Women in the Workplace

The view of women in work has changed so much in the past 150 years. They have gone from being strictly homemakers to working in the atrocities of the coal pits, all the way up to becoming the CEOs of major corporations. This is not to say that women no longer need to fight sexism in the workplace, for it is not a problem that has ended completely. However, conditions have biome millions of times better. What I will present in this paper is the far the quality of work for women has come, as well as the broadening views of the world on women.

Since the time when the (Polytheistic) religions of Mother Goddesses from image-based religions fell under the power (Single God) of the masculine, Male-worshipping word-based religions, women have been viewed as lesser. As such, women were called weak, unable to handle physical labor and the like. Because of this, women were given the roles of homemaker, cook, nanny, and sometimes nurse. Men and Women alike believed that women could not physically handle hard farm labor. They believed that women had not the brain power of a man, and so were not educated.

By the time the industrial revolution hit, families were so desperate for money that every member of the family went to work, including the children. Even as the women began to work, their lives still revolved around those of the men, as seen in this excerpt from Harriet Robinson's Lowell Mill Girls:

Women were not allowed any maternity leave if they became pregnant. This occurred even in the coal mines where grueling labor forced them to crawl on their hands and knees with a belt about their waist and a chain between their legs. This chain was attached to a load of heavy coal, and these women had to drag the coal through sometimes 3 miles of tunnel.

The coal mines were a grueling place of work for members of either sex. Hours were long, workers often had 12 hour shifts, going from six in the morning to six at night, They were given an hour for dinner and some bread and butter for supper. There were no drinks for workers, despite hot conditions.

The temperatures were so warm that many workers were at least topless (including women); some wore only flannel loincloths or were completely naked. With all this nudity, intercourse, sometimes rape, was a common occurrence. The children grew up without an education and as a result could not read or write. Shafts often became flooded, and many workers drowned.
For this grueling, harsh, and unsafe labor, the men were paid six shillings a week. The women were paid half that amount at 3 shillings, the equivalent of 27 cents, a week! Of course, back then, costs were lower, but still the women were paid half as much as the men, despite the fact that they often had a family to support just as well as the men did.

Fashion at this time literally caged them in. An image of women as weak and fluttery was created because women would often faint from their corsets being tied too tight, causing them to have difficulty breathing. A popular colectible item at this time were collections under glass jars. They were pretty to look at, but they I not do good, they only took up space.

A person of today may look back on this and wonder why the working class women were not looked upon as strong and independent. The reason why is that these women were uneducated, had coarse language, and were often very filthy. They were dirty, scraggly, and very ugly. Why would these women under glass jars who were taught to believe that beauty and submission were the best qualities in a woman?

Still, however, a job is out of the question. They submit to their husbands, they care for their kids. The main workforce is swept off to war. There are huge holes in the workforce, too many to be filled by the remaining men, and by now child labor laws are being passed. The government needed a way to keep their economy afloat, and so they devised a plan.

She encouraged women nationwide to get a job to help the boys on the front. Women began working as welders, riveters, engineers, reporters, nurses...any job that needed filling. With a single rivet, Rosie began the movement for true women’s' independence. Before the war, American women believed in the need to be married and care for a family. Through work, they found a talent, strength, an ability to be strong without a husband. In Rosie women began to see the first American Strong Woman: the independent woman. Rosie could deal with anything on her own, but because she loved her man, she worked for him while he fought on the front.

And so, the US Government found a way to keep their economy afloat. What they didn't know was just what kind of can of worms they had opened.

After the war, women went back to their home lives. Some happily, some....well...they liked work. So women began to get jobs, although at first women could only get small jobs. By and by though, working women grew in strength and number. The 1960's came around, and the young women in their 20's saw that they really could be independent, that thy really didn't need to be married. So in the 70's and 80', women rushed to the workplace, and began to work their way up the ladder.

Today, women are common in any workplace. In these times, many people believe that a woman can do just as much as a man can. Unfortunately, however, there are still those people who believe that the place for a woman is in the kitchen, not at a desk doing honorable work, making money for themselves, and many not having a family or a husband to support.

