Secret Masculinity

Eavan Boland’s poem “It’s a Woman’s World” illuminates the fact that history has shaped an unfair role for women in today’s society. Boland criticizes the gender bias with regards to the limitations placed on women and their job choices despite their ability to be just as successful in the workplace as men. Regardless of the fact that the bias against women in the workplace is often overlooked, Boland aims to show the shared reaction of women to the gender bias prevalent in our society by using short sentence fragments, repetition, and a fire motif throughout the poem.

Date: Thursday February 8, 2001 Work Place Roles Of Men and Women Compared in Today’s Society

In the novella, The Secret Sharer, a novella written in 1910 by Joseph Conrad, the author explores the character’s struggle to reach their “ideal conception of self” and ultimately argues that men who are too in touch with their feminine attributes struggle to appear masculine in a man’s world.

Men and women could produce the same amount of work, but because the male is raised to a higher standard; the women’s work would be considered secondary. Despite the fact that men and women are as equal as they have ever been, this leads to the questions being asked: Why don’t women hold more than 15 percent of Fortune 500 executive-officer positions in the United States? Why do the average women still make seventy –seven pennies for every dollar made by the average male? Why does their representation rate remain below 20 percent in Congress? (Dorment) The difference is not in men and women; it is in masculine vs. feminine ways of thinking and acting. Both men and women incorporate masculine and feminine approaches.

To read Babio without recognizing the gender politics at work in the play would disregard much of how the play itself creates meaning. So much of the play’s plot and character dynamics are related to the way gender functions in this play. One major theme of Babio is the idea of masculinity and how masculinity is defined. Through the portrayal of Babio as an effeminate character, Babio is able to define masculinity through absences in Babio’s Character. Consequently, Babio makes the additional point that lovesickness is not an intrinsic aspect of medieval masculinity, despite the fact that love sickness is often attributed to men.

In the article “The End of Men,” Hanna Rosin offers several examples of women overpowering men. The inequality between men and women has become a critical issue in today’s society. According to Rosin, women are slowly surging ahead in the workforce and family life while men are left behind struggling to meet expectations. Rosin argues that this role reversal is taking place because women are simply better suited for postindustrial society.

Discriminating women because of their gender is common in the workforce and unfortunately, has become a norm. Discrimination begins from childhood and that is why it has become accepted in America’s society. Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and author of “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?” writes that “the gender stereotypes introduced in childhood are reinforced throughout our lives and become self-fulfilling prophecies (653).” I can relate to Sandberg’s point because when I was a child, I use to think that girls could not be police officers or fire fighters because it was not seen as an appropriate choice for a girl. I acknowledge Sandberg’s point because gender stereotypes are reinforced in television, the workforce, and at home during indoor or outdoor chores. hooks, activist and author of “Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In” would support this point; however, she would argue that patriarchy is the core issue, not stereotypes. In other words, hook believes that “we must understand that challenging and dismantling patriarchy is at the core of contemporary feminist struggle- this is essential and necessary if women and men are to be truly liberated from outmoded sexist thinking and actions (662).” If patriarchy is the focus then America can establish why women are treated unequally from the men. Stereotypes are important, but hooks’ think that Sandberg “Is simply taking old ideas and giving them a new twist (664).” I agree with hook because Sandberg mentions how women face stereotypical issues, however does not explain that patriarchy is the real reason women have difficulties in the workforce. Before jumping into conclusions Slaughter must focus on how patriarchy can improve.

Gender and work exist sociologically as a way to maintain both authority and inequality. Women’s roles throughout history shed a light on the expectations and stereotypes that exist today; however, navigating a gendered economy and overcoming sex segregation continues to be a challenging task for most women. Wages continue to be uneven, and wives continue to bear most of the child rearing and domestic responsibilities despite increasingly working the same amount as their husbands do. Becoming educated on these inequalities and viewing them with a sociological perspective will allow people to see gender and work in an accurate light and continue to develop

Gender Inequality can be seen in different instances, some I feel more apparent than others. It can be displayed through gender roles by classifying a man’s role in society, versus a woman’s

To begin with three should be an examination of how “the persistence of gender ideologies” has affected equality in the workplace. As Kimmel states, “Since the early nineteenth century, the workplace has been seen as a masculine arena, where men could test and prove their manhood against other men in the dog-eat-dog marketplace” (Kimmel 249). This is still occurring

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

Social status and structures have definitely shaped the construction and experience of gender inequality. Men and women are constantly analyzed, compared, and grouped together in society. The result of this yields discrepancies in how sexes are viewed by society. Throughout my examination and explanation of gender inequality, I concluded both men and women are victims to gender inequality.

First, women in the professional world face harsh criticisms that are both portrayed in the media and rooted in Biblical interpretations. A Commercial by Pantene points out the issue of labelling. A man is labelled “boss,” while a woman is labelled “bossy”; a man staying late at work is “dedicated,” while a woman staying late at work is “selfish” (Social Voice

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