Are women less privileged in today’s society than men?
Undoubtedly, the principle of gender equality is of utmost importance for any modern society. Political changes of the last century aimed to gradually build the status of an empowered woman, with the number of opportunities and privileges equal to that of a man. Numerous legislation projects, shifts in the global economy, and innovations in domestic policies tried to eliminate the rudiments of gender inequality around the world, but even those measures were not enough. Women are still facing discrimination in their daily lives, even in developed countries, so this paper will discuss the inequality in fields that directly affect the people of today.
Inequality in Career Choices
Modern economies offer a wide selection of career paths and professional choices for any person, but they’re always were some jobs with gender bias attached to them due to technical peculiarities. Technological progress reduced the minimum level of the characteristics required for entry in such fields, yet bias remains. According to Goldin (2014), fire-fighters once had to be strong enough to carry heavy and unwieldy equipment, but the advent of lighter hoses diminished the actual physical strength required; still, there is this physiology-based bias that prevents even representation of genders in this line of work. If today both genders can perform evenly in the same field thanks to technological progress, then why inequality is still an issue? As Golding (2014) states in her work, “Society has imperfect information regarding changes in technology and infers change from certain observables. One of these observables is the sex of new entrants” (p. 314). Because of poor communications or lack of information, wider groups of society may interpret the entry of female workers into male-dominant occupations as a decrease in standards for that specific field. Therefore, male specialists in that field will want women barred from their occupation to protect their status. Even professionals themselves may believe that gender diversity can hurt their occupation significantly. As Golding (2014) noted in her studies, police officers perceive their status to depend on the sex composition of their police station. They simply lack the knowledge about their counterparts in different departments or regions, so they assume that their occupation, in general, is male-dominant. Again, imperfect information management propagates gender bias even further.
Gender Pay Gap
The salary difference between genders always was one of the most pressing issues for feminist movements around the world. Unfortunately, even dynamic transformations of the global economy did not eradicate the wage gap. A lot of contemporary studies cover the inequity in the workplace, but studies that focus on pay differences between genders are on the rise. According to Roach (2014), “There is ample evidence that there still is a pay gap amongst men and women” (p. 3). Even in fields that never were traditionally male-dominant, women still earn less. It is not about physical requirements either, since even in academic fields females are still facing discrimination. As Roach (2014) states in her studies, in the academic environment, women as an assistant, associates, and full professors on average earn only 83% of what their male counterparts earn. Even if there is an increase in the representation of women in some occupations, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will earn as much as men in that field. When a fresh female specialist starts her career, she is hesitant to discuss any differences in pay, because of that wage bias; inquiries about salary from female employees may affect their chances for salary increase.
Responsibilities of Motherhood
Traditionally, the role of a female in society was deeply tied to the concept of motherhood. It was expected of a woman to give birth and to care for her children. Various social transitions made it possible for modern women to choose motherhood as their lifestyle, or to not choose it at all. Even shifts in gender roles tried to divide the responsibilities of childcare between both parents, not just mothers. Yet the bias behind motherhood is still strong. According to Evetts (2014), even in Britain, mothers’ paramount responsibility for children is barely questioned; there are no public childcare facilities for ordinary working mothers. There are still a lot of traditionalists who are very radical on the position of women in society also. As Glenn, Chang, and Forcey (2016) stated in their work, there are still parties in developed societies which are convinced that motherhood should be the women’s sole mission and source of gratification. The public image still represents females primarily as mothers, and not as diverse individuals.
Conclusion
Even though gender inequality is one of the most pressing social issues of the current era, women are still subjected to discrimination in different fields. A lot of work was done to empower woman’s status in society, yet there is enough bias left that affects their daily lives, such as narrower career paths or severe wage gaps. Changes in social structure or legislative base yield little success since most of this inequality stems from prejudice. Only education and cultural reforms can effectively fight against gender inequality. If developed societies will not work on the inequality issue from a cultural perspective, women will continue to face discrimination.
References
Evetts, J. (2014). Women and Career: Themes and Issues in Advanced Industrial Societies. New York, NY: Routledge.
Glenn, E. N., Chang, G., & Forcey, L. R. (Eds.). (2016). Mothering: Ideology, Experience, and Agency. New York, NY: Routledge.
Goldin, C. (2014). A Pollution Theory of Discrimination: Male and Female Differences in Occupations and Earnings. In L. P. Boustan, C. Frydman, & R. A. Margo (Eds.), Human Capital in History: The American Record (pp. 313-348). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Roach, B. L. (2014). It Is Still a Man’s Game – Discrimination of Women in Pay and Promotion. Forum on Public Policy, 14(1), 3-10.