Womens work versus mens work. Whose is more superior?

Assignment 1 Annotated Bibliography of Work and economic life

Austrin, T. (1990). Work. In D. Pearson, I. Shirley & P. Spoonley (Eds.), New Zealand Society (pp. 227-241). Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunmore Press.

• Believes unpaid work in the domestic household and the community is as important as work in the public world where they get paid. Should be recognised more and understood that this work is still necessary and needed.

• In NZ, in 1987, 70.2% of all part-time paid employees were women. These jobs are portrayed to be located at the bottom of the occupational ladder and generally segregated from mens work.

• Women are less likely to experience promotions in a career compared to males, instead they are more likely to pass from one job to another. These jobs are seen as less skilled and the women do not usually benefit from sick leave, maternity pay and paid holidays.

Although all families in New Zealand are diverse and different, the roles of both the womens work and the males work should be seen as just as important and equal to ensure there is no segregation between the genders in the work force. Instead, diversity of families in New Zealand should be based on the individuals interests instead of the works income, the labour involved and the ‘importance’ of the job. This is because, although women do not get paid to stay at home and look after the children, it is still just as important and neccesary as every other job.

Fagan, C., McDowell, L., Perrons, D., Ray, K., & Ward, K. (2006). Introduction: work, life and time in the new economy. In C. Fagan., L. McDowell., D. Perrons., K. Ray & K. Ward (Eds.), Gender divisions and working time in the new economy (pp. 1-15). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited...

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...on average work longer hours than males. Women also are the ones who make compromises necessary to fit paid work around the family, and therefore experience stress because of this.

In conclusion the question raised, ‘why is males ‘work’ seen as more important and superior in society compared to that of a womens ‘work’?’ can only be subjected to the differing stereotypes of both genders. Womens work within the household is unrecognised because it’s not something you get paid to be involved in, so therefore society automatically believe that the males work is more important because they are providing for their families, when in fact each are as important as each other. The different working resposibilites of both the male and females, whether it be they are both working or one is raising the children contribute to create the diverse families within New Zealand.