Women are victims of discrimination in the workplace?

Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Course
Date
Women are Victims of discrimination in the workplace?
Discrimination and sexual abuse in the workplace against women is a problem they continue to face. The discrimination has been a major problem in the workplace for decades though efforts have been made to alleviate the problem. Today, women can boast great success against the problem in the workplace. Discrimination has recently been reduced, however, it still exists. Thousands of cases have been reported, some dismissed due to lack of proof, some go unreported while others have been accepted. Laws and policies to stop discrimination against women in the workplace have been passed, but their implementation remains a challenge. However, lobby groups continue to fight for gender equality for women in the workplace. Recent reports show positive feedback on the war against women discrimination in the workplace. More women take influential positions in the workplace, including managerial positions. Even though there some posite changes, discrimination still exists at all levels (Denmark and Deborah 761). This essay looks at various forms of discrimination in the workplace. It focuses on discrimination against women and the various challenges women face in the workplace due to their feminine nature.
History proves that discrimination against women goes way back. Major discoveries and inventions have been attributed to men. Women have been visibly left out. A keen research into the past shows that women did take a part in some of the great discoveries in the world, even though their names are rarely mentioned.

Their male counterparts would usually take all the credit for the achievements and nobody would know about the input of women. In the western cultures, some attempts ere taken to alleviate discrimination against women. Laws and lobby groups have been active for decades and for the last 50 years, women are taking higher positions in the government, have held public office and even perform surgical operations. Statistics alone give an illusion that in the western world, discrimination is a thing of the past. A closer look at the world of women and the challenges they face shows that even for these women who have taken positions of influence, they still face many challenges that their men counterparts wouldn’t normally face when working at the same work positions (Okechukwu et al. 580).
Recent reports have identified that women face challenges that include, but are not limited to, sexual abuse, insubordination from their male juniors, receiving lower salaries as well as lacking the respect their positions deserve. Women need to show extra effort to gain acceptance among their colleagues. Their male competitors do not take their opinions seriousely. The existence of male chauvinists in the society means that women do not usually get the necessary backing and support required to motivate job efficiency. These challenges are inherent in the traditions that have been carried on from the past. In a family setting, women still subordinate men. The same scenario is expected to play at work. Entering a male dominated world means that a woman keeps proving she worths something all the time, and societies keep reminding them that they do not belong there. To make matters worse, some women oppose women taking up such roles. At 51%, women make up a majority of the world. They should not be facing the level of opposition they continue to experience (Drury and Cheryl 640).
History
Before the 18th century, women’s role in the society was restricted to household duties and the society did not expect them to handle issues outside the house. Any duties outside the home were traditionally male roles. In the 18th-century mechanization brought with it new opportunities for women to participate in the workforce. Mechanization enabled women and children to take part in the workforce because muscular strength was no longer necessary to work. However, women faced a different challenge as different opportunities invited them to take part in the making a living for their families in non-traditional ways. The inferiority complex in the workplace and being considered less valuable compared to their male counterparts. The hindrances and gender inequalities in the workplace have acted as barriers to women seeking to advance in the workplace regardless of whether they have the intelligence to do it (Day 447). Opportunities for growth within the workplace setting is limited as male counterparts usually restrict their growth.
Societal belief is to blame for this inferiority and discrimination in the workplace. Society has always believed that women’s roles are restricted to the family setting. The home traditional role of women coupled with the belief that women were less intelligent and did not possess specialized skills to compete at par with their male counterparts have been the major reasons for these inequalities. In the modern society, the inequalities are less obvious because of the public outcry an organization would receive for outright discrimination. The modern forms of discrimination take new and less obvious forms. The new forms of discrimination are difficult to tackle even as federal and state laws seek to address them through legislation. It is easier for federal and state laws to be implemented in public corporations, but in private institutions, the government does not have adequate control over activities and injustices that may be taking place. However, huge advancements in the alleviations of discrimination in the workplace have taken place as more women benefit from the process (Drury and Cheryl 640).
Contribution of war
In the 20th century, both the first and the second world wars contributed a lot into the involvement of women in careers that were traditionally considered masculine. Mary Pitcher in the American Revolution probably played a huge role in the matter. She famously navigated her injured husband’s cannon during a military mission. Her actions exemplified the women’s capability that made the military to rethink and find ways to involve women in the war. The military began inviting women to take up jobs in the military as a part of the intelligence service, or as nurses to nurse the injured. These opportunities presented to women allowed women to prove that they could take up non-traditional roles in the society. As time passed on, more women took up roles in the military in more specialized areas such as pilots and involved in other high paying jobs that required specialized skills. Women took up the specialized roles in the economy when men were shipped to war. However, when men were back from the war, the women were fired and replaced by men. Even with the availability of new opportunities for women in the workplace, discrimination and other forms of inequalities were openly practiced and accepted (Sims 105).
Legislation
Legislation has played its role in the fight against discrimination. In the 1960s, many laws were passed to fight injustices and discrimination in the workplace. One such Act includes the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The Act prohibited wage-based discrimination based on gender and required that wages to be paid equally for both women and men working in the establishment for jobs that required equal-level skills and that were performed in the same working conditions. However, during the years immediately following the enactment of the legislation, the courts experienced a hard time filling up cases of discrimination against women based on gender. The Act had a flaw that afforded too much room for interpretation. The 1964 Civil Rights Act addressed the issue in a more concrete manner. The Act prohibited all kinds of discrimination in the workplace based on sex, religion, pregnancy, nationality or race. Even though the legislation was meant to address the inequalities, women that have sought retribution in courts still found it difficult to get justice as the Acts could be interpreted in many ways (Belknap 55).
In conclusion, gender discrimination in the workplace is a reality. A variety of steps has been taken to address the problem for decades. Pieces of legislation have been passed and contributed to the positive developments that have been seen in the recent past. However, discrimination still exists. It seems that it evolved with time and it now takes forms that are less obvious and difficult to identify and eliminate. Discrimination in terms of promotions, wages, opportunities for growth and taking up managerial roles in male-dominated fields still remain a challenge. The American Society has significantly taken steps to eliminate discrimination and has afforded the illusion of equality. In other parts of the world, such achievements and milestones are yet to be achieved and women continue to suffer in the workplace. However, social media and the Internet present new opportunities to report grievances and other forms of discrimination fast. This option has helped ensure that necessary steps to mitigate the problem are taken in time.
Works Cited
Belknap, Joanne. The invisible woman: Gender, crime, and justice. Cengage Learning, 2014.
Day, Jourdan. “Closing the Loophole-Why Intersectional Claims are Needed to Address Discrimination against Older Women.” Ohio St. LJ 75 (2014): 447.
Denmark, Florence L., and Deborah Williams. “Gender Bias, Overview.”Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. Springer New York, 2014. 761-762.Drury, Benjamin J., and Cheryl R. Kaiser. “Allies against sexism: The role of men in confronting sexism.” Journal of Social Issues 70.4 (2014): 637-652.
Okechukwu, Cassandra A., et al. “Discrimination, harassment, abuse, and bullying in the workplace: Contribution of workplace injustice to occupational health disparities.” American journal of industrial medicine 57.5 (2014): 573-586.
Sims, Cynthia Howard. “Genderized Workplace Lookism in the US and Abroad: Implications for Organization and.” Impact of Diversity on Organization and Career Development (2014): 105.