Gender and Work
Introduction
In the current world, gender and work is a very crucial aspect that is affecting the entire human society since it is a field that actually deals with the manner in which the human beings are able to survive and interact in an appropriate mode. Gender and work mainly deals with the various aspects that are related to how both the men and the women are able to work together in a common environment without any discrimination. For a very long duration of time, there has been gender inequality especially concerning the women in various fields. Some of the fields that women have faced prejudice because of their gender encompasses of the places in which they work in the manner that the men are more considered and also well paid than them, in the political scene whereby the women are denied the freedom to via for numerous posts in the government of any given nation and in the entire community where the women are generally looked down upon (Acker, 2010). Although the status of the women in the current world has changed, there are still some limitations that are supposed to be altered to fully combat gender inequality at the workplaces.
Although women are physically different from the men according to physical structure, this should not be taken as a scapegoat for them to be mistreated in the society. They should get the same treatment that the men are given in the respect to the places of work and by all the members of the community. The equal right that demand that all the men and the women in the society especially as per the various duties that they perform should be embraced and educated to the members of the society to ensure that all the female sex are able to freely interact with the all the people and actually be noticed as members of the society (Yoder, 1991).
Equality in the both the two sexes, men and women mainly refer to the various ways that the different roles that are played in the community are able to be balanced so as to suit both the women and the men. The equality between the two genders is very vital since there contributions in the various working grounds will not only effectively benefit the nation’s economy but also the political development of the political parties, the culture of the nation and also the aspect of the social interactions. Empowering the women in the society is a great privilege especially to the developing countries which needs a strong workforce to establish various projects that ensures that the nation is also capable of reaching the standards of the most developed countries (Yoder, 1991). When the women in the entire society are empowered and get the same opportunities as the men in the community, the cases of corruption will drastically decrease because they will work in conjunction with the man to ensure that all the work is done appropriately. The equality of the women in the society will also enable the faster growth of the economy thus leading to community that compromises of healthy and educative members who are able to tackle life
The difference in understanding and perception that people have towards the women are the main reason that leads to the various cases of discrimination in the community. For instance, in most working places the views that are offered by the men are considered more special and are always given an upper hand compared to those provided by the women concerning the same topic of discussion. This is because from time immemorial, the society has been considering that women are supposed to stay back in the house when the men have gone to work ensuring that the house is clean and the children are well fed and also washed (Holter, 1971). However, this type of discrimination towards the women in the current world has decreased, the women who are still employed to work in the same job class as the men are undermined and undervalued in the sense that the amount of salary that they are paid is far much less compared to the huge salaries that are paid to their counterparts who are the men.
In the entire world, there are various incident that the woman have been discriminated over the men. This inequality between the genders has affected the manner in which the people communicate and live together in unity as a community (Holter, 1971). The imbalance between the men and the women are caused by various factors that when carefully studied and appropriate strategies and measures are laid against them, the various nation can fully develop since there will be enough working force that will enhance the amount of funds that are raised by the working people. This makes the specific nation to develop in infrastructures and improve the social amenities. This makes it easier for the growing generation since most of the resources required will be available and provided to them so as to be bale to use.
One of the major causes of the gender inequality between the women and the men is the various perceptions that are obtained from the traditions of the various cultures in the world. During the old era, the women were considered as weak human beings basically because of the nature of the body structure and the manner by which they are able to perform their work. For this reason, most of them were subjected to indoor works such as ensuring that the house is kept clean and the family is provided with adequate food that is well prepared. The woman were also supposed to ensure that the children who are also the members of the family are bathed on time and dressed in clean clothes (Goldscheider, 2009). While the men on the other hand, were supposed to work so as to enable the family require the basic needs of life such as the food to eat each day, a comfortable place to sleep and the clothing to put on. The men were also supposed to offer adequate protection to the family members and ensure that the family does not receive threats and attacks from other families of the societies.
Another aspect that has promoted gender inequality even in the current world is the fact that most of the men are more muscular than the women. This is a privilege to most of the men who are more muscular thus containing more power than the women and being able to perform numerous of the works. This also is a privilege to the men since they are able to work for long durations of time because of the energy that is stored in the muscles compared to the women who are only capable of working for short periods of time before they are worn out (Faver, 1989). Such a factor directly rules out the women and gives more credit to the men thus promoting cases of gender discriminations in the society.
Through the sensitization of the people internationally and educating of the members of the society by various organizations such as the united nations, discrimination of the women in the working place accordance to the duties they perform has been thoroughly reduced thus achieving gender equality. In the modern working places, the women have also been given posts that allow them to give out views that the management cans adherer and make appropriate changes in the company so as to enable the company run smoothly (Yoder, 1991).
