Gender And Work : Women 's Roles

Up until the early 1900’s, women were seen by society as people with household roles that consisted of cooking, cleaning, and tending their children. As time progressed, the view of women in society gradually changed, but their opinions still did not seem to matter. It wasn’t until 1920, that women gained suffrage with the 19th amendment. This amendment was a huge step in gaining full and equal rights for women, but unfortunately discrimination against them still happens today. There are various different situations in which the issue of gender inequality occurs. Although the law states that everyone has equal opportunities and rights, women are highly discriminated against in everyday roles such as employment, extracurricular activities, military, and in the government.

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

Traditional gender roles (men performing instrumental tasks and women performing expressive tasks) are viewed as important not only for the individual but also for the economic and social order of society. Failure to maintain the traditional division of labor is believed to lead to destruction of family life as well as higher rates of crime, violence, and drug abuse. Human capital theorists claim that sex differences in promotion rates are due to sex differences in commitment, education, and experience; women are believed to have less to offer employers. Even if these differences exist, this position ignores the fact that women are in a system of inequality, where social expectations prevent them from having qualifications that are similar to men. The conflict perspective emphasizes men’s control over scarce resources. The gendered division of labor within families and in the workplace results from male control of and dominance over women and resources. Differentials between men and women may exist in terms of economic, political, physical, and/or interpersonal power. Men remain the head of household and control the property. Also, men gain power through their predominance in the most highly paid and prestigious occupations and the highest elected offices. Liberal/Equal Rights Feminists – seek equal access for females within the current social system; focus is on equality of opportunity (e.g., civil rights and occupational equality). Radical/Transformative Feminists –

In closing, overtime gender roles have changed since 1881 in the areas of employment and marriage; thus, the sources demonstrate that gender roles have changed because the needs and outlooks on women have changed over time. The world is far from perfect, but the gap of “power” between men and women is closing slightly with new movements starting and through educating

The armed forces are the ones who protect and serve our country. Back then the military, the navy, and the air force had one thing in common—they only recruited the men to serve and protect. Now over time women are finally allowed to serve along sides the men, but not without putting up a fight for equality in the armed forces. The author Rosalind Chait Barnett, who is a scientist and a director and the Brandeis University, wrote the article “Women and Work: Where Are We, Where Did We Come From, and Where Are We Going?” which talks about the past of of only the women being oppressed. Martha McSally, who is a professor at the George C. Marshall European Center and is also retired from the U.S. Air Force, wrote the article “Defending America

Throughout every society’s history, there has been a prevalent inequality between the females and males of that population. Women have been considered slaves or property belonging to men; thus they have been viewed as second-class citizens and intellectual inferior. Most prominent is the idea that a women’s purpose in life was to remain in the domestic sphere. This meant their interactions and occupations within the public sphere was severely limited. This preconceived bias towards women’s only job to be a wife remained constant through centuries although the degrees of pressure on women varied. As decades progressed into the late 1800s to present time, a women’s occupational world had a chance grow outside their domestic sphere. Although

Feminization of work is an idea which lives up to expectations towards more noteworthy vocation of women and the point is to illuminate the issues concerning sex disparities in the work power. It points towards explaining the issues of sexual contrasts and killing imbalance in administrations.

For several decades now, women have struggled with equality in the workplace. “Men are told to think like a woman and women are told to act like a man” (Valian, 1998). However, this advice often reinforces gender schemas and stereotypical qualities such as sympathy for women and assertiveness for men. While these pigeon-holes are often exaggerated, research shows that gender characteristics do indeed exist, and they play a very powerful role in the workplace.

Modern day sexism can be a very delicate topic, but people need to recognize that it 's still a problem in the workplace. Before jumping to the conclusion that this is another extreme feminist perspective, it 's important to understand one thing. Although significant progress has been made in the past few decades, women are not treated as equal partners to men in the many job fields. Freida Pinto, the leading actress in Slumdog Millionaire was interviewed recently. She did an excellent job clarifying a common misunderstanding of feminism. "Feminism to me is equality. There is no man over woman and vice versa. Feminism is a very misconstrued and misunderstood topic. "As soon as we say feminism, it does not mean all men should become subordinate and women should be the ones who rule the world. The only way we can have a progressive and successful country or world is when men and women treat each other as equals." It 's sad to think that a term for someone who is in support of gender equality is now a negatively viewed thing. An important thing to remember is that gender equality means equality for both genders, and reverse sexism is not the solution. Once you grasp that it 's easier to understand modern day sexism.

