Women Think The Workplace Is Unfair

There has always been a never ending debate over which sex has it easier. The answer given always depends on who is giving the answer. Everyone is biased towards their own sex. Despite the progress society has made in getting rid of the inequality between the sexes, there are still many issues. Women are not treated the same as men in the workplace. They are looked down upon and not taken seriously. Some people argue that this inequality does not exist. According to Naomi Riley, author of the article “Women Think the Workplace is Unfair… this is Why They’re Wrong,” women who are young and single actually earn more than their male counterparts. This statement may be true, but it only applies to a small amount of women. The inequality of women …show more content…
Employers continue to punish women for having children. For example, employers are not required to pay women when they take a maternity leave. The United states is also one of the few countries that lack a government-mandated childcare system. According to Rebecca Traister, author of the article, “Labor Pains,” “The Family and Medical Leave Act, currently the only federal leave protection available to American workers who have babies, do not require that an employer pay a new mother for a single day of leave; it merely protects her job for twelve weeks of unpaid leave, and then only if she has worked at her company for at least a year.” During the time women are out on maternity leave, they can be considered unemployed and will have to deal with the problems associated with that. For women who are the sole income earner for their families, this will result in a big change in their standard of …show more content…
Tokenism is a term used to describe the status of a group of workers who are few in numbers in a workplace. In most cases, these tokens are women. Tokens tend to experience boundary heightening which can prevent them from doing their job properly. Boundary heightening is when workers exaggerate the differences between themselves and tokens, making the tokens feel like outsiders. In addition, workers who are tokens are scrutinized more closely at work. This creates a highly stressful working situation. The pressure felt by these employees to do well at their jobs could prevent them from doing even the most basic tasks properly. According to Claire Renzetti, author of the book, Women, Men, and Society, “Researches have noticed that women workers sometimes find themselves excluded from formal information networks that help them do their jobs, but more often they are shut out of informal social networks that may as well be just as crucial for their job performance and advancement” (Renzetti 227). Important business can be conducted in places like a golf course or a local bar. Unfortunately, it is these places that women are least likely to be invited to. Being excluded from these sort of social meetings could jeopardize a women’s