Why more FEMINISTS should join the WORKFORCE
- girlupshine
- Feb 1, 2022
- 2 min read
“Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong, it’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.”
~ G.D. Anderson
Feminism is not a hobby. It is a commitment to human rights, dignity, respect, and fairness. You shouldn’t even need a name for that. You shouldn’t have to “come out” as a feminist. A commitment to human rights, dignity, respect, and fairness should just be called “being decent”. Feminists all around the world have been struggling for equal opportunities and rights since days immemorial. Even though there has been little progress on the social front, the condition of women in the workplace is almost as bad as it used to be before feminism.
The gender pay gap, or gender wage gap, depicts the average difference between the compensation for men and women who are working. Despite many laws in place to eliminate this disparity, the enforcement of such laws by governments is not stringent. A woman with the same qualifications as a man, working at the same level as him in the same company, still does not earn the same salary as the man. Without feminism, this gap between salaries can never be diminished.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a negative impact on the workforce as a whole, but women especially. The number of women in the workforce has significantly dropped since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. Since it is traditionally considered that women should stay at home and do the chores, the pandemic reminded people of traditional gender roles. While men continued to earn for the family, many women were forced to leave their jobs because of the increased number of hours the family spent at home.
Apart from this, many companies specifically downsized female workers because they believe men to be more competent at work, even if women produced better results.
Women of lower castes in India, and of color in the West particularly face more discrimination in the workplace. The ratio of transgender people in the workplace is still shockingly low. Members of the LGBTQIA+ community continue to face harsh discrimination. An openly homophobic man is much more likely to secure the job than an equally qualified, equally experienced lesbian woman even if she produced much better results in her previous job of the same job profile.
Apart from heterosexual men, everyone faces obstacles in the workplace. The most obvious solution to all these problems is feminism. However, equality and equity in the workplace can also be ensured by encouraging collaboration, practicing empathy, elevating female voices, developing more female leadership so that subordinates get motivated as well, being transparent, and conducting training to ensure that everyone gets equal opportunities for promotion and leadership. Putting more efficient females and minorities in leadership roles will also ensure an equality culture in the workplace.
“Before feminism, work was largely defined as what men did or would do. Thus, a working woman was someone who labored outside the home for money, masculine style.”
~ Gloria Steinem
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