My Reflection on Privelege
My reflection on this
text is multifaceted. I will talk about
white privilege how this author presents it and what it means to me. As I read the text, I related to the idea of
women and their position in the social world.
Women have collectively worked to improve their social status and
solidify their position as equal to men.
In a time that I do not know, only through books/movies/stories, as
women entered the workforce in higher numbers they were seen as bottom
feeders. Women did not make the same amount
of money as men and they did not climb the success latter as easily as
men. This issue was addressed repeatedly
until women found themselves gaining success.
Simultaneously, women still did not make the money that men did.
I am a female and have worked a few jobs since I started
working. I worked for 16 years in a
position that was predominately run, operated, and visited by men. As a young woman, I felt the male
presence. I encountered sexual
harassment and obscene jokes. I never
felt threatened by this, however. I learned
how to deal with this behavior and stayed away from those men who made the most
comments.
The
imbalance between men and women still exists in the workplace; however, I do
not think it’s as significant as it once was.
I have worked hard for everything I have attained. I am currently a school nurse in Pawtucket
and I could not be happier. I enjoy
working with the students, staff, and families.
This summer Pawtucket hired a new superintendent, Mrs. Royal. She made it a point to visit every school
with her cabinet on the teacher's first day back to school. I could not help but notice that the majority
of her staff were women. I said to the
person sitting next to me, our people in charge are mostly women.
The
author of the text writes about the different levels of privilege and how it
affects different groups of people. I experienced
this in my first place of work, but as I moved on throughout my career, I have
not felt the inequality in a long time. I believe it is good to talk about issues that
challenge society to make adjustments or changes in behaviors and
attitudes. Learning how other people
feel and trying to understand their point of view allows individuals to make changes
in their way of thinking that allow society to change its collective ideology.
It is great to hear that through your experience you've felt that things have gotten easier. I'm sure many fields have seen improvements in sexual, racial, and other types of diversity. Over recent years it feels like people have been having these conversations more frequently and the views of society are changing for the better.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though I have shared a similar experience as a woman, working with-in a company dominated by men. 20 years ago I would say women were subject to many inequalities in the work place and also, endured some type of sexual harassment which was extremely inappropriate but at the time it was common in the work environment. I have see women evolve in the work force and toleration of inappropriate behavior has become a serious matter. I have several close friends who are CEO's to senior sales reps. Discussions around all types of discrimination have changed the social hierarchy and continues to change.
ReplyDeleteIt is heartening to read that you have noticed a distinct change for the better in how privilege has impacted your life. It does make optimistic to know that historically-oppressed groups area being given the trust that they deserve, and appointed to positions of power. I believe that, like you, they notice a change in the tides. Because of that, I am confident that in those positions of power, they will do what they can to ensure that progress moves in the right direction. Thank you for sharing, Katie!
ReplyDeleteI can most certainly relate that as a woman I have noticed the inequalities and comments made by men in the workforce. Especially for working moms, there is a ton if pressure to do it all. On a positive note, since teaching public school, I have noticed that most of the staff at the last three schools I was employed at were mostly employed by women. This "girl power" edge has rubbed off on me to continue to inspire my students and show my female students that ANYONE can do ANYTHING they put their mind to.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. It resonated with me as being a pediatric nurse in the ICU, the majority of my nursing team were women, and yet the majority of the doctors and surgeons were men. Often times, as you mentioned, there was subtle harassment or jokes or even condescending speech to deal with. While I was there, a new female CEO was brought in, and her team was mainly made up of women in leadership. It was a nice change to have leadership appear more like the people who were working for them. Thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteHi Katie! enjoyed reading your post. When I think of this reading, I also think of comparing a woman’s privilege to a man’s, considering I am a woman. I do agree we have collectively improved our social status, but I do think that society still treats men and women as unequal, especially in the workplace. Men more often make more money working the same job as a woman. We stereotype that only teachers can be female and only men can be doctors. But, that is clearly not the case. It is hard to break stereotypes we have grown up with. People are creatures of habit. Therefore, it is hard to change social structures when they are built off of stereotypes we grew up with.
ReplyDeleteI certainly agree with you Katie about how women are starting to even the playing field. The fact that we are still having this conversation tells you that there still is a problem. The fact that you delt with harassment and that women in the workforce have to deal with harassment is a problem. Hopefully there will someday be an end to this type of discrimination.
ReplyDelete