Gender Inequality Essay

It is non up for debate whether wo custody ar discriminated against in the turnplace it is sp atomic number 18 in census data in 1998 wo manpower invite 73 cents to the dollar salaried to custody. neverthe little today, in that location is allay a point up flutter that exists between wo custody and manpower. It is said that the organizations that atomic round 18 pro- allude deport, including virtually unions, support the creative thinker that the establishment should restrain takings for all production lines. To the contrary, the organizations that atomic number 18 proponents of gibe apply be non for hypothesise wages existence set by the g everywherenment-they wish to take aim got the diversity taken bug pop out of pay scales from indoors the keep company. Commonly, this pay gap is attri scarcelyed to the invest that women in the United States atomic number 18 politic evaluate to attend to familial obligations oer have.selective informat ion shows that women do attend to family obligations, like having a child, caring for a sick family member, or caring for an elder entirely they confusablely do non allow for up on action. Yes, women often chose lower give ruminates in exchange for malle suit able hours and do spend a lower number of hours per week long- stipulation at their jobs than their potent counterparts. Because women be socialized to be the old c are givers they are kept at these lower give jobs that are to a greater extent than than flexible, the jobs take on them to care for their family so far shut away retain an income (possibly a second income for the syndicate). Womens ever-changing roles in society has extended in this employment problem.Women are allowed and often fanny up to dally only if they are non rewarded or compensated at the aforementioned(prenominal) level, for their efforts, that men in the work rips are. The pay gap would be contract if companies were more than conducive to family schedules. Men and women would peck equal pay for the identical job. Companies would value by retaining spirit employees. Men and women fatality to start out making the equal nitty-gritty of gold for the resembling job, companies take up to offer women ample maternity leave, families pauperization to be offered childcare (or childcare compensation), at that place needs to be a flexible work surroundings, and men should never be discouraged from taking paternity leave.It seems that women workers have reached a plateau in society. In tell for women to be think ofed as men are) in the study there needs to be a redistri providedion of interior(prenominal) and family work. Its acceptable now for women to work but this acceptance into the manpower has non drastically changed what they, women, are judge to carry through at lieu. There is no g everywherenment agency for women to move forward to equating in pay if they are non recognize as c ontributors to their job (i.e. women are facilitate expected to set outside of work in the family setting as thoroughly in a way that men are only expected to perform at work and not at family).As soon as more domestic and family work is allocated to men than women departing be able to attain equal pay. Women, with less(prenominal) work at home, leave behind be able to commit to exuberant time jobs, have to leave the workforce less, take less leave, and be able to climb the bodily ladder and as men are today.Since 1942, intimate practice inequality, at least in pay, sens be traced. In 1942 the National state of war ram Board issued a oecumenic order that authorized employers to make spontaneous ad dearments in salaries or pay in order to demonstrate gender equality (at least in jobs were women and men worked the need analogous job and had comparable quality and quantity of work) (CNN). Rates of women in tote unions has been increasing since they have entered the workforce. nonetheless with the append of women union numbers this inequality of pay still exists. Women are back up by unions and other organizations to sue their employer if they are macrocosm treated unfairly in the workplace. Women are un believably to pursue this option against their employers because of check resources, i.e. money and time.Gender secernment in the workplace is not only evident in the pay gap but also in sexual anguish and the glass crown in organizations. The term glass pileus began as a reference to discrepancy against women in the work force. Glass ceiling encompasses many contrary kinds of discrimination against women workers including but not limited to differences in pay for comparable work, sexual bedevilment in the workplace, and companies that do not have family-friendly policies. The glass ceiling is an offhanded rule in many businesses.The ceiling is an unperceivable rampart that usually affects minorities and women. This barrier is completely debilitating for women in their job because it makes them feel inferior and that their bosses do not take them seriously because of their sex. Women feel that their bosses arent taking them seriously because the bosses do not view them as potential candidates for the well-nigh prestigious arrangements in the establishment. The glass ceiling is another oppressive means utilise by corporate America to prevail women out of powerful positions and keep them from raking in a lot of money in terms of their gross income. A vignette done by the U.S Department of savvy in 1991 come offed nine Fortune five hundred companies and the results confirmed that workers in these companies, minorities and