Response # 34

Joan Willams is the author of the book “Unbending gender”. She wrote this book to because as a women who has had a child her gender lead her in the direction of which career field she will be focused in. In her book she has many key terms that relate to the “Gender on Trial” book. Two important terms are market care and family work. Market care is work that is receives a payment. Family care is care that is given to the family where there is no compensation that is involved. Women usually have to take care of the household choirs and provide assistance to the elder. Women also are in charge of cooking family dinners and taking care of the children when they might be ill. She also chose the title because she said that although there has been some change in the history for women, it is still not what was hoped for 20 or 30 years ago. Society is still not bending the roles that women are allowed to be played. They are still very much expected to perform the same tasks they have been performing for many of years. Women still have to fight the stereotypes that have been placed on them for many years. They still are expected to perform the household choirs and now, in modern society, many women are in the workforce, which puts a greater demand on their presences. Williams explains in correlation with “Gender on Trial” those women are still being harassed and suppressed through the masculinity of males. There is still a great amount of unfairness that exists in workplaces due to the gender discrimination. Women have a hard time keeping a long-term job especially in the legal field due to the high stress and requirements many firms place on their associates. Women who have obligations at the home to find it very hard to coop with the stress and most often are forced to leave their jobs. In the video interview, one researches shows that women are being suppressed in their own homes. Some families keep the women at home to take care of the children. The men do not see the need for women to have a career and pay a daycare center when their wife’s can just be at home watching the children for free. This for some women do not allow them to ever pursue a career. Society has changed in regards to letting a woman into the workforce and valuing the service they may provide. However it has been found that the men themselves have not changed. Men continuously hold them back entering into the workforce at an equal level. This is an explanation the Joan Williams and the “Gender on Trial” book try to explain in the text. Women are not being suppressed to the same degree as they were 20 to 30 years ago. However, they are not close to being on the same level playing field as men are in current time.