Blog #36

The “glass ceiling” is the idea that women are unlikely to make it to the top. The glass ceiling is still a problem, even though it is significantly less of a problem. Women are more experienced than in the past and are perfectly talented and capable of keeping up and competing with males colleagues. Women are still not in top leadership spots because they still want to have control over their lives and balance the other aspects of work. The top jobs mean that you have to be on call 24/7 and make the company the top priority over their own life. Differences between men and women in the workplace tend to get men promotions while women’s differences tend to be geared to their family life. Corporations often assume that women are not ambitious and they are not as willing to listen to their goals and needs. Many of the listeners on “Talk of the Nation” said that it is up to the woman’s personal choice whether or not they want to climb the cooperate ladder. One woman said that she has had the opportunity to climb that ladder but does not want that top position because she wants to be able to have time with her family. Other women decided to work more when their kids were younger so they could spend time with them when they are older. It was suggested that cooperation’s look at the different patterns that women choose and acknowledge those differences. I think that many of the opinions expressed on the issue were insightful and mostly correct. I do believe that ultimately it is the woman’s choice to spend more time with her family that ultimately causes the lack of leadership positions for women. If women made their work their top priority, like men, then there would definitely be more women in professional careers and in top positions. However, I think that corporate America can lure women back into the workforce if they offer more flexible opportunities to balancing their family lives so that they can also get top leadership positions in their firms.

Blog #35

The “Best Practices” article to promote work/family balance focuses on the additional responsibilities of employees who are additionally caregivers. Caregivers face many challenges when balancing the work and family life because they are not evenly distributed among the working population. This article points out that women are more dominant as caregivers and that minority women are the most dominant caregivers. The involvement of women in the workforce has increased dramatically and most layoffs have been those of men. As a result, women’s jobs are becoming more and more important to the family. The article stresses to employers that they should acknowledge these challenges and work with and understand a caregivers situation in order to create a better and more productive working environment for all. This article touches on the issues that we have covered in the readings and other course materials that discuss the hardships of balancing work and family life. It is important that articles like this continue to circulate in places of employment so that people who cannot easily relate to caregivers are provided with insight and will be more helpful and innovational in their business practices. This document does not require employers to take any action, but strongly suggests it, which is a huge benefit to caregivers. This article supports the issue that women are faced with more pressures than men in their careers because they also have to raise their families. While women have increased in the workforce, the pressures for them to raise children are still heavy in society.

Blog #33

Based on the readings and the materials provided, women attorneys have made large advancements in the legal field. Females make up half of law school graduates and are closing the gender gap in the male dominated field. Women have more freedom to express themselves through their style and femininity and are gradually becoming more and more equal. Women have gone through many steps to gain leadership in professional careers, such as completing a college education. Women still face a wide variety of challenges in the legal profession. They are criticized more by their colleagues because of gender stereotypes and biases. Women have a difficult time balancing work and family life. Another obstacle for women attorneys is having the same access to promotional opportunities as men. Men are still much more likely to become partners over women due to various reasons discussed in a previous blog. Minority women lawyers are the least commonly seen in the career field because of the discrimination and neglect that they feel in their firms. Diversity needs to be implemented into more firms because it will offer more profitability and creativity for the firm as a whole. Women have so much to bring to the table that goes overlooked, and it is our job to make sure that we strive to more equal work environments. Just because we think that work life is now equal between men and women, does not mean that it actually is, and the discrepancies should not be ignored. The “old boys network” that still exists needs to be exposed and done away with so that diversity can grow. While women have made astonishing progress in the legal career, there are still many challenges that need to be overcome.

Blog #32

Parenthood differs between men and women attorneys. One major example provided in “Gender on Trial” tells of an ideal that when a man has a child, he is pressured to earn more money and become more work harder. When a woman has a child she is expected to be a nurturing mother. A high-powered female attorney is viewed as a suspect parent because other people in the firm automatically assume that she must not be a good parent if she is so dedicated to her career. This type of woman faces hostility from both her male and female coworkers. Tradition values of motherhood impact women and the choices they make immensely because women are more likely to balance the family life than men. Not only does a working woman have to prove herself in her career, but she has to go home and prove herself as an “ideal” mother as well. Many women make choices to work part-time or stop working for an amount of time in order to meet their childrearing societal expectations. Some women prefer this lifestyle and others find it simply too difficult and stressful to balance both successfully. When women leave the workforce to raise their children, it affirms the long held stereotype that the proper place for women is at home. Employers are careful and wary when hiring women for these reasons. Colleagues also have different expectations of women attorneys with kids than those without kids or men. As younger people are entering the legal career, they have a difficult time with the realities of the difficulties in balancing both lives. Young women leave high pressure law firms for the sole reason that they look ahead and already do not see how they could possibly manage life. It is difficult for the female attorney to establish a rewarding balance between their career and life, but hopefully with the issue becoming more aware in law firms, it will change the situation and stereotypes for lawyers.

Blog #31

There is a huge problem of balancing work/home life in the legal profession. The legal profession is very demanding and time-consuming, and this negatively affects the relationships that lawyers have with their families. Many people feel that this issue is impossible to solve because it is so difficult to balance to two aspects. People who are the sole breadwinner of their families do not stress the issues that bother their children because they are too busy stressing about the financial issues. Many attorneys believe that having a family life negatively affects their work success. Women attorneys face these issues with much more force than male attorneys because they are traditionally viewed as the nurturing parent and homemaker. Women attorneys must make many sacrifices to balance their work/family lives and both suffer because of the struggle to stay on top of it all. Part-time schedules are one suggested solution that assists women in being attorneys and mothers. With a part-time schedule they can do their work on their own time and still fill the needs of their children. Women also need to be more upfront about their motherhood so that it is not seen as a negative in the law office. Younger attorneys are also more proudly announcing that they will take time off to be mothers and return to work as soon as they are ready and willing. Stereotypes that suggest that the man is the career parent while the woman is the homemaker should not be encouraged. Males get far less leeway to parent and men are typically less inclined to move to part-time positions to care for their families because of the stereotypes and the responsibilities of being the breadwinner. Reduced hours schedules should be available to both men and women who want to spend more time with their families. In the law career parenting is negative for both men and women which makes it extremely difficult for solutions geared toward balancing work/family life a possibility.

Blog #30

Conventional views of leadership styles disadvantage women and advantage men because most companies do not view women as leaders. More men are promoted into leadership positions due solely to their gender. In the video, “Shared Leadership: The Value Women Leaders Bring” mentions the fact that often the people who run corporations or politics are males and they feel more comfortable hiring people who look like them. In “Gender on Trial”, English writes that the default image of the lawyer as the leader is profoundly male and women are simply overlooked at times. Some women are also resistant to be the lone woman at the top of the ladder and are not interested in joining leadership ranks.

Gender expectations frame leadership behavior for men and women because men are expected to be the natural leaders. Men are always portrayed as leaders with women assisting them. Gender expectations lead men to be less empathetic leaders and less creative. Women bring different experiences to the table. In the “Shared Leadership” video, the woman talks about how women politicians bring an agenda of issues that have been neglected to the forefront and not necessarily just women’s rights issues. Women are also very successful in politics because they work well with other people and offer more support than their male colleagues. Gender expectations also affect women because one reason is that they feel it is difficult to establish informal relationships with their male peers and want to sidestep sexual overtones.

These expectations relate to stereotypes because men are the default leader in American society which automatically puts women in the more passive position next to them. Women worry about how they will be judged if they act or dress a certain way, and this effects their leadership opportunities because it limits those opportunities by not holding men to those same biases. Men face much less criticism and scrutiny in the law office because they are dominant which feeds into the stereotype that they make better leaders. In the videos it was proven that women are given less leadership positions despite their growth in certain fields such as law and politics. Half of law school graduates are women, yet only 5 percent of law firm partners are women, and even less than that are minority women. The stereotypes are a constant obstacle for women despite the advances and hard work they have put forth to achieve gender equality.

