...Gender Equality Women have faced major discrimination when it comes to work and sometimes in education. Women decades ago had a wide range of opportunities denied to them due to their sex. Women have always been looked upon as the weaker sex and men as stronger and as the rulers. Women years ago were not seen as individuals, they were basically their husband’s slaves. Women were the ones to stay home, make dinner for their cranky and tired husband, look after their children, clean the house and answer to their husband. It was pretty safe to say that women were never the ones that over ruled this society, but “there have been huge changes…” (182) in gender equality. Gender equality has changed dramatically over the years and the shift toward gender equality will continue over the next years to come. It all started in the 19th century something important was born and it was the birth of the women's rights movement. Women were tired of being the “caregiver[s]” (Gender Roles Within American Marriage) while the men were the “breadwinners” (Gender Roles Within American Marriage). Women had to do change things around because they could not live the same life they were living. Many of the “women were suffering under the dominance of men in their lives” (Gender Roles Within American Marriage). It was time for women to fight for “gender equality in family and society economics, social, cultural, and educational fields” (Gender Roles Within American Marriage). It was not easy for...
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...Introduction Gender isn’t black and white -- it isn’t even just pink and blue. Many people believe that there are just boys and girls and one’s gender is dependent on their biologically assigned sex, but this is not the case. From these assumptions also arise a bigger problem: gender roles. Enforcing gender roles on children affects the way they grow up to see themselves and their gender. Sociologists believe this is happening as children “learn gender” from societal expectations, which causes them to grow up with anxiety from trying to live their life within gender norms, and the solution may be as easy as educating people, specifically parents, on the matter. Description of Problem Children learn gender between 0-4. By the time they turn...
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...Gender Role Analysis The roles of gender in today’s society vary according to history, one’s personal biases, environment, and society’s input in education, government, and the workplace. History has shown that gender roles have made great strides of accomplishments in roles that were once very similar in each area of life; particularly the role of females in that they were considered to be the property of men and played the role of the helpmeet, which was a biblical term that was taken to what is considered extreme in today’s U.S. culture. Through various social movements throughout history gender roles have changed greatly. Those changes that were affected by such social movements caused great opportunities and advancement for women and minorities in education, government, and the workplace. Social Movements From the beginning of this nation women did not have the same rights as men and were considered to be more of a second class citizen. In the early years of this nation, women along with minorities were considered the property of men. Women were not permitted to be educated in most cases, did not count as a citizen, could not vote, could not own anything, could not enter into contracts, obtain credit, work without her father or husband’s permission and could not even receive a paycheck in her own name. Social movements have made great impacts on gender roles in society throughout history. From social movements in the beginning of this nations’ history such as...
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...Throughout history, the role of Chinese women has changed dramatically. In ancient times women were mutilated with painful foot bindings and forced to marry men of their family’s choosing at very young ages. Today, Chinese women have received world-class educations alongside their male counterparts and command high power roles in business, politics, the sciences and other industries. Chinese men and woman now work side by side in most modern Chinese cities, however; this trend does not hold true for women living in rural Chinese villages. Gender roles in modern China have come leaps and bounds from where they were in ancient times, yet women in rural China still follow traditional guidelines. Women in China have worked hard over the past century to reach where they are today. The change in gender roles was sparked by China’s republic years. During this time, women in large cites were able to seek formal education and even travel to the west to receive it. Communism, although a questionable form of government, ended the distinction between men and women and finally allowed women to break out of their defined gender role. Women stepped up and took positions of political power and for the first time received influences from outside cultures. New laws have been enacted calling for equality in education, marriage, and rights, but a large group of women do not receive these benefits. Women in rural Chinese villages do not see the advances in gender roles that women in the city...
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...A New Era in Marriage Patrick Liou PSYC 359 Professor Barone A New Era in Marriage Robert Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love states that intimacy, passion, and commitment combine to produce different types of love, ranging from non-love to consummate love. In the 21st century, most Americans consider romantic love as key criteria in finding a marital spouse, but throughout history, the choice of a spouse usually had little if any to do with romantic love. In the 1960s, when the dynamics of a marriage followed the breadwinner-homemaker model, couples who married looked for a companionate partnership that would provide a stable living financially since financial stability was often a priority over individual happiness. Fast-forward fifty years, the economic prosperity has turned the United States into an individualistic society, and the lack of connection and chemistry would often be a deal breaker in a romantic relationship. This shift of prevalent love style from companionate partnerships to individualized marriages that stress romantic love can be attributed to women having better access of higher education and becoming economically independent of men, breaking the need for women to depend on a man as the breadwinner of the household. With women becoming financially independent, they are no longer limited to being a homemaker and can pursue the same opportunities that are offered to men. Thus, under the social exchange theory, men are no longer able to offer financial...
