Blog #39: Status of Women in Law

Many things need to change in order to promote the equality between men and women in the law firm.  They also need to respect the family life that every attorney has at home, and understand that they have an obligation to take care of and spend time with their family.  Being constantly connected to their work world severely takes away from their home life.  Their children have to be in day care longer, their relationship with their spouse can suffer and they aren't able to recover from the long hours and stressful job material.  Nothing is going to be able to change the stress level of an attorney at a firm, and the hours that they are SOMETIMES forced to work as long as this is occasional.  Every job at some point can require a little bit of over time as long as they are compensated.  

Along with this understanding of family life, if a part time schedule is offered, then they need to only work part time hours.  If they are full time they need to work full time hours.  Certain attorneys that work part time should not be overlooked for opportunities because of their commitment to their family.  Often, the women in the relationship have to make it their priority to care for the children because the man won't and they should be looked up to for this, and not be forced to give up their career.  Men and women need to be paid on the same pay scale.  There is no reason that they should be paid only 76% of what men are paid, when they are doing the exact same job and putting in the exact same amount of work.  This will help to improve the moral of the female employees because they are finally on the same level as men.  

Overall, the legal profession needs to understand the differences between men and women but those differences should mean nothing towards their work ethic, how much they are paid, or how they are treated at work.  They should all be treated the same depending on their education and skill level, the only things that should matter to an employer.  

Blog #38: Status of Women in Law

Women in the Judiciary--

Florence Ellinwood Allen (First Lady of the Law):  Florence graduated from NYU Law school with honors.  She went on to become the first Ohio women to become a county prosector.  She also was the first women to argue a case to the United States Supreme Court.  She was then elected to the State Trial Court where she heard a first degree murder trial.  After her experience at the state level, she was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt to the Federal Court.   Her experiences being the first women to succeed in her legal career really sparked the rest of the female motivation to become involved in the legal field.  Before Florence, women were not able to participate, let alone succeed, in these types of careers, and she showed the female population that it is possible.  

Women in The Practice of Law--

Myra Bradwell:   In 1870 there were only 5 female attorneys in the local census, so it was not a career that was flooded by women.  She began reading law with her husband who was a judge.  She decided to take the test to pass the Chicago Bar and ended up succeeding, and passing the test.  The Illinois Supreme Court denied her admission to the Illinois State Bar because she was married.  When she was upset with the outcome, she took the decision to the United States Supreme Court.  The U.S. Supreme court upheld the decision of the Illinois court and said "the natural and proper timidity and the delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many occupations of civil life...Paramount destiny and mission of women are to fulfill the noble and benign office of wife and mother.  This is the law of the creator."  Eventually, this decision was overturned and Bradwell was granded her license to practice law.  However, this story does show how much has changed in the legal field.  Women were not allowed to practice law, even if they were smart enough to get the job done because their mission in life was to be a wife and a mother.  Wow, times sure have changed.  

Blog #37: Status of Women in Law

The report, Charting Our Progress, by the American Bar Association was very similar to the other readings that we have been reading.  They talk about the increases in women in the legal field, which is always a great thing, but creates an issue when it comes to the work/home life balance that many working mothers face.  There were many similarities between English's findings and the report in terms of the struggle to balance things such as a career and child care or elderly care.  

Many law firms and legal organizations understand that this balance is difficult and often provide part-time schedules to accommodate their employees with children at home.  Although this would be a great option for many women, they often are not inclined to take advantage of these schedules because they have been afraid that they will not be as valued as the full time employees that can devote more time to their firm.  They are afraid that they will not be given the same opportunities as the other employees because of this.   They are also concerned about something called "schedule creep" which is when someone is working part time for part time compensation but consistantly being asked to take on more work and work longer hours without being compensated for the extra work.  This can be a big problem for many of the attorneys because they would assume be employed as a full time attorney being paid a full time salary instead of being classified and paid as part time and working full time hours.  

Many New York attorneys are asked to put in about 2,400 billable hours per year, plus an additional 600+ non-billable hours.  This would be an extremely hard schedule to work if you had children, especially if this is what is expected.  This type of work commitment forces someone to choose between their career and their home life, which often is not a choice.   They aren't able to participate in the extra activities that are needed to be a successful attorney such as attending meetings, etc. so they are looked down upon.  

Technology is something that a lot of women use as a way to get around the hectic hours that are expected of them, however this creates a problem.  If you have the ability to take calls and emails where ever you are you don't have the ability to separate yourself from work and you are constantly deemed available by your clients.  This will take away from your family time and you will log many more non-billable hours that you are not being compensated for.  

Blog #36: Balancing Family & Law Career

I think that it will be very lard to lure women back into corporate American because of the way they are continuously treated. It has to be a very hard situation to have to succeed in the workplace because of all of the gender discrimination that occurs. Coming back into a career with the thought that it could happen again would be a major setback for many women. The discrimination severely discouraged a lot of women in the working world to make them think that they were not good enough.

It takes a lot of personal strength and determination to enter back into a profession where you know that you were mistreated. The glass ceiling has been a discouragement to women because they feel as if they will never succeed past this barrier unless they are male. They recognize that gender can't change, so they are not confident in their abilities once they have left the working world.

