The Glass Ceiling And Glass Escalator

While watching the “Ladies Room” episode of Mad Men, a lot of traditional gender roles were portrayed. Gender roles are often defined as how a society defines how women and men should think and behave. Men are often taught to show instrumental qualities, such as competitiveness, dominance, and confidence, while women exhibit more expressional qualities, such as empathy and sensitivity. The Mad Men episode started off with a man showing dominance by being demanding towards a waitress. While at work, the men competed against each other all while messing around and having fun at work. Women in the episode expressed themselves by gossiping and showing feelings towards others.

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.

Cherie Martinson, the first woman hired for the role if VA Medical Center Director in forty years, has broken the “glass ceiling” (Northouse, 2016, p. 397). to secure a job traditionally held by a man. She has demonstrated strengths through various responsibilities. Gordon Nyquist acknowledges that Ms. Martinson has good conflict resolution skills and works as a team player. Ms. Blake described Ms. Martinson as factual and intelligent with strong persuasion skills. She has demonstrated good decision-making skills, even in difficult situations. She uses her intuition and is dedicated to her responsibilities even after taking care of her sick mother all night.

In her 2013 article featured on The Feminist Wire, “Dig Deeper: Beyond Lean In” bell hook describes “the feminist movement based on women gaining equal rights with men” (661). This essay is a response to Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?” which encourages women to aim for positions of leadership and power. Sandberg’s definition of a feminism is gender equality with an existing social system. Hook contrasts Sandberg’s definition of feminism and makes it her own “one that does not conjure up a battle between the sexes” (662). Since men and women are both greatly influenced by sexist social norms and ideals, it is important to “acknowledge and understand the myriad ways race, class, sexuality, and many other aspects of identity and difference made explicit that there was never and is no simple homogenous gendered identity that we could call “women” struggling to be equal with men” (661). While men are taught to be the strong providers of the family they endorse high positions in the workplace, on the other hand, women are taught to be housewives who love to cook, clean, and raise children. These stereotypical roles that society has made for genders enforce a situation in society that causes each gender to be put in a category, or

Most people think of “traditional” gender roles such as those depicted in mid 1900 television sitcoms: The father going to work every morning and the mother staying home all day cooking dinner and cleaning the house. Gender roles are a set of social and behavioral norms that are generally considered appropriate for either a man or a woman in a social relationship. By 2050, women will make up 47 percent of the workforce in the United States which is up from 30 percent in 1950. Through the use of allusion, satire, connotation, and the central metaphor of performance, Louisa May Alcott is able to reinforce her message about nineteenth century gender roles in the novella Behind a Mask. The

The Impacts of gender roles and expectations can be seen in the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, the article “But What Do You Mean?” by Deborah Tannen, and the article, “Lost in the Kitchen” by Dave Barry. In each context, it was shown that the gender expectation causes nothing

The “Glass Ceiling” is known as an invisible barrier that stops someone from gaining more success. In this case it deals with women in the workplace, not being able to move up in a company. Even though no one knows who started the phrase, “A widely read Wall Street Journal story in 1986 popularized the term”(Napikoski). The “Glass Ceiling” has played a big role in women not being able to be

These types of feminists in the 1980s broke many barriers to be represented for their intelligence and not their appearance or status. The other stereotype that contradicts the opposing feminist, is the woman that betrays her feminist ideals in order to climb the business mountain which is embodied by the Kathrine Parker character. By using her femininity and gender to advance, then eventually cheating over her fellow female worker, reveals the character’s inconsistency. For example, Kathrine Parker flirted with a businessman to get what she wanted at a business meeting in the “Dim Sum Scene,” by using her womanly aspects to get what she wanted. Resulting in turning into the problem: oppressive powerful business employe, by disrespecting, disregarding, and robbing ideas from other employees, some of the problems women faced in the early stages of their career.

The “Glass Ceiling” is the term giving to the invisible obstacles sometimes found in the workforce. The barriers that limit women’s and minorities progress toward employment equity extend from the glass ceiling at the top of corporations to the floor of low paying jobs in the labor market. These barriers are created by a process at exclusion that continuously eliminates women, minorities, and other underprivileged groups from being candidates of higher positions. When a company exercises this type of discrimination, they look for the most defensible explanation they can find to make this behavior seem acceptable. The “glass ceiling” is still very much a part of the corporate world today as it was many years ago. This is evident by the

Gender roles, the public image of being a particular gender that a person presents to others (gender roles, n.d.), have seen many changes through the years, especially in families. The changes can be seen in many aspects, including television shows, from the traditional family in the I Love Lucy sitcom of the 1950s to the plethora of shows about women and men who balance working and family life of the 2000s. A traditional family can be defined as “… the ‘natural reproductive unit’ of mom, pop, and the children all living under one roof… (Ball, 2002).” The 1940s, a period dominated by this type of family, were primarily a time of single-income families where the father was the ‘breadwinner’ and the mother the ‘homemaker (Hayghe, H.V., 1990).’

Throughout many decades women have been struggling to be equal to men, both at home and in the work place. Women have come a long way and are certainly fighting to gain that equality, but gender roles are very important in our society. They have become important in life from birth, and society continues to push these gender roles. The treatment of the male gender is very different from that of the female, and this issue has become very important to me, as a woman. As children we learn and adapt to specific gender roles, and as we grow they become more evident and more important to our role in a society. There is a lot of discrimination against the female gender. Carol Gilligan argued that

Gender roles is a problem that takes place in both the workplace, domestic conditions, and society. Often signified through the age-old stereotype. That men are required of the more "challenging" or more "advanced" jobs, while women restrict themselves to the less grueling and less beneficial positions. Terms such as "that 's a man 's job" is a leading cause of inequality in the workplace. Not to mention, gender roles and standards are set in the homes of many families everywhere. The so-called "picture perfect family" situation; the husband goes to work while the wife stays home to tend to the children. While romanticized as ideal, this concept is the very essence of a patriarchal society. Meanwhile, the brutally vicious society we live in often berates women 's self-esteems in more way than one. Stereotypes of beauty, or who are skinny, pretty, white, and wealthy, are unfortunately the ideal standard of women and

The "glass ceiling" has held women back from certain positions and opportunities in the workplace. Women are stereotyped as part-time, lower-grade workers with limited opportunities for training and advancement because of this "glass ceiling". How have women managed their careers when confronted by this glass ceiling? It has been difficult; American women have struggled for their role in society since 1848. Women’s roles have changed significantly throughout the past centuries because of their willingness and persistence. Women have contributed to the change pace of their role in the workplace by showing motivation and perseverance.

Gender plays a huge role in workplace 'success' and can be a big challenge especially if the employee is a woman in a male dominated workplace or career. No matter how 'hard-nosed,' 'ruthless,' 'workaholic' a woman may be, or how much personal success she achieves, there will always tend to be some type of obstacle to keep her from getting completely to the top of the corporate ladder. She must also still fight stereotypes that undermines her confidence or limits her potential. Since the early 20th century, women and minorities have sought equal opportunities in education and in the labor force with little success. These obstacles or barriers are all known as the glass ceiling.

Social and institutional contexts for sex discrimination in American life have included the workplace, occupations, wages, income, housing, banking, health care, toys, school, education, employment, consumer marketplace, military, media, religious organizations, and home. Despite a century of social change stimulated by the feminist movement, gender inequality persists.