Effective Ways on How We Can Alleviate Sexism in Our Society - Research Paper Example

 Sexism Thesis Statement Effective Ways on How We Can Alleviate Sexism in Our Society. Introduction Rooted in the culture and tradition of a society, sexism is all about wrong attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, laws, and policies that strongly support discrimination on sex roles. Up to the present time, the act of generalizing an entire gender makes people think that a person is more superior as compared to other people (Ronai, Zsembik, & Feagin, 1997, p. 10). A good example of sexism is the act of stereotyping that men should project an image of masculinity whereas women should act femininely (Brittan, 1984, p. 236). Therefore, women are expected to stay at home, do household chores, and take care of babies whereas men are expected to stay active in work or business environment (Neuwirth, 2004). In reality, sexism is not limited in stereotyping the expected roles of male and female role in this society. Unfortunately, transsexuals are also equally affected by the negative impact of strong sex discrimination. Feminist groups have long time been trying to fight the occurrence of sexism; specifically with regards to the unequal opportunity that is present between men and women at work, within educational institutions, and their expected role in our society (DaCosta Alleyne, 2004). In relation to the importance of gender equality, feminist movement continuously campaigns for women’s rights and interests which includes: (1) right to work, equal pay, and maternity leave; (2) right to vote; and (3) right to be protected from domestic violence, sexual harassment, and rape (4) (Humm, 1990, p. 278; Echols, 1989, p. 416, Cott, 1987, pp. 4 – 5). It is through the strong influence of feminist groups in the way people think that gradually eliminates the traditional perspectives on how women should act in our society. Over the years, feminist groups had significantly changed the modern ways of living from culture to law. Despite the government and private institutions’ effort to alleviate sex discrimination by promoting the importance of workplace and educational diversity and improving the existing laws on sex discrimination and chauvinism, sexism remains a serious social problem in our country. In line with the social consequences of sexism, almost all sociologists are using the three primary theoretical perspectives known as the symbolic interactionist perspective1, functionalist perspective2, and conflict perspective3 when analyzing the social phenomena behind sexism (Cliff Notes, 2010). To effectively alleviate sexism in our culture and tradition, some of the existing social problem related to sexism will first be identified. Based on the different attitudes and views of symbolic interactionists, functionalists, and conflict theorists on each identified social problem, a clear description on how each social problem affects the welfare of each individual will be provided. Prior to conclusion, strategic ways on how we can effectively intervene with the identified social problems will be tackled in details. Work-Related Problems Related to Sexism Gender Pay and Work Recognition Inequality Although wage inequality between men and women has been constantly increasing since 1980s (Piketty & Saez, 2003; Card & DiNardo, 2002; Jencks, 2002), many of the sociologists were unable to explain the factors behind increasing wage gap between men and women (Sorensen, 2005). As a common knowledge, men are considered more superior than women. Aside from the differences in the working environmental condition suitable for men and women, it is a common knowledge that men and women play a different role in the labor market such that most women are involved with semi-professional, office or unskilled job as compared to men (Heath & Britten, 1984). Even though men and women work in the same position with the same work responsibility, men tend to receive more credit even though their gender counterpart had provided a better job result (Wenneras & Wold, 1997). There are also cases wherein men are receiving more grant opportunities as compared to equally qualified women (Bornmann, Mutz, & Daniel, 2007). Because of such false belief, women are often a victim of gender discrimination or sexism. For many years, our society has developed a mentality that women are weaker, smaller, and less competitive when it comes to certain jobs. Since women in general are classified as less intelligent or less competitive in certain types of job, a lot of women often end up having a lesser pay for equal job or being promoted at work as compared to most men (Cortis, 2000). Sexual Harassment and Violence at Work Regardless of work performance, sexual harassment at work occurs when a superior requires a female employee a sexual favor in exchange for a higher salary, more employee benefits, and job promotion. Although a wide-range of work policies and practices have been implemented to promote equal work opportunity for male and female employees, the fact that women are trained to be feminine, speak politely and observe good manners makes them more vulnerable to sexual harassment at work (Padavic & Orcutt, 1997). Different