women especially, came into contact with the invisible barrier, the glass ceiling, very aboriginal on in their careers.The U.S. Supreme judiciary has designated two different types of sexual harassment in workplaces image 1 and Type 2. Type 1 is harassment that now results in an employment outcome (ex. the harrier would say that if you dont do X you lead lose your job). informal harassment of Type 2 is not nearly as direct but creates a hostile work surroundings for the harassed worker. This hostile in environment can be created by cruel gestures, sabotaged work, inappropriate name trade, vulgar jokes, unessential touching, comment on the appearance of others (physical attributes), etc.Women are now surpassing men in the amount of education, in long time and higher(prenominal) degrees, they have. If the workforce does not allow them to pursue executive career options thus they will find themselves unable to take up these positions. Women in 1996 earned 1,255,057 college degrees as compared to men who earned 992,638 degrees (Career Planning). The ever increasing amount of women furthering their education makes them more liable(predicate) to exigency to enter the job market. Also, the lasting a fair sex is in school the longer she will be in th e workforce, when she enters it, because it is likely that she will delay childbearing. in time though fe virile graduates may be til now more sufficient for a position than her male counterpart the woman will be much more likely to be recommended for a job as an assistant or secretary job than the man. She will be told that this assistant or secretarial job is her way to earn her human foot in the door at the company. The employers will act like this is a typical entry-level position when in fact a man in the same situation will immediately nonplus at a much higher level in the company. Women are over represented in the lower paying jobs in the company- almost all assistants and secretarial positions are get togethered by women speckle men crowd the tiptop and fill the most prestigious positions in the company. This submerging of men at the top and women at the bottom is called occupational segregation.I began the Intro to Critical Feminist Studies argument with a very garner idea of what feminism is yet I was hesitant to call myself a libber. A libber, to me, is psyche who advocates for womens rights and their equality as compared to men. Women and men are equal yet some(prenominal) are very different. A womens rightist is someone who capitalizes on and embraces the differences between men and women. Anyone can be a feminist but feminism, to me, means only advocating for womens issues like gender discrimination in the workplace. Through the semester my definition of feminism has not changed drastically yet I am much more willing to confrere myself with this movement/name. My hesitation in calling myself a feminist was based on worries about the social implications of the word feminist.I dont seek people merely because they attach this denounce to themselves or associate with other feminists so there must have been some deeper concern about the social implications of organism one, a feminist. I dont think that individuals necessarily asso ciate being a feminist with negative things but that socially, in group situations and in the big context of society and politics, being labelled as a feminist will limit your options. Specifically, I am concerned with the implications of being a feminist in the workplace. The workplace, to me, is the center of the politically correct and somehow labeling yourself a feminist makes you politically wrong and socially awkward. Labeling yourself a feminist, ironically, attributes a male characteristic to you, i.e. agency. Because feminists are labeled with this confidence and that they have such a clear idea of what blemishs against women are they are outcasts.This topic, gender discrimination in the workplace, is related to a topic in my previous papers, women and healthcare. The job market is probably the most influential factor in an individuals ability to obtain health insurance. This job-place discrimination against women indirectly affects the quality of healthcare getable to most American women. Its substantial to me to have equality in the workplace because I am a women and I dont deserve to make less money than a male-counterpart just because of my sex. fifty-fifty if it is the case that women are in and out of the weary force (more than men) because of familial obligations there is no cause for this discrimination in the workplace. Women are in and out of the labor market caring for men, mens children, and mens relatives yet women get paid less than men for the same job. There is even more cause for the wage gap to be closed because womens roles are changing many women are both(prenominal) mothers and workers. In the past, maybe it was OK (not just but socially acceptable) for women to make less money than men because men were the providers and the womans income was play money. This is no longer the case. Women are now equal providers for their family, possibly the bigger earner, and frequently the sole provider for their household (single mo ms etc.).A womanish that just graduated from college with a major in market calls an agency to schedule an query. She gets to the interview on time, well dressed, and ready to be chartered. The interview proceeds and the interviewer is impressed with her resume but is very interested in her typewrite speed. The interviewer takes the fresh grad to another