Economics of Race and Gender - Essay Example

Economics of Race and Gender Movies & Discrimination Since decades, racism and discrimination has always remained a part of human society, American society is not the one from mars, and thus, it has been confronting impact of racism and discrimination until the present day. In this regard, it is very important that literate members of the society should take some efficient steps to discourage such social evils in the American society, and in this respect, this class was an efficient platform to know about different aspects of discrimination and racism that are present and affecting the society of the United States adversely. In addition, analysis of different movies indicated that it is something that is not unstoppable, and organized efforts will be very effective in eliminating it from the society. Specifically, it is an observation that although discrimination and racism are not visible evidently in the society, however, a microscopic eye can be very helpful in identifying such elements in the society, and it was understandable from different movies in the class. For instance, the film Rosie the Riveter evidently indicated the effects of discrimination on women during and after World War II in the United States, and the film showed such effects with the help of character ‘Rosie’ and her confrontation due to discrimination in California during wartime 1944. From this movie and other movies like Crash, Freedom Writer, one can clearly observe presence of discrimination and racism in the United States, and thus, the class helped enormously in better understanding of the topic. How diverse social positions affect economic and political access? Despite the fact that in an ideal society, which many societies claim to be, access to political and economic opportunities must be based on meritocratic factors, however, the same is true. The entire human history reveals that social positions and social classes have greatly affected the ability of people to score on political and economic grounds. There are different ways of looking at the same. Firstly, it can be looked from the perspective of both genders. Despite women are in majority on this planet, yet there are a very few women leaders known to the world. In fact, the countries that claim to be most democratic ones had women suffrage for the longest periods. Secondly, it can be viewed from the point of view of social classes. It is common for children belonging to wealthy parents to get a good education and earn more in their coming life. Moreover, even the lower social class from which most number of people belongs has produced very few political leaders. Moreover, in many parts of the world, the poorest people still live in isolation from the governments and do not get the right to speak, right to socials security and the right to vote. Lastly, race is another dimension of social position and racism and racial profiling nothing new to the world. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela had to put their lives on stake for fighting against the same. Possible reasons for women specializing in housework In the recent years, the traditional gender roles have changed greatly and in most western parts of the world, women no longer are bound to adhere to the traditional role of being housewife. Over the past few decades, the percentage of working women has risen sharply and quite understandably, it is a good sign for those homes are the economy as a whole. However, there are some conditions when it is advisable for women not to work outside and stay at home. Since we would be discussing economic conditions, therefore, the focus would be on costs, revenue, profits, and opportunity costs. Firstly, if the revenue generated by working is less than the cost incurred in working. Costs here refer to the costs of adhering to dress codes, transportation costs, commuting costs, maintenance costs of vehicles, attending the office functions and parties and others. When the revenue generated by working exceeds the costs incurred in outsourcing the homework like cleaning the house, doing dishes, washing clothes and others it is advisable to stay at home (Giddens & Griffiths, pp. 41-49). The third possible condition of sticking to the housewife role may be when the costs incurred to look after the children in terms of their tuition wife, babysitting costs and others can be significantly reduced by staying at home. The fourth condition may be that in long term the housewife role may provide healthy and engaging physical and mental activity that working away from home does not. From example, a research indicates that women who are highly engaged in household activity have significantly lesser chances of being a victim of breast cancer. Therefore, if the job poses threat to physical and mental health of the women then it is advisable to stick to household work. Lastly, a woman shall not work outside if she believes that despite her job is paying higher than her husband’s job but does not have much prospects of growth and does not provide social security benefits but the same is not true for the job of her husband (Andersen & Taylor, pp. 149-158). Why women are eager to increase their participation in labor market As mentioned earlier, over the past few decades, many women have broken the so-called rules and have jumped into the labor market. In many countries, now the percentage of men and women workers are getting very close and economists say that it is an extremely good sign for the economy in general. However, important here to note is that why these women have dared to come out of their cages, said no the traditional society pressurized roles and regardless of their races and social classes, they are demanding equal rights and treatment at work as of men. Firstly and quite understandably, in most situations, there is