New Feminist Theory Perspectives on Sexism in the Workplace - Essay Example

New Feminist Theory Perspectives on Sexism in the Workplace Sexism may be alive and well in our society, but like other forms of discrimination, it is not always obvious, and the social implications as well as the ways in which it is manifested have changed. While feminist theory can still give us a basic idea of the underlying causes and effects of the subfield of sexism in society, new theories are needed to accommodate for the new social realities women and men face today in addressing this issue. Such theories include poststructuralist feminist theory, rational bias theory, and preference theory. As defined by Ritzer (2004), “Feminist theory is a generalized, wide-ranging system of ideas about social life and human experience developed from a woman-centered perspective” (p. 436). Feminist theory primarily seeks to uncover what women’s role is in social situations, if it is different than the role of men, and if so, why? Throughout its history, feminist theory “has been consistently critical of existing social arrangements and has focused on such essential sociological variables as social inequality, social change, power, interests and beliefs, and the social institutions of family, law, politics, work, religion, and education” (Ritzer, 2004, p. 440).  Feminist theory has the goal of improving life for women and, particularly in more recent years, other disenfranchised groups. A feminist perspective is not new to sociology or the study of conflict resolution. The first hints of it occurred during the American and French revolutions, when the role of women in society was first openly discussed. Women have always protested being subordinated, and this struggle for equality is described as occurring in “waves,” beginning in 1848 and 1920 with the first women’s rights convention and the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote (Ritzer, 2004, p. 439). Feminist theory has changed in orientation over the years, particularly in the past decade.  After a period in which feminism was criticized for being too “radical” even by women, feminist theory has expanded from primarily Western societies to focusing on repressed womanhood around the world. There is also a greater interest in the differences between women of different cultures. Ritzer (2004) points out that “Today, feminist ideas have permeated but not yet transformed sociology as feminists had hoped” (p. 440). Yet because of their numbers alone in any give culture, women are a unique “minority” group that has found its voice only fairly recently. Today women are challenging not only their own treatment by the dominant white male hierarchy but the treatment of all oppressed groups. In the field of sociology, feminist theory “combines economic activity with other forms of human social production (child rearing, emotional sustenance, knowledge, home maintenance, sexuality, and so on)” (Ritzer, 2004, p. 476). Because of their intimate knowledge of the influence of how parenting and home life affects the way children learn, develop, and relate to the world, feminist theorists are uniquely qualified to portray a holistic view of society that highlights the interconnectedness of public and private life (what Ritzer refers to as the “macro” and “micro” social orders) and the effects on society as a whole when large segments of its population are marginalized. As a result of the awareness of sexism brought about by feminist theory, women have been able to enter, if not always reach the top ranks of, every profession. While feminist theory covers many personal and societal aspects of sexism, it is still not always enough to keep up with changes in society as women have made great strides in all professions. One persistently difficult issue is maternity leave. A study by Buzzanell and Liu(2005) used fifteen instances of womens experiences at work while pregnant, on maternity leave, and upon their return to work. Most new mothers return to work, however more and more mothers are deciding to remain home with their babies. Also, women dissatisfied with their jobs maternity policy switch companies upon return to the work force. Some companies have launched programs to allow more flexible maternity leave and other accommodations aimed at keeping female employees. In addition, those who reported discouragement might have been more aware of or addition, those who reported discouragement might have been more aware of or had more extreme experiences than other women.. A poststructuralist feminist lens illuminates power struggles that may prevent some women, family members, and supervisors or coworkers from constructing preferable identities and positive material conditions. (Buzzanell and Liu, 2005, 2) Poststructuralist feminism depicts maternity leave as a personal and emotional event. Normally maternity leave is explained through laws, policies, and advice. Poststructuralist feminism helps employers “understand those social and cultural practices which constitute, reproduce and contest gender power relations” (Buzzanell and Liu, 2005, 15). Understanding the dynamics of this concept guides companies into organizing gender needs, which also addresses maternity leave. “Their dilemmas in developing productive identities for themselves surfaced in their discussions of others’ treatment of them and their inabilities to discipline their bodies to conform to professional ideals” (Buzzanell and Liu, 2005, 17). The fact is maternity leave has not been integrated into corporate awareness Buzzanell and Liu, 2005, 18). The need for discussions and research about maternity leave shows that the business world does consider maternity issues an abnormality. Poststurcturalist feminists stress language, self-identity, power, and sensitivity by an employer can be oppressive or empowering, depending how maternity leave is approached. Pregnant women that are supported by their companies tend to work into their final trimester, come back to work more quickly, and return to the same company. This fact alone should persuade companys to make better maternity leave policies. Companies that have “streamlined and unambiguous processes as a baseline from which case-by-case negotiations, as suggested in the first practical recommendation” have