The nineteenth century saw a major advancement in educational and employment opportunities for women. During the early 1800s, women were not known to play significant roles in education such as teachers and learners in both formal and informal educations system, in the cities and the frontier (“The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education”, 2016). On the same note, the percentage of women who were educated compared to that of men was completely low, especially past the post-secondary education.
The manner and level of education of women’s education was reliant on class, race, and place. That is, the key objective of their education was to be expert at a variety of domestic chores and duties for them to acquire a proper partner. However, a highly educated woman was considered to be unusual and men never sought after them. From the colonial period all the way to the American Revolution, the majority of women’s work often centered on the home even though the idea of terming it as Domestic Sphere came later on in the nineteenth century. During this time, the birth rate was high, and the role of wife was to cook for her household and run a plantation or farm. They could also make garments such as weaving clothes, spinning yarn and sewing clothes among others which took a significant part of their time.
Presently, there are more women in the workplace and education system than before who have made them be sexually liberated. Women have made progress as they have pursued careers, entered into higher education and had the rights to divorce and carry out abortion as per their wish (“The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education”, 2016).
The majority of them have also gained class because they can now earn their own money and take care of their families independently without having to rely on the men or other members of the society. Despite these, the education system has not continued to perpetuate sexism because there is a significant wage differential between the males and the females. That is, women are still paid fewer salaries compared to the men even in circumstances where they have similar qualifications (“Women in Government”, 2016). In addition, women are still expected to undertake most of the domestic activities such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of children. This shows the oppression of women outside their workplace. Women have also remained to be the most exploited group with the system of exploitation changing with the capitalist system. For the majority of them, they have been forced into casual sectors where they are paid less and given less lucrative jobs compared to their male counterparts.
Sexual harassment refers to the unwanted sensual advances, sexual favor requests and other related physical or verbal behavior of a sensual nature. Most often, it is a condition or terms of individuals’ education, employment or contribution in a given communal place (“National Women’s Law Center”, 2017). Further, the denial or reception of sexual harassment is often used as the feature or basis when it comes to decisions that affect a person’s education, living environment, and employment among others.
When sexual harassment takes place, it unreasonably affects a person’s academic performance or employment and might as well create an intimidating and hostile environment for their workplace and education. Subsequently, the evolution of women in the work world tends to include a system of wage differentials. The majority of organizations and potential employers still believe that women earn less compared to the males. The reason is that the majority of them tend to study less lucrative disciplines and enter into the lower-paying professions.
Even these choices may grant them greater flexibility and shorter working hours; it negatively impacts their earnings. In some of the latest data presented by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, more women are under-represented in the majority of lucrative occupations (“Pay equity information”, 2016). Nonetheless, some women are still being paid less even if they have similar educational and experience qualifications as the men. Most employers and organizations do not think they deserve equal pay due to factors such as maternity leave.
Sexual harassment can be eliminated in numerous ways. First, a strong sexual harassment policy needs to be created in order to inform workers in an organization regarding the provision of zero-tolerance and a harassment-free workplace. As such, any person who presents a claim will be adversely affected. Second, inappropriate jokes related to sex should not be encouraged. Although some people may have a sense of humor compared to others, they should know that there is a time and place for everything. Employees need to be reminded that sexual jokes are unpleasant and crude rather than comical (“CAWP | Center for American Women and Politics”, 2016). Next, all upper-level employees need to attend anti-harassment workshops. Essentially, this will help ensure that the management has a uniform and clear understanding regarding the specific harassment and how to handle it in case it arises.
On the other hand, the system of wage differentials can also be handled in numerous ways. First, the federal minimum wage needs to be increased. According to research, women entail a disproportionate share of low-wage workers, and most estimates show that the difference in occupations accounts for half of the wage differentials (“Pay equity information”, 2016). For this reason, increasing the minimum wage will help a number of hard working females to support their families and have a better-living standard. Second, women need to develop negotiation skills when it comes it comes to salaries. They should negotiate salaries with their bosses and ask for the appropriate amount of money proportionate to their jobs. Lastly, women need to speak about the wage differentials. They could do this through various social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
The role of women seems to have changed over time. In the contemporary world, women enjoy more work opportunities, voting rights, higher wages, and equality compared to the past decades. In the past, they served as housewives and homemakers with most of their roles confined to performing domestic activities such as cleaning and cooking and to also bear and raise children. Nevertheless, the World War II seemed to have ushered in a significant period of employment for women because they were given a chance to desert the customary female roles and earn wages in jobs.
Subsequently, more legal reforms were implemented that made women advance in the society. They could participate in a variety of sports and improve laws about sexual assault and crimes linked to women. Even though this has been a great achievement for most women, certain ideologies have propagated the problem of sexism in the society. Women are still considered to be non-equal to men more so in the workplace. For this reason, they are given more wages compared to the women. Next, women are still sexually harassed in their workplace with fewer solutions being implemented to prevent it.