Blog #34: Balancing Family & Law Career

The work/life balance has been a hard thing for all working mothers to overcome. They often recognize that their family comes first and that is a hard balance because many times you aren't able to figure out where your career is supposed to fall into place. You work so hard to become a career woman and break the stereotypes of not being able to succeed in the business world. Then you have a baby and you have a responsibility to your family. Or even without children, you still have a responsibility to the "2ND job" that you have when you get home. Cleaning and cooking in the house, is literally an entire 2ND job when you get home from work. Women are constantly expected to be the "mother" while their husbands are at work making all of the money. The problem with this, is there is not always a father figure that is out making the money. What happens when the woman is the only one working? They are forced to work just to afford the child care for their children while they are at work.

The Joan WIlliams interview compared to Putting Children First is amazing. They are dealing with the same types of problems in the book as many other women around the world. They are forcing themselves to work ridiculous hours just to pay for the day care and needs of their children, but the problem is, if they can only get low-wage jobs, their hours do not coincide with that of the child care facility. In order to make this work, they are relying on family or people that are not certified to be in the best in childcare. A live-in nanny would be way to expensive for a woman that is working a minimum wage job. Often, these women are missing work in order to care for their children. Also, if they are on government programs, they are forced to participate in programs and classes as well as working on the side in order to qualify. This creates another reason why the mother's will not be able to care for their children. When they stop going to the classes or programs they are dropped from the government assistance making them unable to provide for their children. This make the balance between work and home life nearly impossible, and it is hard as well for those mother's who have high paying jobs as well as a working husband bringing two incomes in instead of one minimum wage income.

Blog #33: Advancing in the Law

Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton really broke through the glass ceiling in the last election by running for two of the most powerful and prestigious positions in politics. This shows how far women have come, but it cannot be forgotten that there is still a long way to go. First, women were unable to vote, and now they are able to run for President of the United States without the entire world against them. Yes, it is not uncommon to come across men, and even females, that think that a woman in this type of office would not be a good idea and our country is not ready for it, however overall we are gaining more and more respect every day. Women together are breaking though this glass ceiling. However, there are still many hardships that women face. We have seen this specifically with Michelle Obama recently, and Sonyia Sotomayor. They are being judged based on everything but their scholastic aptitude and their ability to do the job, and do their job well. They are being judged off of stereotypes that have been in place for hundreds of years. Michelle Obama cannot be taken seriously just based on the type and color of clothing she wears. She has never looked unprofessional in the public eye, and just because she isn’t wearing typical “boring” colors of clothing like previous first ladies doesn’t mean she isn’t a responsible and professional woman. Sotomayor is being called vain and tough, when a man in her position doing the exact same thing is being praised for his ability to keep control of the courtroom. This is proof that women have come a long way but there are still many more milestones ahead as far as equality for me and women in such publicly political fields. Women need to judged based on their knowledge and contributions to their field and not by the clothing that they wear.

Blog #32: Advancing in the Law

Parenting differs between men and women because of previous stereotypes. It differ when attached to a woman because they have the reputation of being the maternal figure and regardless of what their career is, they are forced into the category of mother. Fathers have the reputation of being able to work to support their families. They are the bread winners, and it is acceptable if a father only sees his children for a few minutes before their bedtime because he has been at work all day. Parenthood means two completely different things when comparing mother and father. This stereotype really can impact the choices that mother’s who happen to be lawyers because they are seen as only a mother, and they are questioning whether their children or their career is most important. Unfortunately, other working mothers are not forced to make the choice because they have a relatively low stress level job and work normal hours. Working 80+ hours a week can take a toll on a mother, especially if you are still expected to come home, cook dinner and clean the house to provide for your family.

High powered female lawyers are often some of the most intimidating women in the world. They always put their job first and are often called “work-a- holics”. Obviously, their job is extremely important to them and in turn they are often questioned as a mother. They have worked extremely hard and beat so many speed bumps along the way to become a person of authority in the legal field that it would be hard to give that up for your family. When they try to do both, they are criticized about not being a good enough mother because they work too much. They might not be able to devote as much time to their family as another working mother but it shouldn’t discredit how much they love and support their family.

Blog #31: Advancing in the Law

Many legal professions require a large amount of hours to be put in over the course of a work week, even more when you are working on a hard case that needs to be finished by a deadline. It doesn’t leave as much time to spend with your children/spouse as a regular working mother would have. This topic is really interesting because I received the same response from the working mother’s in law interview assignment that we just completed. My aunt is an attorney that puts in over 80 hours a week and has been doing this for almost 30 years. She talked the most about how it severely effected her home life. Her children were raised by a nanny, and she hardly ever saw her husband outside of work. By the time she got home, they were way too tired to do anything but go to sleep to wake up and do it all over again. You can never break away from the stresses of work if you follow a routine like this. Stress from work that is carried home with you in turn creates stress in your household. The professional side of life becomes more important than your family because you are competing against many single attorneys that will be glad to take your position.

The difficulties in fixing these problems cause your job to be at risk and that is the biggest problem for most people. Money and financial worries are some of the toughest issues to combat in a marriage, so worrying about that would not improve your home life more than losing your job. Most people feel like they cannot make both work without sacrificing something. This is normally true, it’s extremely hard to “have your cake and eat it too”. Some people can make it work, but not without an extreme amount of effort.

