Hey all! On Monday I will be discussing Gendered/Sexed Communication in the Workplace. This portion of the textbook can be found on page 193-196. In addition to the reading in the text, we also chose this article that can be found in the library database, under ‘communication and mass media.’
Copy this link, and it will be the first option:
Cowan, Renee L., and Jaime E. Bochantin. "Pregnancy And Motherhood On The Thin Blue Line: Female Police Officers' Perspectives On Motherhood In A Highly Masculinized Work Environment." Women & Language 32.1 (2009): 22-30. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
There are a few things I would like for you all to keep in mind while reading the article, as well as the text:
1) When thinking about "culturally masculine organizations", what type of organizations come to mind, and why?
2) Do you feel as if segregation in the workplace occurs across sex lines as well as race lines? If so, can you think of a few examples or reasons as to why?
3) When thinking about how women can give good contributions to "masculine" organizations such as police and military jobs, what are some of these contributions?
4) Analyze this quote from the reading:
"Melone (2001) and others report female police officers' organizational experiences are marked by discrimination, sexual harassment, a lack of departmental support, and a demeaning of their competence and abilities"
How do you feel about this?
5) Keep in mind times that you may have experienced a difference in the way you were communicated with, based on sex, gender, and race.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving :)
****REVISED*****
We had some really great discussions in class, and I wanted to thank everyone who participated :)
What kind of good contributions do you think a female could bring to a "masculine" organization, and why?
When thinking of a time where you experienced discrimination in your work place, how did you handle it? If something like this has never actually occurred, how WOULD you handle it, and how can we as people make a change to this?
Hi Mandi!
ReplyDeleteI think the videos you chose to show were extremely interesting! As for your first question, I think it could be a bit of both. However, I feel that often times, people are attracted to one thing rather than another because society (or maybe their families) tells them that they should be based on their biological sex. I think that what one finds interest in is extremely dependent on the individual and their upbringing. This question kind of relates to my presentation and the idea that some people have to challenge gendered/sexed jobs. Maybe there are a lot more guys interested in nursing but they fear saying it because it is traditionally a job for women.
There are many “feminine” qualities a woman can bring to a male dominated occupation. The reading on female police officers mentions that while male officers often don’t take note of this, the female officers may be better equipped for certain tasks because of their problem solving skills. The article also says “Female police officers are less likely to use excessive force, often find means of de-escalating potentially violent situations, and may even improve response to female victims,” (pg. 23). I think that typically feminine gentleness can benefit the masculine and often unnecessarily violent police force.
Yes that makes sense. Women are attracted to certain jobs because of society, as we can see being women in this world. Also, men are too. It's almost as if we are taught that it isn't okay to want to do something that has "too much" physical effort, or "too little". I also agree that in ways women can benefit masculine organizations by breaking that tough guy barrier and bringing in softness that is needed at times!
DeleteThe “culturally masculine organizations” that come to mind immediately are pretty much any job that involves physical labor, such as construction or law enforcement - as discussed in the article you shared. I think that discrimination is seen in all places of work, but these specifically, because of the perceived physical differences between men and women. However, almost all places of employment partake in some form of discrimination based on sex, which can be seen through the gendered wage gap and the general treatment of women in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteThe found the video that we watched in class about women having different interests and that is why they choose different career paths was interesting, but I also found it a bit flawed. While I definitely agree that people have different interests and I also can see how these interests can be skewed or related in some way to gender, I also think it has a lot to do with the differences in the ways we are socialized starting from an extremely young age. Women are generally guided towards “soft sciences” or liberal arts studies, and while this can commonly be perceived as different interests I think it’s important to recognize the way the genders are treated differently in schooling as well as socially. Of course, women and men can and do have different interests, but I don’t think the massive divides in many fields can be completely chalked up to just that.
I completely agree with you! Women are taught at a young age, just like I spoke about with African American women that they should not be doing one thing, and pointed towards the direction of what they "Should" be doing. The gender wage gap is definitely something that needs to be fixed, hoping that one day women get paid just as much as men for doing the same jobs!!
ReplyDeleteHi Mandi,
ReplyDeleteI feel that it's very true that women and men enjoy different things in life. Your interests in life should drive a passion in you and your work can be a result of that, if you're lucky enough to be able to do what you love. I do believe each sex may be discriminated in a certain field of work, but that shouldn't be the case. If you follow your interests, it can simply lead you anywhere, but due to the "gendered specific" jobs and stigmas around it can cause a person to hold people back from pursuing it. Examples consist of male nurses, women firefighters/ law enforcement, men bakers, women construction workers, etc. It's defying the norm that leaves people unsettled but if that's what you like then that's what you want to do. I believe a women can bring many good contributions to a "masculine" organization. Due to different tendencies of each sex, I believe women can bring a positive outlook to the work place. Since women are known to be more empathetic, that can help with dealing with personal issues in a work setting. Women can also contribute new ideas that may not be easily apparent to men due to how each sex goes through and perceives life. I do believe in every line of work, there needs to be diversity in sex, race and culture because no matter what it can be beneficial thing.
