Women and the Workforce From the days of Suffragettes to the ERA amendment of the late 1970's, women have fought for equal rights in a male dominated world. During every war, from ancient times to modern, women took over the traditional male working rolls to keep the economy going as men fought on the battle front. After every war women were pushed back into the home and made to return to rolls of housewife and mother. This battle of the female to be seen and appreciated as more than just a baby making machine and house servant, has gone on for centuries, in countries around the globe. As technology increases, the world becomes smaller, and democracy and freedom are seen as the rights of man, women have been given more freedoms yet they still are not equal to their male counterpart. ? Around the world, women?s access to employment is constrained by various factors, including inequality in access to education and training, and productive resources, household responsibilities and gender stereotypes.?(1) The woman has received the right to work menial jobs for minimum pay with less job security. She has received the right to attend schools of higher education, but she hasn?t receive the rights to equal access for career paths, or promotions in careers traditionally filled by males including the fast growing field of computer technology. The computer technology field has experienced a massive expansion during the last two decades making the employees of this industry a vital component of the work force. Because of this tremendous growth the industry is now facing a major shortage of skilled workers. Although there has been an increase in the number of women entering the field since the 1970's they are still a ... ... middle of paper ... ...sually felt against discrimination. I came to the conclusion at one point that the whole thing was hopeless because it is a biological fact women have babies and that is always a career breaker. I end this paper rather disappointed that now, as it was centuries ago,are allowing their lives to be run by male views and stereotypes. The world is moving forward but unless women stop allowing other's views to influence their life choices they will be left behind washing dishes and changing diapers. Works Cited: 1. www.cosatu.org 2. www.sciam.com 3. www.sdsc.edu 4. www.studentadvantage.lycos.com 5. www.cs.wisc.edu/~karavan/afl/home.html 6. www.ecuanex.apc.org 7. www.mills.edu 8. www.rpi.edu 9. www.cpsr.org 10. Coping With the Male Ego in the Workplace Sandra Grymes 11.Cypergirl at Work Sherman, Aliza 12.When work Doesn't Work Anymore Mckenna, Elizabeth
Within Hon. Shirley Chisholm’s well known speech, Equal Rights for Women, which she presented on May 21, 1969, she discusses in detail the ideology of woman’s rights before the United States House of Representatives. She touches base on her own experience with discrimination, how society has prejudice against women, and introduces the Equal rights act, in which she states “that has been before every Congress for the last 40 years and that sooner or later must become part of the basic law of the land.” With her speech, Hon. Shirley Chisholm makes a substantial argument about women’s rights. With her use of anecdotes, counter arguments, and statistics, her speech obtains great value.
“…when a young woman graduates from college and starts looking for a job, she is likely to have a frustrating and even demeaning experience ahead of her.” (Chrisholm 1969) This was stated in the oral speech Equal Rights for Women given by Shirley Chisholm. As I read the speech it was easy for me to identify where Shirley was coming from and the side she took on the topic of Women’s Rights. The lack of equality, weather that be with women or the African American race, is an issue. As a woman myself in today’s society she brought to my attention some very valid points. I thought the speech did a good job persuading me toward standing up for equality. Shirley successfully used arguments of parallel case, arguments from generalization and the
The feminist movement raises political campaigns for the rectification of rights that should be permitted to women in the public, workplace and most importantly in one’s home. Women’s movement turn out to be a significant role as time advanced, diminutive ideas were anticipated at first, minor alterations occur but not much was being done for the privileges of a woman therefore making the women’s movement more hostile. It can be proposed that women are far too emotional to have equal rights as men due to the hormones that occur while a woman is pregnant or on her menstrual cycle, although the women’s movement has been more beneficial than crucial. Women have helped enhance the economy drastically, improve the family time in homes, as well as
Since the beginning of time, women have been treated as inferiors by men. Due the supposedly weak anatomy their body, they have always been seen as weak and fragile, a description that can’t be farther from the true. Women have been proven to withstand a large amount of pain and have a stronger emotional stability. Just like racism, gender deferment has been less with the progression of time but it’s still a factor that is present in the everyday life of modern society. We can see this in the fields of work like science where it is rare to find a women scientist and how the technological world is mostly ruled by powerful male figures. Women have been oppressed since the beginning of time and have fought for their rights bravely and consistently, women went from not even being able to speak their own thoughts unless their husbands said so and being an incubator for male heirs to being inspirations to many people and fighting for what it’s right. We, as a society, have progressed in that way through the ages, even though, some women are still being oppressed daily on various parts of the world, it is something that we must overcome and we will, because this world is a better place with more smart, educated and outgoing
Since the late 1970s, the participation of women in the workforce has dramatically changed from women traditionally following their mother’s footsteps to obtaining an independent career of their own. According to Resident Scholar, Christina Hoff Sommers of the Huffington Post, "there are far more women than men in college, and they earn more than fifty-eight percent of [the] college degrees [in the year of 2013]." However, some women in the workforce do not receive the full compensation as men do, even though both genders have the same level of education. The book Lean In-Women, Work, and The Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg, suggests that there are several reasons why women are behind in the wage gap such as challenges, progressiveness, and character. On the contrary, I will also be researching women's work in my own field of study as a College Professor.