Both men and women have negative and positive leadership qualities, and a diverse group of leaders is the ideal situation for businesses. In the “Shared Leadership” video, we are told that corporations that had women in top leadership positions in Fortune 500 companies have a 34 percent higher profit than those corporations with no female leaders. Women bring different experiences and skills to the table through managing people, developing teams, and many other leadership roles. Women notice issues that men may overlook. A woman’s experiences also benefit her leadership responsibilities. While many men make great charismatic and confident leaders, they sometimes lack the insight that women provide. A diverse leadership team creates a creative, productive, and profitable work environment.

It is difficult for me to decide which leadership style I prefer more, that of a man or a woman. I have had many jobs and I have worked in a law firm directly under a male partner’s supervision as well as a female paralegal who was my “mentor” since I was a beginning paralegal. The paralegal was a great resource for me and she was usually always willing to help me but sometimes she would compete with me for absolutely no reason or throw me under the bus over a trivial mistake during an office meeting. She like to criticize my clothes and tell me what I could and could not wear. When I talked with an attorney about weekend activities briefly in the morning, she accused me of people getting the wrong impression about me and told me I had to stop talking to him. She made my work environment extremely awkward for me at times. The lawyer however treated me the same as anyone else in the office even though I did sometimes feel the uncomfortable pressures of his attempts at flirting. I prefer male leadership because they tend to treat you with a certain amount of expectation that you should fulfill and even if they are bossy or sometimes seem mean they do not purposely criticize the way you look as much as women leaders. I like women leaders though because they are usually more understanding of personal stresses outside of work and more willing to listen and understand if you cannot be in right on time or something like that. I think women are good leaders because they understand the work/life balance that people face and have an easier time relating to people. I also think women are more creative in their positions. My female professors usually give more interesting assignments with more room for creativity. I think it mostly depends on the person and how well-rounded they are. I have experienced good and bad leaders of both genders.

Blog #29

So few minority women stay with law firms because they face discrimination in the office. Fewer than one percent of partners are minority women. Minority women are exposed daily to harassment, discrimination, and exclusion. The NPR report involves the stories of black women who have tried to work in a law firm with no success because of the constant biases and stereotypes that they face. With the stress of the job and the added stress of being a minority in sex and skin color, it is often not worth it for these women to stay in their careers and sacrifice their times and morals to a career that does not fully respect or appreciate their work. The “good old boy” network that exists in most law firms prevents minority women from progressing in the law field. Most people are shocked when they see minority women come into a courtroom and have the power, and it takes a toll on these women. Minority women are also denied the same social and informational resources as other attorneys in the firm. The NPR reports and other course material is consistent with what is said in the book about minority women as attorneys. Women leave law firms for so many reasons and adding the minority race factor makes it even more of a struggle to survive among the white male majority of the partners and other associates that dominate the majority of firms. The culture of the firm is hugely important when it comes to minority employees and if the firm is committed to a diverse environment they will likely treat their minority employees with equal respect as the rest. It is truly awful and damaging to American society that minority women are not more prominent in the legal field because the stereotypes and inequalities discourage minority women to pursue this career path, reinforces these stereotypes, and prevents more diverse professional law firm environments.

Blog # 28

“Proving Yourself in a Man’s World” is an excellent title for this blog because it is exactly what Justice Sonia Sotomayor had to do when she was nominated for the Supreme Court. Because she was a woman, and a minority at that, she faced extremely harsh criticisms which included accusations of stupidity, a poor temperament, and vanity. She was negatively portrayed in the media by many men and opposers who did not like or respect her. These are attributes that are often associated with females in the legal field and it comes as no surprise that Justice Sotomayor was heavily criticized for these characteristics. If it had been a man running for Supreme Court he would likely be scrutinized for different attributes and probably not as harshly at that. Just like we have seen in the examples provided in “Gender on Trial”, Justice Sotomayor had to prove herself as worthy at a much more difficult level that a white male. Men talk about her in a disrespectful and condescending way that goes to prove that they think she is unable to do her job as good as a man. Competency is treated significantly differently between men and women in the law career and Justice Sotomayor’s case is a prime example. Since when was it such a big deal electing a Supreme Court Justice, and has this much controversy ever risen from a male nominee choice? Personally I cannot recall a time that such a commotion was caused over a Supreme Court Justice and some of them are arguably very extreme. The articles that were published about her character were largely biased and viewed her in a negative light with no actual credibility to the accusations they made. The election of Sonia Sotomayor into the Supreme Court is monumental for women and minorities because it shows it can be done despite the obstacles and biases against women.

Blog #27

On page 77 of “Gender on Trial”, Holly English uses an example from the American Bar Association to demonstrate the competency gap between men and women lawyers. The American Bar Association poll taken in 1983 revealed that 38 percent of women lawyers said they believed they had to work harder to prove themselves. In 2000, the percentage increased to 60 percent. Similar surveys were conducted that demonstrate similar results. The same survey also showed that there was a perception of less respect for female attorneys. Seventy percent of women attorneys in the survey said that their male colleagues were condescending towards them. These studies show that there are obvious gender inequalities inside the law firm today and that these are not issues of the past that should be ignored. Women attorneys are less likely to get promotions because they are not typically seen as leaders. In the NPR report in the course materials, one woman was demoted for absolutely no valid reason other than her gender. It is also a struggle for women attorneys because they have to work much harder to prove themselves and juggle more stresses and obstacles. Men attempt to win a case against women attorneys through bullying them, because there is a preconception that women attorneys are much easier to intimidate and can knock them off their stride. Some men lawyers act like women lawyers are not competent in their case and attempt to call them out and make them look stupid in the courtroom. Male attorneys will interrupt female attorneys or try to provoke them for no logical reason. Minority women lawyers experience more scrutiny than while women lawyers or sometimes they feel that they get complimented more because of their race. When women respond to the skepticism, it reinforces the questions of competence and effectiveness that they face daily.

Blog #26

In Chapter four of English’s book, she discusses the roles males have in assisting female lawyers. Some women explain that they need a male voice to “seal a deal” with a client or to get some reinforcement. Some women believe that their clients do not listen to them as attentively as they would to a male attorney, and to ensure that the client hears their advice, they have a male relay the information to the client as well. Other female attorneys use their male coworkers to validate their advice and input to clients. Many clients do not seem to trust or respect the work done by female attorneys over male ones. In other instances, male attorneys also treat female attorneys with more aggression than they would another male attorney. If there is a message that needs to be given to a client or opposing party that is particularly a difficult one, a male is most often chosen to do it. When people act out these certain roles inside of the law firm, it reinforces the law firm as a gendered organization. When women attorneys take on separate responsibilities from men attorneys, it is creating stereotypes and boundaries between the sexes. It exposes the law firm as a place that is not gender neutral. When skeptical clients or aggressive opposing counsel require a man to back the woman, it leads the woman to believe that this is the proper way to respond. Personally, I think that women need to be able to assertively and professionally approach these opposing counsel and skeptical clients and call them out in a way that will not get anyone angry. If women just continue to assume the passive role then these gendered roles will always exist and more men than women will be seen as the people who actually get things done, even though the women are perfectly capable of handling the same situation themselves. Hopefully any client or attorney would realize how badly they had acted once they were reasonably called attention to their disrespect.

