Gender Issues in the Future
Over the past century, women made significant progress in the labor force (Rc Skin and Pavlovic, 2002). Laws were passed to prohibit sexual discrimination ill the workplace- and school. Alternative action programs helped make WIllFUl more vlsihlc in ducationgovernmentnt, and tprofessional wOICIk.1. MOl C women entered the politic •. ,1 menu as lalH.lid.lll’s instead ol as volunteers III Ih(‘ men joined movements to raise their consciousness, leali/.ing Ihal what is harmful to women lIIay also be hangul 10 1I1l’1I. Fur example. women’s lower wages in the labor lill’s suppress mens wages as well; in a two-paycheck “unily, women who are paid less contribute less tu the family’s finances, thus lacing a greater burden on men to earn more monel” In thc midst of these changes, however, lIlany gender issues remain unresolved. In the labor force, gender segregation and the wagc gJP arc still problems. Although women continue to narrow the age g.lp, women earn about 80 cents for every dnllar compared with men, dnd all,lIysls behove Ih.lt the narrowing can partly be ttl ibulccl to the economic boom (for SUIllC) of the 1990s. EIlIployers haw had 1″ look for employees based on merit (rather than ce, cia”, and gender) in order to have the number and types of cmployCl’> they need to meet the demands of gloh”leulIIl’dltilin 1I.lmbt. 20(0). Although some employers have implemented tarnily- leave policies, these do not relieve womcns domestic bill en in the lillnily. Analysts believe that the burden or the “double day” or “second shift” will probably preserve women’s inequality t horne and in the workplace fllr another gcnenulon (Reskin “lid Padavic, 2002).
spunding analysis of the ways in which some II1l’ll I\lay also be oppressed h)’ patriarchy and capitalism, Recently, the debate has ontinued about whether the feminist movement has diminished the well-being of boys and men. Sociologist William J. Goode (1982) suggests that some men have felt “under attack” by women’s demands for equality because the men do not see themselves s responsible fur societal conditions such as patriarch)’ but attribute their own achievements to hard work and intelligence, not to built-in societal patterns of mall’ domination and female subordination. In Stiffed: 7111 letra/y”/uf tlrc JI/lll Lllll M(//I, the author and journalist Susan Faludi (1999) argue> that men are not as concerned about the possibility of the feminist movement diminishing their own importance as they arc experiencing an identity crisis brought about by the current societal emphasis on wealth. power. fame. and looks (often to the exclusion of significant social values). According to Faludi, men arc increasingly aware of. their body image and are spending ever increasing sums of money on men’s cosmetics, health and Iit Ucss gear and classes, and cigar bars and “gentlemen’s clubs” 111e popularity of her hook, among others, sIlithissues issues of gender inequality and of en’s and women’s rules in society ,I far from resolved.
