Sexism at Work Place - Essay Example

Inserts His/her Inserts Inserts Grade (21, 06, Sexism at Work Place Introduction It was not long ago that women were treated like cattle all over the world. They were not allowed to hold public offices and were not considered worthy of even voting. Their rights were suppressed and it was not considered wrong. Women were also not allowed to work with men. Household work and rearing children were the only jobs of females. This was all changed by the industrial revolution of in the early 20th century. Because of need for labor women had to abandon their conventional walk of life and they had to work in factories and industries to make goods. This played a great role in the emancipation of women. After that as a result of series of struggle through feminist movements in 1950s and 60s women were finally liberated. Today women are in a much better condition. But still this emancipation has not fully come and in many walks of life women still today face discrimination. Work places are especially prone to sexism against female and not much attention is given to this issue. This will be the topic of discussion in this essay and we will attempt to highlight issues women face in the work place. Discrimination against Women at Work Place Women today face many issues at the work place. They are not treated equally to men and pay structure is also not the same. The problem is that women are not considered to be treated equally to men. They are mostly given secretary and low level jobs, and chances to promotions are very rare. Young women are usually expected to deliver coffee and do petty jobs regardless of their job status, and they are similar to ‘dolls’ for their bosses (Bennett, Ellison, & Ball. 2010). This causes them a lot of problem. Women who suffer from prejudice at work place do not speak much about it out of embarrassment. Also most of them need the jobs so it is not possible for them to risk their jobs. They are left with no choice but to accept this attitude at the work place. If they will not comply by the ‘norms’ then their jobs will be at risk. This is why sexism prevails in the society and at work places. The pay ratio of women is also an example of how blatant sexism has taken over the work places of today. The women receive significantly less pay than for the same services they give in offices. Females MBA holders earn $4600 less than male MBAs annually (Bennett, Ellison, & Ball. 2010). The reason for this divide in income is only negative attitude towards women. Lower pay scale of women usually discourages them from working. Women who are need of money still work at these lower rates without raising their voices. Lower pay scale for women makes no sense simply because women can work as much as men. Their productivity is similar to men. Nowadays jobs are not like older times when people had to do physical work. Women in offices have nothing to do directly with their physical strength. Rather it is the power of the mind that is important today and women are equally able as men to do their job. So this difference in pay has no rational justification. Wal-Mart is one example of an employer that is blatant in its discrimination against women. It is a practice for the company not to hire women and deny them promotions (Al Norman, 2010). The fact that, a company as big as Wal-Mart can also discriminate against women, is not understandable. But this is happening in this modern world and there is no hope of any improvement. It is because of these big companies that issue of sexism at work place is not discussed in media very often. It is important to understand the reason behind this mentality. It is the old thinking that because women are not as strong physically as men they cannot be treated equally to men. Women were first subjugated by clerics and then by statesmen. And this tradition is continuing now because the attitude of the society in general has not changed regarding women. They are still considered weak and inferior beings that are not worthy of equal rights. Also women are thought off as mothers. They are expected to remain at home and look after children because this was their roles for centuries. Women are therefore not accepted in this role easily. The role reversal that took place because of the industrial revolution was also not accepted by the society but because it was the need of the hour nothing could be done. But later on these tactics developed as a way to reduce the female participation in the work force. Now a day these tactics cannot work because women are working in all walks of life but this is difficult to digest by a wide range of people in the society. This is why sexism is prevalent in our society and nothing is done about it. It is neither rational nor justifiable to treat women in the manner in which they are being treated. The idea that a particular gender is superior to the other holds no value simply because social rules made by society have not sprung from nature. Rather they are made by human beings and these social standards can be questioned. It cannot be said now that nature has decided the place for women and that is in their homes. It is the people living in the society that decide and set standards. It is not natural or inherent. Women bring a life in this world but this does not make them weaker than men. Women have shown that they can work and take care of their homes and children at the same time so what’s the problem? The society will have to change their attitude about women. Even if everyone is not practicing sexism then being complacent to it is not a lesser crime. It is vital that voices are raised on the issue and only then women can be truly emancipated. In reality women were never free. They were made sure that they are free but still society holds bias against women. We have made certain roles in our minds that are fit to a specific gender. It is difficult for us to adjust our attitudes towards these roles. Why can’t men be secretaries? Why can’t women be managers of stores? These questions are to be answered by the society and it is time that we understand that both men and women are same creatures and they deserve equal treatment and rights. No women should face discrimination at the work place because of her gender and should be treated and paid equally to her male counterpart. Conclusion Sexism towards women at work place is not new. It has been going on since women started working in companies with men. The frequency of sexism may have decreased but this is not enough. Still women face blatant sexism at work place. There pays are not same to men and they are not given equal job opportunities. They are not even promoted to higher ranks in an organization. All this has to stop because there is no logical justification for sexism. Men and women are the same and they should be treated equally in all walks of life including work place. Works Cited Page Al Norman. Wal-Mart Exposed for "Outdated and Sexist" Hiring Practices. Huffington Post, 2010. Accessed from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-norman/wal-mart-exposed-for-outd_b_483334.html Bennett, J, Ellison, J, & Ball, S. Are We There Yet? Newsweek, 2010. Accessed from http://www.newsweek.com/2010/03/18/are-we-there-yet.html Read More