3 Overlooked Reasons Why Gender Equality Is Being Held Back
3 Overlooked Reasons Why Gender Equality Is Being Held Back
Women's Equality Day celebrates the 19th Amendment, but we still have a long way to go to achieve a true balance.
Ninety-six years ago today, the United States adopted the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote. In 1972, August 26 was declared "Women’s Equality Day" in order to mark that anniversary. Nearly a half-century later, with a woman at the top of the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket, Susan Adams, a professor of management at Bentley University, asks, "How long will it be before the gender of a presidential candidate is a non-issue?" It’s clear the country has come a long way on gender equality. But it’s equally clear that we still have a way to go to realize it fully. Here are a few less recognized reasons why.
1. The Home Front Is Still Seen As "Feminine"
Over the past 50 years, American dads have nearly tripled the amount of time they spend on childcare (to seven hours a week, up from two and a half [absolutely appalling]), according to a report published in June by MenCare. But the chores they’re picking up aren’t necessarily lightening their female partners’ loads; Pew researchers recently discovered that women are spending more time on both childcare and housework than they used to.
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Adams, who's published research on female leadership, sees the spillover of these long-held stereotypes in the workplace. She notes how they've come through this election cycle, where Clinton’s "stamina" and "strength" have been questioned alongside her pantsuits and her voice. "But this is true for women in any position of leadership," says Adams. "By societal norms, women can’t be too assertive or brash, though both can be great tools for delivering results."
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3. 11% Of U.S. Employees Don’t Believe In Equal Pay
In a report published last March, Glassdoor found that 89% of U.S. workers believe men and women deserve to be paid equally for the same job. But that means that a not-inconsiderable 11% don’t.
One reason why it may be worth paying just as much attention to this minority is because of the sizable majority, detailed above, who see household chores and child care as "women’s work." In other words, these two findings unavoidably coexist on the spectrum of Americans' attitudes about gender and the relative values of certain kinds of work.
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But these findings, taken together, hint that the reverse is likely true, too: that the progress that's still left to be made is an accurate reflection of our evolving and sometimes contradictory ideas about gender—and that what we haven't achieved is just as good a measure of where we are as what we have. The day that American society—all of it—genuinely believes in gender equality, it will already have achieved it. Says Adams: "As a society, we will be much better off and closer to gender equality when men can be kind and supportive, women can be more directive in executing leadership, and girls around the country can visualize themselves as president."
https://www.fastcompany.com/3063174/strong-female-lead/3-overlooked-ways-we-still-havent-reached-gender-equality
