In our discussion class, we noted that women are gaining economic power because many families need two incomes to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, not because gender norms are radically changing. What does this new gender gap indicate for the future of economic power? Will women take over men at top executive positions in the UK, or even the United States? Or, will traditional beliefs about the superiority of men continue to prevail despite graduation rates? Additionally, why does this gap exist?
I believe that this graduation gender gap exists because men have always held a position of power economically, and thus do not feel as pressured to succeed because society traditionally values males. However, women, still continuing to fight for economic equality and equal pay in executive positions, feel the need to do the best they can in order to elevate themselves up and beyond men. With a university degree for women, it would be much harder for companies to justify unequal pay between women and men. Furthermore, I do not see the traditional gender imbalance in the workplace shifting anytime soon. Though I certainly think that women will eventually assert themselves as economic equals, gender norms will have to change alongside. It is not a matter of women getting educations and finding good jobs, because they already have that ability. Rather, society needs to let go of long held beliefs about how men are supposed to be the money makers of the family.
The article can be found at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gPTdcgP10nXHi62JcrtlZVoNmfGw?docId=N0490281320579005534A
Blogging Assignment Week 12: Rebecca Iloulian
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/high-heel-race_n_1031934.html?1319631035&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl20%7Csec1_lnk1%7C107659
In this article/video, we see drag queens having a high heel race for a Halloween competition in D.C. The article itself is written completely normally, no judgement or gender biases within it. This race was nationally approved, at least by the government, and participants felt supported enough to be a part of this race and go full out. What actually is interesting is if you scroll down, to see what people commented on this article. There is a wide array of feelings toward this event, one which I thought stood out a lot being,
"It is a shame that in our great nations capital such filth is allowed. Or in any city. Sane concerned Americans do not want nor support in any way these perverted gender confused actions by this shameful few. They are destroying and doing so much harm to our society. God Bless America. In God We Trust."
This person was not accepting of this gender concerning event, and clearly holds no acceptance for drag queens, calling them gender confused. This person's ideas stem from some sort of religious belief, as he makes reference to g-d. I think that though this view is very strong and this person's comment is very intense, this is not the standard of what most peoples comments were. In fact, most comments talked about how great this diversity was and how it was such a great, fun race. I think that's awesome that the majority of people who commented on this were very accepting, and felt the need to express their excitement over this race. It hopefully shows that the world is becoming more tolerant and accepting of gender conflict and the gender role stereotypes not being used any more.
I completely agree with you. Although women today have experienced less restrictions in terms of education opportunities, they still continue to fight for equal pay. Most of them still struggle to obtain positions that traditionally belong to men. For this reason, it is important for women to acquire a college degree; it would be difficult for them to acquire well-paid and respectable jobs without one, and would make it difficult for them to move up the career hierarchy. As opposed to women, men have no strong incentive to pursue a college education since it has always pretty much been expected of them.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of relates to Jonathan's post, it comes from the “Women are gaining power around the world” article published on The News Argus college newspaper and web site. The bottom line is that women are slowly gaining more power in politics, and a World Bank report on gender discrimination reported that less corruption exists where women govern. "People say they trust women more than men because they are not corrupt.”
ReplyDeleteHere is some more on that if you are interested:
"Sworn in as president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf vowed to attack the corruption that lay beneath the recent bloodshed and despair in her African nation. In Chile, newly inaugurated President Michelle Bachelet, tortured as a teen during a dictatorship, was propelled to power by voters who were weary of machismo politics and corrupt leaders. Angela Merkel, elected in November as Germany's first woman chancellor, leaped to power earlier in her career after her mentor, ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl, was cut down by a slush-fund scandal.
Where trouble and corruption hang in the air, voters around the world are increasingly turning to women to clean up the mess left behind by bad-old-boy networks.
The United States trails much of the world in the success of female candidates, ranking behind dozens of countries in the percentage of women elected to parliamentary bodies. That is due in large measure to the fact that about 70 countries now prescribe hard quotas or voluntary goals for women's participation.
But some U.S. strategists believe the budding lobbying scandal in Washington will heighten the chances of women candidates who are trying to unseat Congressional incumbents in November. And the groundbreaking successes of women in other nations have helped rekindle talk about if, and when, a woman will be elected to the White House.
"People are talking about Hillary and Condi and thinking why, if it can happen in Germany and Chile and Liberia, can't it happen in the United States?" said Yolanda Richardson, president of the Center for Development and Population Activities, a Washington-based nonprofit group that works to improve the lives of women and girls.
She was referring to Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, spouse of the ex-president and a leading light in the Democratic Party; and Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state whose political fortunes received a boost recently when First Lady Laura Bush said she should run for the Republicanas' presidential nomination.
Political veterans wonder if 2008 is a realistic goal for a woman reaching the presidency, given Clinton's lightning-rod status and Rice's assertion that she won't run.
Nonetheless, Richardson and other strategists say that around the world, women are fast climbing into new realms of power.
"The trend lines are good. Increasingly there are breakthroughs in women achieving leadership positions, and it's happening faster than ever before," she said.
In 1995 at the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing, governments set a goal of women achieving at least 30 percent of seats in national parliaments. Thus far, women have succeeded in commanding only about 16 percent of those seats. But that amounts to an all-time high today of 6,690 seats, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, reflecting some key gains in the past year"…