Essay about Working Women

The belief that men are not capable of taking care of a child is now being challenged. Fathers are now taking on a more active role in their child’s life by allowing their wives to peruse her career goals while they stay at home with the children. Women are now left with the task of being the family’s primary breadwinners. As both step outside their expected gender roles the challenge of gender stereotypes found in families have been questioned.

Women for years have been automatically given the role of the domestic housewife, where their only job is to cook, clean, and take care of the children. Men have usually taken the primary responsibility for economic support and contact with the rest of society, while women have traditionally taken the role of providing love, nurturing, emotional support, and maintenance of the home. However, in today’s society women over the age of sixteen work outside of the home, and there are more single parent households that are headed by women than at any other time in the history of the United States (Thompson 301.)

Women feel more obligated to stay at home or work part time if they have children. Even if they share household chores with their spouses, many women still prefer to work less in order to sustain the home. However, women who are single mothers do not have the luxury to stay at home, and working part time may be the only option they have. For single mothers working is imperative in order to keep the family afloat financially, but with all of the commitments they have, they cannot balance everything. Childcare is essential, because while single mothers are working they need a reliable place to send their young children; the same with single fathers as well. Most women in the work force have children to take care of, and families to provide for, which many take as a decrease of masculinity, and the increase of femininity. On the contrary, many studies show that although the labor force is divided, the household is not and do a lot to maintain the household as well. According to Hertz and Marshall (2001), “Men who participate in more companionate activities with their children (such as play, leisure activities, and TV watching) are no more likely to take on other household chores than less-involved fathers. It is only men who participate in nurturing, are more nearly partners in family work. Men are also more likely to

In our society, we carry an ideological assumption that a “normal” family consists of the man working to provide for the family and the women takes on the role of stay-at-home mom (Dow 1992).

In chapter 11, “Families” in the book “Gender: Ideas, Interactions, and Institutions” by Lisa Wade and Myra Mar Ferree discuss the different roles in the family. Married women carry a large proportion of unpaid work in the home. Women with a paid job outside of the home experience the second shift. The second shift is unpaid work waiting for them when they get home. The second shift is buying groceries, cooking dinner, putting gas in cars and reviewing budgets.

In 1944, women were accused of not doing anything for World War II (Weatherford 238). Nevertheless, Rosie the Riveter was a symbol for all working women during the war. After Rosie was used to bring women into the workplace, women gained strength by being in a group (Bailey 85, Weatherford 235). Although women were discriminated against during World War II, their skills in volunteering, constructing planes, ship building, working in war plants, and farming were said to be essential to winning the war (Bailey 90).

The labor force of the United States has changed drastically over the last forty years. According to the Department of Labor, in 2012, 64% of woman with children under the age of six are in the labor force. While only 34% of mothers were working in 1970 (Gullekson, Griffeth, Vancouver, Kovner, & Cohen, 2014). Furthermore, in 1974, 80% of kids under the age 17 were cared for by a parent (Morrissey & Warne, 2011). Given this dramatic increase of mothers in the workforce, there is a considerable amount of time missed by the working parent. On average, American working parents miss nine days of work per year and that number increases to thirteen as the child moves through daycare and into elementary school. Breakdowns in childcare cost businesses three billion dollars annually (Shellenback, 2004). Given these staggering numbers the demand for reliable and affordable childcare has never been bigger.

According to The New York Times, U.S. Women on the Rise as Family Breadwinners, Catherine Rampell wrote that “four in 10 American households with children under 18 now include a mother who is either the sole or primary earner for her family the highest on record it has quadrupled since 1960”(2). The change of women being the

The "glass ceiling" has held women back from certain positions and opportunities in the workplace. Women are stereotyped as part-time, lower-grade workers with limited opportunities for training and advancement because of this "glass ceiling". How have women managed their careers when confronted by this glass ceiling? It has been difficult; American women have struggled for their role in society since 1848. Women’s roles have changed significantly throughout the past centuries because of their willingness and persistence. Women have contributed to the change pace of their role in the workplace by showing motivation and perseverance.

Gender plays a huge role in workplace 'success' and can be a big challenge especially if the employee is a woman in a male dominated workplace or career. No matter how 'hard-nosed,' 'ruthless,' 'workaholic' a woman may be, or how much personal success she achieves, there will always tend to be some type of obstacle to keep her from getting completely to the top of the corporate ladder. She must also still fight stereotypes that undermines her confidence or limits her potential. Since the early 20th century, women and minorities have sought equal opportunities in education and in the labor force with little success. These obstacles or barriers are all known as the glass ceiling.

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.

Not only are woman subjected to society norms based on their personality characteristics, but also on their life choices and “domestic responsibilities” questions arise for woman like “who will care for you children and husband”. Montague Kern and Paige P. Edley state that women will continue to be “criticized for abandoning their traditional family roles” (1). This topic is not something that is brought up to their male counterparts. I don’t believe I have ever heard a man be questioned on who was going to assume the responsibility of raising their children. So until society genuinely accepts that raising children and other domestic issues are shared endeavors, then women will continue to face this barrier. (Robson, 208)

Conventionally, females played a very insignificant role in the paid work force of a society as many times they were expected to be home taking care of their family. Their roles at home can often include grocery shopping, meeting all the needs of her children and husband. As time moved on, our society became more accepted of sharing housework between the couples, but even so, the traditionally more feminine housework such as cooking, caring for sick children, and shopping for the entire family are mostly done by the females of the house. It is argued in a research journal Work and Occupations (Witkowski & Leicht, 1995) that in an average North American family, females take on roughly three-quarters of the housework. Even though we are in a democratic society, parenting roles in the household are assigned based on gender rather than in a democratic fashion (Winslow-Bowe, 2009). Because of the many responsibilities and obligations that are associated with the female gender, their career paths are eventually affected for the worse. According to Statistics Canada (2001), for every dollar a man earns, a single woman earns 93 cents and a married woman earns 69 cents. These statistics

Initially, the first women entering the workplace did so out of desire. In a post feminist, post-civil right era and spurred on by higher levels of education. Women saw jobs and careers as rights that had previously been denied to them. Women were tired of just being "Big Johns Wife" or "Little Johnny's mommy". They wanted to be known the way men have always identified themselves by their jobs, their careers, and the level of success to which they had risen. Status, not salary, was the prime mover of the first wave of women to assault the previously all male worlds of medicine, and the corporate citadel

The sight of a working woman today is not something that causes one to look twice. However, this was not always the case. It was a long struggle for women to get to where they are today, and there is still a long way to go. There were a few momentous occasions throughout history that caused a shift in the way women were viewed as workers, such as the need for workers during World War II, the Equal Pay Act, and the appointment of Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court. Women have made great strides in integrating themselves into the workforce alongside men and continue to do so today.