Everywhere, remnants of the past continue to play their part, preventing women from developing as we would like. The problem of labor discrimination is still one of the most important, and when it comes to traditionally “male” professions, stereotypes immediately indicate where a woman should work and where she should not work.
Where are the roots of the problem?
The historically formed traditional image of a woman characterizes her as a fragile, emotional, loyal and docile person whose main role is to take care of home life. This image is laid out in us from childhood from the school curriculum. The heroines of the works we have produced have “feminine” character traits from the very beginning. Girls are taught from childhood to respect Tatyana Larina and Natasha Rostova, and when it comes to choosing a profession, there is a ready-made list to guide them: teacher, educator, nurse and a number of other activities. that a woman is “ideally suitable”. Accordingly, women’s predominant fields of employment are education (82%), health (80%) and hotel management (74%). The sociocultural system of attitudes is changing rapidly from the outside, but not from the inside. The list of professions inaccessible to women at the legislative level decreased by 4.5 times in 2021, but gender stereotypes did not disappear after that.
Stereotypes primarily attack self-confidence
It is very difficult to believe in your strength and leadership qualities when you are told that this is not a characteristic of women in general. Therefore, a large number of women suffer from “imposter syndrome” and devalue their value in a professional environment: we, in turn, begin to look at ourselves through the prism of gender bias. Therefore, it is very difficult to cope with the pressure from family, colleagues and friends by declaring the intention to master the male profession. They actually cite concerns for women’s health as an argument for the need for restrictions, which is actually quite contradictory. For example, while the heavy lifting limit for women is 10 kilograms, the weight of bedridden patients cared for by women in health institutions exceeds this limit by at least 5 times. The concern turned out to be only superficial.
The choice of profession depends only on us
The principle of equality is a matter of fundamental rights and justice. In modern society, women should have equal rights and opportunities in the world of work. Ignoring the potential of women in the labor market can only lead to loss of skilled labor and economic decline. Only women who ignore prejudice will have an effective outcome. There are many examples of women who rejected all stereotypes and conquered “male” professions. For example, the first female chef to receive a Michelin star was Italian Nadia Santini, who was named the world’s best chef in 2013; Valentina Tereshkova is known to everyone; Anna Shchetinina is the world’s first female sea captain. These pioneering women, who had a goal and a dream from the beginning, proved that the profession has no gender by doing things that many men could not do.
Source: People Talk
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