Blog #30: Proving Yourself in a Man's World

Many conventional styles of leadership discourage women because they require the leader to exude a very high level of power and demand respect from their employees. This can be extremely difficult if the woman isn’t seen in a position of authority. Regardless of whether they are in the leadership position, there could be a staff full of men who have no respect for the woman. Conventionally, women are not viewed as very powerful people in the workplace. Therefore, getting their team on board with their ideas could be very difficult. If they are demanding too much power because of the lack of respect, this could be an even further setback for the woman in leadership because of her seeming “disrespect” for her employees. It is a situation that could quickly backfire on the leader. Men are at an extremely high advantage when it comes to leadership styles. They have been expected to be leaders for many of years, so there is never any questioning their authority. They often are picked first for these jobs, because employers know that they will have the instant respect of the staff instead of having to work for it like a woman would have to do.

Gender expectations shape leadership behavior, because women are not expected to be in positions of power. When they are, their entire behavior is normally different than what they had anticipated because they are getting emotionally charged due to the lack of respect. In the video, the speaker discussed that 92% of the population said they would vote for a woman president, however 50% of those people said they weren’t sure if the United States was ready for a step like that. This just shows, that people think that women in leadership are a good idea, but when push comes to shove, they aren’t given the opportunity because they cannot be trusted with such a position of power. They are afraid that their emotions will take control of their ability to do their job correctly. Men’s gender expectations set them up to be great leaders, they are expected to be powerful and brave, and not let their emotions stand in their way, and this is reflected in their leadership styles. These relate dramatically to the stereotypes that are put into place because the stereotypes often play a role in determining how the leadership will behave. If a woman is not expected to do well in a position of leadership, and she does not have the support of her staff, her behavior will become very aggressive to demand the respect that she feels she deserves.

I was in a position of leadership within my company a few years ago. I was not as knowledgeable as some of the other applicants about the product, but what they were looking for was my ability to lead the staff and promote good work ethic. I was placed in the job where my staff was all male and did not believe that I could do a good job. They went as far as to sabotage my numbers so I would look as if I was doing bad and would be removed from the position. I felt like I needed to give up my position and go back to the other department that I was working in before—full of women. I then realized that I wouldn’t ever make it far in this world if I continued to give into the stereotypes that were playing out in my life. I made a decision to be a very strong and Bureaucratic leader and that I would demand the respect of my staff. Once they figured out that I was serious and I wasn’t going anywhere, I quickly got their attention and was able to turn the situation around in my favor. It’s ridiculous how it takes a woman becoming “mean” and going against the way that I thought I should manage to scare the respect out of my current employees. Currently, I use this type of leadership to set the boundaries early in my positions and let them know that I will not fall subject to the typical stereotypes that have been placed for women in leadership.

Blog #29: Proving Yourself in a Man's World

When I read the article about minority women in law firms, it's really no wonder that they do not stay put for very long. It seems as if the other people in the law firm have no respect for these minority women. We have talked about how hard it is to be a woman in this field, and now add being a minority and the problems become ten times worse. The most striking part of this article for me was when an Asian lawyer was called into a meeting so she could translate Korean, and she didn't even know how to speak Korean. Not only was she embarrassed, but the client then felt uncomfortable as well. There were stories of a Native American woman who was tormented by her fellow lawyers asking if they could call her Pocahontas and what tribe she was from. To me, that's unacceptable and especially scary, because the lawyers job is to instill justice and to set those type of standards is not just at all.

The women feel so uncomfortable in their own place of work that they have to leave and find another job, often times to be treated the same way. I thought that the survey was extremely interesting, when it described the numbers of minorities that are passed up for deserving promotions and assignments, attending networking events, and even becoming partners compared to whites. The number is extremely skewed, furthering the problem of discrimination in the work place. With only 4% of firm partners being minorities, and even fewer being female minorities, this field doesn't seem like a healthy working environment. There are so many similarities between all of the stories and articles that I have read, which makes me question many of the people that work in these big law firms.

Blog #28: Proving Yourself in a Man's World

Sonia Sotomayor's entire life has been questioned, from her attending Princeton to graduating Yale Law at the top of her class. What's interesting to me, is the writer of this article even points out that if a white man had been doing the same thing, it would be a completely different situation. In this article, Sotomayor is described as a "fiery Latina tempest waiting to knife and brutalize lawyers in the court room". Her ability to be a demanding judge is a great way to get the information that you need. You are able to demand the respect and take control of the court room, certainly something that a judge should be able to do.

Unfortunately, women don't always have the option to take control so they must be "brutal". The article talks about how she is a sharp interrogator that requires lawyers to always be prepared and on top of it, and how this is portrayed as some of her most negative qualities. Following this statement, the article talks about how if she was a man, and a white man at that, these traits would not be negative at all, in fact they would be very positive. This just proves the gender divide in these non-traditional careers. It's hard for a woman to prove herself in a world full of doubt. They also are comparing her style and Scalia's style saying that his toughness is positive, and hers is nonjudicial. "If Scalia asks irrelevant questions, he is just being a dutiful "law professor" trying to hold the attention of the class. If Sotomayor does the same thing, she is just interested in hearing herself talk." So many people have been raised to believe that a woman cannot do the same job, leaving her struggling to find acceptance in something that she is clearly very talented in.

