Sex Stereotyping And Affirmative Action

Improved Essays
Journal 4
This week we began to discuss hiring and promotion decisions and affirmative action. One of the topics mentioned in hiring and promotion decisions is sex stereotyping. This issue is important to me because I grew up being told that girls do this and boys do that. I have four brothers and one sister that I didn’t really get along with. This led to me spending a lot more time rough housing with my brothers. I would definitely describe myself as a tomboy for the most part. Sometime at work, one of my bosses would make comments on my basic t-shirt and jeans when many girls wore more feminine blouses and stylish clothes. Even though I was within the dress code, I felt uncomfortable in the office. I always hated it when my boss would freak
…show more content…
Affirmative action is probably one of the most misunderstood employment practices that we have discussed so far in class. When I first heard of affirmative action, others described as something beneficial only to African Americans. It appeared to be a quota system where you had to hire a certain number of black people in order to keep the government off your back. Some made it sound like the every black person benefiting from affirmative action were unskilled and undeserving. The main purpose of affirmative action was to reverse the long term effects of past policies that may have had discriminatory effect on individuals now protected by employment law. This includes other minorities, women, disabled persons, and even veterans. I did not understand how far affirmative action reached. I already knew that affirmative action was not mandatory for all business but I was confused why some private businesses that did not have contracts with the government where required to have an affirmative plan. While I may have a bias opinion, I believe affirmative action was and still is a good idea. Sometimes we are all a little bias so it may be harder for some to see fault in the way they do things. I believe that affirmative action shines a light on the issues we had in the past and helps to remain on the right path. We must also remember not to cross the line when dealing with affirmative action plans. The main key is that the individual hired must be qualified for the position and the effects of the plan must not cause a long-term disadvantage to another

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Sexism

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In our society today, there are still many techniques of discrimination that one would think had been eradicated years ago. One of these techniques is sexism, which is the act of prejudice, stereotyping, and/or intolerance on the basis of gender. Sexism has taken control over the way people think and it affects the job industry, government decisions, the media, and unfortunately, education. Children begin to experience sexism at a young age, typically in elementary school. An example of a subliminal sexist message that they might experience would be a teacher scolding a female student for acting in an unorthodox fashion that does not fit the ‘calm, respectful, and neat’ stereotype for girls, but then excusing the same actions of a male student, using the overused, disgusting statement ‘boys will be boys.’…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Affirmative action is a policy that was created to broaden opportunities for qualified minorities. The policy of affirmative action made it a requirement for employers to monitor hiring, promotions, and other policies to rid environments of discrimination against the minority. Those that support affirmative action see it as fair compensation for all that whites took from minorities in the past. In addition, supports claim that our society will never be truly colorblind and discrimination will continue; affirmative action creates opportunities for those who are segregated. Those that do not agree with affirmative action have the view that if people were mistreated in the past, it isn’t our problem now.…

    • 1341 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Argument of Strong Affirmative Action Between Hettinger and Pojman After the era of the Civil Rights Movement swept how people think, Americans and business have tried to find ways in order to help promote diversity and equality into establishments such as the workforce and higher education. One of the ways that America has decided to do this is by promoting affirmative Action. Affirmative action a policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, also know as positive discrimination. We encounter two authors that both seem to have different opinions on the view of affirmative action. Edwin C. Hettinger is on the side calling affirmative action “reverse racism” itself suggests that it is discrimination: discrimination towards…

    • 1047 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action is used in a good amount of employment and university systems. In Chandler Smith’s case affirmative action was used to decide who qualified for the five spots left to those who fit the school’s definition of diversity. Chandler being rejected when applying to the spot caused a two sided argument rise on if Chandler deserved to have been accepted or not. One side claims that she did not fit the description they were looking for for diversity and the school is allowed to do such a thing. The other argues Chandler should have been allowed to go because of her economic background and it is a violation to the restrictions surrounding affirmative action.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Affirmative Action is one of the last policies standing in the way of what the great Civil Rights activists fought for. Blacks then did not want to be treated better. They wanted to be treated like a White person, like equals. Whites do not receive the benefits of Affirmative Action. Whites are not granted “the equivalent of hundreds of SAT points” Martin Luther King Jr. stated that an “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”…