Blog #25

Using sexualized behavior as “a weapon in the arsenal” can have negative and positive effects on women lawyers. Women have more room to express their sexuality positively without automatically being labeled as incompetent. A con is that sexual harassment keeps negative sexual stereotypes about women alive and it remains an issue for younger women who have to constantly fend off advances. Men are more prone to leave women out for this reason; they do not want to be accused of harassment. Some women flirt to advance their careers. Many women do this instead of using their academic and professional credibility to get a job advance, which negatively affects the whole of women attorneys. Some women even dress in “riskier” clothing in order to get what they want from a judge or boss. However, at the same time, some women dress attractively to simply project confidence and professionalism. This strategy is presented in the media through law films. In most law films that star females as attorneys, they are typically always romantically or strictly sexually involved with a make colleague. Even when the women are credible, they often are second to the male attorney. In “Erin Brockovich”, Julia Roberts plays a strong, independent paralegal who uses her sexuality to get what she wants. She is able to obtain records that she would not have been able to access had she been male. She also does not let male colleagues push her around. In “Sex and the City”, one episode shows how Miranda, the attorney, has to pretend that she is a lesbian in order to fit in with the partners of her firm in hopes for a promotion because the firm wants to add a female couple to their group. Instead of earning the promotion on her own merit, Miranda is convinced this fake relationship will help her, until she decides it is not worth it and she does not care. For the most part, women are not necessarily viewed as incompetent attorneys in media, but they do often come second to male actors or end up being devious in some way, which ultimately negatively contributes to stereotypes of women lawyers.

Blog #24

For my interview assignment, I interviewed a female attorney who practices probate and estate planning. During my interview with her, I asked her many questions that were gender related. Generally, she felt that she did not feel discriminated against as a female lawyer, but she did have some instances where she felt disrespected by others in her work environment because of her gender. When the lawyer I interviewed practiced in a mid-sized law firm, she was the only female attorney in her office. While she felt that she was part of the group and never left out or discriminated within the office because of her gender, she was denied an opportunity for partner based on her sex. A male attorney was given the partner position even though he had worked there for less time than she and was no better at his job than she. This frustrated her because from the beginning of being employed at the firm, she enthusiastically expressed in interest in becoming partner someday and strived toward that goal. This ultimately led her to leave the firm and start her own practice. The lawyer I interviewed also said that some male attorneys did not have as much respect for her because she was a female, and would make cracks about her sex. She said that you have to put them in their place before they start take advantage. She also said that once a female attorney becomes demanding or confrontational, people might stereotype that she is depressed, going through menopause, etc. The lawyer I interviewed said that one of the best things for a female attorney to do is never cry because that automatically gives the other attorneys the upper hand and makes you look weak. She also said to always put the client first and to never let personal issues or preferences prevent you from properly representing your client. She stressed the importance of remaining balanced in the professional workplace, and not being too emotional or to confrontational. The interview with this respectable female attorney was extremely beneficial because of the insights she provided on what it is like to be a female lawyer.

Blog #23

In Chapter two of “Gender on Trial”, Britton outlines the history, issue, and overall politics of gender and fashion. She reports that fashion is still an issue among professionals because most of them have a sense of what to where when meeting with certain clients or going to certain meetings. One of the most commonly asked questions of a trial attorney named Randi McGinn is the question about what should be worn inside the courtroom. When women first entered the legal profession, they felt out of place among their male coworkers and in order to “blend in” they took on a more masculine look through short haircuts, minimal makeup, navy blue or gray suits, and low-heeled shoes. This was an attempt to make women attorneys as unnoticed as possible and was even called the “power look” to some, according to English. This approach, however, did not keep women and fashion from critics. If a woman did accept certain fashion types, such as revealing the shape of her body, she was seen as nonserious but if she kept her breasts, hips, and legs hidden, she was accused of not being feminine enough. When the late 1980s and 1990s emerged, women started to be more comfortable in expressing themselves through their fashion and wore bright suits, silk dresses, softer hairstyles, and distinctive jewelry and accessories. (English p. 21). This came about as women wanted to increase their self-confidence because they were uncomfortable dressing like men. More and more women wore what made them comfortable when they noticed that other women in the field were “coming out”. How a woman presents herself through her fashion may have a strong, negative impact on her position in the firm, sometimes even being denied partnerships for not having the “right” appearance. Women can use their fashion to their advantage, by showing that they are strong, intelligent, confident, and respectable people no matter how they choose to dress. With advancements like casual dress and the increase in women attorneys, the stereotypes against women have eroded. However, they do still exist and women still are judged more often for their fashion over men.

Blog #22

Sonia Sotomayor, the newly elected Supreme Court Judge, was under much scrutiny when President Obama appointed her to the bench. She is the first Hispanic justice and the third woman justice. Sotomayor’s made a comment, commonly referred to as the “wise Latina” comment, in which she said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.” Because of this comment, many people, the majority right-wingers, criticized her for being racist. While I agree that her comment is probably true, (most white men have not had the same enlightening life experiences as any minority or woman), I still have to say that it was unwise of her to say it out loud. I think it is best for people not to give the impression or generalize that they are better than anyone because of their race or gender, and in a way, she does this. A controversial case in which she was involved in was one involving promotions for a certain group of firefighters who were required to study for and take an exam that would measure whether or not they would qualify for the promotion. The fire department then denied everyone the raise and when the other fire fighters who passed the test brought a lawsuit, Justice Sotomayor ruled that because no black people passed the exam, no one could get the raise. Sotomayor faced criticisms for this decision because she was accused of being a racist. The video for this blog shows that other Supreme Court Justices have made controversial statements but because they are white males, they have not been attacked as extremely as Justice Sotomayor was.

Blog #21

The National Association for Female Corrections Officers is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to eliminate sexual harassment of female officers and to eliminate sexual assault. They also work to improve work conditions and to promote the development of new, cutting edge, technology. The NAFCO proposal includes many legislative reform proposals. The main issue that seems significant to this group is rape and sexual assault of female officers on duty. In their Federal Legislative Proposal, one of the goals is “Develop and implement national standards for the detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment of female correctional officers and employees” while many of the other points also deal with rape issues. Another feature of the NAFCO website is the “Memorial” section, which remembers female officers who have been killed on duty. The most recent woman to die on duty was Darla Kay Lethram in 2003, who was supervising a group of inmates who beat her to death with a sledge hammer in an escape attempt. I thought the stories listed in the memorial were shocking tales of violence on the job and personally I think they go against what Britton says are the realities of prison life. However, if you look at the dates of these female officer who have died, there are not very many considering the span of years that it covers, from the early 20th century to today.

Compared with Britton’s suggestions, NAFCO’s suggestions are fairly similar and ideological for the prison system. Britton writes, “Racism and sexual harassment remain obstacles and should be more aggressively addressed.” NAFCO is an organization that addresses issues of sexual harassment aggressively. Also, both Britton and NAFCO are advocates for better and more realistic training programs. “Women have proven that they can perform the previously unimaginable task of working in men’s prisons. Many of them…are quietly and gradually transforming what it means to be an officer within the confines of the prison’s iron cage.” (Britton p. 226). This statement that Britton makes at the end of her book is significant because it proves that women are capable of holding and succeeding in the same jobs as men. Women need to be acknowledged more in this type of career so that society will not view the prison system as such a gendered organization. With help from organizations like NAFCO and continued awareness in the media through books such as “At Work in the Iron Cage” or newspaper articles that feature women guards, slowly the prison career will become one for all people and not just white males.