Blog #27: Law As a Gendered Organization

Women face many consequences because the legal profession is male dominated. They are the unnatural component to this occupation and that is very hard for men to cope with at times. They are stuck in their ways and do not like to embrace change, even if it could potentially mean that it would better their law firm. Women are denied promotions, jobs, cases, etc for the mere fact that they are not male. People do not believe that they can do the job as well as a man so they are automatically denied the chance to prove themselves. In turn, women are never offered the opportunity to grow so they get stuck in positions that are not challenging them. Without a challenge, people will never learn anything. This is a major hardship that occurs within the legal field. Also, women are stuck in clerical jobs within this field. Women were never smart enough or strong enough to handle being an attorney so they often worked on the administrative side of the court and they were not able to get out of this situation.

Men use the stereotypes of women against them in the courtroom. They often attempt to dig into her emotional side hoping that it will catch her off balance and unable to focus on her case. They can convince members of the jury that an attorney is not a woman's job and that she clearly is uneducated and should not be representing her client. Unfortunately, it is not only male attorneys that think that women are incapable of doing this job, so without even saying anything they already have a leg up from females.

Blog #26: Law As a Gendered Organization

I think that because the field of law is so male dominated that often men feel it is their responsibility to continuously guide women on their path as a lawyer. Always thinking that they are incapable of doing their job therefore putting their knowledge on them when not always necessary. I think that this is not always a bad thing. Unfortunately, women have the reputation of not being good enough. With the help and support of other male attorneys this stereotype can be broken when meeting with clients, judges, etc. It will take a males support to help convince and show other people that a woman is fit for the job. If you have a male that believes in your abilities and sees you for the knowledge that you can bring to the job instead of the stereotypical gender behaviors that a woman should have, they can help you overcome many of these hardships.

This point shows that law is a gendered organization because being an attorney isn't good enough, you have to be a male attorney in order to make that difference in the world. Women attorneys are too emotional, can't handle the stress, etc. in the public eye and that is not the case. Women attorneys work harder than anything to beat the stereotypes that they are faced with and in order to fit in surrounded by a world of men. Men are consistently filling their minds with the idea that they are the superior gender, and this shows true in this profession as well, backed up by the thoughts of attorneys for centuries. Women doing non-traditional jobs, doing more than being a housewife, is unknown, and people are very nervous to change. They do not like change, therefore do not embrace the advantages of having a duel gender occupation who can compliment each other in their line of work.

Blog #25: Law As a Gendered Organization

I am interpreting using sexualized behavior as "a weapon in the arsenal" in the law field as different ways to interpret every kind of situation that you are presented with. Having both men and women lawyers can truly help out when having a wide variety of cases because men and women think very differently about certain things. Being able to use these differences to help solve the case can be extremely useful when other firms do not have the ability to explore these different viewpoints. Although, that is not the case currently because most law firms employ both men and women. For example, if there was a female rape case on the table and you had the choice of putting a male on the case or a female on the case, it would be in the firms best interest to put a female on the case to look as if she could better relate with the victim. Her views would be very similar to that of the woman victim, thus becoming a weapon that the firm could pull out of a tough situation. Same would apply to a man defending a man in a specific case, the defendant could possibly feel more comfortable with a man that uses similar behaviors instead of a woman who wouldn't "understand". On the opposite side of the spectrum, I think that this can be a bad thing, because an attorney should be trained to deal with situations regardless of what gender they are. They are supposed to base their case on strictly fact, and it really shouldn't matter whether you are a woman representing a woman or a man representing a woman. The media portraying this could actually have a negative impact by taking these behaviors and linking them with a certain gender, making them incapable of doing any other sort of work or behaving in any other way.

Blog #24: Gender Expectations & Stereotypes

Donielle is a woman that graduated from the Phoenix School of Law in May and has been working as a city prosecutor since she based the Bar exam over the summer.  She and I worked together under the supervision of the prosector for Avondale city.  I sent her a quick email to describe any gender issues that she has had over her time in law school as well as her first few months as an attorney.  She did say that in law school there are more men than women, but overall, people were not worried about your gender, just about the work that you were completed while at school.  This is a very different response than I thought that I was going to get based on the discussions that we have had in class.  

When we interned together, we were the only females that worked in our entire office, and the only other female was a paralegal office manager.  Donielle talked about this experience and how we were still treated with a great amount of respect although we were the minority gender.  She said that the only experiences that she has had with gender is working along side of so many men in her profession currently.  She is the only female attorney in her office, besides a defense attorney that she shares office space with.  However, the men in her office respect her for the job that she does and being a woman doesn't take away from that.  Overall, she has had a wonderful experience, and unlike many other women in this non-traditional career, she is not falling victim to the fact that she is a woman.  I think that this has to do with the fact that she is a brand new attorney just out of a very small law school and she hasn't been exposed to some of the people in this industry that are not used to women being in positions, such as attorneys. 

Blog #23: Gender Expectations & Stereotypes

Fashion on the political front is a very interesting topic.  For years and years, women lawyers and women in politics have been wearing very traditional, non-revealing, professional, and, well, bland clothing.  It's important that these women be viewed in the most professional and responsible way possible.  However, if anyone steps out of the box, even a little, they are viewed completely based on the clothing that they wear.  In the public eye, it is simple things like clothing that can completely make or break your reputation, and that is why professional appearance is so important for women in this field.  For years, women have been criticized on the clothing that they wear, much more than men, and just recently with the ladies of the most recent election has the envelope been pushed much farther than before.  

