“How the Societal Norm of Women in the House Affects Women in the Workplace Today”
By : Ciera Starkweather
It is no secret that throughout history women have had a long and difficult struggle with being able to receive the same rights and treatment as men. While we as a society have made immense advances in this area, in the era of the Me Too Movement, the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and the media exposure of the glass ceiling, there is still much to be done. One of these areas in which more progress needs to be made is the issue of women's treatment in the workplace. While a lot of people might claim that everyone is treated equally at work, it is simply not true. Ignorance and denial of the differences are no excuse for the continued practices and treatment of working women.
Not only are women 21 percent less likely to get a promotion, also 119 countries in the world have never had a female leader or head of state. Many people would like to claim that this is due to women needing to take more time off for family, or not being able to work as hard as their male counterparts, but this theory has been largely disproved. Maybe in previous generations, these theories could be considered to account for some of the gaps, but with today's upcoming force of empowered and ambitious women, coupled with the growing statistics of upcoming generations either not planning to have children at all or having them later in life, the theories no longer hold much weight.
It is a simple societal belief that explains much of the misogyny inherent in the workplace. It is often not that everyone involved is themselves a misogynist, but rather that they were raised in a society that is. Constantly being inundated with examples of how women should be, how they should act, dress, speak and behave all set an unfair standard for ambitious women in the workplace. Women are simply not expected to raise their voices, as then they are seen as too emotional while a man would be passionate. They are unable to be too authoritative as that would make them “ bitchy” or “bossy” while a man would be applauded for his drive and managerial skills. Society, and especially the workplace expect women to be just palatable enough for them where they don't offend their idea of what a woman should be as formed by their experiences in the world. Women are held to an impossible standard and are left un-promoted, underpaid, and under appreciated due to invisible barriers created by society, and enforced by bosses that confine them to the classic ideals of what a woman is supposed to be. It is no wonder that men are so often advantaged in the workplace, they have a lot less to work to do at work than their female coworkers.