The thought that a woman should only be a mother or stay at home mom flatters me. Now in today’s time, things have changed and the woman is coming up to become the bread winner for the family or main provider. Women used to be overlooked at as not being able to perform certain jobs are duties that were set out for only a man to accomplish. But thanks to many woman who spoke up and overcame many obstacles, have paved the way for many successful woman to climb the career ladder. Even though women have come a long ways in today’s workforce, I still think we have a long ways to go. Lately, we have been talking a lot about women in the workforce which is spoken about in FIFE. For this particular assignment I decided to research more about how do women who are working in a male dominated office feel like they are being treated as equals. Do they feel intimated or more motivated to succeed in the company? Are women being looked at as to succeed in companies?
The best person I knew to get more information on this is my older sister, who just graduated and entered the workforce world. Right now she is currently employed working as a computer programmer for Phillips Conoco. She is surrounded by many of men in her particular field daily. Since she lives here I decided to shadow her a little bit while she was at work to get some of my questions answered and to see if things were how I thought they may be.
Questions:
1. Do you feel like there are enough women in your field of work representing? No, I do not believe many women are representing this particular field because she thinks the computer field is mainly a man’s part of field and they do not promote it enough to women.
2. Being surrounded by all these men do you feel intimidated by them or more motivated to move up in the career ladder? I feel more motivated because sometimes I know more than they know and it is at the point where it does not really matter anymore
3. Does it bother you that there are not many women in your field? No, it does not bother me, but I wish that they were more women who where in my field of work to prove the fact that women are capable to do this job just like anyone else.
4. Are you getting treated the same as the men in your office? Yes, because they know I am able to do the work fine if not better
5. Do you have more women supervisor or men? Why do you think this? There are more men who are supervisor, but surprisingly there are a lot of women also which I love. This encourages me to do my job well so that I can move forward in the company.
After analyzing all my data and talking to my sister further about the situation. I came to realize that it is more of a mental issue to be surrounded by a lot of men in her work. People can either look at the situation and be intimidated by them or motivated to succeed. I agree that it should motivate woman to become and do more in the business. I was not surprised that not a lot of women were in her field since it seems that working with computer is targeted for men. What I think is missing is asking women what makes them not enter the computer field. This could answer a lot of questions for the reason why.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Blog 8: Belkin and Work
There were numerous of responses to Belkin's essay that either agreed with her and disagreed with her. I think the main argument against Belkin's essay is that the fact that some women just do not have the choice to so called "opt out" of their working careers. In Belkin's case she was married and had a husband who was well off I'm guessing and with her college degrees she was able to get well paying jobs that could probably secure her financially to not work. But that is not the case for a lot of women. Her essay was targeted to white, college degrees, high paying job women. There are numerous of women who are either single mothers or just struggling day by day to make ends meet and can not afford to stay at home with their children even though they may want to, it is just not an option. In Belkin's case she might have loved her job and wanted to stay, but like a lot of women working the jobs are not understanding of a mother with kids. Many mothers do not opt out, but are instead pushed out by workplace inflexibility, failures of public policy, and workplace bias. Some jobs do not understand how hard and difficult it is to work from 8-5 and then go back home and work and second shift raising your kids. In Belkin's article she had a woman who was a TV anchorman who said she would have hung in their but the job kept getting more and more demanding causing her to work 60 hour weeks instead of 50 hour weeks which is still considered a long day. I am not a parent, but when I was growing up both of my parents worked in corporate office which meant 8-5 everyday. My mother of course stayed at home with us at the beginning but had to go back to work once her maternity leave was over. This meant days at a baby sitters everyday until it was time for them to get off. There jobs were very demanding and we really only saw them at night time. My parents finally decided it was too much and my mother was the first to come home and work out of the house because she wanted to get more involved in me and my sister's life. After a couple of years my dad retired and came home also. They both worked out of the house as owners of the 2 real estate businesses. I have to say having both parents at home was kind of weird and took some getting used to. But at the end I am glad they decided to do what they did because we got quality time not with just one of our parents but with both.
RESPONSE TO READINGS:
Belkin's essay was very controversial since it was looked at only one point of view and that was from white, college degree, successful women. But I personally do not believe that these women are opting out, but are making a choice to stay at home and raise their children and not let someone else do it for them when they can. I can see how it would be a hard decision for some because they do want to overcome those sterotypes that women should just be homemakers when they can succed in the carrer ladder just like any man can. For those who do have a choice and can stay at home are fortunate because many women out there do not have that choice and wish they did. I do believe jobs should be more flexible to mothers and allow them to raise their children and work if that is their choice.
