Good Persisting Gender Discrimination Essay Example

I can’t believe that in the 21st century, women still live behind men in terms of roles in the society and even in terms of salary. During one of our class discussions, our professor showed us a video about a man ending the career of his wife to stay at home and care for the family. As a man, I felt ashamed and angry not only against the husband but most especially to society that reduces women into plain housewives. I felt ashamed that men like me still act backwards.
Despite the number of empowered women who are thriving in various professions across the globe, men still play the dominant and women the subordinate in most communities. I am aghast that despite the experiences that women are equally skilled and hardworking with men, they still get the least pay for the jobs. I thought that there is something in the society that allows the gender discrimination to exist. Looking forward, I am afraid that my female children and my children’s children will still experience the gender discriminations in the future. I am a man but I care for the opposite sex that has suffered so much discrimination for a very long time.
We were also taught about the existence of gender roles in professions. Most of the time, students choose courses that the society deemed fit to them as women and as men. In this situation, there are ideological basis to which all the gender stereotypes and discriminations exist. According to Heather Hackman in her introduction to “Sexism,” there are two rigid categories of socially constructed gender roles. These categories she mentioned are “feminine” and the “masculine.” The feminine should always attach to female gender and the masculine to male. Hackman mentioned, “the story we are actually told in this society is that masculinity and femininity are biological instead of socially constructed” (Hackman, 318). In this manner, we are told that women are naturally feminine and anything beyond feminine for women are deemed abnormal.
Relating the femininity and masculinity to actual situation give us the gender stereotypes and discriminations. This answers what our instructor showed us on the data that women are paid lesser than men in the workplace. I think that being feminine is equated to slower pace at work that is why women despite their hard work are paid under.
On the other hand, in the choice of careers to undertake, women most of the time choose courses that corresponds to being feminine like courses in the health care arena, communication, and secretarial. Men on the other hand strive to meet the requirements of the courses that are deemed masculine like engineering, law, armed forces, and law enforcers. Up to this day, men are swarming the engineering field with a handful of women joining who, as a result, are suffering discrimination. I must admit that when I was entering college, the first courses that popped into my head are engineering, and aeronautics. It is because we were taught as men to be choosing courses that are fitted to our gender.
As women struggle to move out from the four corners of their homes to push their luck in several careers, they encounter job discriminations. In an article that we discussed in class entitled “Speaking While Female” by Sandberg and Grant published in the New York Times, it was mentioned that during a story meeting for the hit series “The Shield,” Glenn Mazarra noticed that the two female workers spoke very little during the discussion. When they were encouraged to talk more to facilitate better discussion results, gender discrimination against women were brought out. It was found out that women at work are dislike when they talk more to their peers. Compared to men, women are at higher risk to be disliked when they talk more. It is the reason why women prefer to be silent during meetings. Silence is safer than spilling out bright ideas.
In the aforementioned persisting gender discriminations against women, I think that I need to do my part in changing the situation. As a public administrator, I need to start in my office by encouraging my co-workers to speak out more. I would also try my best to educate my peers that women hold half the sky and so, women should not be reduced to housewife roles and encourage the employment of female workers. There is a need to strengthen the advocates of women’s rights among men like me so, I need to start enlightening my male colleagues, family and friends that women are partners not subordinates.