    • 1359 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action was created in the 1960s in order to give the groups that had been marginalized for years a leg up in order to help them out. The mentality behind its creation is best summarized in a quote from a speech given by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 in which he says, "you do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say you are free to compete with all the others, and still just believe that you have been completely fair." This made complete sense back in 1965 where minorities had been discriminated against for years. Today it's much a much more divisive issue as the disparity between the people of this country has become less and less an issue of race. The lessening of inequality between race has caused many to question whether or not affirmative action programs are…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Blacks have experienced racial segregation, educational segregation, low socioeconomic status (SES) and limited access to opportunities, such as employment, housing and education. Past peace demonstrators, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s message has fallen on death ears. The segregation of where money is put into communities throughout a city stands out. Free at last, in my opinion that African Americans gained affluence still today toil in conditions similar to the ones they endured during slavery. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that “in the process of gaining our rightful place, we must be guilty of wrongful deeds.”…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative Action is reverse discrimination to people who aren't in minority groups. Colleges should not continue using Affirmative Action. It allows somebody who is less educated to go because of their race, and not their accomplishments. In the future we want to see their accomplishments. Now there is no need for it because Affirmative Action is making discrimination…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative Action Reform

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Collin Rust 11/28/2017 Professor Smith The Case for Reforming Affirmative Action Since affirmative action was first fashioned up and implemented by President John F. Kennedy on March 6th 1961 through the use of an executive order, the program that was designed to help boost the role of historically wronged racial classes (Sander, 2013). This was originally seen by many scholars as an absolutely necessary measure in order to help bring together a nation that had been historically divided by race. The main group set to be helped by this bold policy was that of African Americans. However, today affirmative action serves as a discriminatory measure in and of itself (Sander, 2013).…

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative Action Affirmative action has been a highly controversial issue in America since its creation. The policy that was put in place to make up for the poor treatment of racial minorities quickly became reverse discrimination: encouraging the professional and academic worlds to make decisions about a person based on their race which is, by definition, racism. The policy now serves as an offense to both sides – giving a race-based advantage to minorities against majorities and considering said race minorities to be innately disadvantaged. Affirmative action is a policy that puts a stigma on minority groups and ironically implies that a minority status is disadvantageous. College admissions should discontinue their use of affirmative…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever felt you have been treated unfairly at work or even in school? Did you feel this unfairness was because of the color of your skin or with whom you were associated? Oftentimes, one can feel they are being discriminated against because of the way they look or the group of people they choose to call their “friends.” Around the time of the 1960’s Civil Right Movement, the government decided they needed to come up with a plan to provide equal access to all people, primarily when it came to jobs and schooling. Thus, the policies that were called “affirmative action” were born.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reverse Sexism In America

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Many of the appalling injustices of sexism in America are not always against women. Several are also in opposition to men in the form of reverse sexism. One example includes how multiple girls are allowed to participate in boy’s football while boys are not allowed to play girl’s sports. Various reasons might cause this from saying that boys are too aggressive in sports, that boys are usually bigger and stronger than girls at this stage, or it also might be that schools view boys as athletically superior to girls which has no place in America.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action was signed by President John F. Kennedy it was first put into play on March 6, 1961 it called to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without concern to their race, creed, color, or national origin. Forward to 2016 where it has become a problem within college applications where colleges are now more focused on having a diverse student body rather than the quality of the student themselves. While some colleges believe that affirmative action is helping minorities it can seem condescending applying that minorities cannot achieve their objectives with their abilities or hard work. This implied meaning is similar to the belief that slaveholders argued that slavery was a ‘positive good’ that civilized blacks and raised them in every dimension of life. The arguments for affirmative action and slavery similar in the both argue that it helps to bring out potential in…

    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In recent years, it seems like many people like to blame and attack affirmative action and want to do away with it or feel there is no need for it anymore, especially in high unemployment areas. One perspective of many Americans, including people in Louisiana, the traces of discrimination have almost disappeared, and affirmative action is unfairly proving an advantage to minorities. Its allowing people to "cut in" front of them in job lines. In Hochschild's book, she states, Louisiana…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ethics and Affirmative Action Affirmative action has been a long and widely debated topic here in the United States, since the 1960 's. Even though it is a strategy to help create a more diverse atmosphere in the education and work arena, by providing more opportunities to minorities and women, it is widely questioned in its quest to provide equal rights, because many believe it can inhibit productivity and increase poor attitudes in these areas (Jackson, 2014). Companies and Educational Institutions can apply ethical theories to the question of Affirmative action to help determine the proper course of action that can be taken within their domain. Brief History of Affirmative Action March 1961 takes a significant place in history when then President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order that prevented government contractors from discrimination of employees based on their race, color , religion and national origin strengthening efforts for equal opportunity employment. In September of 1965, then President Lyndon b. Johnson further amended the order to include not discriminating on the basis of sex to fully realize equal employment for minorities and women (OEOD, 2010).…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays