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Social influences on gender roles
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Introduction
For centuries, women has always been dominated and controlled by men. Society has viewed women as the weaker gender and relied on men in order to survive. As time went on, things have changed, society has became more advance and so are women. During the World War II, women have increased their role in the society by replacing the men’s in the labor market and also increased their status in the society. Today, the growth of women in the work force continually to raise and so are their status. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the National Bureau of Economic Research, statistics have shown 58.1% of women were in the labor market in 2011 (USBLS) compared to employment rate during the war was 35% of women in the labor market in 1945 (Bussing-Burks). So what factors must have interested women to move from being housewife to the work force? Explanations can be derived through observations of their relationship in the household, their relative status in the society, and their rationality in decision-making.
Body
First of all, the growth of women in the labor market is possibly due to their relationship or marriage condition such as leaving an abusive relationship, the loss of husband, or single mothers. In the case of abusive relationship, women have the most disadvantages. Their partner emotionally and physically violated them. The Domestic Abuse Center reported, “One out of every three women will be abused at some point in her life”. This is even more than the rate of women getting breast cancer! In order for women to leave the abusive relationship, they essentially will need to enter the labor market so that they can be independent and be able to gain resources through their productivity. Thus, t...
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It is fundamental to define “old” and “new” roles of women to make a comparison between them. The “old” role of women in the workplace involved menial jobs, and before World War II, women were expected to remain at home and raise kids. Roughly thirty states enacted laws to prohibit married women from working
When Dyk is explaining poverty of the poor rural Southern Black Women, she also says that, “You will be encouraged by their strength and resiliency.” (Dyk178). This means that even though some women have to prostitute themselves and face domestic as well as community violence, they keep on trying to find different ways to earn, so that they can feed their children and give them a better life. Similarly, Coontz presents it in a different way and call it economic independence. One of the reasons why divorce rates are high now, is because women are economically independent because they are educated. They did used to earn in the past, but now they have control over their income and they don’t put up with things like men abusing them or domestic violence; this shows that women have become stronger economically and emotionally as compared to how they were in the past. Those who criticize women for working and not spending time with their children, Coontz states that, “Kids do better when their mothers are happy with their lives.” (Coontze98).
In the times of darkness where women used to be worthy enough just to take care of the housework, kids, and husband; accordingly, women were categorized as housewives while men were the ones who work for the livelihood. It is important to highlight the women role in World War II because besides the war, deaths, ambition and misfortune; women during the World War II where for first time in the history; women were valued and they free themselves from the stereotype role they had. The time of labor inequality in the World War II between women and men was staring to break down; however, women were still stigmatized to just be able to work in jobs such as nurse and the textile industry. The timing of the initial advance
Women have always been stereotyped as being the mother who stays home and has the responsibility of the household and maintaining the children. Presently mothers work outside the home, but they still have the responsibility of taking care of the household. “One study of 20 industrialized countries ...
1995). Although women made a lot of progress during the war, their roles changed again after the war ended as men returned to their jobs. Women were expected to “give up their wartime jobs and resume their homemaking role full-time” (Women Aviators in World War II). In 1944, the US Women’s Bureau took a survey of women “in ten war production centers around the nation [and] found that 75 percent of them planned to keep working in the postwar period. Moreover, 84 percent of the women employed in manufacturing… wanted to keep their factory jobs” (Milkman, R. 1987). Surveys conducted during the war “consistently found that the overwhelming majority of women war workers intended to continue working after the war and to stay in the same line of work” (Milkman, R. 1987). Although women wanted to maintain their jobs, “women were forced out by men returning home and by the downturn in demand for war materials” (Women in WWII at a Glance). The same propaganda agencies that had begged women to work during the war, “now extolled the virtues of giving up their jobs so returning men had work” (Farm Life). A year after World War II ended, “three and a half million women had voluntarily or involuntarily left the labor force” (Colman, P. 1995). Over time, women returned to the labor force “either because of economic convenience, the desire to buy more consumer products, or economic necessity. Other women returned to work simply because they wanted the satisfaction [of working]” (Farm Life). As a result, women began occupying new jobs that had not existed when the war began. These jobs “came about from the technological advances made throughout the war” (A Change in Gender Roles). For example, women sold Tupperware because they could earn money and work from their homes. Their schedules were flexible and could accommodate the needs of their children while they worked (American
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
...cceptance of women to expect their rights as equals, women are starting to make improvements within the corporate setting. Women are making strides, through the formal use of mentoring programs and the willingness of younger males on the executive boards and in managerial positions to accept a woman as equal partners in the success of a business (p.19). Younger males in the board room, who have fast tracked to the top and are likeminded to the equality of women, the greater the likelihood of success for women (p. 19). Women, who are persistent, educated, intelligent and hungry will find their way to the top of the corporate ladder. The not to distance future may give rise to increased equal access, inequitable time frames for women.
Before the WW2 “women worked inside the house” (Bryant 2) and were labeled as a “housewife” (Bryant 2). Moreover, “many women worked side by side with their spouses” (Bryant 2) yet did not hold the same “political power” as men. Furthermore, while women performed many duties at home it was not “considered real work, because… they earned no money” (Bryant 2). American culture saw women as a helpmate for the man and a “nanny” for the children. Women often were not allowed to voice their opinion and an education for a female was seen as a worthless option. Moreover, even when women started trying to continue their education many majors were not available for
Traditionally we have lived in a patriarchal society, in which males were assumed to be the breadwinners of the family to hold down a job and support the household. Women have been characterized as the housewife whom takes care of the family and looks after her husband. This is known as the division of labor, males were seen as the dominant sex purely because they contributed to the family?s material well being of the family more than that of the female.(Brettall & Sargent 2004) Only in recent times has this theory started to change with many women now in the workforce. Males still however dominate the participation rates in the workforce as well as occupying the majority of highly placed positions. In 1996 women in the workforce was calculated at 54% whilst males were 74% still a twenty percent difference but a big change from the 48 percent difference in a 1966 poll. (Zadoroznyj, M)
For many years people have debated whether women should work in the workplace, or just be stay at home moms. Opinions have changed throughout the years, but there are still many who have strong opinions on this subject. During World War 2 many woman were forced to go into the work field because men were needed to go fight in the war. Levitan says, “war effort's high demand for labor and patriotic fervor induced many women to join the labor force, boosting the size of the female work force by 57 percent during the war.” The woman needed to make an income somehow to keep providing for their families. By having to take on this responsibility, women became more confident in their abilities to make tough decisions and provide for themselves.
Today, there are almost as many women in the work force as there are men. It is now a rarity for a woman to work exclusively within the home. In our current economy it is almost a necessity for both the man and woman to work outside the home in order for the household to survive. It was interesting to learn about the economic factors affected women’s participation in the work force in the past and relate that to women’s role in the work force today.
Specifically, females’ tendency to embark upon part-time instead of full-time occupations and their ability to discontinue work have provided them with lesser privileges—decreased pension rights, lower individual assets, and reduced long-term incomes.... ... middle of paper ... ... Typifying the roles of men and women in the labor force due to family concerns and women’s biological purpose has provided men with a source of comparative advantage in work.
However, women have made optimistical progress towards equality and their role in the society has been changed dramatically since the last century. Many women stepped out of their home and start to work at factories and offices. The number of working women with children has more than doubled in the past 50 years. While working conditions for women may have improved, there is a lack of appreciation for the notion that work for most women doesn't end at the door of a factory or office. Despite an increase of women's participation in the labour force, women's share of housework has hardly changed in 50 years.
... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Breed, Heather. Talking With Stay-At-Home Moms. 8 Feb. 1999.
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