Blog #20

The hostage situation that took place at Lewis Prison in Arizona involved prison guard Lois Fraley and two inmates, who held her hostage for 15 days, beating and raping her repeatedly. The other guard who was in the tower with Fraley was immediately knocked out and beaten by the prisoners. Fraley’s account of the hostage situation is very frightening and I feel that it proves that because she was a woman she could better survive this situation. For instance, she claims that she was a “good hostage” by talking about her daughter and fabricating stories of abuse she received by her stepfather as a child, so that the men would not beat her as often. She said that she tried to get the prisoners to think of her as a real person so that they could relate to her and hopefully spare her life. They quickly took down the male officer and only spared Fraley for the fact that she was a woman. Neither of the guards were able to take control of the inmates since the inmates stormed in with weapons and automatically the guards were at a disadvantage. Schriro, the prison chief of Arizona, successfully handled this situation. However, during the time that the men were holding Fraley hostage, there were many discrepancies of the tower of the prison that were noticed. For instance, there was no way for the investigators to get a look inside the tower and there was “a disconnect between the physical plant, the staffing and the equipment”.

Schriro has faced many criticisms because she is the first woman in Arizona to be the prison chief. Since prison systems have for a long-time been gendered, masculine, structures, Shriro has had to work harder to prove herself and to earn her job title. The Phoenix Magazine wrote about how one Arizona newspaper criticized Shriro by showing the various hairstyles she has had over time. I do not feel that this type of treatment would happen in a non-gendered organization. Shriro is a highly educated woman with radical and liberal beliefs on how to better the prison system. The Phoenix Magazine also feminizes Shriro in their article when they talk about her love life and hobbies of planting flowers. I think this article itself is an example of the media sexualizing people, even if it is obviously talking about Shriro in good light. The “doing gender” is constantly around us, like when read about a tough and productive prison chief and then how she hopes to get married and likes to plant flowers. Britton writes, “men officers were to be officers in a paramilitary mold, and to serve primarily as enforcers, ready and able to use violence. Women, on the other hand, were to be mentors and surrogate mothers, guiding their wayward charges to rehabilitation”. This seems true in modern times as I read these articles. Shriro is a woman who focuses on rehabilitation and Fraley used her role as a mother to gain sympathy from her captors.

I do not really feel that the hostage situation at Lewis Prison reflect the conditions faced by guards described in the “From Turnkey to Officer” chapter. In that chapter, prison guards often lived at the prisons in not so good conditions, working many hours and only seeing their families a few times a week. Today, guards do not have to do that. However, the hostage situation is reflective of that because technically the condition of the tower was unsafe for the guards. It was too easy for the inmates to successfully break into the prison and take over. In addition, training for guards seems to lack the handling of this situation, and Fraley was basically left to figure it out on her own as she was forced to experience it.

A prison is a total institution because prisoners are subordinate to officers. There are clear hierarchies in this type of organization and it is one where people go and live out every moment of their lives. The prison system is a hegemonic system that puts white, male guards at the top and inmates at the bottom.

Britton’s recommendations to encourage more realistic portrayals of prison life would have been beneficial in this hostage situation. Training for guards needs to be catered to a more specific need. Men and women need to be prepared realistically with the different environments that exist between men’s and women’s prisons. Britton suggests practices that encourage defusing violence instead of reacting with further physical violence. Fraley proves this is true in her actions that led her safely out of the 15 day hostage situation. In addition, if more media stories covered the real-life stories of women prison guards, it would help to eliminate the negative stigma of women in this job. Britton also suggests that policies that lessen sex segregation should be implemented in the prison system.

Ultimately, I agree with what Britton suggests would improve the overall work experience and conditions of prison guards and hopefully with progressive changes, these improvements will continue to take place. A woman like Shriro as a prison chief is a large step, especially for Arizona, in reforming the prison system.

Blog #19

The video of Geena Davis speaking about her foundation “See Jane” was truly shocking. Geena Davis starts by talking a little bit about the movies she has been in that have encouraged women’s independency and women’s rights, films such as “A League of Their Own” and “Thelma and Louise”. She says that young girls find these films inspirational. For example, after “A League of Their Own” was released, young girls told her that the film encouraged them to do sports. Then Geena Davis talks about the media and the message that it is sending to young children. She compares cartoons from now to back when she was a child, and points out that there has been little change. She talks about the classic cartoon female characters such as, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Granny from Looney Tunes, and Smurfette. She tells the story of Smurfette and how it was not until she had Smurfette plastic surgery that the rest of the smurfs accepted her. These characters set a standard for how society believes women behave and how they should look. From a young age, female children become aware of their self image and that it should transform to what is accepted in the media. Cartoons are highly sexualized and stereotyped and the goal of See Jane is to reduce this gender stereotyping and increase the amount of female characters in film and television. In the study conducted by See Jane, it was found that 3 of 4 characters in G-rated films are male characters. The message that the media sends out is that women are worth less than men and that the self-worth is different. When Geena Davis brought the results of her study to media heads, they were unaware and shocked at the results.

This video is relative to what we have been reading in “At Work in the Iron Cage” because of the various ways that men and women view their roles as a corrections officer. Male colleagues in this field have a masculine attitude toward the ability to deal with violence and their dignity in the workplace. Male corrections officers are more prone to taking action and violence. Women officers use their communications skills and sensitivity to coping with obstacles at work. Women are more likely to listen and talk with the inmate while a man is more likely to be aggressive and forceful. This is an example of how people “do gender” in a prison system, as “doing gender” is something we are clearly taught from a young age, as pointed out by Geena Davis.

Blog #18

According to Britton, all prison officers are required to take the same training and tests in order to begin working. The same training applies to officers who work in men’s prisons and officers who work in women’s prisons. All employees complete refresher training in order to maintain their positions. Federal training is different from state training, as state training is less standardized. One officer interviewed by Britton believes that federal training is better than state training because they have better facilities and more money. However, most people feel that the real training happens on the job rather than the classroom.

The perceptions of the training received does not vary greatly between females and males. The training policies are gender-neutral which have still tended to perpetuate masculinity. Some white male guards have refused to train minorities or women. Britton argues that training also exaggerates the potential violence of the job because the programs are taught my guards who seek delight in telling horror stories about prison violence. Some people get scared and leave the program because of this. Because of this type of training, the occupational masculinity of the correctional officer is emphasized. Many men also are unsure of whether women can actually handle the job due to their lesser size and physical strength. Since our culture is a masculine one, it creates sexism in a supposedly neutral institution. Women face challenges that are not face by men such as, harassment by male inmates and resistance, exclusion, discrimination by male colleagues and supervisors (Britton p. 100). One woman officer feels that they should have a female officer as part of the training programs to tell the trainees what to really expect on the job. The training process is generally directed in scenarios where the officers are males and the inmates are males, which may cause the women to be less prepared for the job than men once the training is completed. Therefore, this type of training also leaves officers unprepared for working in a women’s prison, which tend to be very different from men’s prisons. Dealing with women inmates is very different from dealing with male inmates and officers are unprepared for this. Also, the skills it takes to deal with women inmates are often unnoticed and unappreciated. The generic standard of training is men’s institutions with male inmates (Britton p. 104). So while these training programs are intended to be neutral, they ultimately reinforce the masculinity of the job by failing to acknowledge the reality of the job and the various situations for which people may be working it.

Blog #17

The NBC video, “Lockup - Inside North Carolina Women s Prison par NBC News Specials”, was extremely interesting. The inside look of the women’s prison shows what it is like to live a life as a prisoner as well as a prison guard. There are over 1100 prisoners at this women’s prison. The female inmates are in this prison for various offenses ranging from robbery to murder. It seems like many of the women who are in prison for murder are women who killed their boyfriends or husbands in domestic violence cases.

