Blogs 12-14

Blog 12

Segregation occurs because of the large and persistent wage gap between men and women workers. Even though women have begun to integrate some formerly male-dominated jobs, women still make less than men. According to Britton, “women lawyers are more likely to be found in specialties like family law, public defense, and government law, all of which pay lower wages than those to be in corporate law, a male-dominated specialty.” Sex segregation is not something forced, it occurs naturally. I do believe that women choose jobs that relate more to their personal preference whereas men choose jobs that give them the “real man” title. Men tend to major in business and women tend to major in communications or education. Men and women are in different jobs, and the jobs women hold pay less on average than those that men occupy. Like I said above, the difference is internal stratification. Women tend to occupy the lowest rungs of the occupational ladder.
The theory of gendered organizations can be found in the interaction between three factors. The first is, the structures of work organizations, the cultural and ideological assumptions upon which they draw and which in turn shape them, and the agency of workers themselves. This approach consists in two key assumptions. First, organizations must be viewed from within the context of an unequal society, one in which gender domination exists and is reproduced on an ongoing basis. Gender is a process, the product of a social construction that can be carried out both at the micro level and the macro level.
Men feel that they need to be the bread winners of the family and the woman should be at home with the children. If men and women are both working high corporate jobs then who is going to take care of the children and the home? Men definitely lose by women entering male dominated occupations since they can not go home after work and expect food on the table and the house clean. Men still believe that women should be at home while they are making the money for the family.


Blog 13
People have the idea that prison guards are men in uniform carrying a nightstick or a gun and acting brutal and sadistic. Many believe they look and act this way in order to scare the inmates and intimidate them. However, prison guards look like the everyday “average Joe.” Anyone can be a prison guard, even if you aren’t a big hulking tall person. Don’t get me wrong, prison guards do need to be tough and expect the worst at any time. When I think of prison guard, I do picture a big, scary looking male. I do not picture a female being a prison guard. Women are tough and deserve to work at the same places as men. However, I do not think women should be working at men’s prisons. Men are born stronger than women and if inmates were to go on strike against the guards, the women would not have a chance.
Women who work as prison guards are labeled “manly and lesbians.” People look at prison guards as a “man’s job.” If I asked someone about a prison guard, they would imagine a large male. Men who work at women’s prisons are probably way more laid back and the environment is much calmer. Everyone says that “women are crazy” and you would think women’s prisons are way more out of control than men’s but from watching “Locked Up” and other prison television shows, men are the crazy ones. Also, male prison guards have a tougher time dealing with male inmates since they can be the same size or even bigger. I believe male prison guards are bigger and meaner at male prisons than female prisons, only because of the intimidation factor. Male inmates are not going to be intimidated by a small, skinny prison guard. This is also why I do not think women should put themselves in that kind of danger and work at a male prison.



Blog 14
“Individuals come to see themselves as appropriately gendered through work. Men and women may organize to protect gender-based interests. For example, the military is seen as a man’s duty. Culture has shaped the way we categorize men and women into different organizations. Britton states, “organizations are gendered at the level of structure.” Men and women live their lives very differently from one another. Prison guards are seen more as a man’s job since prison is structured as hostile. Men and women choose jobs that relate more to what they have grown up with and how they were structured.
Again, men feel that a woman’s job should be at home cooking and cleaning. Men are supposed to be in the public sphere whereas women are in the private. Culture has defined women as homemakers and men as the workers. The Rawlinson case shows how organizations still want to keep women away from male gendered occupations. Rawlinson was denied a job at a male prison because of her height and weight and most importantly her sex. No one should be denied a job because of their sex, even though I do not believe women should work at a male prison. If a woman chooses to work at a male prison then so be it. Men and women supposed to be treated equal and in this situation she wasn’t because she is female. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, opened the doors for women to finally have the jobs they always wanted. They were unable to have the same jobs as men and society still categorizes men and women into two different spheres.