Michelle Obama has been known for her courageous, but professional attire.  There is nothing wrong with bringing color and excitement to your clothes if you still look professional and responsible, which she does.  She has brought a variety of different clothing, and made it acceptable for women all over the world to show a little bit more of their own personal style, while still looking classy.   She has been criticized for the amount of money that she spends on clothing, as well as Mrs. McCain for her expensive designer jewels.  However, no one else that makes a good living is criticized for spending money on the clothing that they wear.  

I think that people are not used to the changes that are happening in the professional world of style because it is so different than anything that has happened in the past.  I think that it is unfortunate that  so many people are being criticized for not following the norm of dark, bland clothing that show no personality.  There is nothing wrong with expanding the political fashion sense as long as it stays professional, appropriate, and classy.  

Blog #22: Gender Expectatons & Stereotypes

Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic justice on the supreme court, as well as the 3rd female justice to serve on the court.  She was nominated in early 2009 by President Obama, and was sworn in to serve on the Supreme Court in August 2009.  She has faced many hardships in her little time serving on the court.  She has been accused of being racist, while people are going to be afraid that her decisions are going to be biased towards people of her race, completely discrediting her knowledge and experience of law.  She attended Princeton University and graduated at the top of her class, and went on to get her JD at Yale Law School.  A woman of her abilities has learned throughout her time in school as well as serving as many different judges, that racism is something that cannot apply to her job.  It's amazing how just because she is Hispanic she is facing all of these allegations, when a white male who fits the stereotypical norm of a Supreme Court Justice doesn't face nearly the amount of criticism.  The people are having to dig down deep into her life to find something that she can be criticized for, which are leading to false allegations.  

It's an amazing thing that she has the ability to overcome all of these negative attitudes towards her and represent both herself as a Hispanic woman but also the entire Hispanic and female populations.  She is challenging the previous ideas of what makes a great Supreme Court Justice and most people are feeling very weary about this.  It seems to me, as if this happens in most situations of change.  Anytime a minority is given the chance to make a difference and do a non-traditional job for their race or gender, they are somehow harshly critiqued for everything they are doing wrong -- most of this stemming from the uneasiness that the majority gender and race is feeling about the change.  It's important to have different races and genders representing our country on the Supreme Court because of the varieties of different experiences and thoughts.  This variety can help us round out all previous biases.  

Blog #21: Interaction with Co-Workers, Supervisors, and Job Satisfaction

The Website for the National Association for Female Correctional Officers mission is to eliminate the unsafe conditions for women working in this profession. They have stated that they want to crack down on those individuals being charged for sexual harassment, rape, etc and even provide more money to these states so these people can be prosecuted more rapidly and harshly. This is a very important website because they truly understand the hardships that female officers face on an every day basis. They have to come into work and watch men masturbating because they have that little respect for a woman that they are willing to expose themselves in that way to make her feel uncomfortable. Clearly, conditions are not safe for women in the prisons after discussing the hostage situation back in 2004. There was not the proper training necessary to eliminate these situations, and until there is a change, there is a good chance that it can happen again. The NAFCO are focusing on getting "real" with the issues that are happening in the prisons currently. It's important for the public to hear first hand the situations that are going on, such as the violence, racism, the disrespectful acts towards women, etc. and hearing these accounts first hand could possibly strike up public interest and support to try and make a change in these situations. Britton would agree 100% with the idea of exposing the true issues to the public.

However, the NAFCO and Britton's arguments vary slightly because Britton's goal is to even the playing field for both genders making it a comfortable situation for everyone that is employed. The NAFCO focuses on the female side of it, not taking into account the hardships that are faced everyday on both ends of the spectrum. Britton has a much more idealistic point of view in her suggestions to fix the current problems within the prison system. The NAFCO is a great organization as well doing wonders for the safety of our female correctional officers.

Blog #20: Interaction with Co-Workers, Supervisors, and Job Satisfaction

The Phoenix Magazine covered the hostage crisis in 2004, which involved a female correctional officer being held hostage for 15 days. Although other guards tried to "rescue" her, no one was successful, because the prisoners had already taken over the entire prison. The conditions were unsafe for the officers and I think that they were not prepared to deal with a situation of such magnitude. It amazes me that this is the first time that I am even hearing about this situation, as it was a terrible thing that happened to this woman. She was a mother, who happened to be working as a correctional officer, and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She ended up being beaten and raped by the prisoners after they took complete control over the prison. There are many different ways to avoid a situation like this, and I think the importance of changing the training will be a good start. However, with such a gender oriented occupation, it might be hard to make the adjustment.

Prisons are a very good example of a gendered organization. It's amazing how the men in the prison don't trust the women to do their job because they are not "physically strong enough". They have the same training and are able to access the same helpful tools in a situation as the men. I think the biggest problem is the lack of training in all fields. They are trained to deal with violent situations within the prison involving male inmates, but are left to fend for themselves when a different situation arises. The women are not normally as strong as the men, however with the proper training and techniques, they should be able to handle a situation exactly the same as the other male officers. Another big problem with the gender "divide" inside of the prison is the fact that the men feel it as a reversal of power. They couldn't possibly work a macho man job along side of a woman, or so they think. The physical and emotional stresses that go along with being a correctional officer are thought to only be for the male gender. It was amazing how it didn't take the typical physical strength to save Lois Fraley's life. It took shear brain power and the ability to make the inmates believe that she was human by talking about her family at home and how she was abused as a young child. I truly think that this saved her life, because the inmates are human as well, and she must have struck something inside of them because they did save her life in the end. What happened to her clearly couldn't have been avoided with macho muscles and a great sense of physical stamina, because the men officers that were trying to save her attempted to rectify the situation with those means and ended up being taken down, physically, by the inmates who were holding her hostage. Tactics such as this need to be taught over and over again to correctional officers so they are never in a situation that they don't know how to handle.

