Reflection

    Having carried out this project, taking the time to really analyze the messages around me every day, I noticed a lot of areas where people were not at all represented or poorly represented.  In this location gender inequality seems to reside in centers where women are represented in a highly sexualized role or where the jobs are low-level and filled by mostly women and managed primarily by men.  A lot of times, especially in the food service industry, I have noticed a lot of “light” sexual harassment, such as terms that male superiors call women, inappropriate touching, such as placing a hand on the shoulder or arm, and general demeaning language toward women.  So even though the women in these positions may not be in a sexualized role, their male coworkers and supervisors are treating them like sexual objects or like lesser beings.

   However, I noticed a lot of areas where progress had been made, where you could see people were consciously refusing to take the paths of least resistance.  For instance, while walking through the children’s section at Barnes and Noble, I saw several examples positively representing minority and oppressed groups, especially females.  The American Girl brand features girls from a variety of historical backgrounds and personalizes their experiences, creating a sort of mentor that some groups may not often find in America.  Several books also caught my interest, such as a book called Dumpling Days, a book about an American Asian girl that is discovering her heritage.  Also, a current Betty Crocker cookbook featured young boys, challenging traditional roles.   These examples are powerful examples of creating a pivot point to change the direction of American society’s future.

     One change I would like to see enacted to increase gender equality are better systems enforcing accountability and strengthening boundaries of what is appropriate inter-gender behavior in the workplace.  Corporate training programs would be useful.  Training helps individuals recognize when someone is being treated unequally, helps the culture change by making employees take the issue more seriously, and creates a system of accountability, such as a formal complaint.  Another change that could be made is how individuals are selected for promotion.   If an individual’s traits, such as their gender, masculinity or lack thereof, race, etc.  are taken out of the equation when promoting someone, not only does an organization have less inequality overall, but they also are using the best individuals for the job and the organization functions more efficiently.  One way to carry this out is through a merit-based system, such as an exam or a point system to track one’s abilities.