Gender and Workplace Roles - Essay Example

? Introduction “Both socialization into the family of orientation, and that in the family of procreation, influence the workplace roles. Girls hear messages abut juggling family and employment that boys do not hear. Even in egalitarian marriage, wives spend much more time on childcare and household tasks than husbands do.” This statement reflects the gender roles that a girl child faces in her life as compared to the boy child. These roles inculcated in a girl are crucial as they affect her future life even at the work place. Socialization is vital in family life. I believe that every family is socially constructed, and gender roles of the family members vary according to culture and epoch. The “family of orientation” involves the family where one is born and subsequently raised while the “family of procreation” is the family one raises through marriage. These two families are part of the nuclear family. I believe that the two families are critical in influencing the family member’s roles in the work place. Gender roles are clearly spelt in families that tend to give the boys a less difficult life as compared to girls mostly at work places. Coming from a minority group, I face double jeopardy when it comes to sexism and discrimination at work because I am of both a minority cluster and a female. I have experienced sexism first hand, as I have been prejudiced and stereotyped while I was doing my internship based on sex. Although I can understand being discriminated for being from a minority group, I cannot grasp the reason as to why I am also being discriminated because I am a woman. I was shocked that people could even use my dressing code to judge and discriminate against me because I wore casual clothes to work on a Saturday. It is shocking that people at the work place can make an issue out of a woman’s dressing code while say nothing of a man. I was surprised that, people at work considered my dressing in short jeans skirt to be improper on a weekend, and criticized me for it, are a serious concern on how women are treated in work places. My upbringing was with both my parents working; this led to me spending more time with my grandparents who used to stay at home full time enjoying their pension. I remember my grandmother spending most time in the kitchen cooking for everyone. She would also serve everyone first before serving herself, and if my grandfather came in the middle of the meal, she would stop eating to attend to him first. To my grandmother this was how a cultured wife behaved (Lamanna and Riedmann 2009). However, things have changed giving rise to the egalitarian marriage that is based on equality. In this family, all are equal and share duties equitably. The spouses both share responsibilities as equals. My family; the orientation family I can boldly state, was my first socializing agent that formulated my ideology of gender duties. By the time I joined school, I had already formed the notion that girls wear dresses and cook while boys do the manual and hard work and they are the hard ones. I observed that this was not a trait only found on me alone as some boys at were often picked on if they cried easily as being girlish. The girls were discouraged from acting boyish by doing things such as playing with bugs or rolling around in the dirt. At such a young age, I easily accepted such norms and behaviours as dedicated by my family and society. That girls were supposed to be clean and elegant is an ideology that has stuck even to the office currently. Men hardly clean, their own working tables but leave it for their female secretaries to clean. It is also acceptable for men to be all sweaty and dirty without complaint but in the case of women, they are often considered irresponsible. A man can be shabbily dressed, and [people still regard the highly but a woman is often discriminates for having a shaggy hair or being dirty (Lindsey 2010). While in college, I observed that female students taking sciences and mathematics courses were fewer than those undertaking humanities. For instance, in chemistry major there were five female students doing the course out of forty students. This I concluded will in future determine the presence of male staff member exceeding their female associates at their working places. This has caused the imbalance of female members in some sections, in work places such as laboratories, and research centres, as fewer women, take the challenging subjects (Lamanna and Riedmann 2009). I believe that most behaviour that is linked with gender is learned rather than innate. They are not biologically determined but are defined by one’s culture. As a girl grows up, she learns what characteristics and personality are considered in her cultural context as appropriate for females in a family. Even within a culture, different clusters, particularly according to customs, age, shared class and sexuality, view masculinity and femininity variedly. I consider the orientation family a key part in defining the roles of a girl child as she develops. According to Lindsey (2010), it is through this family that, we girls are guided by our parents and elder family members, and educated on various life aspects affecting a family, and the work place roles. We learn the duties, which we should handle at home and how to relate with others at work places. The orientation family teaches us through observing our parents how we should behave as girls and women both at home and work places. This family also teaches us how to poise family and labour. I have observed the closet woman to me my mother how she juggles her work at the office and her responsibilities at home. She has been inspirational, as she had managed to balance this excellently. My mothers is concerned in meeting her deadlines as a salesperson at work and as well ensure that the family concerns such as food and clothing are attended. I have noticed as I grew up, that, it was more the responsibility of the female parent to inculcate what is considered feminine, in the girl child, than it is the man. This has tremendously affected our work place roles, as even in work places, women are treated as fragile beings, which require the assistance of men in accomplishing difficult and heavy duties. The men conversely are treated as mighty creatures with the ability to hassle for themselves (Girshick 2008). This is not the case as women sometimes offer guidance to men at work places. The orientation family has taught as to be amorous, tender, reliant, emotional, nurturing and compassionate while the men are taught to be a leader like, aggressive, independent, assertive and risk taking at work places. However, I can ascertain that although those qualities exist they are found in differing degrees in most people. I have seen women who are more aggressive and go getters than men in an organization. Some women are even better leaders thus cancelling the notion of women being considered as emotional and dependent. The procreation family has heavily influenced the roles of women in work places as it has fronted cultural prevalence of traditional gender stereotypes. I have noticed that sex roles are based on cultural prospect, such as the male will seek attainment and domination while women will be submissive and supportive(Girshick 2008). These kinds of relationships often lead to tensions at work. I have seen many women who are independent and can make bold decisions on significant company policies. Women bosses do not complain or support their male partners, but the situation is vice versa. It has often been thought to be a man role to make the decisions of an organization, as in the classical period women hardly held superior positions in places of