The prison is a total institution because of the idea that the correctional officers are on top and the inmates are second-rate citizens on the bottom. However, I believe that it should be like that. There needs to be a sense of order within the prison so the inmates do not react so strongly as they did in the hostage situation. I don't know the right suggestion to stop this in the future, however there needs to be a sense of authority. The prison officer is an engendered occupation because they don't take into account the differences between both female and male officers and female and male inmates. It has been said that male inmates are much easier to deal with in the sense that they are violent, however they do not play mind games, they are open with their feelings and normally the situation is taken care of after the violent act. Women officers, however are not prepared for the disrespect that many men show them. In women's facilities, it's a little bit different, they are more into playing mind games with each other, using emotional issues as a means to get their way, and they are much harder to deal with. Despite the fact that the officers are not trained on how to deal with these emotionally charged situations. I think that Britton's suggestion would have helped in the hostage situation, because all officers need to at least have a general idea on the best ways to handle all types of situations, not geared toward one gender or the other.

Blog #19: Interaction with Co-Workers, Supervisors, and Job Satisfaction

In the video Democracy Now, Geena Davis speaks about her thoughts of gender equality in the workplace. She starts off by talking even as far back as cartoon characters in children's shows are mostly men. The girls in these shows are portrayed as less important, and having unnecessary requests. A lot is learned from the media, and especially at a young age, so if this is what the children are being exposed to, they might have a difficult time growing up with another perspective. The first example that came to my mind, is as simple as the little girl in Dennis the Mennis. She is only portrayed as the "stupid" girl who can't do anything except for decorate their tree house and take care of children. These young kids that are watching this movie automatically have an idea of the men's place in society and also the women's place in society.

Many male colleagues, specifically in the correctional facility, do not think that women have the ability to do their job because they aren't physically strong enough or mentally capable to deal with such violent criminals. They often act even more masculine to make up for what they think the woman cannot do herself. This causes problems within the work place because again, it puts the woman in her "place" and can make her believe that she is not good enough to complete the job herself. There is no room to improve if you are are not challenging yourself at work, whether that be in a physical or mental sense. Women have the same training as the men in these positions, so they should be able to know tactics to control the violent inmates without the need of excessive physical strength. If they don't, their training programs need to include this.

Blog #18: Working With Inmates

When Britton argues that the norm becomes masculine when they attempt to establish gender-neutral policies, because in this field, the majority gender is male. They often times do not recognize the differences both emotionally and physically between men and women. There are more men in prisons today than women, therefore their training is geared towards dealing with both non-violent and violent males. This same training is applied to those who work in a women's facility, although this is not the appropriate way to handle women. Most correctional officers actually prefer working with the men because they feel much more capable to deal with a problem if it were to arise. The added emotional stress of the job is not something that can be taught in the training. Officers have felt unprepared to deal with the "petty and dramatic" women, and would much rather work with the violent males.

Most hands on training is done in male facilities focusing on very violent and resisting inmates, where most of the women in prison are not resisting or violent. Also, a huge population of correctional officers are male, and many believe that it should stay that way because women are not capable of dealing with violent criminals. It's important to train based on all situations that could happen because currently the correctional officers are explaining that their job is just as emotional as it is physical. The prisoners know what to say to an officer to put them in a more vulnerable state. If you are not trained for this happening, you can put yourself and other inmates in danger by not being prepared to assist in a situation. However, this will continue to be a masculine job if they do not change the way they are training their officers. More and more women are entering the prisons and correctional officers need to be fully prepared, to ensure the safety of everyone around them.

Blog #17: Working With Inmates

When I first started watching this video, I was amazed at so many different things.  You really give up so much while you are in prison, and sometimes you are never able to get out.  The first thing that completely shocked me was the story of the woman who's daughter died and she was not even able to go to the hospital or funeral to see her daughter.  I guess it makes sense, considering she was in jail for a serious crime, however I can't imagine loosing a child and not being able to be there during that time.  The relationships that started while in prison also shocked me, it's hard to believe that you get so attached to people that you are willing to give up what's best for you for another person while there.  The story of the two girls that fell in love in prison, and one was supposed to get out in 8 months while her lover would be in for 8 more years amazed me.  The girl who was getting out soon claimed that she would be back just so she could be with her lover.  They sacrifice everything for the life that they make in the prison.  The many different vocational activities and trades that you can learn while in jail is a very productive thing to do with the inmates.  Even if they don't ever get out, making them feel accomplished is a good way to improve spirits within the prison and possibly lower the outbreaks of violence.  I was very shocked to see the women who have been sentenced to life in prison, for the murders of their husbands, and they look so "normal".  People have a perception of inmates and how they are supposed to act, however that is not always true.  Inside the prison, it seemed like it's own way of life, from the loaning of money in the yard, to the sense of family that you end up feeling, it's amazing how people are able to adjust to that way of life, and make the most of it. 