high financial incentive in working away from home. Considering recurring recessions, inflation, and rising costs of living, increasing demands of an average household, expecting that one earner would be able to finance all the needs of the family does not hold true in many situations. Secondly, the opportunity costs of not working are extremely high. A recent research reveals that women that give up their career incur opportunity costs of over a million dollars. The amount that they could have earned, social security benefits, retirement money, bonuses, pay increases, general account for a million dollars for an average American woman. Thirdly, like boys, women also dream about their ideal jobs, dream careers and have future expectations. These become the drivers of their educational life and quite understandably, if boys have the right to pursue their dreams when they turn in adults, the same is true for women. Regardless of their races or social background, sense of achievement is a need of human beings (Boeri, Boca, Pissaride, & Debenedetti, pp. 414-417). Fourthly, this boom in working women is also a result of the media exposure that the women have been getting over the past few decades. Our movies and sitcoms no longer are centered on women working in their houses but based on the women who are actively pursing their glamorous and rich careers. Lastly, it is because the overall shift of people from being interdependent to being independent, from getting married to single mothers, from comprising to increasing divorces. Women are more likely to find themselves in situations when they should work (Spade & Valentine, pp. 332-335). Wage inequality Almost all researches and statistics show that for the past three decades, almost since 1980 there has been a sharp increase in wage inequality between men and women. There are many reasons for the same. Firstly, it has been due to the educational choices that both of the genders have been making over these years. Boys have appeared to be more eager towards their careers, try to be more rational and less emotional at most of the times. However, women are generally viewed as being soft hearted, putting much emphasis on relationships, people and emotions rather taking rational decisions for maximizing the profits. Secondly, this can be explained due to the occupational choices of men and women. Most men prefer being doctors, engineers and managers, computer programmers, and other technical fields. However, there has been a general inclination of women towards careers like fashion designing, interior designing, painting, and other forms of arts and humanities. Despite the fact that these professions can be high paying but the probability of getting the same is extremely low (Andersen & Taylor, pp. 149-158). Another reason for the discussed phenomenon is the fact that many women choose to work part time rather than taking full time jobs. Quite understandably, the same means that at the end of the day, women end up getting lower hourly wage rate, lesser benefits, lesser chances for promotion, pay increases, bonuses and climbing up the ladder. However, most the corporate job that man choose end up getting them all of the elements above. Fourthly, this wage inequality also has risen due to regular entry and exit of women from the labor market. Quite understandably, women are more likely to take frequent breaks for pregnancy, raising their children, marriages, family issues and others. Statistics reveal that women between the ages of 18 to 34 are 27 percent more likely to take breaks during their corporate careers as compared to men in general (Spade & Valentine, pp. 332-335). Lastly, outsourcing is also a reason that has increased this wage gap. Considering all the above factors, outsourcing has decreased the demand of labor in the market and thus forced people to accept lower wages than it should be in ideal situation. This has increased the competition between existing labor supply in the domestic markets and quite understandably, looking at the above mentioned factors, men now leave less opportunities for women in the job market (Giddens & Griffiths, pp. 41-49). Main changes in the typical US family The only thing constant is change. Quite understandably, the phenomenon of change has been there with the humankind since day one. However, over the past few decades, this change has turned into an exponential phenomenon where the rate of change is increasing by every passing second. The same has also influenced the family size and dynamics in US as well. Firstly, the general family structure has changed from nuclear and extended family structure to independent family structures. Today, children no longer expect their parents to feed them right from day one till the death of their parents, however, every one is independent and seeks and prefers privacy and independence at all levels. The second change has come with the consumption of an average family over the past few years. Needs that were not present a couple of decades back are now at the top of the list of families. Thirdly, there has been a rise in single parent families. Liberal trends means that couples are having children before they are getting married and stressful lives with less calculated decision making means more divorces thus increasing single parent families (Boeri, Boca, Pissaride, & Debenedetti, pp. 414-417). Works Cited Andersen, Margaret L., & Taylor, Howard Francis. Sociology: understanding a diverse society. Cengage Learning, 2005. Boeri, Tito, Boca, Daniela Del., Pissarides, Christopher A., & Debenedetti, Fondazione Rodolfo. Women at work: an economic perspective. Oxford University Press, 2005. Giddens, Anthony, & Griffiths, Simon. Sociology. Polity, 2006. Spade, Joan Z., & Valentine, Catherine G. The Kaleidoscope of Gender: Prisms, Patterns, and Possibilities. Pine Forge Press, 2010. Read More