Unfortunately, there is still a large amount of pressure put on working women. Women are often not paid as much as men, the average salaries for men and women are thousands of dollars apart. Women still have to deal with Sexual harassment in the workplace, although it is not nearly as bad as the rape that many coal mining women of the industrial revolution had to go through.
There is one issue, though, that still plagues or culture. The idea of marriage. It is pressed onto young girls as the perfect relationship, making them believe that you have to be married to be happy. This kills off many forms of independence. Marriage is such a large commitment that a couple would be better off just dating than married, especially the woman. Many a woman has quit her job just because her husband did not want her to continue working.

All in all, however, we have come long way. Women have grown even in politics, and I believe we will soon have a female president. When this step takes place, I think that Women will have an even stronger presence in the workplace, as well as be more independent. The education of history gives women the roots they need to grow wings, just as the bible rooted Christianity.

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Organizational Problems in the Workplace

I work for the Governors Office of Criminal Justice Planning. This office is a State Government Office, closely connected with the political dealings from the Governors Office. This Office processes grant funding for programs throughout the state of California. Two organizational problems that exist in my workplace are the constant downsizing without actually downsizing and decisions that are made by the Executive Office without consulting or at least informing the Specialist that works on the grants. A supervisor can have a staff of approximately 10 people. If that supervisor is required to perform a special assignment from the Governors Office, then those people are required to move into another branch. They are spread thin enough that it looks as though a branch has actually disappeared when in actuality the same number of people still work in this office. When the supervisor returns, those people are assigned back into the original branch with that supervisor, thus creating a “new” branch without really creating a new branch. The decisions being made by the Executive office can be literally promises made to a Sheriff or the head of an organization without taking into consideration the problem that may exist fulfilling the promise. The Governors Office and the political party in office influence these problems at the time of the decisions. The thinking used is more persuasive.

The Governor's Office of Criminal Justice Planning is comprised of majority white males. The Executive staff is comprised of one white female and three white males. These staff members are also attorneys. The problem created with the Executive Office being comprised of all Exempt employee’s with a similar background is that they have no understanding of real world timelines and what it actually takes to process the paperwork or fund the grants. There thinking is more of a straight line without going outside the box. They give some grantee’s more advantage, depending on their political connection, than others do. This creates a problem among the grantee’s that allowed certain privileges that others are not i.e. turning in late paperwork, not turning in financial statements, and allowing them to keep state purchased furnishings and equipment. The ability to make these command decisions should be thought out more clearly and the specialist informed of what is being done.

The creative thinking that this department does is to help eliminate scrutiny for decisions that are made or for changes that are handled in the best interest of the Governor without regard for the actually grantee being effected. This department creatively arranged the branches to look scaled down when in actuality the move was all on paper. Therefore, our department must look as though we faced as severe of cuts as did the other departments.

This department is closely looked at due to the fact our office generates millions of dollars of grants to local law enforcement organizations, victims of violent crimes organizations, and school districts throughout the State of California.

The interesting thing about the Governors Office of Criminal Justice Planning is that the Executive Office is comprised of the Political Party that is in office at the Governors Office. For example, when there is a Republican Governor then the Executive Office for this department is also a Republican to include all the excluded staff that work for them. When there is a Democratic Governor then the same holds true, the Executive Office in this Department is comprised of Democrats. The impact this has on the way business is done in this department can swing every four years. When the Sheriff of a county is Republican and the Governor is Republican then that sheriff has more say in the way, the money is going to be allocated for their counties local law enforcement programs. The culture rapidly changes upon new elections and the impact is felt throughout the state of California.

The forces of influence come from white males who are highly educated. All decisions being made are being made with a similar thought pattern. More women in the executive Office or more cultural diversity in the Executive Office could make a tremendous difference in how decisions are made. For example, a woman might think more clearly on why woman’s shelters are an important grant to fund, when a male may not see the need for them and choose to eliminate them causing controversy.

Professional employees have to be able to accept the differences in others and be able to complete assignments and projects with a group of people of different cultures and backgrounds. The problem of not being able to accept others opinions can be eliminated, or at least reduced with using critical thinking. When working on a project or assignment there is a common goal to that each team member should be reaching for i.e. completion of the project on time and at or under cost. Project leaders or manager does can get themselves into trouble if they are quick to judge or slow to part with ironclad judgments. Being open-minded requires that project leaders or manager’s set aside past preconceived notions or judgments and listen carefully to each person’s idea or opinion. To be effective, project leaders and managers should use a highly reflective approach to management which is called “action inquiry,” which requires a willingness to sacrifice their illusions about themselves and others and situations as they receive new information.

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