Building a relationship with the inmates that you work with can be very dangerous to not only the correctional officer but also the other inmates.  If you build a sense of trust and friendship with someone that is imprisoned, they could talk you into allowing them to do inappropriate things or even smuggling drugs or weapons into the jail for them.  Now, this normally is not the case between inmates and correctional officers, relationships have formed in the past that has caused these type of problems.  If a prisoner has access to weapons or drugs they are putting themselves in danger of a longer sentence, or other inmates in danger because of the threat of violence.   

Many of the correctional officers have reported that they prefer to work with men because they are much less emotional.  This has been said to be a result of the training that they have received.  There is such a large threat with emotional breakdowns because you don't ever know what they are going to do.  With violent acts it's much easier to read the situation and understand how to calm them down.  There have also been conflicting views on how the inmates treat the women correctional officers.  Some have more respect for the women because they view them as a motherly figure, and some disrespect them at all costs because they don't like the "unnatural power reversal".  

Many correctional officers either have the idea that the inmates are animal like, and therefor should be treated with as little respect as possible because they are basically inhumane to them.  They do not treat them like humans that have committed a crime.  On the other end of the spectrum, officers view them as humans that deserve to have rights, and are just in prison because of a mistake that they had made.  African American and Latino officers often face problems concerning racism.  They often disagree with the prison system and many of the sentences because of their exposure to racism in the court system.   Although, many of the inmates are not racist towards one another, at least in female prisons, the sentences that they might have could be based on the fact that they are are a certain race.  Another problem that the minority officers might have is feeling bad for the other minorities in the prison and treating them differently.  Sometimes the correctional officers viewed the inmates with a very humanistic attitude and that in turn caused them to view them as children.  They feel a sense of responsibility for their well being and their success throughout their time in the prison.  

Blog #16: Working With Inmates

There is a large difference between the relationship of past work experience and becoming a correctional officer between men and women.  Often times, the men that become a correctional officer are not coming from "white collar" professional jobs, but more so the hard labor type of jobs that required a lot of physical activity.  The jump from a non-physical job to a physically intensive job would be difficult.  Women in this position normally got there by working in the court system previously, and got a connection to the prison from working in the industry.  Social networking is important in a lot of positions, but especially a position that is not open very often.  

Social networking plays a very large role in people obtaining a position in the correctional field, especially being a correctional officer.  Often times, people start in the legal field and work their way "up" to this position.  I think this is more true for women because the majority of the women got their jobs from knowing other people.  However, I do think that it's true for men as well, because these jobs aren't open very often.  

I think that the driving force behind obtaining a job as a correctional officer is the ease and convenience of getting this job.  This job does not require a college degree, and only a high school diploma is required.  Those that cannot afford a college education are still presented with a decent employment opportunity with a very competitive salary.  Normally, the salary for this position is around $45,000 per year which is higher than many entry level positions.   This salary is often higher than entry level positions that require a college degree.  The stability of a salary and the benefits that come with this job is definitely a motivating factor for those that chose this career path.  

Blog #15: Engendering Prisons and History of Women Guards

The history of prisons has been very interesting.  Women in prisons was a very far fetched idea in earlier centuries in many places.  They were not usually viewed as criminals or dangerous and therefor they were given a much easier time while in court.  The judges would often go easier on a woman than they would a man creating a very high inequality in the numbers of me and women incarcerated.  Due to recent crack down on laws and the equaling of men and women, it has created a very large incline in the number of women that are now incarcerated.  There were more differences in prisons than just the shear number of women inside.  The women's prisons were often more laid back; the women were expected to do "normal" woman tasks such as cleaning, cooking, gardening around the prison and basic housekeeping duties.  However, with men working as their correctional officers a lot of rape and sexual assault was reported throughout history.   

Men in prisons had a much different experience.  One of the biggest differences between then and now is the fact that there were many different types of criminals in the prison, instead of now, where our facilities are overly populated with non-violent drug offenders.  Although there is a handful of violent criminals, often times there is a significantly higher amount of the non-violent offenders.  They often were treated very poorly, being ordered to walk in straight lines and do only what they were told.  They were subjected to manual labor that was often very physically strenuous.   Arizona has had a different experience throughout history with prisons because of the higher numbers of women in their facilities compared to the rest of the country.  However, they were very similar to other prisons in the way they treated both the men and the women in their prisons.  

Blog #14: Engendering Prisons and History of Women Guards

In discussing the theory of gendered organization, Britton focuses this theory on the gap between men and women within the workforce, more specifically regarding the pay scale.   Britton wanted to understand why there was a gap in the workplace if men and women are required to have the same amount of training and understanding of their work as men.  Is is said that the structure and the culture of this theory has a lot to do with it's ongoing progression throughout history.  Women have never been given the full opportunity to make as much money or be as successful as a man.  It's thought that the men are always going to be the "breadwinner" and it is assumed in the workplace that if a women is working, they are going home to man that is making more money than here.  The employers have not felt an obligation to give women the same money as men, because they aren't ever seen as the "head of the household".  This theory has started back in the times where it was normal culture for a woman to say home and cook and clean and take care of the children, and although culture has changed, most attitudes have not graduated from this ridiculous way of thinking.  