more loyal women employees (Buzzanell and Liu, 2005, 20). Since each maternity leave is different for every individual, women should be consulted about their personal needs. Preference theory is another theory, which attempts to explain why women are still held back by maternity and maternity leave issues. It is similar to poststructuralist feminist theory, almost an offshoot of it. The difference is that instead of focusing on the weaknesses and ambiguities of workplace maternity leave policies and attitudes, it focuses on the nature of the jobs themselves and why they are not always conducive to equality for women who are also mothers, and to what extent the choices these women make impact the jobs themselves. According to Hakim (2006), both genders have the same cognitive ability, but sex differences in life goals, competitiveness, and physical needs should be taken into account. Most individuals advocating equal opportunities and rights focus on pay, not family-friendly policies. This raises the problem of careers and occupations that are not compatible with family growth. Family-friendly corporations and more women employees lower gender equality in the workforce, due to the feeling higher pay for men is compensation for maternity leave and benefits. Men feel that women are being given preferential treatment, thus the pay gap continues. This leads to occupational segregation and an inequality atmosphere in the workplace. Some individuals feel that men and women are not equal when it comes to working and careers. The law might guarantee equality, but feelings and attitudes remain. However, men and women do have common career goals, with only minuscule differences. These slight differences can be bridged, since they are socially and culturally constructed. Not all differences between the sexes can be bridged, such as chauvinistic attitudes, aggression, rivalry, and even physical violence. Feminists assert there is no differences between men and women, only the attitude of sexual discrimination creates the differences in job performance. This cry for equality is not entirely true, men and women are different. Both sexes look at life goals, career goals, competitiveness, and the priority of family life intertwined with careers. When the Equal Rights Movement (ERA) gained momentum in the 1960s and 1970s, women were granted equal rights in education and job fields. It has been proven that women do succeed in careers that formerly were male only, such as management, the military, and professional areas. The only thing stopping women is their biological clocks. Women could expand their horizons into top fields if corporations created family-friendly work environments and benefits for all employees, not just women, like parental leave, part-time work, breast feeding facilities, and other like measures. Women tend to favor jobs with family-friendly policies, which make it more comfortable to combine careers and family. These measures are good for women, but might not create equality among both genders in the workforce (Hakim, 280). While family-friendly policies make life easier for working women, they do not change gender inequality in the labor force. If anything, these policies create a bigger gender inequality gap. Family-friendly polices promote segregation in the workforce, pay gaps, and promotion cut-offs for women. It is unrealistic for women to achieve a fifty-fifty percentage of top jobs, when due to biology they must take leave when expecting. Feminists contend that male stereotypes are overrated. These male stereotypes suggest men pursue their career continuously, working long hours, and have greater dedication, because they do not have to spend as much time or have as much responsibility as women do toward their families. This stereotype continues to influence employers. Employers refuse to create family-friendly environments, by redefining jobs and careers compatible for women with families. Sometimes employers are even unwilling to change work schedules or arrangements for maternity leave due to inflexibility or the costs involved. Again, it is unrealistic to expect all occupations, careers, and jobs to be transformed into family-friendly environments without extensive changes and negative consequences. This occurrence of non family-friendly environment could be due to travel, whether for long periods or at short notice. Non family-friendly environments could include extensive, unpredictable, extended, or permanent travel from the corporation headquarters (Hakim, 281). Workers free to travel, will always be promoted over sedentary workers in certain fields such as travel agents, sales, or corporate management. Sedentary workers do not have the same work experiences as mobile workers. Mobile workers have more experience in certain fields, which will lead to better promotions, due to more experience. A job that requires travel places limitations on maternity leave and parental leave plans, due to the inflexibility of these occupations. On the other hand, some occupations can accommodate or change to fit family-friendly needs. These jobs include part-time, self-employed, seasonal, intermittent, and so forth. The problem is part-timers do not receive the promotions like full-time employees. Part-time employees do not receive full benefits, such as health and dental care, like employees working full-time. Also full-time employees gain more experience in their field than part-timers. The job is the full-time employees priority, whereas part-time workers tend to put family first. Since full-time employees sacrifice family and social aspects of their life, they can put more energy into work. This effort creates better job performance and understanding that a part-timer cannot compete with (Hakim, 282). Normally, part-time jobs are lower-grade jobs with little responsibility, fixed hours that rotate weekly, paying little more than minimum wage. Higher-grade professions can employee part-timers, but normally are the same job with shorter hours. Women planning on a family want family-friendly work hours that are flexible, predictable, and fewer hours. The workers picking up the shifts and overtime mothers do not want, expect to receive compensation for their efforts (Hakim, 283). Having a family is a choice, single workers assert. More