Men have dominated the finical workforce, but now women are making an entrance and fighting their way to the top. The United States has come a long way in defending women in the work force. The Equal Pay Act passed in 1963 made it illegal for men and women to be paid different salaries for the same job. A year later Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was passed which made it illegal to discriminate hiring a person based on their gender. It was later ratified to included that denying a women a job or firing her because of pregnancy was also illegal. It was again changed to include sexual harassment as a form of discrimination.
Sexual Harassment is "unwelcome sexual advances or request for sexual behaviors." Unfortunately sexual harassment is all to common in the work place. There are two separate kinds of sexual harassment. Quid pro Quo is "submission to conduct of a sexual nature that is made explicitly or implicitly as a term or condition of an individual's employment." This could be as simple as a boss saying, "Margaret we would love to hire you, and we expect that you dress in an intriguing way." Many women are asked to dress in cretin ways for their jobs which is often highly sexualized. Another form of sexual harassment is hostile work environment this happens when "conduct of a sexual nature unresaonably interferes with an individuals work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment." Maybe the person in the next cubical over keeps asking Sarah out and she can't get her work done because she is trying to avoid him, or because he followers her around. Sexual harassment comes in many forms, and it is all too common.
This is also enforced by the media perception of business women. They are usually depicted as women wearing skirt suits that are a tight fit, and glasses. The models used are always quite attractive, and put in sexualized posses with their legs crossed, or their heads resting on their hands. Sexual harassment in the work place is a big problem, which is mirrored in the media.
I agree that sexual harassment is a big problem and the media is just egging it on. I just blogged earlier this week about my place of work and the girls and I at work are over it. Now that I am getting ready to head off into the real world the fact that I already see this problem in my internship is a real eye opener for what might be out there. We need to keep educating women about sexual harassment so if it does happen to them they know what they can do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on sexual harassment as well. I was a victim of it at my old job and my boss did obsurd things that no boss or work associate should ever be able to do. I think women should be able to fairly make their way up in the work force without being judged or ridiculed. Hopefully one day women will be able to make a break through and make it to the top.
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