Gender Differences and Respect in Work and Sports
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After reading the first chapter of Manifesta by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, I began to realize that women were never really treated with the respect they deserved in the past, and can even be traced to issues in the world today. A couple of issues that I find pretty compelling are the idea of inequality in both pay and consideration in a professional setting and the fact that men sports announcers gain more credibility than the women, even if the women exhibit more knowledge than the men. The first issue is more of a concern of mine for later in life when I begin to work in a ÐŽ§realÐŽÐ career and become faced with the challenge to step up to higher expectations that are placed in front of me. Being a huge sports fan (which IÐŽ¦m sure you know by nowєє), I am definitely concerned with the credibility that people give me whenever I talk about sports in any way. I will go into further detail as my essay unravels.
The underlying issue of inequality between genders in the workplace is definitely something that I find extremely disturbing. The fact that IÐŽ¦m in my junior year of college and hoping to finish in the four year expectation, I am going to be facing the ÐŽ§real worldÐŽÐ before I know it. Based on readings and evidence I find in my motherÐŽ¦s workplace, I can definitely say that women are more often paid less than men to do the same jobs than vice versa. This completely angers me because I believe IÐŽ¦m an extremely hard worker and would hate to be treated as if I didnÐŽ¦t deserve a higher wage based on my gender alone. I understand that there are rules against gender bias, but IÐŽ¦m not sure these rules are actually followed in the workplace. It seems to me that men seem intimidated by a woman in power and seem to want to challenge her authority more than they would a man in the same position. I feel as if the men feel lesser a man working under a womanÐŽ¦s demands than under the demands of another male.
As much as I want to see where these men are coming from, I just canÐŽ¦t figure out how the men canÐŽ¦t understand that women are just as equal as they are and deserve the same treatment and respect in the workplace, no matter what their gender entails. There are definitely issues of oppression by the men that probably feel threatened by women in higher power than them. Maybe itÐŽ¦s just a self-esteem issue and the fact that some men just canÐŽ¦t accept a womanÐŽ¦s orders. Whatever the case may be, I know when I do get into my career, I will not stand for inequality between genders in my work environment. I do believe that respect is earned, but there should not be a higher expectation for women just because of our gender. Being a very driven person, I will work just as hard as a man in order to get the recognition I deserve and wonÐŽ¦t stand for anything less and neither should any of my fellow women colleagues.
The next issue IÐŽ¦m going to attack is that of credibility for women in the sports industry. Being a huge sports buff, I hear comments from my male friends that really push me over the edge. One night we were watching a football game and a woman announcer was doing a sideline report and the male made a comment that the woman was just reading off of a teleprompter and didnÐŽ¦t know what she was talking about, but since she was ÐŽ§attractiveÐŽÐ it didnÐŽ¦t matter. I became extremely aggravated at this comment because I know that being a sideline reporter is NOT an easy job and you honestly have to know what youÐŽ¦re talking about to make an accurate report. I am definitely well-informed when it comes to most aspects of sports, but feel irritated when a male wants to challenge my knowledge just to prove a point. ItÐŽ¦s also irritating to me when men act surprised that I am actually interested in sports. The sports industry is definitely a male dominated field, but more and more women are becoming interested in becoming a part of it.
My future plans definitely include working somewhere in the sports industry and I will NOT stop until I fulfill my goals. I donÐŽ¦t see much of an oppression issue to women being sports anchors, but I can sense a bias in the credibility that men give, or donÐŽ¦t