Gender Stereotypes In Nickel And Dimed

According to the United States Department of Labor(2016), the unemployment rates among black americans was a staggering 8.6, compared to 4.1 with white americans as of October of 2016. This gap, although much smaller compared to thirty five years ago, shows no trend of changing. Unemployment rates among the minority citizens of america has been consistently about double that of white america for an extremely long amount of time, six decades to be exact, according to Pew Research Center (2013). This is not only an issue in the United States, in the UK nearly half of young black males looking for a job are unemployed. This shows that discrimination is not just a factor in today’s labor force in the United States, but throughout the world as

Women continue to face disadvantages in the workplace in regards to not receiving equal pay as well. There are many instances where women have the same or more qualifications to do a job than their male counterparts but do not receive the same pay. This difference in pay is not only related to gender differences but also racial differences. Women employees of different racial backgrounds tend to earn less money than their white female and male counterparts. Many women of color often face discrimination when applying to jobs and are overlooked for a position despite having the qualifications to do the work. When they are hired to these occupations they are not receiving the same pay as their white female counterparts. This double bind that minority women face within the work place continues to lead to economic hardships. Regarding women in the workplace in general, due to society’s high regard for men they are often not promoted to positions of authority or receive equal pay because people assume that women are inferior workers. (Buchanan, p205-207)

In today’s society it is still common to assign gender stereotype to specific career paths. Careers such as a construction worker, mechanic and electrician may be gender stereotyped as a man’s career and careers such as nursing, secretary, elementary school teachers and child care workers may be seen as a woman’s profession. I chose to analyze the concept of “ The Glass Escalator” by Adia Wingfield and relate it to two different news articles “ More men enter Fields Dominated by Women.” By Shaila Dewan and Robert Gebeloff and the article “Kudos for the Black Male Nurse” by Benjamin Greeen Jr. It has been encouraged for both men and women to take on occupational fields regardless of gender and race stereotypes. In Adia Wingfield’s study she also focuses on the inequality based off of race and gender in the work field for advancement in the a workplace. I decided to focus more on the subject of men just entering these different fields as an accomplishment.

al, 1996, p. 65). Minority women faced greater oppression, and were less likely to be hired. If they were lucky enough to find a job, it was usually low-ranking, part-time, and short-term, as employers eagerly replaced them with Caucasians, men or both (Frances et. al, 1996, pp. 69-70). Part-time work was very common, with 25% of female workers part-time in 1989 (Frances et. al, 1996, p. 66), displaying an employer’s reluctance to allow women employees. Even as more females entered the workforce despite resistance, they were still discriminated against due to the current powers in charge.

Currently, equality is a conflict that many people are striving to resolve. There has been much progress within the last hundred years (Women's International Center, n.d.), since all types of people have started participating in the American workforce, but we still have some ways to go. Certain groups of individuals are guided into certain types of jobs (Skaggs & Bridges, 2013). Research provides support that minorities, women, and people of color tend to be employed and concentrated in low wage work (Blackburn, Jarman, & Racko, 2016). Stereotypes that surround these protected groups are part of the cause as to why they are employed in certain jobs. These stereotypes include; women are mothers and cannot be dedicated to her job or ethnic minorities do not have adequate skill

Among non-Southern Hispanics, 47% reported working as a paid employee, while only 40% of Southern Hispanics reported working as a paid employee. Rates of employment for Southern African Americans was 47% and just 40% of non-Southern African Americans report working as a paid employee” (University of Arkansas, 2010). Life opportunities and job competition also showed large disparities between the groups and the highest rates were shown to relate to African Americans among all the groups which shows that discrimination and stereotypes still exist between all the groups and that America is not a post-racial

Statistics Canada estimates racialized groups will make up a third of Canada’s population by 2031; that is one in every three Canadians (Block & Galabuzi, 2011). With a number being estimated like that, racial discrimination should have been ended a long time ago; that is 1/3 of our future society being discriminated against! Racial discrimination negatively impacted people all over the world, and this is unfortunately true for today as well. Race is based on what we can see; someone’s physical appearance. Inequality between the races become prevalent when people are being treated differently purely due to which race they identify with. Over the years, problems with races and inequality seemed to have decreased rapidly, but has it really? Racial inequality has become prevalent today unfortunately, and it is not being talked about. We are just letting this ‘slip through the cracks’ instead of fighting for the rights of true, unbiased, equality between the races. Although racial discrimination is a sad reality in both Canada and the United States, it is statistically worse (more prevalent) in the United States. This paper will explain the unemployment rates in Canada and the United States between men and women, ‘resume white-washing’, and the wage gap between men and women, and the wage gap between Caucasians and the Visible Minority. It will also explain how your skin colour could negatively affect you in your own career just because of others bias’, whether conscious or