In the beginning of the documentary, a few officers talk about their job at the prison. One man guard talks about how he has to be there to maintain security and not to make friends with the prisoners. He has to be accompanied by another woman when he takes women back to their cells so that he cannot take advantage of the prisoners or be accused of taking advantage of them. One woman officer talks about how she will listen to the inmates because sometimes that is all they want but other times she has to write them up and enforce her authority. Some of the women can be violent towards each other or the officers but these officers are trained to handle these situations. The officers feel happy when they know that a prisoner is released and that they end up doing well. One officers says that she knows some people probably will not end up coming back, while others probably will. The warden of this prison says that people have to understand that to get respect you have to give respect, so she trains the guards to treat the prisoners so that they can maintain their human values but that they need to know they have a responsibility to serve time for the crimes they have committed. In the segregation unit, women are locked in 8x8 cells for 23 hours a day and are seen by mental health staff. In this unit the officers sometimes have to take everything out of the prisoners cell so that they do not try to kill themselves. In this area of the prison, many of the prisoners are violent and some assaults are experience by the guards. When these inmates do get to go outside, they use the time to communicate with others and exercise. Maximum security inmates are only allowed to take two 15 minute showers, twice a week. The inmates can read or draw. One inmate was not even allowed to see her child while she was dying in the hospital.

Another interesting aspect of the show is the relationships that the prisons develop while inside. Many of the prisoners engage in lesbian relationships, either because it is their sexual preference or because it makes it easier for them to survive inside. One girl talks about how she would get into relationships with women with the sole purpose of hustling them. Now she is in a new relationship and she does not do that anymore. Many women seek emotional support and comfort from the relationships they establish inside. Having a girlfriend makes them feel like they are cared for. One relationship shows a lesbian couple that was separated when one of the women had to go into isolation for a fight. It proved to be very difficult for these two to be away from each other for so long as they were not allowed to see or speak to each other. One of the women in this relationship was going to get out in 8 months and told NBC that she would likely come back because she did not want to be away from her girlfriend and would not be able to survive without her. One lesbian groups describes how they will create distractions so that a couple can have a few moments of intimacy with each other, since having sex in the prison is penalized.

The film also shows first time offenders getting booked. The process of fingerprinting, the strip search, etc. takes over six hours, and then the prisoners are escorted to the dorms. The dorms are crowded and hot. The prison offers various vocational training programs for the inmates such as cosmetology, making denchers, culinary arts, etc. and by doing this the women feel that they are able to take these learned skills and apply them to life when they are released.

Overall, I found it shocking that the maximum security prisoners are kept in such small cells for the majority of the day and it seemed wrong to me. But I guess if these prisoners are a problem to other prisoners than that is what must be done. Still, it seems that they should at least get to go outside for longer than an hour to exercise or simply see the light of day. It seems like it would be easy for anyone to go crazy if you had to spend that much time in a tiny cell by yourself. It also seems wrong that the women cannot be released if a loved one has died. I did think it was really amazing that the jail offers so many programs for the prisoners to learn skills that they can use on the outside after they are released. I think it is an extremely productive thing to have programs like that that boost the morale of the prisoners so they feel like they do not have to go back to committing crimes. One story I found particularly shocking was the one about the ex-prison guard who is now an inmate for killing her husband. She got life without parole because she killed him and tried to make it look like a suicide. The stories of the prisoners and the guards were all very exciting and informative to listen to.

Blog #16 - Pathways

In Chapter 4 of “At Work in the Iron Cage” Britton writes that most individuals do not start out in life aspiring to become prison guards or correctional officers. Britton writes that most people find out by chance that they enjoy this kind of work. However, criminology and criminal justice majors are now among the most popular in American universities. Britton describes that for men, the model category of previous work experience is military service. The most common previous employment for women is clerical work. Thirty-seven percent of women in law enforcement had worked in clerical positions while no men had this kind of previous work experience. The other previous job experiences that women have also have no correlation to working correctional work. Most women are pulled into this career through circumstances, personal contact, and opportunities (Britton 87). Some women have compared their jobs as correctional officers as babysitters or mothers. The actual tasks of the correctional officers are often those of a mother, including supervising dressing, bathing and eating inmates. Women’s prior experience in managing people gives them an advantage in this career. Social networking is important to women getting into these types of careers because they would likely not think about doing something like this until someone they know mentions it to them. Social networking is hugely important because it provides opportunities that we might not have access to otherwise.Pay and benefits are two reasons why both men and women become correctional officers. As a federal corrections officer, a person must have a bachelor’s degree or three years of related experience. In the state system a high school diploma is required or a GED. Where prisons are located, in rural areas, there are less opportunities for high-paying jobs and the prison systems offer a higher salary compared to other jobs in the area. The benefits package for working for the government are usually very good and are another cause for people moving into this career. Many divorced women look at this job as a good source of security and support for their families. One woman who was interviewed doubled her pay after getting a job as a corrections officer after she got divorced. All officers are required to complete formal training before starting work.

Blog #15 - History of Men's and Women's Prisons

The prison system emerged as a result of industrialization and a rising free market economy that dramatically increased the wealth of some groups while worsening the poverty of others (Britton p. 24). There were rising rates of property crime. Early prison institutions contained all types of people; men, women, children, and the insane. From the beginning of the prison system, they have disproportionately held inmates of racial and ethnic groups and the poor (Britton p. 25). Two basic prison models existed in the early 1800’s, the Auburn plan and the Pennsylvania style. Under the Auburn plan, inmates worked during the day and confined to individual cells at night, while being completely silent. Both organizations organized their discipline around three central elements of separation, obedience, and labor. During this time, women criminals were “unlike their male counterparts, were beyond redemption, by nature corrupt, and outside the reach of the disciplinary regime of the penitentiary (Britton p. 27). Women were initially housed alongside men in the Auburn style prison and were kept in overcrowded, unventilated attics and were not allowed outside for work or exercise. Instead of doing manual labor, women were made to sew. Many scandals of inmates getting pregnant and having sexual relationships (which the women were held responsible for), occurred during this time and eventually separate facilities were established. Many of these prisons were run by a matron rather than a warden. Rehabilitative programs were not enforced fully until the late 19th century during the Reformatory movement. Separate institutions were justified under this movement because exploitation of women prisoners could be prevented and the opportunities for rehabilitation for both men and women enhanced. Currently, prisons lack rehabilitative ideology.

In Arizona, according to the state by state analysis, we are 7th ranked most punitive state for female imprisonment states. Imprisonment rates are rising dramatically, with a 62% growth rate between 1999-2004. Arizona’s history of prisons is similar to the history described in “At Work in the Iron Cage” because many of its first prisons contained both men and women. Many prisoners labored in Arizona prisons today much as they did in the beginning.

Blog #14 - Gendered Organization

The theory of gendered organization is that men and women hold different jobs, and the jobs women hold pay less than those that men occupy. Also, even when men and women are in the same occupation, women still make les (Britton p. 5). Britton uses this theory to frame her research by interviewing various women prison guards and why these gendered organizations exist, specifically within the prison system. By “doing gender”, men and women obtain different jobs or handle situations in the same job differently. For instance, one woman in “At Work in the Iron Cage” discusses how she uses her femininity to get the inmates to cooperate with her. By being sensitive and “fragile” as a woman, she knows that she can work these “female traits” to her advantage.

Structure, agency, and culture are interlinked in the process of organization gendering. Structure is the division between the public and private life of individuals. “Most modern work organizations presume that the labor involved in day-to-day reproduction of their workers may be relegated to the private realm, thus enacting a rigid separation between the work lives of their employees and such activities as childbirth, child care, sexuality, eating and sleeping (Acker 1992). While some employees provide benefits for these private needs they are often viewed as extra and women are frequently left with the responsibility of balancing both private and public spheres. The private and public spheres idea is a gendered one because of this. Women are often having to figure out ways to provide child care while they work, as we have learned in the previous unit. Many women work in clerical positions as a result since they rely on having a more flexible career. The woman’s nearly sole responsibility of family management prevents her from accepting promotions, working overtime, location transfers, and other opportunities that allow the employee to move up the hierarchical ladder at work. Labor laws and practices have had to be modified in order to accommodate these private life needs. Gendering through culture occurs through our social standard and the media. Films, TV shows, books, and various other sources of entertainment and media show men and women performing different roles. “The military, for example, has traditionally been viewed as a place where boys are turned into men, and this image has been reinforced ad nauseam in literally hundreds of war movies (Britton p. 12). Men are often viewed as solving issues through violence while “women police officers emphasize the benefits of defusing conflict” (Britton p. 14). Agency reinforces gendered organizations because they allow people to see themselves as appropriately gendered through their work. For instance, unions that are created to protect a gender right perpetuates gender inequality, even if that is not the intention.

