Gender Research Essays

Gender Research Essays Gender Research Essay Gender Research Essay Women and the world they live (d) in: Every society has pre-defined roles for men and women-Men are the bread-winners, the decision makers and the aggressive half whereas women are the procreators, the executors of the man-made decisions and the demure, passive half. The obvious sex difference has translated and now is firmly rooted as the gender difference that manifests itself in the roles that men and women are supposed to play. For a long time women have been confined to homes (sometimes it was a voluntary decision) and they have been expected to bring up children and take care of other social and societal obligations. But as the world evolved and the revolutions ensued women began to look beyond their homes for a life. This, obviously, caused quite a flutter among the puritans who still desperately clung on to the belief that the hand that rocks the cradle should not be paid. Transgressing from the unwritten rules of male female role-play was blasphemy the conservatives cried. But thanks to courageous women like Joa n-of –Arc, who led the French army against the British, women found a new life that led to avenues and careers they never thought existed. Now, a couple of centuries after women first began working there is a general if not grudging acceptance to the idea of working women. Women today are scaling new heights, setting higher goals and are climbing the corporate ladder. The working woman has finally arrived. : What women really want? Most women who venture out to start a new business face three major problems. First they have a difficult time raising capital for their business because most loan providers are skeptical of a woman run business. Second, they have to find a balance between home and work. This is a unique problem for women who run their business (other working women who are employed face this problem to a lesser degree) as it entails being at the helm of affairs (read crises) at work and running a perfect household as well. The third challenge for business owners is to be taken seriously by their peers; on the face of it the issue seems a petty one but then any business owner needs the acceptance from the peer group-it gives them a sense of pride and satisfaction. The lack of such respect could also have a severe damaging effect on the business as the non-acceptance by competitors may translate to consumer wariness towards the product. Women on top: As more and more women began to join the workforce there was a need to do more than just work for somebody. Women started to take risks and start their own ventures. Most such ventures started out very small and most of these women wanted little more than to fulfill their creative potential or meet a basic need. But as time passed by and their businesses flourished they began to move beyond the comfort zone and expand their businesses. These are the women who have made their sisters believe that they too can. One such enterprising woman, touted as the most successful woman in the twentieth century, was the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics Mary Kay Ash. Embittered by the male-dominated workplace where she was repeatedly denied promotions she launched her own cosmetic store with the help of her son and the rest as they say is history. The company became one of the largest cosmetic products manufacturers ever. Anita Roddick, Madame C.J.Walker, Coco Chanel and Estee Lauder all discovered op portunities in their problems and went on to make a name for themselves in the beauty and fashion business. Debbie Fields made her chocolate chip cookie a national dessert rage when she decided to start selling cookies at age 20 to earn just a little extra. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the founder of Biocon, also braved all odds to become the most successful (and the richest) woman entrepreneur in India. Their stories are all different but all of these enterprising women have what the Ernst and Young survey called the Top Qualities required to make an effective entrepreneur-resourcefulness, hard work, creativity and risk taking ability. These women recognized disguised opportunities and made the most of them. But more importantly they have shown other women (and men) that their dreams were not impossible. Women in the corporate world: Unlike their counterparts in the entrepreneurship arena the corporate women seldom make it to the top in their offices. The number of women on the board of directors is abysmally low in most companies. However, in recent years, the number of women making it to the elite panel of directors has steadily been on the rise. There were 10 women CEOs in the Fortune 500 companies in Apple, Accenture and Coca-Cola all ushered in female directors on board in the last couple of years. PepsiCo elected Indra Nooyi as the CEO in a landmark move. Brenda Barnes is CEO of Sara Lee; Anne Mulcahy heads Xerox and Janet Robinson leads New York Times. The number of women at the helm of affairs in major companies is testament to the under recognized managerial capability of women. These women too are standing examples for millions of women across the world of what can be achieved. Is gender bias really transgressed? Women face discrimination. It is a statement tacitly agreed upon in office corridors and living rooms alike. They face discrimination right from the entry point to the final destination. Most women complain about being bypassed for jobs simply because the company cites security being a reason for the job on hand-positions that demand graveyard shifts and frequent travel are examples. Once they do land a job the real nightmare begins. A woman has to work twice as hard as she has to overcome the stigma, which proclaims women as inferior workers. Also the incidence of sexual harassment by male colleagues and superiors is alarmingly high (most of them, sadly, go unreported). Women also face a predicament when they are put in-charge. Although she is an authority the woman is more likely to deal with non co-operative male subordinates. The road to the top of an organization for a woman employee or the time at the top for a female entrepreneur is rather tenuous and difficult. Besides all th is Most Women put up a glass ceiling for themselves. They begin to find solace in secure positions at work and opt out of the race in the early stages because they think that they cannot find a balance between the family and professional lives. This fabled glass ceiling needs to be shattered before they blame the opposite sex for coming in their way-they have to believe in their abilities and move forward purposefully.