Concept ID #2: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Traditional Gender Roles
Equality between the sexes is a popular topic in the 21st century. Charlotte Perkins Gilman laid the foundation for feminist theory in her work “Women and Economics” by analyzing traditional gender roles and the inequalities between these roles. She wrote in a way that demanded the men in power to listen to her work in a meaningful manner. The oppression that Gilman speaks of throughout this work is still very relevant in today’s society, specifically in STEM fields. One of Gilman’s points in “Women in Economics” is that society believes that economic progress is masculine in nature (Gilman 1898, 200).
Gilman elaborates on the concept masculine economics by stating; “To take from any community its male workers would paralyze it economically to a far greater degree than to remove its female workers” (Gilman 1898, 200). The belief that society could not function properly without males in it stems from the fact that women have been socialized to believe that their work is done at home. This has suppressed women in their endeavors to becoming productive members of society. Gilman also …show more content…
Although there have been some improvements since the late 1800’s, women are still oppressed in many ways, one being gender inequality within STEM fields. These are science, technology, engineering, and math fields that are predominately male. The gender inequality within these fields tie in perfectly with Gilman’s (1898) idea that men are seen as the breadwinners, or the economic producers of our society, and STEM fields are some of the top paid fields in our society. Once women started entering these disciplines it became very obvious that there were more than just academic obstacles in their way, women could eventually learn to do the work, but these fields tend to put a strain on many women, who are still trying to fight to get out of the mold that society has made for
Equality between the sexes is a popular topic in the 21st century. Charlotte Perkins Gilman laid the foundation for feminist theory in her work “Women and Economics” by analyzing traditional gender roles and the inequalities between these roles. She wrote in a way that demanded the men in power to listen to her work in a meaningful manner. The oppression that Gilman speaks of throughout this work is still very relevant in today’s society, specifically in STEM fields. One of Gilman’s points in “Women in Economics” is that society believes that economic progress is masculine in nature (Gilman 1898, 200).
Gilman elaborates on the concept masculine economics by stating; “To take from any community its male workers would paralyze it economically to a far greater degree than to remove its female workers” (Gilman 1898, 200). The belief that society could not function properly without males in it stems from the fact that women have been socialized to believe that their work is done at home. This has suppressed women in their endeavors to becoming productive members of society. Gilman also …show more content…
Although there have been some improvements since the late 1800’s, women are still oppressed in many ways, one being gender inequality within STEM fields. These are science, technology, engineering, and math fields that are predominately male. The gender inequality within these fields tie in perfectly with Gilman’s (1898) idea that men are seen as the breadwinners, or the economic producers of our society, and STEM fields are some of the top paid fields in our society. Once women started entering these disciplines it became very obvious that there were more than just academic obstacles in their way, women could eventually learn to do the work, but these fields tend to put a strain on many women, who are still trying to fight to get out of the mold that society has made for