Jacquelin Camacho
Professor Noonan
SOC 120
13 July 2017
Finding Balance: Changing Gender Gap and Marriage
While much advancement has been made in recognizing women’s rights in giving them more social, economical and political representation in the world, there is still room for improvement in the balancing of men and women’s gender roles and the institutions that affect them. In “Gender Gaps,” Stephanie Coontz discusses the rewards and stagnation society has experienced as a result of women joining the paid workforce without societal changes made to maintain women’s former roles. She challenges society and researchers to not think of the gender gap as an issue in which equilibrium needs to be reached, rather it would be better to monitor …show more content…
Marriage for thousands of years was not based on the notion of love. It was about protection, oppression, “to get in-laws,” military alliances, to consolidate wealth, business alliances, or to expand the family labor force (“Stephanie Coontz: On Marriage”). The idea of love was seen as too irrational to be considered within the institution of marriage. In the late eighteenth century, however, love generally became known as an important factor in marriage in most of the Western World. The Enlightenment asserted that older generations should no longer dictate the actions of the younger generation, and revolutions across the Western World stressed the individual’s right to pursue happiness (“Stephanie Coontz: On Marriage”). Marrying as parents dictated or as a transaction no longer seemed to make sense, and people began to marry for love. People equated marrying out of love to “finding happiness.” This was generally a positive change for society, because unhappy marriages and those of abuse were no longer tolerated. With respect to the rebalancing of gender roles, Coontz discusses the benefits of women joining the workforce in the late twentieth century in “Stephanie Coontz: On Gender Gaps.” Their representation in the paid labor force was followed by trends of increased literacy rates, …show more content…
In mainly developing nations but also in developed nations, there has been a trend of falling birth rates since 1970. As discussed in the textbook, falling birth rates have negatively affected countries like Japan where the elderly no longer have a younger population to sustain them economically (Seccombe 180). Though developed nations have led the way of integrating women into the paid workforce, they are also guilty of perpetuating a pattern of a lack of advancing women’s rights. For example, the U.S. did not have sexual harassment laws until 1993 (“Stephanie Coontz: On Gender Gaps). Equal opportunity laws also took time to be developed, allowing for sexist practices to exist such as women only being hired for their appearances or only being allowed to work in certain types of jobs. Paid maternity leaves are nonexistent, which have further contributed to the trend of falling birth rates. Western European countries also perpetuated a lack of women’s rights with laws that enabled men to have the final say in how money was spent in households. Since women have entered the paid labor force, there has been a surge in divorce rates in socially conservative countries, and two-thirds of divorces are initiated by women (“Stephanie Coontz: On Gender Gaps). This trend exists because women are finally given some type of power
Professor Noonan
SOC 120
13 July 2017
Finding Balance: Changing Gender Gap and Marriage
While much advancement has been made in recognizing women’s rights in giving them more social, economical and political representation in the world, there is still room for improvement in the balancing of men and women’s gender roles and the institutions that affect them. In “Gender Gaps,” Stephanie Coontz discusses the rewards and stagnation society has experienced as a result of women joining the paid workforce without societal changes made to maintain women’s former roles. She challenges society and researchers to not think of the gender gap as an issue in which equilibrium needs to be reached, rather it would be better to monitor …show more content…
Marriage for thousands of years was not based on the notion of love. It was about protection, oppression, “to get in-laws,” military alliances, to consolidate wealth, business alliances, or to expand the family labor force (“Stephanie Coontz: On Marriage”). The idea of love was seen as too irrational to be considered within the institution of marriage. In the late eighteenth century, however, love generally became known as an important factor in marriage in most of the Western World. The Enlightenment asserted that older generations should no longer dictate the actions of the younger generation, and revolutions across the Western World stressed the individual’s right to pursue happiness (“Stephanie Coontz: On Marriage”). Marrying as parents dictated or as a transaction no longer seemed to make sense, and people began to marry for love. People equated marrying out of love to “finding happiness.” This was generally a positive change for society, because unhappy marriages and those of abuse were no longer tolerated. With respect to the rebalancing of gender roles, Coontz discusses the benefits of women joining the workforce in the late twentieth century in “Stephanie Coontz: On Gender Gaps.” Their representation in the paid labor force was followed by trends of increased literacy rates, …show more content…
In mainly developing nations but also in developed nations, there has been a trend of falling birth rates since 1970. As discussed in the textbook, falling birth rates have negatively affected countries like Japan where the elderly no longer have a younger population to sustain them economically (Seccombe 180). Though developed nations have led the way of integrating women into the paid workforce, they are also guilty of perpetuating a pattern of a lack of advancing women’s rights. For example, the U.S. did not have sexual harassment laws until 1993 (“Stephanie Coontz: On Gender Gaps). Equal opportunity laws also took time to be developed, allowing for sexist practices to exist such as women only being hired for their appearances or only being allowed to work in certain types of jobs. Paid maternity leaves are nonexistent, which have further contributed to the trend of falling birth rates. Western European countries also perpetuated a lack of women’s rights with laws that enabled men to have the final say in how money was spent in households. Since women have entered the paid labor force, there has been a surge in divorce rates in socially conservative countries, and two-thirds of divorces are initiated by women (“Stephanie Coontz: On Gender Gaps). This trend exists because women are finally given some type of power