Has globalization had a mostly positive or mostly negative affect on women's economic status?
For about two decades, if not even more, globalization has already created situations that greatly impacted women throughout the world today. Depending on one's opinion on globalization, those impacts could either be good or could be bad; in my opinion, there is no middle when it comes to globalization and the role of women in it. Two examples of globalization are: economic globalization which, according to Burn, “refers to the integration and rapid interaction of economies through production, trade and financial transactions by banks.., with an increased role for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).” and cultural globalization which “refers to the transnational migration of people, information and consumer culture.”
Many corporations would rather employ female labors than male labors because the women are considered cheap workers who are willing to accept and obey control and production demands in return for, no matter how little, paychecks. For one thing, these jobs are usually considered as additional household roles but also bring opportunities to those who are scraping for money and desperate for jobs; but for another thing, even though there has been high demands for these job opportunities for women, the glass ceiling is still there, preventing the women from pushing forward to a higher level of management. Data has been collected by researchers who studied in the economics field that shows different results, both good and bad, of globalization on these women's lives and everyone surrounding them.
Women are being hired by corporations because they would usually work at a lower wage than men, even in unsani...
... middle of paper ...
... down.” (Burn, 156) 3) Women who leave their homes looking for employment tend to be more vulnerable to exploitation. Men travelling all over the globe demand “sexual tourism”,which “arises out of a globalized economy that makes sex work one of the only ways for some woment to earn a living wage and is fed by men from nations who draw on racialized ideology where foreign females are thought to be more submissive and available than women in their own countries” (Burn, 165), that some women fill because they have no other options or choice.
In conclusion, globalization has mixed effects for females everywhere. Even though it helps pull women forward from the poverty line by providing jobs, women the ones who “are hit harder by economic downturns are more likely to directly experience the negative effects of environmental degradation.” (Burn, 169-170)
Even in the modern society woman are constantly looked down. A quick comparison the average wage of a man and a woman shows that woman are still paid lower wages for the same amount of work.
Imagine being employee number 101 out of 1001. Now imagine working on an assembly line in a hot room filled with 1000 other women frantically assembling products for first world countries to use for ten seconds before discarding for a newer version. This job pays enough for you to get by but living in a third world country with low pay isn’t easy. What many people don’t understand is that the cost of production in a third world country is more inexpensive than it is in America. Hiring women to work in horrid conditions decreases employee loss because they are not rambunctious like men. “Life on the Global Assembly Line” by Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes clearly illustrates the hardships women go through for U.S. corporation production. Corporate powers have resorted to building production plants in third world countries to save money. U.S. corporate powers take advantage of third world
The term globalization varies from person to person. A consumer typically associates globalization with a store producing more goods, stocking inventory, and updating their styles, however; an anthropological definition of globalization is, “the worldwide intensification of interactions and increased movement of money, people, goods, and ideas within and across national borders,” (Guest, 19). Globalization of the clothing industry is about the “search of cheap, reliable labor to meet the industry’s tight margins,” (Timmerman 7). Timmerman suggests that globalization change our lives and can be for the good or for the bad (8). Globalization is often viewed as a mutual and beneficial process for those involved, because it is perceived as helping those out who are in poverty get a job and make money for their families. On the other hand, it is viewed as a horrific way to abuse individuals in different countries by paying them tremendously trifling wages, working in strident conditions, and overall being treated inadequately by the factory owners. United States corporations exploit different countries around the world such as, China, Indonesia, Mexico and
As a result of this norm, more feminists who recognize the “systematic disadvantage” (Cahill 206) that women face daily in other countries is the reason why many feminists believe governments should oppose typical gender roles and gender stereotypes by protecting the rights of women. However, culture is always subject to change thus, leading developing countries who have neglected the rights of women to improve due to the global influence of other countries who have gender equality. This, in turn, leads countries to be “forced” to accept feminist agendas who “hold[ing] these patterns… to change them, and thus to change the realities that they produce” (Cahill 208). Not only does gender affect social issues but it also has progressed onto the economic sector for business as well, making gender a multifaceted topic for any
Some women come to the US and take any job that is available even if it means doing long hours and not getting paid a lot of money. Corporations travel over to third-world countries and hire women to do small jobs in large factories for little to no pay. They only hire a certain type of woman. In “Introduction: Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism” the author touches on the subject of the treatment of the third-world woman and what companies expect from her: “This woman turns into a form of industrial waste, at which point she is discarded and replaced.” (Wright, 6) Once this woman has become old and no longer able to perform the task that she was hired for originally, the company throws her out and simply replaces her with another woman. The third world woman has a sad destiny of coming to the US and dealing with the unfair treatment of companies that do not even appreciate their work.
