Inequality is usually due to the largely inaccurate stereotypes surrounding a particular group and can have a range of impacts on them. The inequality that affects women in the workforce for example, even in this modern day and age, is still prominent. They are generally paid less than their male counterparts, still found in predominantly domestic types of employment and seen as the ones responsible for the care of dependents, such as children and the sick or elderly, which can impact their professional lives.
As you can see in the above graph, it is still common across many industries for women to be paid less than men in the exact same full-time employment, assuming they are hired in the first place. But the aspect of the graph that I want to draw attention to is the vertical line highlighted in red – the average full-time wage for a male in any of the given occupations. It is likely subconscious but, by showing the average female wage as a percentage of the average male wage, this graph is reinforcing the idea that the “continuous, full-time employment” usually associated with men is the norm (Nash, 2009, p. 151).
Part of the problem is that women are still considered to be the primary caregivers in most family situations. Some of this is biological and cannot be helped, at least until men start falling pregnant, but much of it is simply due to old stereotypes. The norm of full-time employment for instance is generally incompatible with a someone taking time off to have a child, yet alone raise one, or to care for a sick or elderly family member (Nash, 2009, p. 151). And looking at the graph we can see that women are more likely to do this than men.
The type of work that men and women are employed in also shows the continuing influence of traditional gender stereotypes. This graph for instance, although its focus is on the employment of illegal immigrants, clearly shows that it is usually men who are involved in ‘harder’, more physical occupations like construction while women are usually found in more domestic types of employment such as looking after children or housekeeping. This further reinforces the stereotype that women are carers rather than employees.
If this picture makes you smile don’t feel bad, I actually laughed when I first saw it, reactions which are the perfect example of the inequality that still exists in our society today. So ingrained are the gender stereotypes of women as child-rearing homemakers and men as hardworking breadwinners that even now we find the prospect of anything other to be slightly ridiculous. These stereotypes are the root cause of the gender-based differences in pay and occupation that have been discussed which, although not as restrictive as they used to be, are still present.
Until we realise that women are just as capable of doing something as men, and vice versa, society cannot be truly equal.
References:
Effects of family responsibilities on employment [Image]. Retrieved 26 May, 2014, from http://www.readthespirit.com/ourvalues/gender-inequality-working-fathers-mothers-difficulty-getting-ahead/
Employment sectors [Image]. Retrieved 27 May, 2014, from http://www.newstaco.com/2013/05/13/gender-and-undocumented-immigrant-experiences/
He can do it! [Image]. Retrieved 25 May, 2014, from http://soc331.wordpress.com/tag/gender-inequality/
Nash, Kate. (2009). Citizenship. Contemporary political sociology: Globalization, politics, and power. (pp. 131-191). London: Wiley-Blackwell.
Three-fourths of a penny for your thoughts… [Image]. Retrieved 26 May, 2014, from http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/employment-discrimination-glass-ceiling-gender-wage-gap/
US gender wage gap: Selected occupations, 2011, % [Image]. Retrieved 26 May, 2014, from http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/economic-gender-discrimination-alive-and-well-2013-5375
