Masculinity In Canada Essay

Evidence suggests women are better at their jobs in law enforcement than their male counterparts. Further, women officers are less likely to use excessive force, less likely to be involved in acts of aggression, and are better communicators in the field (7,6). Why is it so difficult to recruit female officers? Only 21% of sworn officers are females in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2015). Research suggests that women face additional stressors in policing then their male colleagues (7). Dominant constructs of masculinity and gender inequality shape the outcome of how female officers are treated in comparison to their male counterparts. This is done through various factors such as gender roles and policing personalities, enforced by the paramilitary

structure. This has been shown to lead to sexual assault and discrimination in the police force.

First, this paper will look at a historical background of policing, focusing in on women’s roles. Next, it will look at how policing reinforces gender roles, further discussing policing personalities. Further, it will look at ways in which the police service reinforce these “norms” through discrimination, often leading to sexual assault. This paper will then discuss ways in which female officers deal with this burden. Concluding, it will discuss preventative measures to prevent such discrimination among the police service.

Historical Background

Ever since the first forms of policing in Canada, there have always been preconceived notions that policing was the work of a man (10,5,) Canada’s earliest form of documented law enforcement was in the mid 1600’s in Quebec.

These were men known as “watch men” which modelled various cities in Europe such as France (5). Upper Canada, which is now known as Ontario created their own system reflective of English traditions. It wasn’t until the late 1750’s that both Upper Canada and Quebec both followed the English system (5). Following, in the 1830’s Toronto created it’s first volunteer based High Constables. It wasn’t until years later that five paid constables were hired to police activity in the business district. In 1957, Toronto created the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force. Today, the Toronto Police Serve is one of the largest municipal police services in North America

(4).

Much of the early works done by women in policing were clerical jobs or those that were specific to women and children. These often included cases related to social work. Women first started being appointed to female jails and prisons in the 1840’s (10). However it wasn’t until the 1990’s that females are starting to make a serious progression into the policing workforce. Females started to be moved up in the policing hierarchy and around 1970, females duties started overlapping with the duties of the police men including the power to arrest (10). It can be argued that although females have come very far in the policing subculture, there is a still a lot that needs to be done in order for women to be equal to their male colleagues.

Gender Roles

Gender roles are an evident part of our society and have translated into organizational roles such as policing (8,6,).

Martin (1994) defines gender roles as “derived by the ways in which cultural mandates and behavioural norms related to gender shape the interaction of people in specific contexts in different occupations.” When the average person thinks of the police service, many instances might come to mind based on what the individual has been exposed to, mostly as a result of the media. An individual might think of for instance drug busts or putting the “bad guys” away. Some might think of G20 Summit riots, or the case of Adam Nobody. No matter the scenario, there is something similar with many of these things. When we discuss police, there is a specific image that comes to mind: dominant, assertive and typically a male. Policing is thought to be about crime fighting and saving the world. This isn’t typically thought to be a female’s role. As mentioned above, historically, women had a challenging time to hold the same status as their male colleagues. Ever since females joined the force, they have had to put up with problems that can be directly attributed to the fact that they are female (bell 1982, in

3dec).

A simplistic definition of gender roles is a set of societal norms depicting types of behaviours and attitudes desirable for people based on their gender. What growing up as a male might mean the colour blue, super heroes and toy police cars or fire trucks. For most girls, society in North America promotes the colour pink, Barbie’s, tea party sets, easy bake ovens. This translates quite clearly into the “adult” world. Men for instance, are often seen as tough and not communicative, focusing on getting the job done (). This follows the fighting dominant, crime-preventing image of what policing is seen to be. Females on the other hand are seen as being quiet and communicative, striving in interpersonal work, good with children and are often seen as weaker (). This isn’t to say females are not made for the policing world; in fact it is quite opposite. For one, all women are perceived this way and to not fit their specific gender “role” would be to break the barriers of the organization. Secondly, those who do follow those roles still face numerous challenges within the organization. Whether you follow the assumed roles of your gender, or stay away from them you are going to face challenges whether that is internally, or as a result of treatment through the policing organization. There is research to suggest that there are two different images female officers tend to portray on the force (6,15,). The first follows the traditional roles of females showing empathy and avoiding use of force as a way to resolve issues on the field (6). The second is those females who embrace the male stereotypes, pushing away from the perceived female role (6). This is similar to what Martin (1994) displayed as “doing gender”.