Gender Inequality and Discrimination Essay

The working environ workforcet in the United States is tacit non bighearted of grammatical gender divergence. There ar tranquilize many skids of peremptory discrimination that come to the attention of the public, such as Chrapliwy v. Uniroyal. The court case challenged the system of Uniroyal Inc. (a rubber company), which employed mostly female workers in their footgear production division, while males dominated the opposite lines. This segregation is arbitrary gender discrimination, for in that respect is no biological reason as to why wo workforce atomic number 18 more(prenominal)(prenominal) suited to working with footwear as opposed to men. Furthermore, there is an inequality in pay rate between men and women. In an article about gender differences, Time Magazine found that for all labor movementlar a man get downs at a certain pipeline, a adult female makes only $0.79 at the selfsame(prenominal) business. This may be filed at a lower place arbitrary discrimi nation, for the benefits of this position be brought about by irrational finis-making.The call into top dog of gender should have nonhing to do with the pay rate in cases that deal with the same employment opportunity. Sex discrimination is commonly outlined as the arbitrary or irrational single-valued function of gender in the awarding of benefits or positions. In new(prenominal) words, tied(p) when a romp does not relate to gender roles, the employer chooses to consider gender when hiring employees. For example, the bloodline of a t individuallyer is very gender-neutral the job skills do not require anything particular(prenominal) that only one sex provides. A construction worker, on the former(a) hand, must(prenominal) be animal(prenominal)ly strong, and in this case, generally speaking more men argon suited for this role. If a school principal were to read a new teacher (from an appli mucklet pool of two men and women) based solely on the fact that he doesnt unav oidableness to hire a woman, this is an example of arbitrary discrimination. The logic behind the decision is irrational, for the woman may be more satisfactory than the man, but the benefits argon not awarded to her only because of her gender. Kymlicka goes on to describe gender inequalities these are already built-into jobs and positions so that women are at a dis reward.Men have defined job roles and thus have make it more difficult for women to be suited for these roles. The most common example isof jobs that require the employee to be free from chelacare. This cogitates that the employee is not the uncomplicated, full-time childcare provider. For example, lawyers work full-time, which is near undoable with young children to aim care of. The raising of a child in itself is a full-time responsibility, so it is difficult to balance with a demanding go. In this case, Kymlicka would argue that men would naturally be more suited to the job of a lawyer because men have structur ed this job in such a way as to make it incompatible with child-bearing and child-raising, and which does not provide economic compensation for domestic labor. In other words, because ball club views childrearing as the females role, and childrearing requires much time and attention, a lawyer is a male-suited role because it requires much time, which males have.Although Will Kymlicka gives a full(a) analysis of the gender discrimination and inequalities that happen in todays society, his solution is not enough to answer the broader political and psychological question that society faces. Kymlicka argues, Since the problem is domination, the solution is not only the absence of discrimination but the presence of power. He says that if women could have the power to specify the existing job roles (or if they would have had the power to define the job roles when they were created), we would not have created a system of social roles that defines male jobs as root-class to female job s. I believe that the real issue is not how women freighter redefine pre-existing jobs so that gender inequality is abolished but rather, how terminate society adjustment its prejudices towards the role of women done the restructuring of laws and policy implementation? preferably of changing job characteristics so that they get under ones skin gender-neutral, society should look at men and women as equals so that women have an equal chance at fitting the demanding roles that have already been established. One bed start by looking at a doctor as an example of a male-defined profession that is arguably becoming female-dominated. To occasion a doctor, much pedagogics is needed, and when this job was created, only men had the ability to get this high uper education. The first woman to graduate from medical school (Elizabeth Blackwell) did so in 1849 much later than the men who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1765. Now that the admissions gender ratio of medical schools are about even, this has ceased to be a male job rather, it is gender neutral. On the other hand, the career of an attorney so far has a majordiscrepancy between the sexes. unperturbed though 49% of law school graduates are female, they only make up 27% of licensed lawyers in the country. Obviously, the access to education is equal, and so does not contribute to the male dominance of this field. On the contrary, this job is male-suited because of the limitations that it poses for women who hankering to have children.According to the Bureau of get the picture Statistics, the position of attorney is extremely time-demanding lawyers are forced to work irregular hours, weekends, with 33% working everyplace 50 hours per week. How cigaret this job be redefined so as to quit more women to be competitive in the job market? Kymlicka would declare that women be empowered to redefine the position to suit them betterthis would mean redefining the position by n ot working as many hours. If it can be done, it will be difficult. The alternative to this solution is to go to the beginning of the problem the gender roles that society already holds. Women are usually the primary source of childcare this means that their employment opportunities are severely confine to those jobs that have flexible hours in which they could balance domestic and public/ secret sector workjobs unlike that of a lawyer. If society would be more accepting of males being the primary caregiver for children, the number of males who either uphold at home or take on less-demanding occupations would displace the high number of women who already fill this role.The women who would enter the job market would and then be on equal terms with their male counterparts seeking the same demanding jobs. If society would view the two genders as equal for child rearing (e.g. women are not the majority of primary caretakers), there are still complications that arise from the roles, w hich are deterrents for women. For instance, even if the woman is not the primary caretaker of the child aft(prenominal) pregnancy, this does not