Gender Stereotypes and Women

¶ … Atlantic, the author outlines several issues using multiple case studies from the media. The issues cover the gamut of gender-related issues in the workplace, particularly focusing on equitable pay, structural inequality, and harassment. Because of the brevity of the piece, it is understandable that it might oversimplify several of the issues. However, generally the article offers insight into how the sociology of gender plays out in the real world.

One of the most interesting features in the article was a description of research showing that even office temperatures are determined by men. "the formula used to calculate standard office thermostat temperatures was biased, and based on the resting metabolic rate of a 40-year-old man who weighs 154 pounds," (Zhou, 2015). As a result, the ambient temperature of the office is designed for this "normative" person, and a normative person in a patriarchal society is a man.

This interesting but simple example shows how gender biases can be perpetuated at the structural level, and are often invisible or unacknowledged. Such simple things as office design and ergonomics reflect structural inequities, accounting for the function of patriarchy in the culture. Structural functionalist paradigm highlights the ways structural inequities function to preserve a patriarchal status quo. Within a patriarchal framework, women are supposed to be kinder and softer, and not assertive and aggressive.

These stereotypes about women lead to situations where women who demonstrate "masculine" characteristics like assertiveness are not viewed as favorably. Yet as the article also shows, women also live up to their gender stereotypes by being too polite in wage negotiation settings. If more women were in positions of power, they might be more attuned to the gendered communication styles of other women, but if a woman is negotiating her pay with a male supervisor, that male supervisor possesses a significant degree of power versus the female counterpart.

The story about pay negotiation also shows how females are deemed less valuable than men, particularly when it comes to the valuation of their labor. The article does a poor job of locating intersecting inequalities, such as those that exist for women of color. However, it is implied that women of color face double discrimination due to their gender and race. If class is also factored in, discrimination intersects on multiple structural and functional levels.

Persons who lack access to the social and cultural capital to succeed will remain trapped in a low social status position until they are offered opportunities for learning and advancement. The women's rights and gender equality themes covered in the class also play themselves out in the story about how some countries like Germany have recently passed laws demanding quotas for women in positions of power. The quota system ensures that structural inequities in hiring procedures and promotion procedures are overridden by sensible policy that promotes equity.

Similarly, the Prime Minister of England has made some moves requiring transparency of pay for all employees in large companies. Both the UK and the United States rank extremely low in terms of global pay inequities. Another issue raised in the article is the lack of sensitivity companies have to individuals who want to have children. Childrearing is typically conceived of as a woman's role, but many companies are offering both paternity.