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...conception of "feminine" and "masculine." Much about these conceptions is not biological at all but cultural. The way we tend to think about men and women and their gender roles in society constitute the prevailing paradigm that influences out thinking. Riane Eisler points out that the prevailing paradigm makes it difficult for us to analyze properly the roles of men and women in prehistory "we have a cultural bias that we bring to the effort and that colors our decision-making processes." Sexism is the result of that bias imposed by our process of acculturation.Gender roles in Western societies have been changing rapidly in recent years, with the changes created both by evolutionary changes in society, including economic shifts which have altered the way people work and indeed which people work as more and more women enter the workforce, and by perhaps pressure brought to make changes because of the perception that the traditional social structure was inequitable. Gender relations are a part of the socialization process, the initiation given the young by society, teaching them certain values and creating in them certain behavior patterns acceptable to their social roles. These roles have been in a state of flux in American society in recent years, and men and women today can be seen as having expanded their roles in society, with women entering formerly male dominions and men finding new ways to relate to and function in the family unit. When I was growing up a woman was never...
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...Danielle Weatherspoon Professor Robertson English 1102, Composition and Modern English II 30 March, 2014 Gender Roles Past & Present Both Fences and Trifles are plays concerning the difficulties of interactions between men and women. Glaspell's Trifles uses a murder mystery to portray a soured relationship between a husband and wife. One of the difficulties is that men and women have different interests and therefore take significance from different things. "While the men importantly bumble about trying to discover a motive, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale solve the case right under their dull noses.” (3) Throughout Trifles you are shown how little things add up to big things when small unnoticed facts slip by the Sheriff, the County Attorney and Mr. Hale. Meanwhile the women discover critical evidence. They determine that Minnie Wright, after social abandonment and a silent death, was likely provoked to kill her husband. Although Mrs. Wright says she was asleep at the time of her husband's death, the women find clues in the way that she kept her kitchen and are able to follow her thinking and conclude otherwise. The men only note that it the house is not well kept. The lack of communication and great difference in areas of concern show the men and women of Trifles completely different views of the matter at hand. In the kitchen pantry, the women can remember what it was like for themselves to have picked and preserved their fruit; and understood why Mrs. Wright...
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...throughout history is that of women’s rights, which encompasses the second theme of gender roles. From the beginning of this course, we have studied and read about gender and the roles that society believes the different sexes to be responsible for. Since the beginning, women were not granted or afforded a life independent from their spouse or significant other. They were considered property of their spouse, allowing them to do with as they please. Women were seen as inferior to men and were denied the same luxuries as men. Societal beliefs were that a woman’s role was as the homemaker. She was responsible for taking care of the home and children and keeping things in order for her spouse, who was the party responsible for financially caring for the family. It was thought that if women were afforded male luxuries, such as voting, gender roles in the home would change, something that males did not want to see happen. When the National American Women’s Suffrage Association formed in the 1890s, women lacked many of the rights that men had and were fighting to obtain voting rights equal to that of men. These rights would be the first step in gaining equality for women. This was the beginning of what would pave the way for the great women’s movement and what we know as the Equal Rights Amendment today. Gender roles are still faced today. Society still holds the prejudice of male roles versus female roles in some aspects. Women are still known to be the main homemakers and carers of children...
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...After reading the first essay of Judith Lorber titled ‘The Social Construction of Gender’, there was a section, which it surprised me. It discusses about how gender roles have changed. I would say that today we cannot speak of a type of sedentary woman, but we could speak of a new generation of active and autonomous women. The woman faces very diverse realities according to culture, geographical area or social situation in which it is found. We are accustomed to notice a greater presence of women in the workplace, political, etc. The woman is equally capable than man performing all the things that they propose and no one may doubt because over the years it has been shown capable of achieving even better results than male. For example, the...
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...how these changes influenced retailers, and finally we will conclude. With the modernization, and the development of new technologies, we can see a change in men’s consumption behaviors. Indeed the gender stereotypes have faded; cosmetics are no longer reserved to women, the choice of the car is no longer reserved to men…With the growth of challengers, the increase of e-commerce, retailers couldn’t sell their goods like in the past with one product for everyone without take into account Culture, gender, age... and they have to developed new strategies like retail market segments, business intelligent tools to respond to these changes. Nowadays “more and more men are in the market for grooming and personal care products”. “Men’s grooming represents a $35 billion global industry in America” (source: FIT NYC). Indeed the attitudes and mindset of the American male have evolved. “Today three out of four men agree that men and women don’t need to conform to traditional roles and behaviors anymore” (source: FIT NYC). Nowadays women work as much as men, the household is become neutral and it’s become common to share responsibilities. “Men take more grocery shopping tasks” This change of the gender stereotype is not the only factor that made this change of men consumption. Indeed Men today are more dynamic and...