Blog #13

The images of prison guards and correctional officers in the media are vastly different from reality. Britton writes that most prison guards are seen as “a hulking man in a uniform carrying a nightstick or even a gun.” The images of prisons and prison guards are largely gendered and inaccurate. In reality, correctional officers are always unarmed. These images reflect society’s ideas about gender and that violence is connected with masculinity. “Violence is closely tied to hegemonic forms of masculinity that to be a ‘real man’ is…to know how to use violence and to be willing to do so under appropriate circumstances.” (Britton p. 2). The image of the prison guard or correctional officer is one of masculinity and it is not common that women are encouraged to aspire to this type of career. “At work in the Iron Cage” also discusses how people view the prison guard by using examples of jobs that are commonly desirable to children. Britton talks about how it would be seen as worrisome if a small child were to say that he wanted to grow up to be a prison guard, and even more so out of the ordinary for a female child. The context of women in prisons shifts dramatically from that of men. There are few films that show women as being able to successfully manage prisoners and the majority of prison films involving women are sexual. “By mid-2002, there had been 91 “women’s prison” movies released as compared with 657 prison films (Britton p. 13). Women are also pushed into more clerical positions within the prison while men are responsible for handling the prisons. There are some differences between the images of male correctional officers in male prisons than those in female prisons. The men’s prisons are depicted as extremely violent while the women’s prisons are depicted as extremely sexual. In addition, female criminals were viewed by penologists and criminologists as much worse than male criminals (Britton p. 29). Men are considered the appropriate guardians for women criminals according to popular media. In today’s media, it is more common to see female police officers or prison guards, but the area remains predominantly one for men.

Occupational Segregation

Occupational segregation is the concept that some careers are “men’s careers” while other careers are “women’s careers”. Britton writes, “occupational segregation, that is, men and women are in different jobs, and the jobs women hold pay less, on average, than those that men occupy.” (p. 5). Occupational segregation has been cited as one of the primary factors contributing to women’s poverty and low-earnings. In addition, even when men and women do hold the same jobs, women are often paid less. Some explanations exist for why occupational segregation still exists. For instance, women tend to occupy the lowest rungs of the occupational ladder. Men and women are constantly “doing gender” by exercising practices that they have built on the notions of men and women. Men and women act with gendered characteristics and because we “do gender” this effects our job choices. Women often choose careers that will have more flexible hours so that they can balance their family lives. Britton writes how many women are not promoted to administrative positions because they often do not want the added responsibility of taking on more tasks and balancing a family. Social factors that contribute to occupational segregation would definitely be the notion that the woman is supposed to manage her children. Women are disadvantaged by having the responsibility of ensuring that the children have a place to go for care and often choose flexible jobs that will be understanding of those needs. Domestic responsibilities surely make it more difficult for women to become equal to men in occupational settings. Institutional factors include the idea that some jobs are for women. For instance, Britton writes, “Women paralegals for example, are often required to ‘mother’ attorneys, soothing their egos in the event of a loss in court, smoothing over the interpersonal conflicts they cause, and remaining calm even in the face of spectacularly bad behavior.” (p 17). I completely agree with this based on my own experience as a paralegal to three attorneys. I felt like I was constantly being someone’s mother and it was very difficult and frustrating at times. It was also how you were "expected" to be, so it was not seen as skill or appreciated within an office setting. One source offers an alternative of nontraditional careers as a pathway to escaping occupational segregation. Women gain certain advantages by entering male dominated occupations, such as, closing the gap of inequality. Women are also able to use their gendered skills to their advantage at times. Britton writes of a woman who used her skills as a woman to convince male inmates to cooperate with her more easily. Men gain by women entering into a male dominated occupation because they often do not receive equal benefits and, as mentioned earlier, men are much more likely to be promoted.

Blog #11

For another class, Cinema and Justice, I was required to watch “Norma Rae” starring Sally Field. This movie touched on numerous issues of justice, among those were women’s rights and one woman’s struggle to work, care for her kids, and still stand up for what she believed in. The film is about Norma Rae, a single mother with two children from two different fathers who works in a local factory. While the story is mainly about the struggle to establish a union for the textile workers, there are many underlying issues that address her struggle as a low income working mother. Norma Rae has no steady father figure for her children. She works constantly for extremely low wages and in awful working conditions. She lives in a society that is dominated by white males and has to prove herself as a strong person because she is a woman. Norma Rae is often stressed out and exhausted throughout the film because she is constantly juggling various responsibilities. From taking care of her children, to her eventual husband, to working, and to establishing a union, Norma Rae truly represents a woman’s struggle to balance work and home life. In one scene, her husband screams at her for not doing the cooking, cleaning, and tending to his sexual “needs”. In this scene however, Norma Rae screams back and basically just “cracks” and her husband and the audience realize how stressed out this woman is with her juggling act.

I think this movie adequately represents the daily life of a working woman, even if not all of them are attempting to start unions. There are always numerous stresses and responsibilities of a working mother that seem to leave them with very little time to actually rest or enjoy themselves. While I watched this film, I do remember thinking how unfair it is that on top of working, women are also bombarded with all of the household responsibilities. They are either expected to do it by their husbands and society, or they feel guilted into doing it because of society’s message that they are a woman’s chores and responsibility. I thought about what was discussed in previous blogs and how women are juggling far more responsibilities than men, because when they get home from work there is plenty more waiting for them inside the home. In the women’s stories in “Putting Children First”, you can tell that these woman feel the strain of these similar everyday struggles.

Blog #9

The National Center for Children outlines the various poverty levels of children in the United States. There are currently 13 million American families below the poverty line. There has been an 11 percent increase between 2000 and 2005 of children living in poverty. The official poverty line is a yearly income of $20,000.00 for a family of four. A low income family is considered a family of four earning $40,000.00 annually. This official poverty level is obviously flawed, as we have seen through Chaudry’s book and other evidence that it is impossible for a family of four to live realistically off of these low wages. Nationwide 18 percent of children are living in families that are considered poor. The state with the highest child poverty rate is Mississippi with 27 percent. Arizona falls into the 20 percent or more category on the provided chart. Child poverty is especially prevalent in black, latinos, and American Indians. Black children have the highest poverty level at 35 percent while white children are at 10 percent. In addition, the statistics point out that having immigrant parents increases chances of being poor.

The National Center for Children lists the economic hardships that are faced by children in poverty which include: lack of affordable housing, lack of health insurance, food insecurity, and other economic hardships. These conditions have a direct relationship between children and a working, poor woman. Both women and children alike experience this lack of security. If a mother cannot adequately provide for her family, no matter how hard she tries, her children will also live in poverty. A working mother cannot often make ends meet and has to constantly struggle from paycheck to paycheck. It is a viscous cycle of never being able to get ahead in life. Children who grow up in poverty do not receive as good an education as other children and it is much more difficult for them to move up out of their “class”. The National Center for Children in describing the hardships faced by children, is also describing the hardships of all people who are considered the “working poor”.

