The sociological discourse of the 21st century persists on the topic of gender and gender roles, as ascribed by the society for decades, which continue to connect women to the domestic sphere, in a submissive manner, and men to the public sphere, in a dominant manner. In the current modern society, men and women are represented in both the domestic and the public sphere due to social changes that encouraged women participation in the labor work and men’s involvement in the private sphere (Duffy 113). Nevertheless, there are still proves that women continue to be associated with the domestic sphere and socially ascribed the passive nature, while men continue to be viewed as the superior gender, dominating both the public and the domestic sphere through their socially perceived active nature (Phillips 27).
Duffy (113) considers that assigning women to the domestic sphere, playing the role of the nurturing character and men to the public domain is a “historically continent” matter and not something inevitable. There are plentiful examples extracted from the developed world societies to support this idea. As such, women nowadays are more active in the labor market than they were decades ago, when they were traditionally associated with the homemakers. While it is true that women are unrepresented in politics and in executive roles (Phillips 183), it is nevertheless a fact that women’s condition, as connected with the public space, has nevertheless recognized a major progress. Currently, women can choose whether they want to be associated with the public or the domestic sphere or both and whether they want to be breadwinners or homemakers and carrying mothers or accomplish both tasks (Hochschild 259).
Nevertheless, even in this context that seems to have departed from the traditionally ascribed gender roles, women are still facing serious challenges. They are significantly assigned to lower paid jobs or to typical jobs for women, such as cleaning, cooking, or modeling. These jobs are associated with the traditional roles of women, namely taking care of homes and looking good (to fulfill the sex object ascribed to femininity), all to accommodate the needs of men (Reskin 322). Women do not enjoy the same benefits and opportunities with men.
As such, they do not have access to the same educational opportunities as men, are segregated in the skills area and are less likely to enter the labor market compared with men, hence, also less likely to benefit of promotion opportunities (Phillips 167). Women’s participation to the labor market is mostly centered in the services sector, where especially the racial - ethnic women are dominant, fostering a racialized hierarchy (Duffy 114). Furthermore, organizations are hierarchically structured based on gender or race issues that disadvantage women, excluding them from senior positions or from promotion opportunities, while favoring the white men; less than 3% of the senior level positions in United Nations are occupied by women (Phillips 54).
These unrealistic expectations have been created by the media and instilled by a misogynic society that reflect men’s representations on how men versus how women should look like and should act (Phillips 307). Men are the representatives of the superior gender in a society that still maintains traditional values, despite visible emancipation. Therefore, they still dominate the workplace, with more than 90% presence in the executive positions in developed nations (Phillips 54). Moreover, as Hochschild observes, in the household sector women are also dominated by men, because they do more chorus than men do around the house, spend more time with children, while men “have more control over when they make their contributions than women do” (261).
Placing gender roles in a double spatiality, namely the domestic and the public sphere, there can be observed that the roles of women and men in the 21st century are slightly different from what they were in the past, when women were dependent on the domestic space. While women have migrated towards the public sphere and they are making their contributions to the family finances, men dominate the arena of the public space. Gender differences at work portray expectations of men and women, according to which men are strong, active, vocal, rational, attractive and authoritative, while women are expected to be submissive, lacking the requisite abilities to perform as well as men do (Reskin 323).
The gender roles often create stereotypes that lead to gender discriminations. Women who exert male – like organizational behavior at work are considered un-natural; employers mostly prefer men who demonstrate strong character, stereotypically portraying women as opposite to men, more emotional and sensitive (Phillips 36). Other forms of gender discrimination at work include unequal career development conditions, segregation, and low wages (Phillips 182). The lack of access to equal opportunities, such as education, healthcare, promotion are also forms of discrimination that affect women.
Stereotyping implies categorization and it leads to “attribution bias, and evaluation bias”, shaping biased perceptions regarding race, ethnicity or gender (Reskin 320). When categorization separates people in different groups, with which they identify and dissociate from the others, developing an in-group identity while recognizing and differentiating from outer group(s) (Reskin 321). This social separation that seems to be inoffensive, because it helps individuals find their identity (in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, etc.) is in fact supporting the social stereotypes, allowing the dominant groups to “preserve their privileged position [] or to justify unequal treatment” (Reskin 321).
As men dominate both the public and the private sphere, the categorization that position them as the dominant gender allow them to maintain their privilege, protecting their own interest, hence continuing to promote men in senior roles and to pay higher incomes to men. Men strengthen their dominant positions by weakening the role of women both in the public and in the private sphere. While at work, they use discriminative practices for disallowing women to earn the same benefits and the same opportunities. In the domestic sphere, men protect their privileged position by letting women do all housework, while they engage in activities specific for men, such as changing the oil of the car or repairing appliances around the house (Hochschild 261).
The so – called masculine activities represent a form of stereotype that allows men to choose the activities that mostly advantage them. While women clean, cook and nurture babies on a daily basis, men’s activities around the house do not necessitate the same level of involvement. Therefore, Hochschild (262) observes that women work more than men, as they activate in the labor market and continue working after their schedule ends, by taking on the responsibilities of the household.
In addition to working more than men, women receive lower salaries and unequal opportunities at work. The workplace gender discrimination is a product of the capitalist and patriarchal society that foster oppression upon the weaker sex (Phillips 384). Gender oppression goes far beyond discrimination in the workplace, reaching also the domestic sphere that manifest in the form of verbal or physical violence (Phillips 184). However, in the public space, gender oppression can also reach critical levels, manifested through sexual harassment, bullying, unfair treatment or power abuse (Phillips 345).
Therefore, being dominated in the public and the private sphere, women’s emancipation does not seem to have registered a great progress since the era where they were traditionally entrenched solely to the domestic space. While men have maintained their privileged positions both in the public and private space, women struggle to receive more acceptance in the workplace, to be receive equal benefits and opportunities in the public sphere, but are continuously devoted to the domestic life. In balancing the gender roles, it is stringent to break the gender stereotypes and to separate from categorizations, in order to avoid bias, prejudice and discrimination in the workplace and at home. Gender expectations have changed across time, but particular aspects pertaining to masculinity versus femininity still define the roles of men and women in society.
Works Cited
Duffy, Mignon. “Doing the Dirty Work” in . A Century of Gender, Race, and Paid Care Work. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. 2011
Hochschild, Arlie. The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home. New York: Penguin Books.
Phillips, Anne. Feminism and Politics. New York: Oxford. 2009. Print.
Reskin, Barbara, F. The Proximate Causes of Employment Discrimination. Contemporary Sociology. 29 (2): 319 – 328. 2000. Print.