make up for the fact that there is still a period where she is unable to work collectable to pregnancy. In other words, the role of mother and father can never be full equal because the mother has the extra responsibility of carrying the baby to term. However, if the social roles for each gender were to be equal, viewing paternity leave as mandatary could solve this problem. According to the Newborns and Mothers Health Protection Act of 1996, health plans must pay for at least 48-hour (vaginal) or 96-hour (caesarean) hospital stay after childbirth.This means that at the minimum, a woman should take two years off for maternity leave to recover, if nothing else. Although a man does notneed to physically recuperate from childbirth or pregnancy, he is still a parent of the child and should be viewed with equal consideration when dealings w ith childcare issues. By making paternity leave mandatory, employers could no monthlong discriminate between the sexes by accounting for the time lost collectible to pregnancy. This would not be a difficult policy to implement, considering 71% of fathers took advantage of paternity leave in 2007. To expand on the idea that the roles of the sexes cannot be equal in every aspect mothers who choose to thoraxfeed are at a disadvantage, for they will likely take more old age for maternity leave. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a woman can take up to 12 weeks off of work. This option serves as a reason why an employer may not hire a woman, even if the social roles of men and women were equal.However, this can be easily set by creating an incentive for women to choose to formula-feed or to pump their breast milkthis would make it so that they could return to work as soon as a man would. The FMLA states that although maternity and paternity leaves are unpaid, health benefi ts still apply. These health benefits could extend to partially cover the cost of formula or a pump. Baby formula is very costly because of the quantity that is needed, and breast pumps and bags can range from $20 to over $200 (depending if it is manual or electric). By making alternative options to breastfeeding more accessible, women need not take more time off than men, and so gender inequality is invalid. Furthermore, even if society views gender roles equally, this does not account for the fact that the majority of men are physically superior to the majority of women when it comes to manual labor.Looking at any construction or shipping sites, one will set that if not entirely composed of men, almost all employees are male. Obviously, if the job is physically demanding and the male sex is the most equipped at use physically demanding jobs, females will very rarely be more qualified for the job than a male applicant. This can be remedied by the use of technology. In todays soci ety, much manual labor can be handled my machines that are designed to lift even more than a human being can. These machines need not be operated by those physically superior. If we take manual labor out of the equation by adding technology, both sexes would have an equal opportunity at the job this is considering the fact that incomplete sex is inferior in controlling technology. It is here where society can put aside sexual differences andinstead become sex-blind.A sex-blind society is one that does not take into account gender for the awarding of benefits through employment, opportunities, etc. There are many instances in which it would be facilitative to have a sex-blind society, but there are some instances where divers(prenominal) treatment of the sexes is justified. Kymlicka brings up the example of sex-segregated washrooms. These would not be considered discriminatory because the physical difference between the sexes calls for different treatment. Still, these instances a re so rare and are so well justified that they should not interfere with the important public opinion of the sex-blind society. By eliminating the need for discrimination in manual labor due to physical differences through the implementation of technology, society can successfully become sex-blind and thus end gender discrimination.So to answer the question of how to change societys prejudices towards the role of women, it is obvious that if minor changes are made to these demanding jobs, they can be viewed as gender-neutral. This in turn will drop by the wayside more women to compete against men for a variety of jobs. Instead of redefining job roles, society must redefine gender roles through the lens of childrearing this is so that jobs that are now limited to those individuals without the responsibility of childcare may become more gender-diverse in competition. Todays society has all the resources needed to implement these changesits just a matter of time until they are enacte d in policies and eventually shift gender relations and stereotypes in party favor of gender equality.Works CitedArmour, Stephanie. Workplace tensions rise as dads seek family time. regular army Today, December 11, 2007. Accessed may 9, 2011. http//www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2007-12-10-working-dads_N.htm. Chrapliwy v. Uniroyal. Wikipedia. Accessed May 9, 2011. Last circumscribed February 22, 2011. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrapliwy_v._Uniroyal. Cloud, John. If Women Were More Like Men Why Females Earn Less. Time Magazine. Accessed May 9, 2011. Last modified October 3, 2008. http//www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1847194,00.html.Kymlicka, Will. Sexual compare and Discrimination Difference vs. Dominance. 1990. In Morality and Moral Controversies Readings in Moral, Social, and policy-making Philosophy, edited by John Arthur and Steven Scalet, 572-575. Upper Saddle River, New tee shirt Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Leave Benefits Family & Medical Leave. US Departmen t of Labor. Accessed May 9, 2011. http//www.dol.gov/dol/topic/benefits-leave/fmla.htm. Lewis, Jone Johnson. Elizabeth Blackwell First Woman Physician. About Womens History. Accessed May 9, 2011. http//womenshistory.about.com/od/blackwellelizabeth/a/eliz_blackwell.htm. Lloyd, Mark Frazier. The University of Pennsylvania Americas First University. University pull in and Records Center University of Pennsylvania. Accessed May 9, 2011. Last modified November 1999. http//www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/genlhistory/firstuniv.html. Newborns and Mothers Health Protection Act. US Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. Accessed May 9, 2011. http//www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsnmhafs.html. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition, Lawyers. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Accessed May 9, 2011. Last modified December 17, 2009. http//www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm. Werner, Wendy. Where Have the Women Attorneys bygone? . Law Practice Today. Accessed M ay 9, 2011. Last modified May 2004. http//apps.americanbar.org/lpm/lpt/articles/mgt05041.html.