Gendered experience of work: race and ethnicity - Essay Example

? Gendered Experience of work: Race and Ethni Executive Summary Studies around gender relations in work are matters that one cannot sufficiently analyze without having to refer to feminist theories. This is because many of the factors that sum up to make up issues relation to gender specific work issues have tended to affect many females than they have affected males. In fact, gendered experience of work is largely understood to refer to feminist issues. Even so, there are occasionally scattered cases in which feminist theories may not apply as the foundation upon which all arguments emanate (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 154). One may also observe that even in cases where feminist theories are likely to apply; the most dominant application normally considers working with poststructuralist feminism. Under this category of analysis, one may also observe that what is normally emphasized under post-structuralism are language, textual analysis as well as some discourses that appear to portray men and women as different. While some scholars have argued that taking all the subjective and symbolic subjection of what people perceive to constitute various dimensions of gender, others have contended that there is every importance to that. The people who contend that there is a need to analyse all such dimensions highlight that it is through such discourse that it will be possible to conduct comparative analyses and come up with a more informed conclusion (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 149). Probably one can infer that such arguments are influence by the observations that material and structural implications of gender all play a part to gender relations. Some scholars have in fact made observation that appear to support the position that material power is usually exercised as a product of gendered factor and that power relations are usually exercise along gender lines. It therefore appears that when one engages in an analysis of gender under feminist framework, directly or indirectly to guide analyses, studying of various intersections such as race, gender, and class in organizations would require an extensive approach. Such an approach should not be restricted to any feminist theory alone, but to as many gender, race, and class theories as possible. Taking this direction would ensure that all aspects, emerging and old, are all considered. Doing so is expected to assist in coming up with right conclusions. It is also pertinent to point out that class and ethnicity in gendered experience of work is highly likely to vary from society to society. One should expect that different cultures have different belief about gender roles. It is from such cultural beliefs that various outcomes of gender perception emerge. How people relate in the society as a whole with respect to gender differences is dependent on the traditional values. The only thing that one should not miss noting is that even in societies where people are very sensitive to gender roles, emerging issue such as human rights considerations have re-defined the concept of gender. Many females are increasingly venturing into areas that have been previously considered male territory (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 44). After grounds were made with regard to issues to do with gender, many perceptions about gender have now changed and a new phenomenon has emerged to complicate gender issues. Many modern societies do have a problem with aspects of gender such as class and ethnicity. That is to say that within the mainstream gender, there are emerging factors that set aside the commonness in the group to affect work relations. Factors such as ethnicity and class have been noted to be some of the emerging trends in gendered experience of work (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 81). Gendered Experience of work: Race and Ethnicity In order to understand emerging trends in gender relations such as ethnicity and class, one may observe that there have been certain factors that have contributed to the whole matter. Scholars such as Calas and Smircich have argued that the fact that different literature have affected the understanding of gender issue in a profound way. They observe that early literature tended to portray women in the exact manner that the society perceived women to be. For instance, they analyze Latin and Asian cultures and note that both societies tended to portray women as usually docile and agile when it comes to manual work. This was concept that was implied to mean that women folk was a breed that was only suitable for industrial work. Whether this was an intentional psychological game or not is not quiet direct. Even so, one may imply that in the interest of achieving the desired labour force, one may observe that this was a possible propaganda to make sure that women are contended with such lowly jobs. In fact, such literature had also portrayed women as being poor managers, something that went along way to shape gender beliefs for a long time. It is not clear whether those wrong assertions were, being propagate from the fact that the society had not started being keen with education for women folk in general. It appears that the education systems must have failed in nurturing the right skills for the jobs women were being portrayed in negatively (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 113). As observed by other scholars, such assertions were coming at a time when the exact opposite was what was happening in the west. One may note that during that time there were white women who had successfully taken various positions of responsibility in which they were doing quite well. White women were perceived to be bright and success driven, or later on black women managers that have been perceived to be strong and care taking. Probably the most important thing that such misconception succeeded in highlighting is the fact that issue of ethnicity in gendered experience of work had stared forming. The Asian and Latinas case was just an example of what dimensions trends were to take later. Before moving on, it is vital to note the contribution of such post-structural feminist frameworks. In general, the most notable thing is that the above framework gives a clue and bits of information required in analyzing intersection of race and class in gendered experience of work. One may note that gendered factors in various organizations are affected by understanding if their subjectivity to the whole organization. It emerges that ethnicity and class in gender related issues are exhibited in multiple ways. The fact that the trend are normally motivated by different factors make them quite unreliable in totality, which calls for analysis of varied situations independently. Understanding of ethnic and class as part of gendered experiences of work will take into consideration the need for assessing the trends in various organizational practices and compare within the female category how class and ethnicity factors come in eventually. This is very vital especially where there shall be a need to propose alternative ways of thinking to offer a guide on how to deconstruct such perceptions and consequently reduce such trends (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 76). Class Factor in Gendered Experience of Work Many researchers have observed that class is a gender factor that presents many possible