In some of the non governmental organizations, women are also given a managerial position that gives them the mandate to give orders to the men on how various aspects should be undertaken for the better of the company. The women are also able to make necessary changes in the working places depending on the performance that an individual is able to deliver. Basing on such facts, it is true to state that extreme discrimination of the women especially basing on the performance of their duties at the working places has been reduced globally so as to increase the development of the people all internationally and enable the both the girl child and the women in the society to receive same privileges that were in the traditional aspect were only meant to be enjoyed by the men (Deutsch, 2007). However, the process of combating gender inequality has not been successfully achieved because of various factors that still make the women to be viewed as a weak gender that’s main duty is to remain back at home and make it a better place for the survival of the other family members who are the children and the husband.
This causes a lot of incompetence in the in the organization since the management will be shuffled so as to get another personal who will be able to replace the position of the lady who has taken the maternity leave. This aspect of maternity leave has been also addressed thus the women who are working but find themselves in such as situation are still offered allowances that still enables them to achieve the same salary as that of the men in the same position. The women in the maternity leave are also encourage to participate in part-time jobs that allows them to maintain the skill that is very vital in their daily duties in their place of work (Webber & Williams, 2010).
The difference in the gender inequality lead in social change especially in the working places whereby specific categories of the diverse jobs have been purposely created to suit both the two genders, both the men and the women. This is observed in various organizations where some roles are preserved only for the women while other is specifically performed by the men. For instance, in many organizations, most of the secretarial positions are offered to the women be cause they contain the quality such as patience and humbleness thus able to tolerate all kinds of the people visiting and making online inquiries about the organization. This is totally contrary to the kind of jobs that the men are offered which requires strong commanding force (Acker, 2010). Social change has also enabled the women to acquire adequate knowledge just like the men thus being able to be employed and offered the white collar jobs. The women can then are also able to upgrade and be promoted in the blue collar jobs. This is contrary to what happens in the traditional times where the women were not given the time to get into institutions and acquire knowledge like that of the men.
There are various possible strategies that might be put into action to reduce the incidence in the social changes in the working places so as to be able to achieve gender equality. One of the key strategies that are commonly used internationally is the sucking of the individuals who take part in the discrimination of the other workmates whether male or female. This method is mostly used in severe cases of discrimination in the workplace because of the gender. Another possible strategy that is used to solve the cases of the gender inequality is by suspending the people involved in the action of looking down upon others. However, the method of suspension is proffered more than that of sucking individuals from the working place since the actions decreases the economy of the nations instead of building and developing the economical status (Faver, 1989).
Social change has made some impacts in the life of the human beings in the sense that it has generally increased the amounts of the work that the women are today able to undertake. This is because of the works that were previously performed by the men are today also done by the women. Social change has also changed the nature of the hierarchical order of the various places of works (England, 2010). This is majorly by replacing the positions that were previously occupied by the men and performing the same duties even more promptly than the women. This is also depicted by the increased number of the women who also are awarded by the academic certificated such as the law degrees and MBAs.
Conclusion
Gender inequality is a crucial aspect that affects the manner in which the human beings interact socially since all human beings naturally depend on each other for existence. Although women are physically different from the men according to physical structure, this should not be taken as a scapegoat for them to be mistreated in the society. They should get the same treatment that the men are given in the respect to the places of work and by all the members of the community. The women in the society have been for along duration of time been looked down upon by the men and the other members of the society because of the misconception and the nature of the physical appearance of the women (Glass, 2010). In the future, more emphasis should be focused on the human rights laws that tend to reduce the instances of gender inequality at the working places.
References
Acker, J. (2010). Gender, Capitalism and Globalization, California: sage publishers
Deutsch, F. (2007). Undoing Gender, Gender & Society, New York: sage publishers
Faver, C. (1989). GENDER ROLES AND SOCIAL CHANGE: Reviewing the Sociology, California: sage publishers
Goldscheider, F. (2009). Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, Book Review: Families in Transition: Social Change, Family Formation, and Kin Relationships, United Kingdom: sage publishers
Glass, J. (2010). Blessing or Curse? : Work-Family Policies and Mother’s Wage Growth Over Time, Work and Occupations, New York: sage publishers
Holter, H. (1971). Sex Roles and Social Change, Acta Sociologica, sage publishers
Webber, G. & Williams, C. (2010). Mothers in ”Good” and ”Bad” Part-time Jobs: Different Problems, Same Results, and Texas: sage publishers
Yoder, J. (1991). RETHINKING TOKENISM: Looking Beyond Numbers, London: sage publishers
Acker, J. (1990). HIERARCHIES, JOBS, BODIES: A Theory of Gendered Organizations, United Kingdom: sage publishers
England, P. (2010). The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled, sage publishers
Gender and Work: The Time Bind (Organizational contexts: A case study)
http://books.google.com/books?id=eZ2LpWz5qpQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=hochschild+time+bind&hl=en&src=bmrr&ei=jpr7TNSvLI2osAPXztT3DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ6wEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Gender and globalization: Context and issues
(Readings: p.1-28, in Globalization and Feminist Activism)
