Stand Up and Fight

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Recommended: Gender bias and its effect

"Many individuals believe that men and women are fundamentally different by virtue of their different reproductive functions, and that a women's reproductive role has ramifications beyond bearing of a child. These individuals claim that there are immutable differences between the sexes which are manifested in their emotional, physical, and intellectual traits." (19, Samuels) This is a sad but unfortunate truth about the attitudes of the American work force. Every day, women face inequality and discrimination in their jobs. Men overwhelmingly dominate both blue-collar and white-collar jobs in the United States. As more women have begun assimilating into mainstream jobs, men have become emasculated and threatened; thus creating excuses and mantras to justify their overwhelming discrimination. Suzanne Samuels from the University of Wisconsin Press addresses just one of the many justifications (as seen in the above quote). Even though it is common for companies to practice discriminatory policies, discrimination against anyone in the workplace should not be accepted nor tolerated.

One woman that faced occupation discrimination was Jana Mercer. Mercer worked her way through Crown Industries for twenty years as both a clerical worker and an accountant. She genuinely appreciated her job because of the high unemployment in the region where she lived. When a promotion came up for a higher-level job that she was qualified for, Mercer as well as her fellow employees presumed that she would get it because of the hard work and dedication she had devoted to the company. Instead of Mercer getting the promotion, a younger male co-worker, Tommy Thompson, was promoted to the position (which was also curiously boosted in pay scale five grades)...

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...t leave the company that she has put the past twenty years into, but what good would come of that? She would have given up on a very important ethical battle. She would be without a job in an economically unsound area. Mercer’s best choice is to stay and fight for the promotion that is rightfully hers. Not only will this fight benefit her, but also it will benefit all the women in her office, city, state, and nation.

Works Cited
Tammy Bass. Personal interview. 20 Mar. 2010.

"Gender discrimination: Not me.” Psychology Today 1 Jul 1994: ABI/INFORM

Global, ProQuest. Web. 20 Mar. 2010.

"Closing the Gap Amidst Ongoing Discrimination; Women and Economic

Disparities :[1]. " Multinational Monitor 24.5 (2003): 25. ABI/INFORM Global, ProQuest. Web. 20 Mar. 2010.

Samuels, Suzanne. Fetal Rights, Women's Rights. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press,

1995.

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