Attitudes and Views of Symbolic Interactionists, Functionalists, and Conflict Theorists Education serves as a foundation that enables each individual to compete in the global labor market. Based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women who graduated from college are likely to earn 76% more than women who only received a high school diploma (Longley, 2005). It only means that there is a strong possibility that a child will be able to find a good paying job when they receive a good educational background (Smierchiak, 2010). Despite the importance of education, children who belong to low-income families are often discriminated in terms of having an equal opportunity to good education as compared to the high-income earners (Phillips, 2008). In fact, gender inequality in US education still exists even though the government and private institutions exert an effort to eradicate gender inequalities and provide a fair treatment to all students. Symbolic Interactionists Perspective Division of labor between men and women is a consequence of the traditional socialization, attitudes, and beliefs (Padavic & Earnest, 1994). Gender pay and work recognition inequality can be explained using the symbolic interactionist perspective. Under the symbolic interactionist perspective, it is strongly believed that the role of men and women within the society can be learned through socialization process. In line with this, most women deal with other people using expressive roles or capabilities that are nurturing and emotionally supportive to other people. Since women tend to use emotional aspect and charisma when dealing face-to-face with other people, most women ends up having a pink-collar jobs4 related to child care, dental hygiene, teaching, assistance for paralegals and legal, receptionists, speech therapy, travel agent, and registered nurse (Prokos, Padavic, & Schmidt, 2009; Prokos & Padavic, 2002; Sorensen, 2000). In general, men are more serious and masculine when they deal face-to-face with other people. Since most men are trained to socialize with other people using instrumental or task-oriented roles, men are the ones who have better work opportunity as airplane pilots and navigators, architects, automobile mechanics, lawyer, mechanical engineer, civil engineer, physician, police officer, clergy, construction worker, firefighters, and grounds maintenance worker (Prokos, Padavic, & Schmidt, 2009; Longley, 2005; Sorensen, 2000; Padavic & Earnest, 1994). Other than the educational attainment of each employee, the sex classification of men and women is also a strong basis on how men and women in general are treated at work (Prokos & Padavic, 2002). For example: Since women are known for being emotional aside from their nurturing and supportive role, women often ends up filling the administrative roles within a business organization in support for managerial tasks. Since men are known to be task-oriented, it is men who are often promoted to do managerial tasks. Functionalists Perspective After having read several sociology articles related to employment, careers, human nature and the human capital theory, it is clear that among the major factors that can influence the rational decision-making of each individual in terms of deciding whether or not to shift from a current employment is based on different factors related to economics, cognitive psychology, family and personal life (Besen-Cassino, 2008; Shaw, 2008; Reed & Wolniak, 2005; Jacobs, 1997). Gender pay and work recognition inequality can also be explained using the functionalist perspective. Contrary to men, women are trained to choose marriage and motherhood and household work more than the educational preparation for their career (Kunzler et al., 2001). In relation to the nurturing role of women, women are made responsible to take care of children remains a strong part of ideological appraisal. In relation to gender role, it is also possible for pregnant women who had just recently given birth to a baby may end up deciding to shift from a full-time to a part-time employment even though the employment shift may result to a lesser pay on the part of a female employee (Jacobs, 1997). In this case, the situation of a woman dictates the need to change the nature of her previous job from a full-time to part-time in order to enable her to perform her duty as a mother to her child and a wife to her husband at the same time (Shaw, 2008). In hope for a better career, there are also cases wherein young female adults may also decide to search for a part-time job, not because she is not happy with her existing job, but because of the need to divide the available time between work and studies (Besen-Cassino, 2008). Educational attainment of each individual matters when it comes to finding a good paying job. However, teenage pregnancy could cause a young woman to drop out from school (The National Campaign, 2010). In relation to tight competition in the labor market, there is a strong possibility for pregnant women to have more difficulty finding a job. For this reason, teenagers who got themselves pregnant at a young age are more likely to face socio-economic problems after giving birth. In worst cases, this group of individuals