'Despite gender equality on the rise, are men and women equal in the workplace?'
Introduction
“The human race is a bird and it needs both its wings to be able to fly. And, at the moment, one of its wings is clipped we’re never going to be able to fly as high.”
Although the number of sex discrimination claims have dropped by 41% from 18,300 in 2010/11 to 10,800 in 2011/12, it continues to be the most frequent type of discrimination claim received by tribunals. Gender equality is a known problem within the UK as organisations and the UK as a whole do not view men and women with equal value and therefore have unequal treatment. Whilst employers should enforce policies that are designed to prevent sex discrimination in recruitment and
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1,400 women at Bryant & May matches then went on strike, led by Annie Besant, in protest of the poor wages and dangerous conditions in the matchstick factory. This lead to the security of the first successful equal pay resolution at Trades Union Congress.
Before the Suffragettes, women were not able to vote and the move for women to have the right to vote really started in 1897 when Millicent Fawcett founded the National Union of Women’s Suffrage. Fawcett strongly believed that women should have the right to vote but also believed in peaceful protests, patience and logical arguments. She felt that if any violence occurred then men would believe that women could not be trusted and therefore should not have the right to vote. She also made the argument that if women were made responsible for sitting on school boards and paying taxes that they should be part of the process to make the laws and should have the same rights as men. A main argument of hers was that even though some women who were wealthy mistresses of large manors and estates employed gardeners, workmen and labourers who were able to vote but women still could not, regardless of their wealth and social class. However, the progress of Fawcett was very slow and although she converted some of the members of the Labour Representation Committee (The Labour Party) but the majority of men felt that women would not understand how parliament functioned and therefore should not take part in the electoral
Women were trying to get the vote for many years before 1900, however this was not a serious concern and they were not doing much to achieve this. However in 1900 this all changed. The NUWSS (Suffragists) and the WSPU (Suffragettes) were set up in the early years of 1900; their goal was to allow women to get the vote. Their reason was that women were already allowed to work on city councils and become doctors, some notable ones too such as Florence Nightingale. The NUWSS believed that if women were house owners and had respectable jobs they should be allowed to vote. This is because men who were allowed to vote could be white slave owners and lunatics so why could these men vote and
Having the chance to vote in the United States changed completely in the 19th century for Women all over the country. From 1807 to 1890 Women were not allowed to vote and most of their rights were minimized. Even though slaved men in 1870 were allowed to vote. The first Women’s Rights convention started in Washington and they discussed many topics during that meeting. Women disagreed with the old roles of what a woman in a family should and should not have to do some wanted rights for every women one day that one day will have a say in their government. The 1830’s played an important role in important changes in America for Women since this would impact their futures children's life for the next era. Out of all the women who questioned the
Until August of 1920 women couldn’t vote. The issue wasn’t well-known until 1850 when the National Women’s Rights Convention was formed. After that, the issue was recognized and more groups like this were popping up. More women realized that this was an issue and fought to make it legal for women to vote.
The battle for suffrage was a long and slow process. Many women tried to initiate the fight for suffrage, like Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. “These were the New Suffragists: women who were better educated, more career-oriented, younger, less apt to be married and more cosmopolitan than their previous generation.” (pg 17) Eventually, in 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified; allowing women to vote, but it was not any one person or event that achieved this great feat. It was the confluence of certain necessary factors, the picketing and parades led by Alice Paul, militaristic suffrage parties and the influence of the media that caused the suffrage amendment to be passed and ratified in 1920. But most importantly, they successfully moved both
The women's suffrage movement was founded in the 19th century by womens who had become politically active through their work in abolition and temperance movement. The declaration of sentiment states,” that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” All humans are supposed to be treated equally but when still didn't have the right to vote like men. It is fair and right that those who must obey the laws should have a voice in making them. Women's suffrage states,”Instead of arguing that women deserved the same rights and responsibilities as men because women and men were “created equal,” the new generation of activists argued that women deserved the vote because they were different from men.”
One of the most significant milestones in the history of women's rights, undoubtedly, was the concession of women's right to vote. Now, prior to this, women were not considered to have any legal rights/autonomy- back then, people believed their only purpose to be to “fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother.” As a direct result of that, they were also paid little to no consideration when it came to making and passing laws. Thus, this landmark decision to grant women the right to vote heralded a new era for them, an era of newfound freedom and representation in government. The fight for women's voting rights began in the latter half of the 19th century, when women's rights activists saw that they could use the 14th and 15th Amendments to make a case for suffrage.
The Development of a Campaign For Women's Suffrage After 1870 Prior to 1857, women had very few rights in the USA. If they were under 21 they were controlled by their fathers, and if they were married, by their husbands. Legally, women were completely under the influence of men. However as time progressed, women began to gain more Civil Rights due to several Bills being passed, for example, the Local Government Act gave women female property owners the right to vote in local elections, and in 1907 they women gained the right to sit as councillors .
