Masculinity In Canada Essay

Evidence suggests women are better at their jobs in law enforcement than their male counterparts. Further, women officers are less likely to use excessive force, less likely to be involved in acts of aggression, and are better communicators in the field (7,6). Why is it so difficult to recruit female officers? Only 21% of sworn officers are females in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2015). Research suggests that women face additional stressors in policing then their male colleagues (7). Dominant constructs of masculinity and gender inequality shape the outcome of how female officers are treated in comparison to their male counterparts. This is done through various factors such as gender roles and policing personalities, enforced by the paramilitary

These were men known as “watch men” which modelled various cities in Europe such as France (5). Upper Canada, which is now known as Ontario created their own system reflective of English traditions. It wasn’t until the late 1750’s that both Upper Canada and Quebec both followed the English system (5). Following, in the 1830’s Toronto created it’s first volunteer based High Constables. It wasn’t until years later that five paid constables were hired to police activity in the business district. In 1957, Toronto created the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force. Today, the Toronto Police Serve is one of the largest municipal police services in North America

Martin (1994) defines gender roles as “derived by the ways in which cultural mandates and behavioural norms related to gender shape the interaction of people in specific contexts in different occupations.” When the average person thinks of the police service, many instances might come to mind based on what the individual has been exposed to, mostly as a result of the media. An individual might think of for instance drug busts or putting the “bad guys” away. Some might think of G20 Summit riots, or the case of Adam Nobody. No matter the scenario, there is something similar with many of these things. When we discuss police, there is a specific image that comes to mind: dominant, assertive and typically a male. Policing is thought to be about crime fighting and saving the world. This isn’t typically thought to be a female’s role. As mentioned above, historically, women had a challenging time to hold the same status as their male colleagues. Ever since females joined the force, they have had to put up with problems that can be directly attributed to the fact that they are female (bell 1982, in