who were not able to receive proper education will have a lesser bargaining power when it comes to salary and wages or job promotion. Particularly the societal expectation and practices behind the role of women are among the major factors that make them less literate and less competent than most men. This also explains why more men in the United States have doctorate degrees and highly respected career as compared to women (Smierchiak, 2010). As a result, it is men who are given more opportunities to do extremely well in their chosen career as compared to women. Likewise, the current supply and demand for labor can be used to explain the wage gap between men and women. As part of globalization and developments in technology, the labor market requires more high-skilled workers than low-skilled workers (Card & DiNardo, 2002). In general, women’s expected function within our society can hinder women’s access to better education. Since more men are receiving better education than women, it is men who often have better job than women. Despite the functionalist perspective behind the gender wage gap, Tumin (1953) explained that the actual performance of each employee is not affected by the wage inequalities. It means that there will always be a possibility for a female employee to perform better than male employee but still receive a low salary for her service. In line with this, Fischer et al. (1996) and Tumin (1953) suggest that the wage inequality between men and women can be a result of unequal opportunity given to both sexes. Conflict Perspective Under the conflict perspective, women are considered valuable inside the house and less superior outside home. This perspective somehow explains why majority of women work more for lesser pay and get lesser chance for work promotion (Kerbo, 2006). Contrary to the perspective of a functionalist view, the high incidence of wage gap between men and women is one factor that can negatively affect the economic growth. Instead of having efficiently working economy, the presence of wage gap between men and women only benefits men in general at the expense of women (Fischer et al., 1996). In general, conflict theorists assume that a decline in the wage inequality could not affect the performance or efficiency of the workers. In fact, promoting gender pay equality could eventually increase the overall work performance of a workforce within the labor market. Thus, contribute to the increase in the efficiency of the economy. In line with this perspective, Tumin (1953) explained that removing work envy, distrust, and ill-feelings between male and female workers could lead to increase in the teams’ work performance. The same reason made Fischer et al. (1996) agree that gender pay inequality does not promote efficient society. Married women now-a-days are not only expected to work as a house wife but also maintain their career in order to support the financial needs of her family. Because of the need for women to earn more money, women who work in a corporate world often ends up a victim of sexual harassment at work. Since there is a huge competition between men and woman in the labor market, there are managers or superiors who would require a female employee a sexual favor in exchange for a higher salary, more employee benefits, and job promotion. Since a large population of women is receiving less pay and work promotion opportunity, women become more vulnerable to fall under the control or power of the elite. Recommended Solutions and Conclusion Under symbolic interactionist perspective, gender pay and work recognition inequality occurs because of the way men and women interact in our society. On the other hand, functionalist perspective considers the increase in gender wage inequality to cause the increase in overall work productivity of a team whereas conflict view accepts the perception that the increase in wage gap inequality could only result to work performance inefficiency. Specifically the research study that was conducted by Kim and Sakamoto (2006) accepts the conflict view on gender wage gap in the sense that the increase in gender wage inequality does not necessarily promote increase in work productivity. To avoid social conflicts like having misbehaved young individuals caused by lack of guidance from mothers and exposing more women to sexual harassment at work, the U.S. government should minimize the gender wage gap by giving more women the opportunity to have an equal access to better education. Since the incidence of teenage pregnancy could cause more women to drop out from school, the U.S. government should make an effort to teach young women in school the negative consequences of having a child at a very young age. In relation to symbolic interactionist perspective, we should take it a challenge to remove the misconception that women are weaker and less competitive than men in general. By removing sexism, women will be able to perform well not only within the corporate world but also in nurturing the next generation of our society. As a result, it is possible for our society to become more productive and more efficient. *** End *** References Besen-Cassino, Y. (2008). 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