ambiguities in its analysis. Such scholars have observed that although class in many western countries is not a caste system is it is in countries such as India, it is a strong social status that plays a significant role in job categorization. It is pertinent to note that one acquires his/her social class by birth in the upper class or in many cases by rising up the economic profile to the acquire such a status. Although people may rise across class line, it is normally not so easy to rise. This sort of makes it class analysis quite complicated in the sense that most analyses are a representation of what has been the order of the day or quite a while. Besides, there is usually no fixed line where class categories begin or end. One may notice that classes are usually created by our perception of various social statuses. As such, there are the working class, capitalist class, political class amongst others. The way people relate to personalities defined by such variable is actually, what brings in issues to do with gendered experience of work (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 51). It is vital to analyze the extent to which gender is affected within various classes at work. Studies have shown that many people are found in the working class. There is also the capitalist class that is in control of all the huge investments .Between the capitalist and the working class is a category that the middle class. Given that all classes are quiet diverse, the working relations in various organizations and in the economy as a whole is affected by class factor. It has been observed that various classes tend to have varying degrees of power, lifestyle, and income. Probably this is due to the fact that there exists diverse occupation, skill, authority, race, gender, ethnicity amongst others. It therefore follows that gendered experience of work with regard to class. Even so, class as a factor has been noted to have little influence on work relations provided one has chosen to venture into specific line of profession. In both males and females, the belied that the rich, the poor and the broad middle class in between the extreme classes (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 44). Other aspects of class-gendered experience of work have been found to reveal that there is a systematic strengthening of the dominant groups at the disadvantage of other lesser groups in the hierarchy. One may notice that class gendered experience of work is somewhat inclusive and tends to affect both males and females alike. It is a factor in gendered experience of work that disregards the post-structural feminist theories. A keen observation would reveal that the issue to do with classes is a perpetuation of trying to make sure that those who have keep having while those who do not have remain fairly low as they previously were. In short, class struggle comes in as an attempt defy the status quo between the “Haves’ and the “Have Nots.” Both males and females are usually affected at the same time though possibly in different magnitudes (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 218). In other contexts such as the caste system, the concept of class is very rigid since it runs through bloodlines. If at all one was never born among the nobilities, then the status persisted. India has had this problem up to now and it is understood that it has affected work place practices in a way. Whether one is dealing with males or females from the higher class, there is a tendency that the traditional systems remain. It would be very tricky for management to put personalities that are of lower castes to be in charge of their culturally superiors. Education plays a little role in role differentiation at work than caste system plays. In many western countries, the concept of class is majorly appreciated in the context of acquired wealth. One may observe many work places in western countries are making efforts to escape from the old concept that classism has to be emphasized through unfair oppression. Such suppressions were geared towards the most vital means of survival. In the remaining scattered cases where elements of class gendered experience of work still applies to the detriment of employees, studies have suggested that many women have continued to bear the brunt of unjust office practices than men. This is because many women than men do work in organizations across the world. Given that bosses are in many cases the capitalist class that controls very big business, many female employees usually feel less empowered to resist advances on them, sometime even against their pleas (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 91). Asian countries are the worst hit when it comes to this trend. One may observe that such scenarios normally bring dilemma to such female employees who are torn between respecting such invincible power and fighting back and potentially lose their jobs. On the other hand, there have never been many cases of class-gendered experience of work that affect men. Again, this should not be misconstrued to imply that men have been safe all along, but that there have been few of no recorded cases. In other instances, there have been other scenario in which gendered experience of work with respect to classism has been argued that a classist mindset usually exist among those considered to the in the higher classes. Many people in the first class hold a belief that the poor and the working class people are usually neither intelligent not articulate. The poor and the working class have also been portrayed as being overly emotional. As such, class gendered experience of work appears to be a construct that affects people not only economically but also emotionally. As one may observe, having a pure analysis of class and its effects on gendered experience of work tends to draw in quite a number of considerations as benchmarks against which one may conduct a befitting analysis. The fact that many nations have outlawed discrimination of all sorts makes it almost practically impossible to infer instances when there have been instances of class misdemeanor by the dominant class against the lower class. It appears that way through which such discriminations may take place have changed over time (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 53). Perpetrators seem to know full force of the law and have therefore deciphered ways to commit crime undetected. Even so, those dominant classes in positions of leadership have used the platform occasionally to rebuke their juniors under the guise of responsibility. Except for certain countries such as India that have openly accepted the caste system, it is quite difficult now days to find openly cases of class-gendered experience of work. Ethnicity Factor in Gendered Experience of Work It has been become a common belief that when ethnicity is being discussed, normally the first thing that comes to the mind is issues to do with black minority and white majority. While that may be the undeniable fact, sometimes it is not always the case. It seems that such conditioning has been so given history and how things used to be in the past. A lot has changed, although nor everything. Ethnicity factor in gendered experience in work has a broad historical background. Historically, many men and women of African origin have been victims of unfair policies of workplace (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 143). It therefore follows that when one talks about