Blog #8

Urban poverty includes joblessness, decrease in real estate and an increase in abandonment, and loss of legitimate enterprise. More males are in jail which mean more women need to work and provide for their children and are often forced to use welfare resources. The school systems in areas of urban poverty are very poor and do not offer high levels of education. The consequences of urban poverty include violence, self-medication through drug use, increased isolation and dim hope. These consequences strongly affect single mothers because it seems as if it is simply impossible for them to rise out of their economic situations. They lack the resources, support, and education that it takes to actually better their lives. The children of these mother’s are negatively affected by the lack of a positive male role model in their lives and often mother’s experience worries that their children are going to become pregnant, violent, or drug users. In chapter four of “Putting Children First”, Traci experienced the absence of her children’s father when he was incarcerated twice for drug related charges. Traci actually thanks God that he did sell drugs because she says that if he had not, her family would likely not have survived without the drug money income. However, she does not want him to get involved with drugs again because she use to worry about the safety of her family. Traci wishes that her children will not live the same life that she has had to. Traci expresses guilt that she wishes she would have gotten married before having kids or gone to college.

Poor women living in mixed income neighborhoods face less concerns than those living in urban poverty. The crime rate in a mixed income neighborhood is likely going to be less and the school systems better. In a mixed income neighborhood, characteristics suck as drug use and violence are going to be less prevalent.

Blog #7

Julia and Jacqueline’s struggle to find quality healthcare is described in chapter 3 of Chaudry. Julia did not have the father involved very much in the life of Jacqueline. He did watch Jacqueline for awhile in the beginning, while Julia attended community college but then he left and eventually ended up in jail in New Jersey. Julia had to stay home during this time. Factors that contributed to Julia’s obstacles in obtaining child care include: lack of education, lack of work, discrepancies in welfare and other government programs, and a poor family life. Julia did not have a mother or family members who she could count on to watch her child. Her sister was able to provide care for awhile but that stopped when her sister had to get a job. Jacqueline stayed in a family home care environment for awhile, where she was looked after properly and enjoyed the environment. Julia experienced problems with her welfare. They were late with payments to the providers and on one occasion lost her paperwork. Julia had to alter her work schedule when she got hired full-time and this affected the current care she was receivin. Julia was dropped from her public assistance and because of this she no longer received food stamps or housing assistance and with the added expenses and she was forced to take Jacqueline out of the home care situation that Jacqueline so enjoyed. Chaudry points out that it was when Julia was provided with good child care that she was able to move up in the work world and improve her life. When her child care situation became difficult, she faced more struggle in her work life. Chaudry concludes that having good child care leads to an improved lifestyle and improved overall work situations.

Minimum wage jobs add to a poor woman’s ability to find and maintain stable and safe childcare and career improvements because it is extremely difficult to actually get ahead in a minimum wage job. The video, “American Low Wage Worker’s Tour”, describes how minimum wage jobs usually do not offer health insurance. Woman in minimum wage jobs usually live paycheck to paycheck and have to sacrifice certain necessities to provide for other ones. Child care is very expensive and if you only work a minimum wage job it is nearly impossible to afford decent childcare. Because of this, woman have to resort to less reliable sources of childcare such as an untrustworthy family member or a sketchy babysitter. Child care subsidies are difficult to receive and still do not cover all the costs. In a minimum wage job, it seems nearly impossible for a single woman to find and maintain stable and safe childcare, which makes it virtually impossible for them to improve in their careers.

Interview

I will be interviewing my mother for this assignment. I chose to interview my mother because she has always worked ever since she had kids. She was a mother at a young age of 21 and raised four children total. In order to make ends meet, she established her own business. She has always worked so hard for my entire life in order to provide for my siblings and myself and I have the utmost respect for her as a person. She has always encouraged us to be the best we can be and has always stressed the importance of having a good education. I am interviewing her because I think she provide excellent insight regarding the experiences of a working mother since she has done it for over 25 years. She has used various types of child care in order to be able to work and I think it is good to have opinions on various types of child care. I have basically used the model in Appendix C to form my interview questions.

Blog # 6 - Cost of Child Care

In Chapter two of “Putting Children First”, Chaudry describes a variety of child care options available to mothers. The chapter begins with the story of Brittany and Bethany and the struggle Brittany faced in finding consistent and constructive child care for Bethany. Bethany tried various methods of child care including kin care, work care, and family day care. The stories supplemented by single mothers in this chapter outline the pros and cons of the types of care made available for their children.

Kin care is the type of care where a family member watches the child while the parent works. Some mothers, such as Harriet, prefer kin care because they feel they can have complete trust in the person watching their child. Kin care is cheap and usually convenient. However, kin care is often short term and does not provide the structure and educational opportunities that other types of care provide. Family day care is a day care inside of a person’s home, with one care provider who watches over many different children. This is a licensed and subsidized form of care and consists of wide variations since the providers are all different. A major con of this type of care is that there are no learning opportunities. Center care is preferred by many mothers, even though there are differences as to when it is best to put the child in center care. Center care is beneficial for the child because it offers structure and learning opportunities. However, center care is much harder to arrange than kin or family care. In Edwina’s story, she had to lie to get her child into a center because the centers in her neighborhood had extensive waiting lists of around 500 children. Other care arrangements include father care, special needs care, and mother’s care while working. The Applied Research Center website provides substantial evidence regarding childcare. For instance, the amount of licensed centers has significantly decreased since 2000 while the amount of unlicensed centers has increased. Many mothers would prefer a certain type of childcare but simply cannot afford or attain it due to affordability, long waiting lists, insufficient subsidies, etc. However it appears that the majority of mothers' ideal child care is one in which their children are placed in structured and educational environments.

Many people are striving to improve child care conditions, such as Congresswoman Schroeder, who in her National Family Policy would like to acquire benefits for part-time workers and abolish unfair wages, meaning that men are still getting paid more than women in the same positions. Also, many care centers are created to make affordable care available and provide many opportunities for the children. In the “California Child Care Crisis News Coverage” video, one day care center is interviewed and while it cares for many children, the center remains a positive environment in their lives.

Blog #5

Chaudry makes the argument that “we are asking the less fortunate to strive and work harder, we are deeply discounting our public responsibility for the children born into poor families and disadvantaged communities” because of politics on welfare reform. Chaudry writes that since the government stressed that work is the way to rise out of poverty, it has actually created a variety of obstacles. Among these obstacles is finding affordable child care. In Chaudry’s story of Annette and her son Aaron, Annette has much difficulty in finding quality and affordable child care for her infant son while she struggles to work two part-time jobs. In Chapter One of “Putting Children First”, Chaudry emphasizes the inconsistency with child care among the working poor and the flaws of subsidies for child care. Annette received child care subsidies from one of her employers, yet she still had to use some of her own money to compensate for the leftover amount. It is difficult for the working poor to find child care at an affordable price where their children will also be encouraged to learn. I think that this discounts our responsibility toward children born into poor families because they are provided with fewer advantages from the start of their lives.

The video clips support Chaudry’s argument because they also discuss the inconsistencies of child care among the working poor. For instance, in “Living with a Hole in your Pocket”, the people discuss the “viscous cycle” of living paycheck to paycheck and never really getting ahead. These working poor are not able to save money for their children’s education, or even afford health or life insurance. In the “Working Poor” video, various individuals describe the working poor as people who earn a wage but still do not earn enough money to subsist at a higher level. In “Poverty in America”, we learn that 37 million people are living below the poverty line. According to the government, the poverty line equals a family of four earning less than $20,614.00 but the cost breakdown of living provided in the video proves that it is essentially impossible for any family of four to live comfortably on this income. Professor Katherine Newman draws attention to the fact that the close to poverty poor people are often not even considered in policy making agendas. Many of the close to poverty poor have been able to rise above the poverty line through acquiring debt, yet they still can not often even afford health insurance.

