Work as a Gendered Experience

SS 430-03: Making a Living in the 21st Century: The Sociology of Work

In day-to-day business within the workplace there is a consistent expressed gender gap between men and women in the experiences that they face.  Traditional ideologies such as the man as the breadwinner and the woman as the dutiful housewife persist even today. If a man is employed in a position that is normally filled by women, it becomes a challenge to their masculinity. "Male clerical temporaries, as other men who cross over into women's work, fail to conform to the dictates of homogenic masculinity on two fronts; first they are working temporarily rather than on a permanent and normally higher paying job (‘real’ job), which limits their ability to assume the male breadwinner role. Second, they are doing clerical work (women's work), including demands for deference and caretaking, which challenges their presumed heterosexuality". (Wharton, 2006, pp. 215 - 216).

While men refuse some occupations and the only people available then to fill the job are women, the segregation of the jobs held by men and women continue. Most men and many women will not perform deferential tasks and become subservient to superiors only because it hurts their pride, further exaggerating the stereotype of the temporary worker, for example. (Wharton, 2006, pp. 213- 216).

From our readings this week, I have come to understand that gender inequality is often rooted within the social hierarchy and this affects how women and men are perceived in managing roles. Different qualities are attributed to females when compared to males that often affect the selection process with unfounded bias.

There has been a major transformation of men and women in the workforce in the last half of the 20th century.  In the 1950’s, only a small percentage of women were employed outside of the home.  Those women were employed in only a handful of exclusively female occupations.  On average they only earned about “59 cents for every dollar a man made”. (Wharton, 2006, p. 189).   But by the beginning of the 21st century, about three quarters of women are working outside of the home. These women are working in just about every occupation in which men are employed. However, they still only earn about “73 cents for every dollar a man makes”. (Wharton, 2006, p. 189).  Even though the scale of women’s employment has changed there is still an inequality between men and women in the work force.  Nine out of ten men are able to work but only three out of four women are working and men are still more likely to have better-paid employment, better jobs, and better access to those jobs.

Men and women also continue to be employed in jobs that are perceived as typically only male or female (Wharton, 2006, p. 190). A nurse, daycare worker, or a housekeeper is stereotyped as a female-only job and men who do these types of jobs are considered less masculine. Our textbook states, "When men do deference work such as caretaking, they are popularly defined as feminine- like women- and therefore gay. Male clerical temporaries, as with male secretaries, nurses, elementary school teachers, and paralegals, are regularly stereotyped as gay" (Wharton, 2006, p.210). When women take on jobs that are considered as masculine such as police officer, firefighter or bus driver, she is stereotyped as less feminine.

The glass ceiling effect is also considered a probable contributor to the gender wage gap. This effect suggests that gender provides considerable disadvantages towards the top of job hierarchies, which usually become worse as a person’s career goes on. A women’s labor is considered to be less valuable than a man’s when it comes to compensation and promotion. A woman is considered to be less aggressive than males in fighting for a positive outcome, be it her own salary or the desires of the leadership hierarchy she is working under or towards the corporate entity as a whole. These invisible barriers exist in spite of the achievements or qualifications of the women and they prevent women from advancing within their jobs.

In my years of employment as an emergency medical technician, I did not face much inequality based in gender.  I was paid the same amount of money as any man was at the same experience level.  However, I did face a bit of inequality because I was the only female employed in that company as an Emergency Medical Technician.  In the mid 1980’s, there were very few females in this line of work.   In the beginning I was treated differently because I was a female.  I did not have to lift very heavy patients.  All the guys were tripping over themselves to help me wherever they could.  I found this very annoying because I knew how to do my job and did not require help.  I had passed my certifications, became licensed and sought this employment all on my own. But over time, my co-workers saw that I was effective at my job and that I was just as good as they were.  It took some time but I was eventually treated the same as everyone else, male or female.  I personally feel that there is no need to judge a person, especially ones based on gender, race, nationality and so forth.   I believe a person should be judged on their merits.  I find it interesting that in this modern age, our society still has stereotypical roles based on gender, race, nationality and etc.  One would have thought that we were at a point in society where we would be beyond that type of thinking.

References

Wharton, A. S. (2006).  Working in America:  Continuity, conflict, and change.  (3rd ed.)        Boston:  McGraw Hill.