Researchers have proposed a variety of explanations for systematic gender inequality in the workplace. Cultural benefits, the actions of male employees, the actions of the female employees, and the actions of the employer can contribute to intentional or unintentional gender discrimination (Ngo, Foley, Wong, & Loi, 2003). It has also been mentioned that women make less money because their work environment is generally safer than the stereotypical male work environment; childcare, cashiers, and secretary positions as opposed to firefighters, truck drivers and construction workers (Parcheta, Kaifi, & Khanfar, 2013). Perhaps the most dominant reasoning for women receiving less pay is the carrying over of biological roles into the workplace. Female employees often take time off to have a family, take care of a family, and are the primary caregiver of said family.

Gender roles is a very controversial topic in today’s society, especially when it comes to working. 100 years ago, in Europe, women were working long hours in factories. Women also worked as nurses, cleaned wealthy people 's homes, and were craftswomen. Meanwhile, 100 years ago in the United States women were expected to stay home and take care of the family/home, while the men went out and worked an average of ten hours a day for six days a week, compared to the traditional five day weeks and 8 hour days.

The generation now has made it easier to equalize men and women but there is still a substantial amount of places where gender inequality is still happening in the workplace and where females still face discrimination. Women are often discriminated in the workplace and are usually not promoted as quickly as men are and they also receive less pay. History shows that women have not always been defined as property and thought of as second class citizens. But in the 21st century many have seen a drastic change in the so called “traditional” family ways where women are suppose to stay home and take care of the household chores, food, and children and men are suppose to work to support their family and provide financial stability. Many assume that in the workplace women are more vulnerable and less competent than men because women 's instincts are to put their family before work or anything else. Whereas men are the ones who will usually stay the late hours to work. People on both sides of the political spectrum and everywhere in between seem to be fearful of what is to come and more fearful of others than they are often willing to admit.

Women have experienced a historic situation of inequality in the social as well as professional aspects. Women were normally the ones that would take care of children, do the chores in the house, and in rural areas; they would work in the field with the rest of the family. However, today’s women have become more self-sufficient and independent from the predominant male figure within every historical family. Gender inequality in the workplace is becoming less common; yet, gender is a factor that affects men and women. Especially women have been subjected to a historical discrimination that has influenced society to decide which job is more suitable for women than men. However women have confronted and tried to break down the barriers that

Though societal norms exist, we must understand that there are negative results and learn to challenge these norms (gender norms). That is why unions are being created, to fix these problems of inequality people face in the labour market. It may never be the intention of the labour force to propagate gender inequality, or perhaps not out rightly so. Unfortunately, the social construction of society has created norms that individuals unconsciously follow and pass on from one generation to another. With these norms intact, inequality exists in the labour market; it exists in payroll, the wage gap is the outcome; women are employed only in gender-specific job positions and even though they are lucky enough to get the male-dominated jobs, they get treated differently – harassed or discriminated and sexism exist. It is due to past inequalities that women have faced that may be the cause of unfair treatment in the labour market compare to men. This topic is important because it expands our knowledge and makes us understand the inequalities we face or do consciously or unconsciously in the labour force due to gender relations. “The Canada Year Book 2001 reported that 1998 women spent 15.2 hours on unpaid housework (not counting childcare) per week compared with 8.3 hours for men. Mothers ages 25-44 who were working full-time also spent nearly 35 hours a week at unpaid work” (wgst1f90) these are the statistics from the article that was gotten from the Canada year

The concept of gender denotes the distinction between culturally driven and created roles of masculinity and femininity. These specific and normalized attitudes and behaviors transcend and effect how differently men and women live their lives. Based on society’s continual re-enforcement of such gender stereotypes, we see an on-going dilemma of gender inequality. Though some may argue that men experience gender inequality, this seems to exist on a much more invasive level for women. As of recently, the awareness of gender inequality in the workplace has increased. With the fight for equal pay and equal respect, society is already making strides towards the equality of women. With that being said, one aspect of gender inequality that seems