Gender inequality has been the main focus for many centuries where discrimination and oppression became a major part of women’s inequalities. Discrimination is a negative attachment an injurious labelling or suggestion related to a certain person, group or object. When discrimination occurs one of the final effects would be oppression, the humiliation and inhuman treatment of people or groups. When one group or individual dominates over the other (Thompson, 2003).
The Equality Act 2010 was introduced by the parliament to reduce inequalities among people from all backgrounds, genders, religion and so on. Under this act it is prohibited to discriminate or harass and victimise other individuals or groups Ref. The purpose of this essay remains to identify the past and present gender inequalities within employment and further to identify whether or not in this contemporary society gender inequalities still exist. Through the use of relevant theories I will establish what other factors could be contributing towards women’s discrimination and oppression. Why women are more likely to be discriminated and oppressed and how are social, cultural, biological explanations explained in terms of gender inequalities through this awareness I would like to challenge and address gender inequalities in employment.
1 History
Around the time of First World War in 1914 restrictions were applied by men and benevolent contributors for the removal of female employment in industry. In 1841 men progressively eliminated female labour from the factory because they saw women as a form of threat to their employment (Holborn, 2008). Summerfield 1988 states women around the war time were directed into subordinate level ‘manual and non-manual’ work while men p...
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... and Perspective 7th edn London: Harper Collins Published Limited
King, M. (2013) Guardian Avaliable at: [ Accessed 24 February 2014]
Mclvor, A. (2001) A History of Work in Britain 1880-1950. New York: Palgrave Publishers Ltd.
Mullaly, B. (2010) Challenging Oppression and Confronting Privilege 2nd edn Canada: Oxford University Press.
Marion, Y (2008) "Structural injustice and the politics of difference", Craig, Gary; Buchardt,Tania & Gordon, David, Social Justice and Public Policy: Seeking fariness in diverse societies, 77-104,
Plicher, J. and Whelehan, I. (2004) 50 key Concepts in Gender studies. London: Sage Publications Ltd
Schwartz, H (2004) Adam and Eve. Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Thompson, N. (2003) Promoting Equality Challenging Discrimination and Oppression. 2nd edn New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Female employment was concentrated in a very small number of low paid areas. The memoirs provided by Emma Griffith in her book are mainly from male perspective. Therefore, the information provided by them can be misleading and in my opinion, often a lot is missed out of what men did not consider as relevant but in fact is the information which really needs be shared. Above that, the stereotype existed during this time. Men were considered as the breadwinner and women were supposed to do the household work and take care of children. But in fact, Industrial Revolution in part was fuelled by the economic necessity of many women, single and married, to find waged work outside their
Falconer, D. (2013, November 5). 'Theme 5: Work’ Lecture conducted in 'Introduction to Social Justice, 38-101' from the University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario.
Wilkinson, R. and Pickett, K. (2010). The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone. London: Penguin.
Women have had to fight for equal rights throughout history, but still endure many hardships due to sexism. Marilyn Frye made it a point of her career to highlight these struggles, and did so by identifying three main ways women are disadvantaged. Frye’s analysis begins by elaborating on oppression itself, then she uses this definition to detail the mechanisms in society that are oppressive, and ends with a closer look on women’s limited choices. Even though Frye first published her papers back in 1983 it is still worthwhile to explain and critique the ideas presented, and to analyze their accuracy in 2017.
furthermore, i believe women should not be oppressed in the working environment as they are only trying to seek the same opportunities as men,everybody should be treated equally and fairly. I have realised even in our society women are still looked down on and their appearance is always seen us more important than their knowledge in order for them to get on with their work. Even in our developed generation despite how much the Suffragettes fought for the equality of women in some the cabinet jobs women are still paid less compared to men. I believe the main gender inequality directly comes from the media as we are bombarded to believe women are fragile and
Tomlinson, J (1998) 'Why so austere? The British Welfare State of the 1940s', Journal Social Policy, 27(1), pp. 63-77.
1. Finn, Lisa. "Female Discrimination in the Workplace." Editorial. Global Post-America's World News Site. N.p., 2005. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. .
In all societies around the world, women are treated as if they are a minority group, just like any racial or ethnic group that is out of the norm. The justification for considering women as a minority group and the existence of sexism becomes clear through the examination of social indicators, including education, employment, and income.
"Gender Studies and Social Analysis." Discipline of Gender, Work & Social Inquiry. N.p., 15 May 2001. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
Each of us has heard about discrimination based on gender and discrimination against women. Why do we emphasize women's rights in the context of human rights? Because for millennia human rights were understood as the rights of men, and women were considered second-class beings. Social discrimination of women (from the Latin word - discriminatio - difference) means the restriction or denial of rights on the basis of sex in all spheres of society: labor, socio-economic, political, family-household. Social discrimination leads to a decrease in the social status of women and is a form of violence against her personality, and sometimes a threat to her safety.
Wilkinson, R. G., & Pickett, K. (2010). The spirit level: why greater equality makes societies stronger. New York: Bloomsbury Press.
Since the beginning of time, women have had to protest and fight for equal rights. In society, women have been put on the back burner. Due to the different standards, men and women have had to uphold. These standards are seen in homes, workplaces, schools and all throughout society. By definition, gender bias is an unequal treatment of employment opportunity , and expectations due to attitudes based on the sex of the employee. The idea of discrimination is the unjustification or prejudicial treatment on different categories of people; especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. In regards to undermine women: according to the article, “Gender Bias or Motherhood Disadvantage? Judgments of Blue Collar Mothers and Fathers in the Workplace”
Baker, J., Lynch, K., Cantillon, S., & Walsh, J. (2004). Dimensions of Equality: A Framework for Theory and Action. In Equality: From Theory to Action (pp. 21–47). Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan.
Gender discrimination is treating individuals in a different way in their employment because of their sex. Person who have been experiencing this kind of discrimination may have been rejected for employment. Employer who provides different working conditions such as salaries, positions or bonus to women and men are ...