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...Gender Roles in Teaching Liberal Studies 3000 Section 2 November 30, 2011 Abstract: This research paper covers the history of teachers in the classroom based on the factor of gender. The paper then discusses the effect that gender roles have on students, teachers and classrooms. Gender Roles in Teaching Try to think back to childhood, and ask the question how many male teachers did I have? The response to this is predominately low according to the National Education Association, who state that males only make up twenty-five percent of teachers today. It’s important for children to have teachers who are positive role models. Children benefit from having access to both male and female mentors throughout their early childhood education and school years. (Martin 2005). Currently, men make up only twenty-five percent of the elementary teaching workforce and the number of men teaching in early childhood services is even smaller. The NEA also states that at the secondary level, forty-five percent of teachers are male. It is apparent that these sectors of education need more male teachers to address this imbalance and give children the opportunity to learn from quality teachers of both genders. Children at all levels – early childhood, elementary and secondary, need positive role models so that they can become successful adults. Some of the factors that disinterest males from entering the teaching profession are: stereotyping...
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...individualistic with their roles in society, there is still an unspoken idea of what seems to be the role of women. Due to many selfless attempts from female activists and politicians, there are now a lot of opportunities for women to achieve successful lives by getting an education and being treated fairly in the workforce. However, many women still have difficulty overcoming the stereotypes and expectations that once dictated the responsibilities and opportunities for women in this country. Although there are no longer laws inhibiting unequal treatment towards women there is still a sense of inferiority towards them versus men. A picture drawn by Wladyslaw Theodore in 1873 displays a woman who seems to be a mother going through various tasks that Americans have traditionally recognized as “womanly duties.” In her picture she attempted to display some of the most common domestic tasks that women have historically been in charge of taking care of such as cooking, nurturing for her children, sewing, and cleaning. Wladyshaw’s picture displayed the common tasks of women in older generations and some of these responsibilities that are displayed still remain very common for women today. The photograph suggests, that throughout the history of the United States, the advancement of women has been constricted by certain stereotypes, expectations and preconceived ideas pertaining to the role of women. In order to fully understand the picture one must first understand the role of women in the 1800s...
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...Is it suitable for Multicultural Organizations to inherit the assumption that Work Life Balance Policies are Gender Neutral? Introduction Definition Work Life Balance is not a homogenous concept, and not amenable for precise definition as different people interpret WLB differently; the ideal ‘balance’ can vary at stages of the life cycle (Chandra, V., 2012). Experts within the field have faced difficulties in trying to define the concept, regardless of the wealth existing literature on the subject. WLB policies have been defined as ‘those that enhance the autonomy of workers in the process of coordinating and integrating work and non work aspects of their lives (Felstead et al, 2002). From an employees perspectives it is the maintenance of a balance between work and family responsibilities. This definition allows for a wide range of policies to be included under the guise of WLB initiatives. WLB policies in an organizational setting include, but are not limited to, flexible working arrangements, child and dependent care and family and parental leave (Bardoel, 1998). Importance Many Human Resource Professionals, employers associations, government departments, trade unions, academics and voluntary organizations around the world are currently debating and often enacting, policies and practices designed to promote work life balance (Fleetwood, S., 2007). The effective management of WLB is an issue increasingly recognized as of strategic importance to organizations...
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...Vasconcellos Fabiana Vasconcellos ENG 201 – 526 Apr. 20, 2010 Prof. J. Wynter Societies can be stratified in various ways, such as religion, social class, language, race, ethnicity, gender and sex. These distinctions are either socially constructed or born within the individual. Sex; for example, is based on the ascribed status since it is “imposed by nature” (Renzetti and Curran 137) and biologically determined. In contrast, gender is socially constructed since it “refers to the constellation of traits and behaviors that compose the categories masculine and feminine” (Renzetti and Curran 252). These gender distinctions are reinforced by stereotypes that contribute to social inequality and discrimination in the western societies. Throughout history, our society has always complied with gender roles, however today we are walking through a path to reverse them. Having been conformed to mother’s role for 40 years, Sarah Pen the main character in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’ “The Revolt of the Mother” gains self-confidence to challenge traditional gender roles and reverses them in order to live in a better home. Our society has always characterized men and women in different ways and expected different behaviors from them. “[M]en have generally been the dominant sex and women have been subordinate to them” (Robertson 217). Men are also “strong”, “rational” and “aggressive” while women are “weak”, “emotional”, and “submissive” (Basow 1). These masculine and feminine traits show...
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...Gender and development- historical background ‹ Definitions up Mainstreaming gender throughout the Project Cycle Management (PCM) › Gender and development- historical background The United Nations Charter of 1945 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 established the first official worldwide recognition of women’s equality and non-discrimination on the basis on sex. However up until the late 1960’s the focus was on women’s reproductive roles, as women were seen as wives and mothers and their main issues were supposed to be obtaining access to food, contraceptives, nutrition and health care. The 70’s and 80’s marked a new phase in which the debate moved beyond women’s equality and the domestic sphere of women’s role as wives and mothers onto the global stage where the role of women was promoted as an aid for economic development. The important events such as the First World Conference for Women held in Mexico 1974, the UN decade for women “76-85” and the promotion of the Women In Development (WID) approach emphasised women’s right to development, recognition of women’s economic role in national economies and, most significantly, gave a voice to women in developing countries. Some of the shortcoming of the approaches such as the WID applied in the 70’s were that they fell short of improving unequal relationships, and a significant number of projects were unsustainable as development projects failed to consider the multiple roles carried out by women,...
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