ESSAY 2

            Gender makes a big difference in the work world.  Women have always had restrictions in the work place.  At one point woman were not even allowed to work.  They were not allowed to join the military but they were allowed to be a nurse and care for the injured soldiers.  In the 1960s, a very good job for a woman was to be an airline stewardess.  It seemed like a very glamorous job because you were able to fly all over the world but there are some downfalls.  A stewardess didn’t have much freedom on the job.  She had to create a sexy/ flirtatious illusion for the passengers.  One requirement for the job at time was that you actually had to be single.  They were also required to go to stewardess school for five week.  While at that school they were taught to do their makeup, pose and look into the passenger’s eyes.  They would learn how to smoke a cigarette and they should never light their own cigarette, let a man do it for you.  They were encouraged to smoke cigarettes.  If a male passenger touched a stewardess improperly they could do nothing about it but smile and walk away.  If you said that you were married they would sometimes say, “I’m married and you’re married and yo’re away from home and so am I and nobody is going to find out” and they could not do anything about it.  Women were degraded a lot being stewardess and there was little they could do about it.

            Today, women and men are somewhat equal in the work place.  Women can actually make more than men do now.  In the text of “Politics of Housework” it shows how they can be equal at work but once it comes back to the house it is looked upon women to fulfill the housework.  In “Politics of Housework” the author feels housework should be equal and I agree. Women and men should share the housework and each do what they are best at.  The stereotype that women are good at household choirs like cleaning and cooking while men are only good at the physical jobs affects how both are treated at work and at home.  The truth is in today’s society women can do anything a man can do.