In many cultures throughout the world women are patronized and viewed as the weaker sex. Women are commonly perceived as being unfit for any forms of higher education and because of societal pressure and expectations retreat to a life of raising children and cooking meals for their husbands. Our society’s stereotypical views about women’s suffrage, educational expectations and athletic abilities have all advanced over the years. In many aspects of our society, women are now expected to compete with their male counterparts. Currently, it is not uncommon to hear of a women CEO or Vice President in businesses or even a women politician. Women have now emerged from laundry rooms and kitchens across the country and changed the demographics of the American workforce. However women are yet to take the medical workplace by storm and redefine the preconceived notions society upholds about leaders in medical professions. To illustrate this idea I conducted an ethnographic study of a local dental office that I am employed at. I believe that the medical field has hardly been affected by the advances in women’s rights and is a common ground for the influences of gender stereotypes that have been outdated for many years in American culture.
Women’s equality has made huge advancements in the United States in the past decade. One of the most influential persons to the movement has been a woman named Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ruth faced gender discrimination many times throughout her career and worked hard to ensure that discrimination based on a person’s gender would be eliminated for future generations. Ginsburg not only worked to fight for women’s equality but fought for the rights of men, as well, in order to show that equality was a human right’s issue and not just a problem that women faced. Though she faced hardships and discrimination, Ruth never stopped working and, thanks to her equality, is a much closer reality than it was fifty years ago.
Imagine living in a society where an individual’s future and way of life is solely based on their gender. Does that sound preposterous? The United States is one of many nations to possess a Constitution incorporating rights awarded to every citizen; however, several rights are violated daily. The Fourteenth Amendment holds the most commonly used phrase, “equal protection of the laws,” allowing equal rights for every citizen of the United States. One of the most violated rights, under the Fourteenth Amendment, is gender discrimination. Many factors contribute to inequality between men and women in our everyday lives. Some factors include the early history of internal war conflicts, leadership roles, along with the physical build of men and women.
Plato once said “If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things” (Ferrari & Griffth, 2000). However, in today’s world women are more educated than men, bigger risk takers, and more adaptable to our modern socioeconomic trends. Yet women in the workforce still face daily struggles in acceptance. In this essay we will explore gender in the workforce, the changing nature of that workforce, gender inequalities and what measures are being taken in correcting and modelling a new working environment. We will see that more than often women are faced with the choice of maternal instincts over career options. Moreover we will see that when faced with this choice and electing the career path, women will face obstacles including bias and traditional roles.
Woman through history have struggled to gain the respect and equality they deserve. I am someone who strongly believes in woman empowerment and feminism. Before World War I women's sole job was to cook, clean, and take care of their families, while the men were the breadwinners of the home. They also had to maintain a certain physical appearance and were constantly scrutinized by their beauty. This all changed In the 1940’s when women were inspired and recruited to do their parts to help with World War II by joining together to work in aircraft and ammunition factories. While the males in their family left to fight in the war their job was to fill up the spots that were normally given to men. This opened up doors for women to have more freedom
Throughout history, men have been given power solely because of their gender. In society, men receive benefits, rights, and authority, not based on character or eligibility, but on their physical characteristics and life is inherently easier if one is male. Women have just gained the right to vote within the past decade, while men have always been allowed the privilege of contributing to government and civilization. Also, men had the advantage of being in control of wealth and property for hundreds of years because that is how society always functioned. The foundations of society were built on a patriarchy. Therefore, the value of male characteristics and the importance of men have been passed along and are still present today. While society progresses in understanding equality as years go by, male privilege is still in action
“Women need no protection that men do not need. What we need are laws to protect working people, to guarantee them fair pay, safe working conditions, protection against sickness and layoffs, and provision for dignified, comfortable retirement” (Equal Rights for Women, 1969). Shirley Chisholm, the writer of Equal Rights for Women clearly states how women need what men have and they do not need special privileges (Equal R...
Through the years, women have challenged the traditional female roles and have gradually climbed up the social ladder. They have split up the domestic chores with their husbands and entered the workforce and/or returned to school. They are no longer compelled to become domestic housewives who stay...
We have a right to equal well-paid employment, to equal opportunities. The right to vote is an important weapon. And now the Family Code has been passed, restoring to the most humble of women the dignity that has so often been trampled upon. (Bâ 61)
birth control, and equal pay. Even though there have been massive improvements in the way