Chapter 9 in the F-word talks about the different acts and laws that women have been through to get equal rights. Second wave feminists believe that the third wave feminist are not doing enough in the electoral and legislative areas. Many believe that one reason rew women aren't actively engaged in electoral and legislative politics is they believe they are too busy juglling careers, children , and home (pg 186). Which I think is true now that the first and second generation fought to have equal rights and women votes to women working; the third generation is utilizing the tools given to them to succeed that many women back in the day did not believe would happen. Women have come a long ways but there is still more to accomplish.
RESPONSE TO READINGS:
Belkin's essay was very controversial since it was looked at only one point of view and that was from white, college degree, successful women. But I personally do not believe that these women are opting out, but are making a choice to stay at home and raise their children and not let someone else do it for them when they can. I can see how it would be a hard decision for some because they do want to overcome those sterotypes that women should just be homemakers when they can succed in the carrer ladder just like any man can. For those who do have a choice and can stay at home are fortunate because many women out there do not have that choice and wish they did. I do believe jobs should be more flexible to mothers and allow them to raise their children and work if that is their choice.
Chapter 9 in the F-word talks about the different acts and laws that women have been through to get equal rights. Second wave feminists believe that the third wave feminist are not doing enough in the electoral and legislative areas. Many believe that one reason rew women aren't actively engaged in electoral and legislative politics is they believe they are too busy juglling careers, children , and home (pg 186). Which I think is true now that the first and second generation fought to have equal rights and women votes to women working; the third generation is utilizing the tools given to them to succeed that many women back in the day did not believe would happen. Women have come a long ways but there is still more to accomplish.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Blog 7: Movie Review
In this weeks blog, the first movie that came to my mind when given these question is a movie that came out in 2005 called "North Country". This movie is about a single mother trying to make an honest living to support her family by working as a miner, which is condsidered a man's job and is male dominated. It is manily about a woman named Josey Aimes who takes a stand against the injustice men in the North Coutnry mines committed towards the women that worked there. The fact that women worked in the mines became an issue for the families, communities, and friend. The women were not respected and given their benefits like the men were. This is a great movie it is a little sad and makes you angry, but the outcome of it is what makes is a phenomal movie to watch. This movie shows that women are just as strong as men are and can work the same jobs as them. But most of all shows hows women are not afraid to stand up for what is right and can;t be treated like trash just because they are a woman. The movie was advertised as like a typical movie of how men are always using the woman and getting away with it. The trailers showed her getting mistreated and not taking seriously from her fellow male co-workers.
This movie has a lot of gender issues that arise from it. It seems that the men get away from this cruel acts, while the woman who have done nothing wrong are considered whores who work in the mines. The wrong always seems to be turned around and looked at, as being the woman's fault when they did not ask for this mistreated acts to be brought upon them. There also was a part where Josey's mom gives her a talk about how her job is suppose to be to her children and she shoudln't work at the mines. Some of society believes that woman should be stay at home mom's which I don't have a problem with, but what is wrong with going to work and trying to make a living just like a man is suppose to be. Women are capable of doing the exact same thing a man can no matter the circumstances. Josey in the film and is not taking serious by her co-workers or boss who tells her to "take it like a man". Women have voices and should be heard and not silenced. The woman in the movie are the strong, the uncertain, the flirty, the weak, and every other characteristic a woman can show during her life. But at the end they overcome all the obstacles that were thrown at them and were finally heard and respected after all the mess. I admire how strong and courages Josey was in this film even though she wasn't portrayed in a good way at all times she managed to get through it and get her voice heard.
RESPONSE TO READING:
In chapter 7 of the F-word it expresses how marriage was once a value that all women wanted but now it seems to be that more women are single and there are more divorces going on in this wave then in the first wave. The author writes, "Through the hard work of women in the second wave, there have been tremendous changes in the experiences and expectations of marriage. It is no longer common for women to lose their identity shortly after walking down the aisle." In the early days women were perceived as house wives to stay at home and watch the children and clean house. Now a days women have become more independent and therefore do not lose their "identity". Roles have changed for the woman and they are capable to go to work and provide for a house hold with or without a man. In Chapter 8 of the F-Word it focuses on the balancing act of trying to raise kids and work at the same time. For many mothers this is difficult to deal with it, but it can be accomplished. The fact that some jobs do not pay mothers on maternity leave is ridiculous. Just because they are not in the office everyday and are at home caring for a young infant 24/7 does not mean they should not get paid. It's another job to take care of children whether or not the mother is raising them or if its by childcare which can raise a costly bill. Some mothers feel the need to stay at home and raise their children then go back to work which is great, but not all mothers have that opportunity and have to go back to work. My mother went back to work after she had me and my sister, but then started working from home so she would be around us and raise us.
