract policy debate.
- My sister’s school district keeps cutting art and music first because those departments are mostly women-led. She’s exhausted.
- A buddy’s wife got asked in her last interview if she plans to have kids soon. In 2026. She told me she froze, then lied and said no. Still got the job, still wonders if they’ll fire her if she gets pregnant.
- I’ve caught myself interrupting women in meetings less… but I still do it sometimes. And then I hate myself for the rest of the day.
What I’m Actually Doing (and Where I’m Still Failing)
I’m trying. Badly.
I negotiate harder now when I switch jobs—learned that from watching women get screwed and feeling guilty I never had to think about it before, I call out dumb comments when I hear them (awkwardly, voice cracking half the time), I read more, listen more, shut up more.
But I still laugh at stupid jokes sometimes before I catch myself. I still default to “guys” when I mean everyone. I’m a work in progress and most days I feel like I’m failing at it.
That’s the honest part nobody really says: wanting gender equality in the U.S. to be better doesn’t make you instantly good at making it better. It just makes you aware of how much work there is. And how much of it starts in your own dumb head.
So… What Now?
I don’t have a tidy bow for this.
Gender equality in the U.S. in 2026 is better than 1960 and worse than we all wish it was in 2025. Pay gaps barely budge, rights are rolling backward in huge chunks of the country, but also more people—especially younger ones—are pissed and vocal and showing up.
If you’re reading this and you’re tired too, maybe just do one thing this week. Negotiate something. Call your rep about something. Tell a friend they said something shitty. Or just listen without fixing.
I’m gonna go shovel my walk now because the snow won’t stop and neither will this mess. But I’m not quitting the conversation.
Anyway. That’s my take. Messy, incomplete, probably typos everywhere (sorry). What’s yours?
(Also yeah I definitely wrote “pubic policy” instead of “public policy” in an email last month. Still haunts me. Human moment.)