work deserves more pay. Todays research suggests that the position of women in the job force is making patriarchy and sex discrimination an outdated attitude (Hakim, 285). New theories need to be examined that are based on the latest research. The Preference Theory fits this description. The Preference Theory takes into consideration lifestyle choices and preferences, instead of social attitudes, patriarchal views, and stereotypes. These lifestyle choices can be better predictors of behavior, than the old social views. Economic and social structure will continue to dictate womens choices to a certain degree, but are becoming less and less important, especially in the area of social class (Hakim, 286). The Preference Theory also explains the pay gap and segregation in the workplace. Research suggests that men will continue to outnumber women in top and professional jobs (Hakim, 290). The reason is simple, men do not have to chose between a career and family. At the most, a man only has to take off for the birth of his child, if he chooses. Equal opportunities dictate that all women are career oriented, however this is not true. This leads to the assumption more effort needs to be given to mothers at work, such as maternity leave, breastfeeding rooms, and childcare. However, if the minority of career orientated women are childless, choosing a career over children, then current policies are useless to part of the population of working women. Employers must realize that policies might not suit everyone. This means that policies need to be fair and flexible (Hakim, 290). Yet another theory that has recently come into play regarding feminism (and can also be applied to other types of discrimination) is rational bias theory. Trentham and Larwood (1998) note that: individuals who do not themselves hold negative prejudices may nonetheless "rationally" choose to discriminate as a consequence of particular conditions. For example, they may discriminate if they believe those in power over them and their careers expect or approve of such behavior, particularly if the organizational climate is one in which discrimination appears to be the norm. Their analysis extends research concerning this phenomenon of "rational bias" in three ways: (1) by further examining the conditions that give rise to rational bias among employees decisions in business situations; (2) by examining perceived awareness of rational bias-related discrimination in the general business world and within the work organizations of study participants; and (3) by examining the influence of individual differences (i.e., locus of control and gender of respondent) that may affect the likelihood of rational bias decision making. (Trentham and Larwood, 1998) The Rational Basis Theory is a theory in which discrimination used by an employer can be justified to the employee, even though the employer is aware of the law forbidding discrimination. Under this theory, an employer might choose to treat other employees equally, but single one out, like an expecting mother. Employees that have decision-making positions, such as supervisors, generally follow superiors and even clients to further their own career. If a superior has a certain attitude, the employee normally mirrors it. It stands to reason that if an employee shows rational bias or discrimination based on a superiors or clients attitude, the act can be rationalized to employee showing rational bias. For example, if clients consider male consultants more effective, a consulting firm will assign male consultants to them. Employees will act for self preservation, making decisions that promote their careers and eliminating threats to their career. Most employees feel that bias discrimination occurs regularly in the business world, and promotes the companys profits and power base. When studying the Rational Basis Theory, men are more likely to show rational bias than women. Even when dealing with clients, women tend to resist rational bias. This could be the feeling of discrimination is something women can relate with, so they do not wish to impose this on anyone else. It is also possible that women who experience discrimination believe that a person is responsible to treat others like they wish to be treated. Each of these theories addresses the issue of sexism, and specifically sexism in the workplace, from slightly different angles. The question is, what comes next? While there are obviously many cases in which women still appear to be penalized for being women and having families, theories such as preference theory indicate that many women are aware of the consequences of their decisions and can accept them, and that much of the inequality that remains is more due to the competitive nature of our fast-paced society rather than sexism. However, theories such as rational bias theory remind us that there are still many cases in which, unconsciously or not, employers and workers discriminate against women for no good reason other than stereotypical perceptions. There are also many women, such as those in the poststructuralist feminism study, who feel misunderstood and mislead about how they would be treated if they decided to take time off to become mothers, and those who could later not conform to the “physical ideal” of a good worker. These articles make it clear that we still need to have ongoing dialogue about sexism and sexism related issues. With the possibility of a serious female contender for the office of President of the United States on the horizon, now is the perfect time to bring these issues into the forefront once again. References Buzzanell, P.M. & Liu, M. (2005). Struggling with maternity leave policies and practices: A poststructuralist feminist analysis of gendered organizing. Journal of Applied Communication Research 33(1), 1–25. Hakim, C. (2006). Women, careers, and work-life preferences. British Journal of Guidance & Counseling, 34(3), 279-290 Ritzer, G. & Goodman, D. (2004). Sociological Theory, 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Trentham, S. & Larwood, L. (1998). Gender discrimination and the workplace: An examination of rational bias theory. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. Retrieved on 5/18/07 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is_n1-2_v38/ai_20816289 Read More