ethnicity in gendered experience in work, the best analysis that would be most appealing is an analysis of the black woman. Such an analysis serves a good purpose for the purposes of how ethnicity is intertwined with gender perspective in the analysis of workplace habits that have never been user friendly to the female gender. Although the analysis may occasionally touch on male issues, one should note that females are twice disfavoured especially if they are women of African origin (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 36). During the initial periods when black feminist movements were jut kicking off, one may observe that the new group had come out clearly. Feminist group had stated that they were committed very actively in their fight against race, gender, and class inequalities that existed in all quarters of the society. The mere fact that women in general were still much disenfranchised was even a complicated matter for the black woman. First, she was disenfranchised as a woman. Second, the few opportunities that existed then also locked her out based on her colour (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 37). It will be hard to conclude that the battle has been won. The fact that there are increasingly more numbers of women in leadership positions in the west may indicate some commendable progress. Even so, other areas have remained owing to prevailing policies that are quite less sensitive to the marginalised groups. Many such scenarios that are still wanting can be attributed to countries that are still developing as opposed to developed countries. Ethnicity in gender experience of work is still active in scattered cases also in western countries. Studies have continues to show that black women are still the hardest hit I the category of minority groupings (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 129). Other analysts have observed that the current gendered experience of work is a scenario that was bred back in the day and has refused to die off completely. Disparities in pay, promotion, and treatment of black women still reflect that the society has not fully accepted the principle of equality. As seen with the dominant members of capitalist class and the first class, ethnicity in gendered experience of work reveal that black women have continued to suffer at their places of work in very many small ways. First, they have been reportedly not been granted opportunities for personal development as much as others. The trend, however minimal, has succeeded in compounding problem in the sense that the resultant ethnicity gendered experience of work is that such women are not white, not males and most importantly, they are not economically empowered (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 29). It looks like a position of double existence problem at the same time. This is because they are women within that category, but they are also not members as fat as color is concerned. In short, ethnicity gendered experience of work is a scenario where black women belonged where they did not belong. Sounds quite self-contradicting, but that is the case in many states in both the west and the rest of the world. From examples of many African countries, only Rwanda that has probably achieved the gender factor balance. Ethnicity questions addressed since there are both the Hutu and the Tutsi ethnics. The social reality is that even countries that have advanced democracies such as the US also have problem dealing with ethnic gendered experience of work (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 112). Despite the disparities that exist, women who have been disfavored in the society have continued to show commendable efforts. One may observe that unlike in the past, education has played a bigger role in emancipating women. As much as their working conditions have not been so friendly, many of them have sprung into action. One may observe that women of various minor ethnicities in the west have emerged with a trend whereby they direct much of their energy in making better conditions at work. Most of them also make efforts to fight for improvement of all available opportunities to cater for all ethnics. This has been so despite the fact that for a long time they had been pushed to the bottom level of hierarchies in their places of work. Again, most of this is systematically done so that it does not conflict with legal provisions. Actually, the fists paid job for black women had come during the Second World War. It has been observed that such jobs were some of the worst. The question that many people would probably want to ask is who is responsible for the class and ethnicity in gendered experience of work. The reality is that the society is for blame. The context of class and ethnicity in gendered experience of work varies largely and greatly with respect to the regions being observed (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 72). Many analyses are appealing if done in a comparative manner with western nations. The reason is that westerns states have had their experience of the matter and have made considerable changes since then. It is not clear whether the Beijing women’s conference set the stage rolling for changes, but one may observe that it did achieve several milestones on matters to do with women’s welfare. Whether one argues from a liberal framework position of whether one considers feminist theories, it emerges that there has been a high profile disenfranchisement of women in general. Many governments have passed legislations that ensure that gender discrimination does not happen. However, not many of them have place the right institution to check on such implementation (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 86). Conclusion Looking at the development touching on women’s issues, one may observe that there is a need to make sure that there are no gendered issues at work place. It is not a matter of the society becoming pro-feminist, which is not bad by the way. It is a matter of coming with up with appropriate measures to ensure that there is level ground. In fact, one should appreciate that the road to get to the point where race, sexual orientation, class and gender have earned recognition and subsequent policy changes. This benchmark ended the long-standing traditional belief that women did not fit in certain jobs. While this may be celebrated, it should be noted that not all area have been emancipated. It appears that it may take another campaign to effect changes. Most of the affected states are Muslim states that still maintain strict application of the Sharia law. Sharia law bars Muslim women from many things, most of which appear to be a violation of women’s rights. Regardless of identification very specific frameworks, women still need to be empowered in their capacities as citizens (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 112). It is important to note that quite a number of women have shown exemplary leadership. Such women are just examples of what women can achieve when empowered. Other states may borrow a leaf from the United States. Top diplomats such as Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton are such examples. In short, class and ethnicity in gendered experience of work is as diverse as the context within which one defines it (Alsop et al., 2002, p. 109). Bibliography Alsop, R., Fitzsimons, A., and Lennon, K. eds., 2002. Theorizing gender. Oxford: Polity Press. Read More