While I feel that these are extremely serious issues that deserve attention, I am still hesitant to say that more federal or state aid is the answer. I think many factors come into play when considering these situations. I do not believe that people should have children if they do not have the means to support them. I think Annette should have given her baby up for adoption rather than raising him in an unhealthy environment. I do believe that mothers like Annette need to take personal responsibility for their actions and if you choose to bring a baby into the world that you cannot actually afford to take care of, than there are certain consequences you will obviously have to face, and extreme struggle is among those consequences. Planned Parenthood offers extremely cheap birth control and free condoms and I believe that if you are irresponsible enough to get pregnant by some deadbeat than you must realize that you are going to have to seriously work hard to provide for your children. I think it would be nice if everyone had healthcare so that children would not have to suffer due to the status and choices of their parents. I think it would be great if more companies had an incentive to provide free or extremely cheap child care to their employees. These children are born into situations that they cannot control and it is unfortunate that because their mothers have to work so hard to provide for them, that they are not given the same advantages of children in the middle and upper classes.

Balancing Work & Family - Blog #4

Time, support, respect, and love are elements that constitute a good family life. Time should be spent between all family members so that strong bonds can be built. It is important for kids to spend time with their parents so that they will feel loved and cared for. It is important that parents have leisure time to spend with each other as well. I think supporting your family members is a huge characteristic of good family life. It is difficult to feel confident if you do not have family support. Respect is also important because parents should have respect for each other which sets an example to their children that both parents are equal and valued in the family. Families provide a sense of identity for their individuals. I believe it is these characteristics that shape strong, independent, and happy people.

Balancing a career and a family proves difficult for people who are faced with this challenge. In our time, often both parents hold jobs and have less time to stay at home with children. Women feel more guilt for having a career than men which is likely a cause to the notions set by society that women should be nurturers. To balance a career and a family is costly and stressful. For instance, having to provide daycare for your children proves to be extremely expensive. One woman in one of the video clips suggests that women who work but want to have children should start out with doing something flexible. It is more difficult to approach an employer and let them know that you want to work less. This situation must be presented professionally to the employer. Many factors contribute to the difficulty of balancing a career and a family. People in this situation feel as though they are constantly in a rush or exhausted. Not having enough leisure time to spend with yourself and with your family can be permanently damaging to everyone in the family.

Changes in the traditional gender roles has made work and family life more complex because both parents are constantly busy and trying to balance both aspects of this lifestyle. Two-thirds of spouses today both work. Men are taking on more household responsibilities, but women still feel that they are responsible for making sure the house is clean and that dinner is ready. The fact that more moms are working now has added much more stress for females. More families today are single parent families, which is very difficult because they have no choice but to balance both lifestyles and they have to do it alone. Men and women are frequently forced to get additional part-time jobs just to make ends meet. More and more people also go to school, work, and balance a family life, and with that added responsibility of school, life becomes even more intense.

Employers in the United States could look to the United Kingdom as an example for being sensitive to their employees’ family needs and obligations. Employers should allow people to have more flexible schedules – whether it is through shift changes or working from home – in order to balance both aspects of life without becoming too overwhelmed. As long as the employee remains as productive there should not be an issue in allowing this flexibility. Many times employers do not think about the stresses that people face outside of the work environmnet, especially women, who must balance work and family. I think it is important for people to be considerate of these obligations and put themselves in others’ shoes from time to time.

Support is hugely important when it comes to balancing work and family. If a person has no support from their friends, family, or neighbors, it makes it extremely more difficult to manage. With the support from these various people, responsibilities can be divided up and shared. For example, car-pooling with neighbors is a huge time saver and benefit for working individuals. Having a spouse who is supportive of dividing up responsibilities is going to be much more productive than one who refuses to help. Having support from the people in your life creates more leisure time, which is often hard to come by in this day and age and in our society. Balancing priorities with the support of others is significantly less stressful than having no support.

Sex Segregation and Socialization - Blog #2

Sex segregation means that there are boundaries that exist between males and females, which often result in unfair conditions for women. Sex segregation is created in our society through a variety of means; unequal pay between genders, stereotypes, and the media.

I have never personally thought about sex segregation in the employment at Arizona State University, however, the majority of my professors have been and currently are male. Since being enrolled at ASU (for the past two years), I have only had two female professors. Most of the teachers’ assistants tend to be women. I have encountered more women working in advising positions or service positions on campus than men. This could be a result of the belief that women are more likely to take positions that “assist” rather than aiming for the top positions in society.

Socialization in relation to gender is encountered everyday in every aspect of my life. Even when I do not realize that sex segregation is occurring, it is still constantly there. In my home life, growing up my sisters and I played with dolls while my brother played with cars and legos. We fed our dolls, read to them, cuddled them, and were “nurturers” in training from a very young age. I think while children are being raised, female children are raised to put family as a top priority whereas as male children are raised to put independence and hard work as a top priority. Gender roles play a huge role in shaping individuals because they are everywhere. In a school environment, boys are more likely to play sports, be playful and goofy, and be more independent while females are cliquey and more judgmental to their fellow female peers. Girls are also viewed as more gossipy than boys even though boys participate in gossip as well. Work environments produce gender roles because many women take secretarial positions or other jobs that are thought of as “a woman’s job”. When I worked in a law firm, it seemed that at least 90 percent of paralegals and secretaries were females, while the majority of attorneys were males. While many women are still struggling to become the breadwinners of their families, it seems more women than men are inclined to work part-time or quit their jobs completely once they have children. All of these societal gender roles larger contribute to our patriarchal society.

While women today are less likely to be laid off than men, according to the NPR report, “Moms become Breadwinners as Job Losses Hit Men”, there is still an uneven impact on the labor force. Women are still only making .77 cents to every dollar a man makes. Also, the types of jobs that women have are not likely to provide benefits such as life insurance and healthcare. Women are struggling to fill the role of the mother as well as the sole breadwinner and many women have had to take on second jobs. Therefore, even though more men are unemployed, women are still not reaping the same benefits from being the breadwinners as their male counterparts.

Home and Work/Public and Private - Blog #3

Personally I have not really had to experience carework within my family. I suppose you could consider helping out with babysitting my younger siblings so that both of my parents could work, as an example. Fortunately though, no one in my immediate family has gotten seriously ill. I lost an aunt and a cousin to cancer, and I know that it was extremely difficult for their immediate family to balance their lives to care for them. It is necessary for someone to always be around to take care of them when the situation worsens and the ill can no longer do daily functions by themselves. You also know that you have a limited time with these loved ones and want to take advantage of that time. I cannot imagine how extremely emotionally and mentally difficult it would be to have to give up your career in order to fully care for another person.

“Juggling Work and Care” demonstrated how different businesses within the UK are accommodating to employees’ need when they must also be a caregiver. Businesses enabled employees to work from home, work odd shifts, and offered support to caregivers. An internet networking site, where information, suggestions, and experiences of caregivers can be shared, was created in the UK to better assist people in this situation. By doing this, employers found that there was no decrease in work productivity, and that their employees became more loyal and committed to the company. With a plan like this, people are able to keep their jobs and continue taking care of their loved ones. These options create less stress for employees and overall are a really generous and efficient way to cater to the needs of everyone.

“Women’s work” is described as being all the household work; laundry, cleaning, cooking, taking care of the kids. “Men’s work” is everything outside of the home or tasks such as car repairs and mowing. These ideals of gender roles have existed since the beginning of time and in modern day “women’s work” is not always considered “real work”. Society needs to focus less on these gender roles through the media and through general notions that this is the way things should be. Almost all cleaning supplies ads are targeted toward women; showing women cleaning, cooking, and running errands. I think society should portray women in professional environments more frequently and display men in household environments more often. I think the public should educate themselves on the pay disparity between genders. Also, society should recognize care as “real work” and that it is also an economically stimulating aspect of life. If society could rid themselves of these engrained gender notions, I think it would help achieve gender equality.