Hey Mandi,
ReplyDeleteI really liked all the examples and assertions you made in your presentation, and I personally feel as though that both men and women are deterred from certain jobs or fields because of both different interests and societal expectations of both men and women. I feel a lot of men tend to go into STEM because that is where their interests lie, while many women tend to go into education or family/child care because that is where their interests lie. Not to say that those are the jobs that they have to go into, it just might explain why there are more of one gender in those jobs. I also think that it might be because we have these societal expectations where men are supposed to go into law, STEM, and medicine, while women are supposed to go into nursing,child care, and teaching. I also feel that there still are a lot of exceptions, but I also feel that many do not want to or end up not going into these other jobs they want because of the gendered wage gap and these societal expectations.
I have never experienced discrimination in the work place and never saw it happening to someone else. Working as a camp counselor through the YWCA, everything was gender friendly and nobody was discriminated against as had an equal male to female counselor ratio. As an intern for my dad's engineering firm, everything was structured to be gender friendly and it did have a good amount of female engineers. Something I would do about it it if I ever saw it is to go to my superior/boss or even my dad since is a partner and confront them about it. That is probably the best thing to do,and if they do not listen, then go even higher up. If it becomes a problem and no one is there to fix or help it, then there is no use in working at a place where they do not respect their employees.
When it comes to thinking about “culturally masculine organizations”, as a society, we seemingly think of organizations thought of as powerful, intelligent, or other dominating forces. For example, we think of lawyers or scientists, because males are typically viewed as more capable of intelligence or powerful than women. With men typically seen as more capable than women, they have more access to success in the workplace and have broader choices in career paths over women. Other masculine types of jobs include physically intense jobs such as a construction worker, or a carpenter. These jobs are typically assigned to males with the general belief that they are more physically capable than women. With this belief, women are restricted to choose jobs due to this assumption of being incapable over men to get the job done. When it comes to segregation in the workplace, we can arguably see that almost all organizations are culturally masculine. For example, when it comes to specific workplaces, men take on the more powerful roles that they seemingly possess more so than women. For example, we don’t typically see a female bodyguard in front of a club, because they aren’t physically capable of the protection that can be offered from a male bodyguard. Aside from the actual roles and jobs assigned to males and females within these ‘masculine organizations’, we also see sexism in the workplace in terms of physical or mental abuse. Women often view sexual harassment in organizations more than men do, because they are looked down upon more so than men. The main issue with this is because it happens so frequently, it is often left unhandled and not seen as a serious matter. We can see the majority of discrimination of females in jobs that are typically assigned to men, such as police officers or jobs that require a sense of heroic traits. Of course I believe segregation in the workplace occurs across sex lines as well as race lines. This is because in my experiences of working, I’ve seen segregation based off of ones race. When working in the restaurant business, the jobs typically made for behind the scenes have been assigned to people due to racial inequality. Hispanics, or people of color have usually been the ones assigned these jobs, with the belief that they are less capable and below people who aren’t of color. The jobs that require you to socialize with people and obtain more money are left for the races generally seen as capable and favored in our society.
ReplyDeleteHey Mandi,
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that women and men have different interests when it comes to choosing a career because everyone is different. With that being said, where did these differences form? Are they individualized or subconsciously institutionalized?I believe that this distinction is not something that can be measured and I an not sure if there will ever be a clear answer, unless we completely change the way society views gender as a whole and when it is broken down into individual entities. In regards to capability, I think society persuades individuals to place restrictions on themselves. I believe that any gender can perform any task, but that is in an ideal world. Whether or not the majority of the population has this viewpoint, we remain stagnant in terms of progressing away from restrictions and stigmas. So, maybe it is a combination of both. I really don't know.
In terms of what a female could bring to a more masculine organization would be an alternate view on almost any aspect of the organization. I do not want to place stereotypes on either gender, so therefore I am choosing to remain vague in my response. Working at a clothing store always includes some interesting occurrences of discrimination. On the most basic level, when we get new shipment of clothes to put out on the floor, the manager always asks one of my male coworkers to lift the heavy boxes, because it' something "us girls shouldn't have to do because we are fragile." I find this to be sad because my manager is not only devaluing my abilities, but she is also inadvertently devaluing hers, too. After this happened a few times, I began to just join in when my coworker was lifting the boxes, and my manager would just say I was crazy for helping.
Thanks again for your post!
Taylor Corwin