Globalization is a series of social, economical, technological, cultural, and political changes that promote interdependence and growth. Globalization raises the standard of living in developing countries, spreads technological knowledge, and increases political liberation. (Harris 5-23) The main cause of globalization is influence from other, more developed, countries. Globalization is a historical process that results from human innovation and technological progress. The social effects of globalization are clearly illustrated in Peru. Once a third-world country filled with poverty and oppression, Peru is now transitioning into a developed nation. In Peru, globalization has raised the human development index, empowered women, and created a stronger country. (Leon 90-91)
World Bank Policy Report. (2001). Engendering development: Through gender equality in rights, resources, and voice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Class this semester was widely based on the ideas and problematic events in which revolve around the idea of globalization. This term, idea, or concept poses many negativities to the gender of women. Despite the media and the common portrayal that the idea of globalization is a positive thing for the world, in many instances it is causing great negativity for people, specifically women. Globalization can be applied to many aspects of culture but many times it is applied in terms of economics. In the patriarchal world in which exists when speaking about economics it is typically a male centered conversation due to the males typically being in lead roles of the work force despite many women in this country and well across borders in other countries being very highly educated and capable of carrying out such jobs. Many of these women who seek to be educated and successful in the workforce do not achieve their goals and fall back into their gender roles which goes against their personal goals. This was demonstrated very well by the case study of “Clashing Dreams: Highly Educated Overseas Brides and Low-Wage U.S. Husbands” written by Hung Cam Thai. Not only are these brides in which are talked about in this essay failing at their personal goals they are also failing at the goals in which Estelle B. Freedman discusses in her book No Turning Back. In this work she speaks much about transnational feminism and the objectives in which much be met to obtain equality rights for women transnational. The link between Freedman’s work and the study of Vietnamese brides marrying transnational is undeniable not for positive outcomes but for negative. By linking these two works not only will it show what needs to be done for women to obtain equal ri...
Women had suffered unfair pay in the workforce for years. Statistics have shown that men still earn more than women who have the same degree, education, and qualifications. Women are the main focus for the uneven and unequal share of low-wages in the United States. However, women have additional responsibilities from men that keep them out of the workforce longer which in return leads to discrimination. This research will introduce problems, solutions, and prove that there are alternatives for women.
For many decades, women have faced inequalities in the workforce. At one point, they were not allowed to work at all. Although women's rights have improved and are now able to work alongside men, they are still treated unfairly. According to the 2012 U.S. Census, women’s earnings were “76.5 percent of men’s” (1). In 2012, men, on average, earned $47,398 and women earned only $35,791. This is when comparing employees where both gender spend the same amount of time working. Not only do women encounter unfairness in work pay, they also face a “glass ceiling” on a promotional basis. This glass ceiling is a “promotion barrier that prevents woman’s upward ability” (2). For example, if a woman is able to enter a job traditionally for men, she will still not receive the same pay or experience the same increase in occupational ability. Gender typing plays a huge role in the workplace. It is the idea that women tend to hold jobs that are low paid with low status. Women are not highly considered in leadership positions because of social construction of gender. Society has given women the role of “caretakers” and sensitive individuals. Therefore, women are not depicted as authoritative figures, which is apparent with the absence of women in leadership roles in companies. Furthermore, sex segregation leads to occupations with either the emphasis of women in a certain job or men in a certain job. In 2009, occupations with the highest proportion of women included “secretary, child care worker, hair dresser, cashier, bookkeeper, etc.” (3). Male workers typically held job positions as construction workers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, etc. (3). Sex segregation represents inequality because the gender composition for these jobs depends on what ...
Women are more educated now than they have ever been, but even women who are university graduates are earning less than men. Frenette and Coulombe reached the conclusion that this was often due to their degrees being in gendered fields of study, such as the arts and humanities (as cited in Gaszo, 2010, p. 224) Women also tend to work in fields associated with lower pay, which includes service and sales work (Gaszo, 2010). In the garment industry, women, especially immigrants and women who work at home, are routinely taken advantage of by companies such as Wal-Mart and paid far too little (Ng, 2006).
“Women have talent and intelligence but, due to social constraints and prejudices, it is still a long distance away from the goal of gender equality” (Pratibha Patil). A common misconception that is prominent in many modern day ideologies, is that gender does not have as much of an effect on workplace experience as it did several decades ago. This is untrue. “Most occupations remain skewed toward either men or women” (Jacobs 32). This occupational gap is an unmistakable reason for men and women being treated so vastly differently. Many people tend to believe that after women gained the right to vote and became eligible for many workforce positions,
According to Vera Nazarian, “A woman is human. She is not better, wiser, stronger, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man. Likewise, she is never less. Equality is a given.” For centuries, gender discrimination and inequality issues concerning employment and wages, has been a serious problem that still is in the midst of being solved. Women excel in all fields and play a vital role in economic development of the country, and their contribution is nothing short of their male counterparts. However, there are still several issues and problems that women face today. Sometimes, they are not treated equally in their workplace and are considered as inferior to their male co-workers. Gender discrimination and inequality issues has been a reoccurring issue for years and because of this, it impedes single and/or married women from acquiring certain occupations or levels of occupations as males, receiving equal wages as males, and therefore affects women’s economic class placement in society.
It can be concluded that women are treated in terms of stereotyped impressions of being the lowest class and greater evidence can be found that there are large disparities between the women and the men 's class. It can be seen that women are more likely to play casual roles as they are most likely to take seasonal and part time work so that they can work according to their needs. They are hampered from progressing upward into the organizations as they face problems like lack of health insurance, sexual harassments, lower wage rates, gender biases and attitudes of negative behavior. However, this wouldn’t have hampered the participation of the women in the work force and they continue to increase their efforts which is highly evident in the occupational and job ratios of females in the industry.
Using 1997 financial crisis and other examples, discuss how globalization is important to the modern business journalism. Introduction