The sociological imagination of gender inequalities for women in the family and workplaces

The sociological imagination of gender inequalities for women in the family and workplaces
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The sociological imagination of gender inequalities for women in the family and workplaces
One’s biological makeup and socialization determines association with a particular gender. Regarding the biological make up, men usually have more masculine physique and are presumed to be stronger than females. Males may thus use their strength as a reference point in discriminating against women. In this regard females develop a sense of inferiority and entrench the gender inequality phenomenon.
There is a notable improvement in women performance in the generally male dominated spheres such as medicine and engineering. Such improvements have contributed to reduced inequality gaps between men and women participation in male dominated occupations. However, the sociological imagination view reveals that women still experience inequalities at work and in the family.
Sociological imagination is very imperative in allowing individuals to perceive some personal troubles as emanating from broader social issues. Sociological imagination plays a significant role in enabling individuals to understand how social forces influence their life experiences. It also allows one to understand personal trouble in light of historical preconditions that shape the prevailing life incidents and circumstances. Focusing on gender is very vital in ensuring of an understanding personal gender issues affecting women as public issues (O'Connor, 2006).
Sociological imagination helps in achieving an understanding of gender inequality of women in the family and the workplace. This is because it provides a framework to relate everyday gendered conditions to the global aspect of those situations. Private gendered troubles can be located within a wider societal structure and thus also qualify as public issues. Gendered situations are characterized by the distinctions in hierarchy between males and females. Societies accord different treatment to males and females within a society in regards to family responsibilities and work situations. In a sociological imagination perspective, gendered conditions are a product of what either males and females do within the society.
Women experience the challenge of gender inequality because of the sociological expectation that they are responsible for looking after their children in the family. This expectation shapes women’s behavior in terms of engagement in the workforce. Research has consistently affirmed that unmarried women without children are more highly represented in the workforce than married women with children. This is because taking care of children and the household is time consuming and sometimes requires full time commitment. Women with children disengagement in the workforce may be perceived as a personal trouble but it has sociological causes. The fact that the society expects women to be the sole participants in household management drives this problem form the private outlook into the public domain as a public issue.
Working women face personal difficulties in juggling between work and responsibilities in the family without any added support from the state or the society. Shouldering the responsibility of housework and caring for their children without accessing added support is strenuous and sometimes stressful for a woman in the society. Working women experience gender inequality in the family because they are not perceived as the main breadwinners in the family.
The labor market is also discriminatory in the sense that it rewards males more generously than it does women in the workforce. This leaves women who put in similar or more effort at work with lesser income than males. This problem impacts negatively on the working woman in the family because she is expected to compensate for the lower income by performing household duties without the man’s input. This is strenuous to the woman because the added responsibility may be viewed as a second work shift.
In the contemporary society, the traditional gender roles that distinguish women roles as mothers and carers in the household and men as breadwinners are non-existent. A significant number of women are engaged in full time employment while only a small percentage of the women are full time mothers. The gendered norms relating to women roles are firmly ingrained in the cultures in a majority of the societies in the world. These standards influence the development of public socioeconomic policies in any particular country and the established gendered practices in the family.
The prevailing gendered tendencies of women having to shoulder double roles have increased the woman’s heavy burden in society. Many women are more disadvantaged than their male counterparts when they give birth because a majority of work policies offer unpaid parental leave and the government does not provide adequate support for their child care. The burden is more strenuous for women who are single household heads.
To further complicate the personal troubles in taking care of household activities and child care, women also face added problems to career growth and development in the workplace. Womanhood is accorded minimal considerati...