Summary Of The Gender Revolution, Uneven And Stalled By Paula England
Paula England begins her article “The Gender Revolution, Uneven and Stalled” by highlighting the sweeping progress towards gender equality- including the increase in women’s employment and decrease in gender discrimination. However, she brings our attention to the asymmetric change occurring in the gender revolution- with big changes going mostly in one direction.
From a functionalist perspective, Paula states that women’s lives have changed much more than mens- with, for example, women entering “male” domains more than males entering female domains. According to England, society’s devaluation of traditionally female jobs and activities is to blame for this one-way gender change. She argues that our society’s economic and cultural devaluation of things defined as feminine also discourage men from choosing traditionally female-dominated fields, in order to avoid losing money and suffering cultural disapproval.In contrast, there are economic and social incentives that push women to enter traditionally male dominated fields. Not long ago, my father shared with me how his parents forbid him from enrolling in nursing school- excerpting that it was a job for women. He was told to choose a more “gender-suitable field”, such as trades. …show more content…
Unfortunately, this devaluation also plays out in the personal realm.
Parents, for example, are more comfortable giving girls “boy toys” like lego, then giving dolls to boys. Women also commonly wear pants, while men wearing skirts remains rare. In addition, author Paula England argues that gender egalitarianism co-occurs with gender essentialism: the belief that men and women are innately and fundamentally different in their interests and skills. Women looking to “move up”, currently working in none-college female jobs(such as waitress or secretary) can increase their income
through
A) moving up to male-blue collar jobs(plumber, etc.) OR
B) getting more education and moving to higher status female jobs, such as teachers, nurses or social workers.
Most often, women choose option B, in order to avoid breaking gender boundaries. Furthermore, their reference points, which are older people of the same gender, model and encourage the latter. I would like to extend England’s argument regarding gender boundaries in the labour force, from a functionalist perspective. I emphasize two related social mechanisms within the sociological framework: socialization and social integration. Socialization helps us learn society’s rules and the need to cooperate, as people end up generally agreeing on important norms and values. Social integration, are our ties to other people and to social institutions such as religious and the family, which help socialize us into society and reinforce our respect for its rules. Like gender egalitarianism and gender essentialism, these two constructs co-occur, in order to establish a strong set of rules that are needed to maintain a stable society. As a result, they limit individual aspirations and constrain individuals attitudes and behavior. Finally, the progress towards gender equality has stalled in some areas, as a result.
From a functionalist perspective, Paula states that women’s lives have changed much more than mens- with, for example, women entering “male” domains more than males entering female domains. According to England, society’s devaluation of traditionally female jobs and activities is to blame for this one-way gender change. She argues that our society’s economic and cultural devaluation of things defined as feminine also discourage men from choosing traditionally female-dominated fields, in order to avoid losing money and suffering cultural disapproval.In contrast, there are economic and social incentives that push women to enter traditionally male dominated fields. Not long ago, my father shared with me how his parents forbid him from enrolling in nursing school- excerpting that it was a job for women. He was told to choose a more “gender-suitable field”, such as trades. …show more content…
Unfortunately, this devaluation also plays out in the personal realm.
Parents, for example, are more comfortable giving girls “boy toys” like lego, then giving dolls to boys. Women also commonly wear pants, while men wearing skirts remains rare. In addition, author Paula England argues that gender egalitarianism co-occurs with gender essentialism: the belief that men and women are innately and fundamentally different in their interests and skills. Women looking to “move up”, currently working in none-college female jobs(such as waitress or secretary) can increase their income
through
A) moving up to male-blue collar jobs(plumber, etc.) OR
B) getting more education and moving to higher status female jobs, such as teachers, nurses or social workers.
Most often, women choose option B, in order to avoid breaking gender boundaries. Furthermore, their reference points, which are older people of the same gender, model and encourage the latter. I would like to extend England’s argument regarding gender boundaries in the labour force, from a functionalist perspective. I emphasize two related social mechanisms within the sociological framework: socialization and social integration. Socialization helps us learn society’s rules and the need to cooperate, as people end up generally agreeing on important norms and values. Social integration, are our ties to other people and to social institutions such as religious and the family, which help socialize us into society and reinforce our respect for its rules. Like gender egalitarianism and gender essentialism, these two constructs co-occur, in order to establish a strong set of rules that are needed to maintain a stable society. As a result, they limit individual aspirations and constrain individuals attitudes and behavior. Finally, the progress towards gender equality has stalled in some areas, as a result.