Sexism in the Business Industry Page 1 Written Assignment

Sexism in the Business Industry Alexandra Konefal-Cholewa Rasmussen College

English Composition G124/ENC1101 Section 05 Sabine Meyer August 28, 2011

Sexism in the Business Industry Page 2 In the past men ate women for breakfast, nowadays women do their best to preserve them all day long. The truth of the matter is that women strive to be as good as men and better, but at what cost? Completing long hours of countless work, and all for what? For about 70% of a males paycheck. (Rubin, 2008) women have been struggling throughout the ages to gain the same rights as men and only to come up short and blocked by the Glass Ceiling. No matter where in the world one is, women are always at disadvantages that pile and pile against them, even in the best situation. Sexism is common practice in the business industry and has been holding back women from achieving the same equal employment opportunities for ages. Howbeit Sexism has had its own past before it was even termed sexism. Before women had the opportunity to work, they were house wives; had little respect given and almost no status. Women were disrespected that they were viewed not even worthy of being able to vote or own any property. (Morrisey, 2010) They in truth were property themselves. Even as time progressed the respect gained in time was minimal in order to keep women satisfied, but in doing so women would never make the same mark as men. And then when war came, the men were called away and women were giving that breaking chance to prove themselves. And they did to the point that when the war was over, men were unable to get some of their jobs back because the women preformed so well at the task. (Essays.cc) Even today women strive to meet the standards of men, some easy some almost impossible. In a study it was found that for a woman to earn 84.6% of what a man in a similar profession, they had to work 41 to 44 hours per week; and a women working more than 60 hours per week earned 78.3% of a males paycheck. (Creative Commons, na) And in a study done in 2001 showed that if women and men were in similar jobs with similar backgrounds in education, a woman earns 76% of the same paycheck with less than 9th level of education; and with a professional degree a woman earns only 60%. (Lips, 2000-2008). But not to be said that a women should not go out and get a full education to progress further into the workforce. And in the years of around 2000, it was difficult for women to get self-respected jobs, let

Sexism in the Business Industry Page 3 alone thinking of working for a Fortune 500 company. Does someone think it would be worth it to get a professional degree and only receive 60% of a mens wage- hell yes. You prove that you can handle the tough work the stress and anything else that they have to and yet you are still holding your own. Even after years of paying off student loans you show your strength and determination, proving that women are not fragile things and can take the heat. Now-a-days equal employment opportunities help to even the curve and lessen the gap in paychecks. Wal-Mart has been faced with this problem many times. In 2001 and again in 2010 it has been sued for unjust treatment of its female workers. In the 2010 class action suit, six women were suing for lost pay and being held back. One of the women Christine Kwapnowski quoted, I asked what I needed to do to get promoted and my manager said I should doll up and blow the cobwebs off my make-up. (BBC, 2011) Altogether it draws an unfair disadvantage for women in the work field; sexism exists in everyday life and in every aspect; from when women were denied an education for being the weaker sex to the point that they were denied jobs. However even over the years women have persevered with women like Rosa Parks, Sarah Palin, Hilary Clinton, and many others; barriers have been broken down to be reconstructed over and over only for new women to make the leap and excel past their greatest expectations. But the affects of sexism still grasp hold of women all over; any woman who proves to best a man is immediately viewed as a threat and undermined. However there are steps that can be taken in order to stop and prevent this unapproved conduct. The first thing to do is always confront the person, sometimes a person does this unconsciously and others times not. If you take the problem to them, most times they will stop. If this persists go to upper-management to see if they can help to stop the situation; or if the attacks persist even after a transfer of either person is in place or a change in jobs. (Obrien) However not all companies and businesses are like this; when in fact many treat women with the upmost respect. There is no split treatment between sexes and no difference in pay or anything else.

Sexism in the Business Industry Page 4 Equal employment opportunities where women receive the same pay grade as men and the same promotion opportunities. A woman or anyone else cannot be denied a job due to medical illness, gender, race, religion, and others. (Federal Government, 2009)I know from my own experience that large corporations like BonTon do not discriminate against anything but a bad attitude. They will hire people from any background, race, even gender. They will hire anyone whom they feel will benefit the corporation and provide good services to the customers. Within the small branch of Herburges in Alexandria, MN, I get to work with people from different countries and ethnicities, and because of this I can learn much. Even men are hired and they have no desire to compete with women except in who can open the most credit apps; that of which is the only competition that takes place and is healthy for a team environment. Drawn together nowadays, there are textbooks being written to help others understand what is going on and that they should not encourage it. If left unchecked, sexism will take over, even with good businesses because they will be outnumbered by employers whom feel that not everyone is equal. So to balance it, many places are requiring people to take a class or course on preventing and stopping sexism from occurring. (Nielsen, 2006) This kind of thing is becoming more common than one would believe; companies are doing seminars on sexism, talks, reviews, and much more to deal with any issues that could appear later on within the work force. Many people do not like to be degraded and mocked that they will never be good enough just based on such a simple thing of gender. Most men are raised with an elitist attitude and are never taught right from wrong in treatment of females. Thus the workplace can easily become a place that is unsafe and degrading to any that are not viewed as the better part of any gender, race, or any other determining factor. In the end, Sexism is a belief and view that is taught and learned. If one does not feel comfortable with the degrading of women, the only action is to do something; many people say that it is wrong, but almost all of them do nothing about it but complain. So if one should see such a problem, report it, you

Sexism in the Business Industry Page 5 will be doing your coworker or friend a great deal of help. It is always difficult to work in an environment that is hostile to its inhabitants. But then one must ask can one really make a difference? Sexism is common practice in the business industry and has been holding back women from achieving the same equal employment opportunities for ages. However, time and time again women strive and make a name for themselves, they are in: acting, accounting, doctoring, law, management, or anything else one can dream of. (Pauline W. Chen, 2011) The road is as open for those whom have the power to take and conquer any obstacles that present themselves at each checkpoint in life to deem one worthy.

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Works Cited
BBC. (2011, March 29). Wal-Mart 'sexism' case before US Supreme Court. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from News US and Canada: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12888425 Creative Commons. (na, na na). Sexism and Gender Discrimination Statistics. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from UrbanMinistry.org: http://www.urbanministry.org/sexism-and-gender-discrimination-statistics Essays.cc. (n.d.). Sexism In The Workplace. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from Free Essays, Cliff Notes and Term Paper Database: http://www.essays.cc/free_essays/b2/iev178.shtml Federal Government. (2009, November). Equal Employment Opportunity is The Law. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf Lips, H. M. (2000-2008). The Gender Wage Gap: Debunking . Retrieved July 30, 2011, from Womens Media: http://www.womensmedia.com/new/Lips-Hilary-gender-wage-gap.shtml Morrisey, B. (2010, July 17). Sexism in the workplace. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from About Equal Opportunities: http://www.aboutequalopportunities.co.uk/sexism-in-the-workplace.html Nielsen, E. (2006). Linguistic Sexism in Business Writing Textbooks. Retrieved september 11, 2011, from jac: http://www.jacweb.org/Archived_volumes/Text_articles/V8_Nielson.htm Obrien, M. (n.d.). How to deal with Sexism in the workplace. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from Toronto Is Mine: http://www.torontoismine.com/?p=1024 Pauline W. Chen, M. (2011, April 15). Sexism Charges Divide Surgeons Group. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from The New York Times: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/sexism-charges-divide-surgeonsgroup/?scp=1&sq=sexism&st=cse Rubin, H. (2008, March 17). Sexism. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from Portfolio.com: http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2008/03/17/Sexism-in-the-Workplace/