This movie has a lot of gender issues that arise from it. It seems that the men get away from this cruel acts, while the woman who have done nothing wrong are considered whores who work in the mines. The wrong always seems to be turned around and looked at, as being the woman's fault when they did not ask for this mistreated acts to be brought upon them. There also was a part where Josey's mom gives her a talk about how her job is suppose to be to her children and she shoudln't work at the mines. Some of society believes that woman should be stay at home mom's which I don't have a problem with, but what is wrong with going to work and trying to make a living just like a man is suppose to be. Women are capable of doing the exact same thing a man can no matter the circumstances. Josey in the film and is not taking serious by her co-workers or boss who tells her to "take it like a man". Women have voices and should be heard and not silenced. The woman in the movie are the strong, the uncertain, the flirty, the weak, and every other characteristic a woman can show during her life. But at the end they overcome all the obstacles that were thrown at them and were finally heard and respected after all the mess. I admire how strong and courages Josey was in this film even though she wasn't portrayed in a good way at all times she managed to get through it and get her voice heard.
RESPONSE TO READING:
In chapter 7 of the F-word it expresses how marriage was once a value that all women wanted but now it seems to be that more women are single and there are more divorces going on in this wave then in the first wave. The author writes, "Through the hard work of women in the second wave, there have been tremendous changes in the experiences and expectations of marriage. It is no longer common for women to lose their identity shortly after walking down the aisle." In the early days women were perceived as house wives to stay at home and watch the children and clean house. Now a days women have become more independent and therefore do not lose their "identity". Roles have changed for the woman and they are capable to go to work and provide for a house hold with or without a man. In Chapter 8 of the F-Word it focuses on the balancing act of trying to raise kids and work at the same time. For many mothers this is difficult to deal with it, but it can be accomplished. The fact that some jobs do not pay mothers on maternity leave is ridiculous. Just because they are not in the office everyday and are at home caring for a young infant 24/7 does not mean they should not get paid. It's another job to take care of children whether or not the mother is raising them or if its by childcare which can raise a costly bill. Some mothers feel the need to stay at home and raise their children then go back to work which is great, but not all mothers have that opportunity and have to go back to work. My mother went back to work after she had me and my sister, but then started working from home so she would be around us and raise us.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Blog 6: Body Image
Somehow I don't understand why they think women can help sell cars i can see maybe a woman fully dressed driving the car but once again not a woman barely dressed. They are using this ad to show women as a sex symbol instead of a human being. This ad is definitely directed to the male public. The woman is wearing nothing up under the ties which makes her look like an object which offends women as human beings. Not only is the laced tied up around her whole body but it is definitely tight around her face and neck which all you can see is her eyes. Once again making it seem like woman do not have anything to say. Women like to drive lexus too but to this picture you would never get that idea.
The second ad is a typical ad that you see with women being up under the man but with the particular picture you see numerous men in is surronding a helpless woman or looks like taking advantage of her. This is the gender role that is always being portrayed as men being the dominate subject which have to take advantage over the women and be that strong, aggressive person. Where as the woman seemed to be portrayed as inferior, objectified,and dehumanized just to make the man seem more of a "tough guy". The are images that are seen in a lot of ads across the nation. Women being pinned down trys to show that women are weak but this is far from the truth.
RESPONSE TO READING:
In the reading of FIFE this week it stressed on the facts of womens rights. Women rights to get birth control and have abortions since it is our choice and our bodies. Even though I am not for abortion I still believe that is should be our decision to choose rather or not they want to have a baby or not. This is a main reason for the feminist movement to get women's rights out there. The chapter also talked about women's body image and their appearance. Now a days you do not know what a real woman is suppose to be like since there is so many images in the media that stresses on how a "real woman" is suppose to look like. As woman we should be more acceptive of our bodies and not look at the media to see what we should look like because those images aren't even 100% real.
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