The Glass Ceiling Theory: Feminism And Gender Roles In Canada

Throughout history, women have been regarded as of lesser value than men particularly in the public sphere. This is the result of gender stratification. Gender stratification refers to the issue of sexism, “or the belief that one sex is superior to the other” (Carl et al., 2012, p. 78). The theory that men are superior to women is essential to sexism. Sexism has always had negative consequences for women. It has caused some women to avoid pursuing successful careers typically described as “masculine”—perhaps to avoid the social impression that they are less desirable as spouses or mothers, or even less “feminine.”

Every woman has the right to moral, legal and political choice. As we look to the past, women fought for the right to be treated the same as men and fundamentally to have the same rights as men. Prior to the turn of the century, women had little to no rights. World War I and II gave way to change, allowing women to work and eventually allowing them to vote. The feminist movement has made drastic progress since the war. Today women are seen as equal and have the right not only to vote, but to be educated. In 1977 the Canadian Human Rights Act ensured that women could no longer be discriminated based on their sex, race, religion or sexuality. The act specified that there must be “equal pay for

The “Pink Tax,” the bane of women everywhere, and especially in corporate America. Women’s products and health lies in the hands of corporations who charge more for products geared towards women than their male counterparts. This is usually by a few cents on the dollar, but keep in mind that women are paid less than men. So, this can add up over time, and cause many frustrations.

Sexism at work is not the lone way women are discriminated in Canada, since women are also confronted with biased clothing rules. In modern day society, a woman is encouraged to dress in provocative attire, is given restrictions in what she wears, and is notified that wearing clothes that shows one’s shoulders is inappropriate, which remains the contrary for men. To start off, female students are not permitted to wear certain attire at school as it is claimed to distract their male classmates. For example, a 16 year-old female, attending a public high school in London, Ontario, “was called to the principal’s office and told to cover up, for wearing a grey skirt and black and turquoise top” ('They were sexualizing my outfit': Toronto students). The fact that an

Women get paid less than men, aren’t allowed to work certain jobs that men do, and get cheated on how much they pay for certain goods and services when compared to men’s products. On average, each year, women pay a whopping $1,300 more than men in products such as razors, hair products, back support bands, and even scooters for toddlers. The extra money women pay for products is known as the pink tax, and it has recently been a hot topic in the news all over the world.

Every year, women lose a total of 1,351 dollars in extra costs due to something called the Pink Tax: goods and services that cost women more money than men (pink.tax). Services like dry cleaning and haircuts are more expensive for women, even though they serve the same purpose for both genders. Advertisers, the health care community and insurance providers actively participate in this form of discrimination and inequality, and the government, who has regulatory authority over these practices, turns a blind eye. The economy of women is disrupted by the Pink Tax, for no other reason except being female. Because of this, government action needs to be taken to ensure equality in pricing, and repeal the discriminatory tax laws that hurt the female

Through the Contemporary Women’s Issues in Canada course, various topics related to gender inequality were discussed. Due to a long history, of sexism and misogyny in many aspects of Canadian society, outdated behaviours and thoughts have prevailed in many aspects of society. Three main topics that are central to achieving gender equality are gendered violence, gender roles and socialization, and child care.

These views are what causes things like the glass ceiling and glass escalator. The glass ceiling is where a woman’s promotional movement stops, where a man in the same position would continue in the upward movement. The glass escalator is where men seem to move higher and faster in a dominantly woman based career field. I think the way we view gender has become part of our society and makes it hard to break away from this standard of living.

Our society has the belief that women have always been portrayed as weak, emotional, and powerless. Throughout this article by Tavia Grant, it shows how women do not get the same opportunities men receive. Statistically shown, women are still earning less money than men regardless to the amount of education they possess (Grant). Women are accepted to hold obligations regarding family tasks while the men do the providing in the family. The article shows the disadvantages women have in Canada compared to men, however, it also shows gender inequality and gender discrimination.

The Glass Ceiling A Glass Ceiling has only ever been loosely outlined, but Jone Lewis (2011) describes it as “an invisible upper limit in corporations and other organizations, above which it is difficult or impossible for women to rise in the ranks” this demonstrates the inequality exercised in the workplace and experienced by women daily, this is reinstated with statement “the existence of a glass ceiling would imply that women’s careers prospects fall behind those of men.” (Travers, 2008 ).

In addition to the gap in political involvement there are numerous evident inequalities for Canadian women that stress the need to continue the feminist movement. The Canadian human rights

Feminism is the belief that women should have economic political and social equality with men. This term also refers to a political movement that works to gain equality within a male and female relationship. In a male and female relationship both the roles of the male and female should be equal. Equal in many ways ten one: they should trust each other, share responsibilities, listen to one another, respect each other, and of course love one another equally.

As stated earlier, gender difference plays a great factor in social exclusion. Women are easily excluded when talking about career opportunities as career expectations have been “given” already.

The term glass ceiling was coined more than twenty years ago by the Wall Street Journal to describe the barriers that women face at workplace. The word ‘ceiling’ suggest that women are blocked from advancing their career while the term ‘glass’ is used because the ceiling does not always visible. Women might work as hard as men do but they only earn about seventy-five per-cent of the men’s income though they might be of the same seniority, experience as well as education level. The earning differential is due to the traditional responsibility for family and childcare tasks assigned by the society towards women. This is because the society still assumes the high-paying professions as masculine and feminine women could not fit the requirements of holding the position and they better do a more nurturing job. This typical thinking causes men to be numerically dominant in almost all area like in key global and national decision-making position such as international organisations, governments, and as well as the board of CEOs and directors of private enterprises. As an example, rarely are women seen to sit in the parliament seat or hold the superior position in a government party. Take the case of our own Datuk Ng Yen Yen who did not succeed in her bid for the MCA’s vice presidency in October 2008. She challenged the tradition within the male-dominated party but then her failure indicates the hesitance of the

The overall objective of gender equality is a society in which women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all spheres of life; but does gender equality exist in Canada? People experience inequality whether they are male or female, and the negative and positive factors that come along with it. Gender inequality the idea or situation that men and women are not equal, and is a problem in countries around the world. The focus of this research project is on this type of inequality in Canada. The approach to this issue is examining three topics that are related to the assignment: childhood, the media, and everyday life. The two points for supporting childhood that will be explored are clothing and toys. For the media, the focus is how gender inequality impacts teenagers through social media and celebrities. Finally, under everyday life, the age group that will be discussed are adults in their workplaces and the difference in their costs. Acts of gender inequality can be found within these broad points affect males and females. Gender inequality is evident in stages of human development through childhood, teenage years, and adulthood.