Gender Discrimination at Work Places
Name
Date
Institution
Gender differences have affected many aspects in people’s lives, be it social, mental, economy, relationships with family, politics, and occupations (Parker & Funk, 2017). Gender discrimination is where a person is subjected to unequal treatment from others because of their sex differences. Gender discrimination has long been a pressing issue in the USA and around the world in general, but prejudice and arrogance have brought significant setbacks. In workplaces, discrimination against women has affected performance, equality, and innovation. Addressing this issue is essential to society since solving it will increase morale and enhance performance.
It is only through addressing the issue we can move to address women harassment because discrimination creates an unequal mentality. If women are given equal opportunities in all areas of employment, equal chances of promotion, and also be allowed to contribute to decision making, they would feel empowered to claim their place in society. However, this does not mean that employers should favour women, but they should be judged depending on their capabilities. In other words, they should practice fairness to all.
The issue of discrimination has lagged on, and if not addressed sooner, women around the world will continue being treated as if they are dispensable and this also prevents them from being innovative and fail to reach their full potential. As we have grown surrounded by this problem, we all have normalized seeing women as inferior, and their opinions are easily ignored and disregarded. Also, when it comes to passing these policies or lobbying for women rights, they fail because there are very few women in power who are fighting for this issue (Bobbitt-Zeher, 2011). Considering there are more women than men, addressing this issue will help solve many other problems.
I believe this issue has been ignored long enough, and it is time for a change. We cannot continue pretending everything is okay and turn a blind eye on what our mothers, sisters, and daughters are going through. In my view addressing the best way to solve the issue is starting with the economic perspective (Dipboye & Colella, 2013). If women all over the world are empowered, they will rise and claim their place in society. We cannot change everybody’s perspective in society by asking them to treat women right. However, we can influence their thinking by empowering women to fight for their rightful positions.
Women have been treated as inferior beings since time immemorial. Today, there have been several changes, but there is a lot to be done. In areas such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and other Middle East countries, women are being treated like property belonging to men. This is a significant issue that needs to be addressed, but we need to start with our country’s small issues. Acting as a role model to other countries will inspire others to follow suit. Also, women will have people to look up to and will therefore be motivated to fight for their rights.
Many people object to the issue based on religious and cultural differences. Others also believe that by addressing these issues, women will be favoured. Chauvinistic men also object this idea because they believe that women should obey men, stay at home as housewives and take care of their children. There is a common saying that ‘Empowering a woman is empowering the whole community.’ Therefore, I believe we can only impact positive change in society if we empower women.
To address the problem, there are a few suggested measures that would enhance gender equality at workplaces. From an early age, many children are taught to act based on their gender. Teaching equality from a young age will give boys and girls a different view of things, and they will not treat others differently based on their gender (Bobbitt-Zeher, 2011). Thus girls should not be taught to act masculine or men not to act feminine; all people can do all duties or failing to do something because the other gender should do it. People need to understand that the smallest change or comment has a massive impact on people’s behaviour, depending on one’s interpretation.
However, this issue is easily misunderstood in society. Unfairness and inequality depend on what fairness means to individuals. Based on genders discrimination, some women believe that equality means they should have things the easy way. However, fighting for equality means they are willing to do equal work before requesting for equal pay. Empowering women means enabling them, encouraging them that they can do it. Thus, they should be able to do their work without depending on men. Yes, they should ask for help where they cannot handle the issue themselves, but they need to understand independence is the first step to gender empowerment. They shouldn’t have to prove themselves, but showing that they can change chauvinistic men from perceiving women as weak (Dipboye & Colella, 2013).
Therefore women need to help and empower each other to take the necessary steps to solve these issues. They should learn from each other and be each other’s support and not go behind each other’s backs. Women need to unite to ensure their voices are heard. In organizations, women and men should be subjected to equal pay for equal amounts of work done, and organizations should also ensure the working conditions are fit for all gender. That includes; habitable washrooms, no woman is physically, emotionally, or sexually violated. Thus, the company should have set policies to safeguard women and address the inferiority perspective.
In conclusion, women have equal knowledge, rights and power as men. No gender is above the other. Thus when it comes to occupations, women should also be treated equally through gender equality policies. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 declared gender discrimination practices by employers illegal. Following this policy, means equal pay, no hiring or firing discrimination. Also, the Act declares icing out and being left out of office discussions as illegal. The main reason why these issues should be addressed is that if women are empowered, it will be easy to change societal views of devaluing women and seeing them as weaker beings.
References
Bobbitt-Zeher, D. (2011). Gender discrimination at work: Connecting gender stereotypes, institutional policies, and gender composition of the workplace. Gender & Society, 25(6), 764-786. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0891243211424741
Dipboye, R. L., & Colella, A. (Eds.). (, 2013). Discrimination at work: The psychological and organizational bases. Psychology Press. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WLjh6V7ChtUC&oi=fnd&pg=PT11&dq=GENDER+BASED+DISCRIMINATION+at+work&ots=mlg8TCIVnn&sig=-twM3fD1DOYogDj9mF0Jw_0Ajto
Parker, K., & Funk, C. (2017). Gender discrimination comes in many forms for today’s working women. Pew Research Center, 14. https://people.math.umass.edu/~nahmod/Forty-two-percent-women-faced-gender-discrimination-on-the-job.pdf