They say that we as a society have come far, because we allow women to work and let them vote. But how far have we really come? Women face discrimination at the workplace almost everyday, which pulls down the whole progressive narrative. We still uphold the double standards set in place years ago
It is debatable, whether there is discrimination against women of color in getting jobs and promotions. Statistics show the disparity between a woman of color and a white man in the hiring process. A black woman is 58% less likely to be hired in comparison to a white man, because of being discriminated against on two fronts.
The same life is so much harder for women, especially those coming from minority groups. Let’s focus on working women and what they face on a daily basis. Women of color can often struggle to find a job because of the discrimination they have to face, and when they do they face harassment, bullying and are often discredited and invalidated.
This makes it so much harder for them to get access to promotions and new opportunities. According to statistics white men, white women and men of color all have more privilege . This is a clear display of intersectionality, women of color are discriminated against on 2 fronts due to their race and gender. This often stunts the growth of these women in the corporate world.
A good place to start analyzing is to look at the structure of our society. Why have we as a society created a world where we are stunting the growth of women of color in the corporate world? Women are often expected to be married and are supposed to be the one taking care of children and household tasks, however this is a harmful stereotype because this perpetuates gender roles on them and can limit their growth.
In an ideal world the idea of shared responsibility should be normalized, because it takes 2 people to give birth to children and should take 2 to care for them. In more traditional societies, women working is a taboo and this means that women coming from these communities often have high levels of pressure on them and have to go through a lot to simply get to the workplace.
Other problems also tend to involve the expectations set in place for women, because often working women have to balance their work and family, whereas their male counterparts often just focus on the work aspect.
In addition to having to manage two fronts, they are also expected to be put together and stable. Women are often stereotyped as “hysterious” or “emotional”, and this means that they cannot be vulnerable. Otherwise they can be classified as unfit or unstable to do the job. This stereotype is counterproductive to the growth of these women, To make matters worse women of color can often be victims of these stereotypes, for example the angry black woman stereotype which perpetuates the idea that black women are “bad tempered, hostile and aggressive” and latina and asian women often face the “gold digger” stereotype.
These stereotypes are prevalent in the workplace and are often a factor in decision making, and can have a negative impact on an individual and their professional growth.
Furthermore, This can lead to women of color not wanting to take up jobs in the first place because of the lack of incentive and the barriers in the workplace. They may be discouraged by the pay gap in comparison to their male counterparts and the possibility of being harassed or teased. This is highly problematic as it can bring the number of working women to an extreme low. Women of color are often left demotivated to work because of the prevalent problems they may face. As a society, it is our obligatory role to level the playing field and make women of color feel at place in the workplace.
our society does have a naturally embedded divide between men and women, but some men take advantage of their privilege and this leads to sexual harassment in the workplace. This is a very serious issue and should be taken care of with utmost importance. If women are sexually assaulted or harassed in the workplace, especially those of color can often struggle in reporting and this means that they become silent victims. Statistics show that the lifetime prevalence of sexual violence or harassment in the life of a multiracial women is 58%, this means that more than half of these women have had these kinds of experiences in both their households and the workplace.
However in some cases workplace harassment is taken lightly and is not reported for various reasons, like if a women of color is assaulted she has so many things to consider before reporting as their is already some level of existing discrimination and the person who assaulted her. Victims are often silenced or threatened for many reasons such as the reputation of the firm and the future of the assaulter. These women can lose their jobs or be blamed and many women just chose not to report for these reasons.
It is painful to think that Women suffered for eons just to get a chance to work alongside men and be an equal part of the workforce. We may have gotten there partly but there is so much scope to improve. Mankind can rewrite the narrative and level the playing field. We can only do this if we erase stereotypical gender roles and forget the harmful ideas fed to us.