The Effects of the Stereotype That Men Hold Positions of Power and Wealth Than Women Do - Essay Example

The Effects of the Stereotype That Men Hold Positions of Power and Wealth Than Women Do Generations of men and women have grown up in a society that has always perceived the males to be that of the stronger and thus more powerful sex. Decades of struggle for womens rights and equality have given rise to the mindset that women are not capable of becoming leaders in the world of business and politics. While the new generation of men and women might still believe in those stereotypes, the reality of the social situation these days is that women can and do hold the same positions of power and wealth in the business and political world. That said, this paper will look into the effects of the stereotype that men hold positions of power and wealth more than women do upon the male gender. This will be done by presenting evidence that suggest that the perception that women now have more power than men does not have any real effect on the way that men wield their power and wealth in an ever changing and equalizing world. Women are constantly complaining about gender gaps in work promotions and salary paid per hour. Womens rights groups are constantly claiming to be the oppressed gender because women are viewed as the weaker sex and therefore, cannot be trusted with the same kind of responsibility as men do. However, a quick check of the list of Fortune 1000 company leaders shows that women lead at least 50 of these companies and corporations in a a CEO position ( “Women CEOs of the Fortune 1000” ). Therefore, it is totally unfair for women to continue to claim that they are constantly being prevented by the men from breaking the glass ceiling. It was broken a very long time ago, they just refuse to acknowledge it because they would prefer to constantly play the victim card in most employment situations. Men these days need to keep up their game in the business world if they wish to keep up with their positions of power. Although men are the traditional leaders of society. Employers these days also take note of the number of genders employed in their companies lest they be accused of gender discrimination. Hence men are sometimes forced out of positions that they would traditionally portray. The past one hundred and fifty years of social evolution did not have a problem with having men in a position of power. However, men have begun losing their social power due to the slow rise of women to social, economic, and political power. Forces of rationalization, legitimation, and market shortages has forced men out of the power position so that women can get a shot at the leadership roles that they so badly wish to attain. ( Jackson, “Chapter 4: The Reproduction of Economic and Political Power”) In truth, there has been a steady decline of the male power in the business and political world of the United States. Author Hanna Rosin in her book “The End of Men” claims that “We live in a world that privileges nimbleness and flexibility, the willingness to adapt and bend to a fast-changing economic landscape, to be responsive to social cues.” (qtd. in Becker). That is one of the reasons why men are continuously losing their relevance and power card in our modern society. Men are fast learning that they need to be as flexible as women when it comes to performing a multitude of tasks and, they need to be able to perform these tasks almost simultanuously otherwise, they will fail at becoming effective and admirable leaders. Jackson (Jackson, “ Chapter 4: The Reproduction of Economic and Political Power”) explains that: Power is an elusive idea. Power is not observable or palpable. Instead, power is a theoretical abstraction that refers to the range of circumstances under which the actions of one person or group affect those of others. In some general sense, the greater the range of influence,or the greater the results that can be secured for equal costs, then the more power we attribute to an actor. It is not possible to apply any precise measurements to power, because it has no concrete reference. The subordination of women means that ordinary men commonly have a power advantage over women and that only men occupy the social positions controlling sources of collective power. Yet we know that this scenario for women is totally untrue. They have invaded the leadership roles in Fortune 1000 companies and taken those positions of power and wealth from the men. Men are now dominated by women in the workplace in a similar manner as they dominated them in the past. Yet men are not complaining about losing out on jobs to women. The reason that men are not complaining to the high heavens about gender salary inequality or work promotion problems is because the men of power knew how to protect their positions in such a way that it would have a trickle down effect for the ordinary men in the workplace. Jackson best explained the situation of power for men of power as: Men with economic or political power assumed and accepted ordinary men’s dominance over women. Their policies fortified ordinary mens domination. Because women lacked political influence and economic resources, politically powerful men could not anticipate any rewards for championing policies favoring women’s interests. Usually, at least until recently, most people and most policies simply assumed women’s stereotypic roles and status, so powerful did not need to think about alternatives. When sex roles and men’s advantages became an explicit issue, powerful men normally accommodated ordinary men to protect their own power. Ordinary men would resent policies that reduced their advantages over women. Men with power needed ordinary mens acceptance andtherefore they resisted policies that tempted rebellion. (Jackson, “Chapter 4: The Reproduction of Economic and Political Power”) Granted that women needed to be given a chance at assuming power player roles in the world of business because the law dictates it as such. Women are also driven to succeed in the workplace in a similar fashion to men. Yet much admired as they might be in the workplace, the men of power still call the shots by being the penultimate business leader as the owner of the firm. It is this ultimate power card that has helped men to survive the rising power of women in both business and politics. Though playing by the games of gender equality and womens rights, men learned how to protect their sources of power before allowing women to enter their field of business. It is because of this protection that women still need to prove their individual ability to get ahead in business. In fact, if one were to view the history of gender inequality in the United States and other countries, it would become evident that men have long before women, been battling gender inequality in the workplace. The fact that men needed to struggle to earn money to keep their family afloat. Jackson goes on to further explain the history of male gender inequality and struggles as follows: With regard to gender inequality, most of mens actions that diminished womens economic standing focused on quite different motives. Men wanted to provide for their families, they wanted to appear successful in their communities,they were concerned with competition for jobs, they sought high profits. Gender inequality was a fact of life to them. They knew the consequences of inequality as conditions of their environment: men were supposed to make more money than women, women were supposed to care for children, women could not succeed in the economy, women were less educated, and so forth. Men, like women, had to adapt to the world they found themselves in. (Jackson, “Chapter 3: Economic Inequality “) Therefore, it becomes easier to understand why men are not so affected by the stereotype that men have more power and wealth than women do. They continue to battle their own gender battles within their own workplace and do not have the time compare notes with the women in a game of “whose gender is more discriminated against”. Both men and women are in the workforce for one and the same reason. As such, It does not really matter to the men who holds what position of power and when. Works Cited Becker, Jeff. “Are Men Losing Ground to Women? Is This the Right Question to Ask?”. Political Science at the University of the Pacific. pacificofpoliiticscience.wordpress.com. 17 Oct. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. Jackson, Robert. “Chapter 4: The Reproduction of Economic and Political Power”.nyu.edu. nyu.edu. n.d. Web. 21. Apr. 2014. Jackson, Robert. “Chapter 3: Economic Inequality”. nyu.edu.nyu.edu. n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. Knowledge Center. “Women CEOs of Fortune 1000”. Catalyst. catalyst.org. 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. Read More