“Stereotypes are categories that constrain and shape what a person believes about, and expects from, other people” (Bartlett 1910). The workplace is one of the most active environments for women to be stereotyped against. Women are judged in ways such as being weaker than, and not as active as a man. This can be a problem for a woman in a male dominated occupation by making them feel, or seem, not as valuable as a man. For example, women in the police field will face the struggle of being seen as weaker, gentler, and to submissive to fight crime compared to men. This type of behavior leads to women not receiving much earned promotions, and having more struggles applying to male dominating jobs.

The postwar period starting in 1945 was a time of economic boom and a shared sense of unity in the United States, or so it seemed. Although the unemployment rate was zero percent women and African American workers were becoming increasingly unhappy with their roles in the American post-war economy. Employment of women in America was at an all-time high reaching 19 million by 1945. However, the traditional gender roles between men and women created tension after the war due to women’s push for opportunity outside of their typical roles at home. In the post-war period, African American workers were still feeling a sense of segregation and inequality in the workforce. They were usually the last to be hired, especially African American women,

According to (Gillespie, 2014) and The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the pay gap affects almost all working women, it is especially bad for Latina, African American, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian full-time female workers. In 2014, Latina women's annual salaries averaged just 54 percent of what white men in the same jobs brought home. When we look solely at the salaries of people of color, the pay gap is smaller — but only because men of color are paid less than non-Latino white men. Furthermore, white women earn more than African American and Latina women who have the same level of education — so the pay gap is a racial discrimination issue,

For thousands of years, established gender roles have been a part of our society. Women are commonly known as sensitive, emotional, or passive. On the contrary, men are described as rational, competitive, independent, or aggressive. Believing women are more emotional than men is stereotyping. However, the stereotype is not entirely untrue. Development of gender roles is often conditioned more by environmental or cultural factors than by hereditary or biological factors. The development of gender roles between men and women involves the inference of peer community of each gender, the communication style of male and female and the intimacy or connection level of men and women.

Stereotype threats are negative consequences about one’s race, sex, nationality, or social group. Stereotype threats are used a lot more frequently than people realize. Gender is a powerful stereotype that affects many people’s decisions and actions. The stereotype of women in the workplace has come a long way even in the last twenty years. Many businesses tend to want to diversify their demographics by making the ratio of men to women almost equal. “Demographic projections anticipate that by the year 2000 women will exceed 50 per cent of the total workforce…” (Johnston and Packer, 1987). Women were able to make their way in to the workplace when men were off at war during the 1950s. During this time, women proved their ability to do the same kind of jobs men did. Many women worked as machinist, factory workers, and clergies.

Minorities have a higher rate of unemployment than whites in America. Black unemployment in America rose “from 15.3 to 15.5 percent“ in March 2011, while only “7.9 percent of white workers were jobless” (Ross). The factors causing this lack of employment among minorities are explained as having to deal with education, age, ethnic-sounding names on job applications,

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton said, “We have come a long way from the days of slavery, but in 2014, discrimination and inequality still saturate our society in modern ways”. This quote rings true where equality in the workplace is concerned. In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson”, we see what social discrimination looks like through the eyes of children who are observing a wealthier part of town. In their eyes, they see and injustice and question why it is not being altered into something centered more on equality and equal opportunity. Toni Cade Bambara’s story “The Lesson” is written to make a point about racial discrimination in the workplace and social inequality.

How women are perceived by others, and how women perceive themselves, impacts their leadership roles in the work place. Stereotypes and gender biases are themes women have been dealing with for centuries. How women are perceived by social medial and television have been influencing how they are treated by men, and how they view themselves when it comes to taking a leadership role in their organization. According to Omega Institute (2012), “The rapidly shifting landscape of new media and technology, including reality television and celebrity culture, continue to reinforce gender stereotypes” (p. 1). This leads to men still growing up viewing women as home makers versus bread winner. With more women entering leadership roles in the work place they lack the respect from men due to how these men have grown up to know the typical role of a man and woman. Men tend to feel belittled due to the gender stereotypes seen on television, and this leads to women struggling to succeed as a leader with the lack of support from their male counterparts. Lack of confidence with women in the workplace is also influenced and effected by how women are perceived in social media and television. According to Steele (2005), “Exposure to stereotypic commercials persuade women to avoid leadership roles” (p. 276). As young women grow up seeing the typical gender stereotypes they lack ambitions to break the mold and