room, a computer lab, where she is sat down and ready to take a typing test-to instruct her words per minute. While typing, she sees an acquaintance of hers from school and he is applying to work for the agency as well. Her male acquaintance is interviewed by the same person yet he is immediately suggested for a position in the company without taking a typing test. The interviewer suggested the tapeline test for the female grad because having close typing skills would help her get her foot in the door, i.e. she could start out as an assistant or secretary. even off though both prospective employees, the woman and the man, had equitable educations the woman was not encouraged/allowed by the interviewer to enter the ranks of the business as anyone but a secretary (Career Planning). nearly examples of gender discrimination in the workplace are women not being hired for a position (which they are qualified for) because the companys long-time clients feel more comfortable dealing with men, during company cutbacks men with the same job with less longevity keep their job over a woman who has been working for the company for a long time, and women not being able to attain a promotion even though they qualify for it (the womanhas model(a) reviews and has earned many awards in her position (like employee of the year, etc.) the promotion is given to a less qualified male).After the National state of war Labor Board issued general order sixteen the fight for equal pay continues. chairwoman John F. Kennedy signed the correspond Pay consummation in 1963. This propel signed by JFK applied to 27.5 gazillion workers (both men and women) and required employees doing work requiring equal skill, effort and responsibility- and work performed under similar working conditions-be paid equal wages (CNN). In subsequent years, following both the general order sixteen and the equalise Pay Act, numerous bills and acts have been passed to procure women and men equal pay for the same job yet the pay gap still exists today.A more recent statistic on the pay difference, from 2000, found that women still make .80 cents to the dollar thats paid to their male counterparts (GAO). A few women have been compensated for their lost wages. The Department of Labors Office of Federal guarantee Compliance Programs, OFCCP, began reviewing corporate heed systems in 1993. The OFCCP began the review process after President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical recant Act. This Act protects workers jobs guaranteeing them at least twelve months of unpaid leave due to the cause of a child or extreme family cir cumstances (someone is very ill, etc.). These reviews of corporate management systems has been instrumental in paying back wages to women. One of the OFCCPs reviews include an evaluation of Fairfax Hospital in Virginia. The hospital, as a result of its preliminary review by the OFCCP, agreed to pay over $425,000 in back wages to 52 female workers these workers were employed in the top six grades of the hospitals force-out structure (CNN).Also, after the hospitals review they gave 44 out of the 52 women pay raises, which gave these individuals more than $178,000 ( particular(a)) in total. These raises story for more than $4,000 a year extra income for each woman. Out of all the corporate reviews by OFCCP, the largest diminishment was with CoreStates Financial introduction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a result of their review CoreStates paid more than 1.5 meg dollars to women and minorities to compensate them for (past) pay discrimination. In accession to paying the 1.5 mi llion dollars to workers CoreStates paid more than 334,000, in salary adjustments to 76 women and 66 members of minorities (CNN). The monetary compensation does not call the root of why women are paid less than men. If companies are willing to settle with the OFCCP and pay lost wages to female workers then they obviously recognize the injustice they are committing in the pay scales. Even with the passage of numerous acts that require employers to give equal pay the gap still continues between women and mens salaries.From the 1960s when JFK signed the Equal Pay Act the number of women workers was at an all-time high. From the origin of the 60s to the mid 70s more than half the amplify in the amount of workers in the labor force was made up of women. or so of these women were married and delayed having children so they could snag in the labor force longer. Even though womens primary obligations are to their families they still do remain in the workforce after having children. Fam ilies cant make it without the second income provided by the female. Women are in and out of the labor force but only to recover from vaginal birth the number of working moms in 2006 was over 2.6 million. More than 72 percent of mothers in the Unites States, with children under the age of 18, are any employed part or full-time.Women are in hostile environments at home and at work. Women are paid less than men for the same job, are sexually harassed at work, and are control into low paying demeaning work. Even though women are expected to be equal providers for their family they are also expected to be the primary caretaker of their family. It is impossible for women to leap out in both arenas if they are not granted equality. This equality would include either redistribution of domestic and family work (while women continue to work in the office) or equal respect for womens work (women staying at home while men work in the office).