Women’s suffrage, or the crusade to achieve the equal right for women to vote and run for political office, was a difficult fight that took activists in the United States almost 100 years to win. On August 26, 1920 the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified, declaring all women be empowered with the same rights and responsibilities of citizenship as men, and on Election Day, 1920 millions of women exercised their right to vote for the very first time.
Women started campaigning to win the vote in the 1850's. Small local groups had meetings nationwide to present their arguement for allowing women to vote. In 1877 - 78 there were 1,300 meetings - this represents how serious the women were.The campaigners were mainly middle class, as, upper class ladies most propably found "campaigning" and "argueing" unlady like and inappropriate. However this does not mean they they too did not want the right to vote.
The initial fight for women’s suffrages begun as early as the 19th century, while some historians believe that Mary Smith initiated this political crusade when she presented the first women's suffrage petition to Parliament in 1832 (Bartley, 2003). By 1900, women were allowed to own and keep property after marriage through the Married Women’s Property Act that was written by Richard Pankhurst in 1870, although it was heavily altered after it went through Parliament. Despite this, it was was a major milestone for women’s rights. In addition, they were granted the first equal pay resolution thanks to Secretary of the Women’s Trade Union League, Clementine Black, in 1883 (Lambert, n.d.). Successful attempts for women’s suffrages continued in the
Increasingly frustrated by their withheld rights and more determined than ever in their fight against female objectification and socially imposed identities, many British women took the gender war to the next level: politics. In the early 1900s the suffragettes campaigned peacefully in order to be granted the right to vote. Since this had no effect whatsoever, some of them radicalised and undertook more violent militant tactics. But the outbreak of the First World War made them leave their campaign trail to support the Nation’s war efforts. The male workforce being absent, female participation in the labour market was unprecedented. In 1918 the realisation that women could be of help in the democratic process eventually dawned on politicians
Social change in Britain has been achieved primarily through the hard work of organized political groups. These groups created events to recruit and educate supporters of social equality to join them in fighting for progress. The Women’s Suffrage Movement between 1866 and 1928 in Britain is no exception to this trend. The reason for the great efficacy of these political groups, including the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies and the Women’s Social and Political Union, was the women who pioneered the groups and fought alongside them to create the change that they believed in. The goal of these political groups was finally realized in 1928 with the passing of the Representation of the People Act. However, the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain would not have been successful without the influential actions of several significant women. In addition to the overall necessity of female leadership for British Women’s Suffrage, the central efforts of Millicent Fawcett, Lydia Becker, and Emmeline Pankhurst particularly played a large role in the movement’s success.
The Women’s Suffrage Movement of the 1920’s worked to grant women the right to vote nationally, thereby allowing women more political equality. Due to many industrial and social changes during the early 19th century, many women were involved in social advocacy efforts, which eventually led them to advocate for their own right to vote and take part in government agencies. Women have been an integral part of society, working to help those in need, which then fueled a desire to advocate for their own social and political equality. While many women worked tirelessly for the vote, many obstacles, factions, and ultimately time would pass in order for women to see the vote on the national level. The 19th Amendment, providing women the right to vote, enable women further their pursuit for full inclusion in the working of American society.
Over the past few decades, great strides have been made by women in the workplace. This increased number in women in the workplace does not mean equality however. Even with equal qualifications and achievements, women are still not given all the opportunities that men have. The chapter in the textbook, “Gender at Work”, shows us more of these inequalities in the workplace. Such inequalities cause gender segregation of jobs and can be linked with the pay inequality in the labor force. Even in jobs that are predominantly filled by women, men earn more than women. Women are often stereotyped as being family focused and not as able to travel, therefore they tend to get passed up for promotions (Garson p.353). This invisible barrier that keeps women from moving up the executive ladder is referred to as the “glass ceiling” (Baxter and Wright p. 346). Women also tend to do more domestic work, or unpaid labor and caregiving. This extra unpaid work is referred to as “the third shift” and is largely rested on the shoulders of women (Gersel p. 352). Consequently, this seems to be one of the biggest things holding women back from taking on jobs that are normally considered male
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 was enacted for the purpose of giving effect to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sex, marital status or pregnancy in areas including education, accommodation and provision services (Strachan & French, 2007). Furthermore, the legislation promoted recognition and acceptance of the principle of equality of men and women within the community. Additionally, the removal of discriminatory barriers has designed and ‘encouraged’ a change in treatment of women in recruitment, retirement, dismissal and termination. As a result, social behaviour modifies through the setup of rules that ‘employers must not discriminate’ through the enforcement of law (Strachan & French, 2007).