work. Nevertheless currently, there are more women rivalling with men for the highest jobs in the world of work. The women are going against the withheld conventional family definitions of their roles at work and fighting for higher positions in companies as well as politically (www.teachnologist.com). In the present world, I have observed the women craving for equality between sexes leading to much advancement in shifting traditional roles. The women roles have changed from being the stay at home, homemakers and mothers whose responsibility was to clean the house, while catering for children and cooking for their husbands. They have gone from being perceived as naught more than a man’s pleasure, in the Male society, to live their own lives, and doing what gratifies them personally. Today, women have the same education and job opportunities as men, and they now work as fire fighters, police officers, doctors as well as executives of multinational companies. Similarly, I have noticed the male roles in society are changing. Nowadays it not only tolerable but expected that the fathers play just as a crucial part in raising their children as the mothers. I have noted that currently the fathers are not the only breadwinners anymore since they now labour as a team with their spouses. Many men have as well become accustomed to women working as an authority. The women’s role in the office has also changed; they are no longer answering phone calls or bringing tea to men in the offices, but now work with them, and even above the men. It is not a miracle to find a man doing house chores while the wife works in the office (Girshick 2008). I have observed that, in the modern society, the line between masculinity and feminism is not as much pronounced, as it were in the past. Gender roles are now less distinct, and in some instances totally reversed. In times of my grandparents, men were usually regarded as the providers, who were required to feed and protect the family, while women were required to care and nurture for the family, while staying at home. However because, roles have been reversed so much, as it is acceptable for women to wear trousers, it is also more tolerable for women to work, but as well vend for or be a provider of the main source of the family. I have noticed that, in a way, since women acquired rights and power in society, men have somewhat stepped aside and have been emasculated. I have observed that whereas society before advocated for activisms for the rights of the girl child today the contrary is happening. Somehow, society might have concentrated in the girl child while ignoring the boy child thus doing away with one imbalance in society and creating a fresh one. The plan of chivalry no longer plays a massive task in society nowadays because women no longer require to be rescued; they can do themselves. This change has even led to some men being the stay at home parent while the women provide for the family (Lamanna and Riedmann 2009). In America WWII highly necessitated the change of gender roles since when men went to war women started filling in jobs that traditionally belonged to men. I am of the opinion that when men returned from war, they were shocked to find could do jobs as well as them if not better. This was necessitated by the fact that the women were left with the duty of raising their children without the traditional support of the Husband. They had to perform the tasks of the father and mother to their children, as the men were absent. Some even quit their jobs because they were not obligated to work anymore while some women saw this as their opportunity to seize the equality they had been craving for, but denied for a long time and never looked back. Although gender roles tend to discourage both men and women, form doing certain things such as being a male beautician of a female construction employee it is not the case anymore. I believe that everybody has a right to chase a profession in a field that interests them and not because society requires one to perform certain roles. I have observed that the egalitarian marriage has mainly promoted equality within the family of orientation. It has transcended the traditional roles described for both wives, husbands and demystified the line defining those roles. Through globalization and access to the internet and TV, the egalitarian marriage values have been spreading wider globally. The sharing of family responsibility is gradually becoming the norm in the contemporary world in my view. I have noticed people do not just get married to procreate but out of convenience. This has even led to contracted marriages based on responsibilities, to be shared by each marriage partner. Aside from the distinct physical and biological differences, there is no substantial difference that restricting women and men equality. I have observed that the globalization process has highly shaped the family roles trend. It has necessitated diversity as well as connected people globally unlike any other period in human history. The gender role changes in our relationships, homes and workplaces are an elementary aspect of globalization (Lindsey 2010). Globalization emphasizes the link between sociological theory and its appliance to gender and matters of diversity that are booming worldwide. The employed woman family analogy has been immensely advocated by globalization. It has promoted the independent and strong woman notion cancelling the traditionally held notion that considered women as feeble beings that needed men to protect the. Globalization, however, as exhibited the women as strong and independent beings same as men. In the egalitarian family, both couples provide for the family, as they are both working while equally sharing family responsibilities of managing family finances, as well as, home management. However, even in such a family the sharing of responsibilities is not perfectly achieved. I believe because of the culture inculcated in women while still growing up still plays a part, as mothers tend to take care of the household and their children than the men. I think even in such liberal families the traditionally established roles connecting both genders still play a vital role, however, not as pronounced as before (Lamanna and Riedmann 2009). Conclusion I believe that gender equality will only come with radical changes in the economic structure. As long as men have dominant social, political, and economic power over women, future generations will continue to be raised to, fit within these established gender roles, and we will remain a patriarchal society. However, with the fast advancement in technology that is advocating for diversity in family life and liberal family things are rapidly shifting away from the traditional guidelines. Roles are no longer societal imposed but are established according to the individual involved in a marriage. It is up to the individuals nowadays to embrace the traditional roles as spelt by society or reach consensus with their spouses on what role to play in the family. This has mammoth impacts on workplace settings as women challenge men in handling any king of jobs available without discrimination. However, children roles are still determined by their parents as the raise them thus influencing their decision-making and roles to play in work places in the future. References Girshick, L. B. (2008). Transgender voices. Hanover: University press of New England. Lamanna, M. A., & Riedmann, A. C. (2009). Marriages & families: Making choices in a diverse society. Belmont, Calif: Thomson. Lindsey, L. L., (2010). Gender roles a sociological perspective (5th Ed.) N.J: Prentice Hall. Present, a. m. (n.d.). Family. Retrieved on April 15, 2012, from Read More