BLOG 14

Britton starts to by describing the differences in roles of Correctional officers and how they appear between men and women workers. Britton touches the issue by researching why occupational segregation is persistent, why women concentrated jobs pay less, and what keeps women at the bottom of the ladder. Some of the reasons are the structures of work organizations, ideological functions that shape them, and the agencies of the workers themselves. Britton states that these factors are the reason organizations become gendered. Britton stress that there is a need to first acknowledge that there is a problem with organizations being gendered and there is a need to acknowledge them first and then move on to the next step. It is necessary to first analyze the home then the world. Micro then Macro levels.

All of the three reasons are interlinked and I will try to address each of them. The organizational structure first of all involves policies, procedures, and general configuration of an organization, which also includes laws it is at times unnoticeable because at times we do not realize that it is there. An example used in the book was regarding the a woman interviewed for a counselor in Alabama however was denied due to her height and weight. It happens at times in police applications as well. Not too long a go I was talking to a friend and she described to me that if you are a women trying to get in the police force there are certain things that you do differently then men in the application process such as the physical. The structure automatically would have prevented women from even attempting to get the job due to the physical restrictions.

One of the biggest barriers that continue to make jobs or careers gendered I believe is crucial is the cultural and ideological assumptions that shape women. Britton uses military movies and the term, “a place where boys are turned into me.” Movies now a days make reference to this saying, influencing the culture and the ideal women. Movies or the media constantly depict women as beautiful dependent on men and with some type of diva or delicate person not to mention sexuality is always highlighted. The third aspect is agency. Agency deals with interactions that imply gender inequalities. Britton states that these are at times unintentional but so engrained in our atmosphere. I can remember when I started dating my husband his parents would tell my husbands little brother, “no llores los ninos no lloran” : Don’t cry boys don’t cry or even my husband has told my son don’t cry don’t be a girl, which of course I have had to intervene. Especially in my culture I have see these three factors work together. As I got married there were certain things that my in-laws were expecting more of me as a women. I did not know how to cook and I dedicate more of time to studying and work I somewhat depend on my husband to help me with my time and getting things done. They often at times indirectly mention what my sister in law does which is more the typical role they expected of me like staying home and just taking care of her daughter or when her husband comes she has food served in the table. Although I would love to stay at home all day everyday with my son I am still working toward a profession and the life that I have is hectic and busy. Unlike my sister in law I work and have an intern. I depend to some point on my husband although I try to cook dinner now that I have learned to cook I tend to have time to cook dinner but then right after I am done I have to leave to work so I do not even enjoy the meal with my son or husband. Remarks that at times my in laws make not only build up the ideologies expected of women but continue to feed into gender segregation both intentionally and unintentionally. When Britton says “organizations are gendered at the level of structure,” she means that how organizations are structure can influence gender segregation, and the amount of it. Obviously, as discussed above, the way an organization and society is structured can minimize the amount of segregation.
Most of the times we are still following structures that were created when discrimination was socially accepted, we continue to reproduce and produce discriminatory behaviors. If organizations were designed or redesigned without gender being a factor, then the structure would be at a level where gender wouldn’t be as much of a factor in the organization. As society has progressed that has included the socialization of jobs, of men, and of society all together. These reflect on the history of labor by having socializing jobs for men without having to worry about them missing work because of physical effects of pregnancy or child birth which at times make women become somewhat liable because they can become pregnant or have to go to the doctor due to their children getting sick. Although, laws have been created to change the way women work or the rights they have there is still a huge demand to change the way we set up women in certain jobs. There is need to destroy current notions of what is acceptable for a women to do and what is not acceptable. Women should be free from all suppression of anything that categories them especially professional aspirations.