The public and private spheres become gendered because of the consistent stereotypes that are carried from one generation to another.  There hasn't been a swift change in the way our people believe in home life, therefor there has not been a swift change in the way women are treated in the professional world.  Women in labor history have only fairly recently been in the workplace and they are slowly becoming equal with men, however there are still many fields that are male dominated, and until there becomes a problem, labor laws will not be changed to help the advancement of women's participation in these fields.  

Blog #13: Women in Non-Traditional Jobs

Most prison guards and correctional officers that are males are portrayed as very strong, brutal, short tempered men that are willing to do anything to solve a problem within the correctional facility. They are "hard" and have an attitude that is "I'm always right". The idea that prison guards are constantly fighting with prisoners is not true. More times than not, prisoners are non-violent criminals that are in jail for offenses such as drugs, etc. In the readings, it discusses the common idea that walking into a prison would be terrifying, prisoners banging on the bars and screaming at the people walking through. Also, Britton talked about how scared she was the first time she went into a correctional facility because she thought the prisoners were all armed. These ideas of prisoners are far from what actually occurs.

Normally, the correctional officers job is not very exciting and because of this portrayal of the prisoners, it's hard to believe that a woman would be able to do this job. Although, the number of women in jail compared to men are fairly low, it doesn't mean they aren't there. This applies to both prisoners and women in positions in the jail. Women that are correctional officers are portrayed as "tough" and "manly" women. Somehow, people think they have to be this way in order to deal with the prisoners that are out of control. Women in these positions are trained identically to the men in these positions to deal with situations. They have the same tools in case a situation arise as anyone else. Normally, a correctional officer is not wrestling prisoners down to the ground on a daily basis. I don't think the perception of men in a men's facility changes when they work in a women's facility, except for they use more verbal abuse for lack of better words instead of physical abuse. I don't think that this is normally the case, however I wouldn't know until I could experience working in a correctional facility. Most prisoners are looking to behave well so they can serve less of a sentence, and it's not necessarily a zoo like it is portrayed to be. The idea that women are not strong enough to be a correctional officer/police officer is simply a myth. There are plenty of women that can train to be stronger and better at this job than some men.

Blog #12: Women in Non-Traditional Jobs

Segregation in the workplace happens on a daily basis, and most people aren't even aware of it. There are so many laws protecting the privacy of every one's salary and personal situations that many times you can be taken advantage of for being a women and have no idea. It can easily be covered up as something else such as poor work quality, late to work too many times, etc. I personally have experienced this working for a very large corporation, where I found out that I was making a significantly less salary than the other MALE supervisor in my position. We did the same amount of work, ran the same number of employees, and had the same knowledge, but I was being paid less because I was a young girl and he was an older man. I am not one to make myself and other women the victim constantly, but sometimes it is too real to pretend that it is not happening.

Gender socialization has a big effect on occupational segregation in the sense that children grow up with the idea that women do not do "non-traditional" jobs such as auto mechanics, aviation mechanics, mechanical engineering, etc. They grow up with the idea that they shouldn't be doing a job like that, so they in a sense, segregate themselves from an early age. In the video, it talks about how only 1 and 2% of these fields have women in them, and I think it's because of the gender socialization. I think that many times, women in these non traditional positions are looked down upon, as if they couldn't do something they were supposed to so they had to be a car mechanic, even though that is their dream and what they enjoy doing. They loose credibility in these fields because of the lack of women that have any knowledge, it's hard to believe that if 99% of the women in the world wouldn't be able to work on a car, that 1% would be good enough to make it their career, so they aren't given the full chance they deserve.

Women have a great advantage by breaking into these male dominated fields, not only do they receive more money than in traditional jobs, but they also can bring new and refreshing ideas to the table that have never been brought before. I truly think men gain by women entering these male dominated fields, because working with men all day every day becomes a routine, men and women have different values and different ideas on things, and adding new ideas could mean wonders for the men in these occupations.

Blog #11: Working Poor Women's Unpaid Labor

I searched Google to find a news article that had to deal with poor working mothers. It's interesting because I couldn't find a lot of information or current events surrounding this issue. I must comment, though, that somehow Kate Gosslin is being considered a poor single mother because of Jon's "stealing" $200,000 out of their joint bank account. Kind of sick if you ask me when there are real mothers who would not ever be in the situation they were in if they could afford to lose $200,000.

The article that I did find was called: "They're single mothers Gordon, not fallen women." (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1217890/Vince-Cable-Theyre-single-mothers-Gordon-fallen-women.html) I was not very surprised to find out that what we have been learning throughout the semester is exactly what is being said in these articles. They are recognizing that some people have babies out of wedlock in order to not have to work and get federal benefits, however they also recognize that MOST of the women looking for help did not put themselves in that position on purpose. They are struggling to make ends meet and trying to provide a good life for their children. This article talks a lot about the cycle that poverty creates for these children and how hard it is to break them of this cycle. It seems to me, this cycle is the most dangerous part of poverty. Once you're in, you're never able to get out.

Blog #10: Working Poor Women's Unpaid Labor

The Welfare Reform, also known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 was put into place by President Clinton. This caused a shift in the methods that cash would be given to the public as well as the goals of the welfare program. The program is no longer an entitlement program, and recipients are having to give back in order to qualify for these programs. For example, once you have received federal benefits, you are required to start working after two years. There is also a lifetime cap of 5 years for federally paid benefits on the program. The program is really aiming to minimize out of wedlock births and show the importance of having a stable situation before getting pregnant. Since this program has been in effect, the rates of people on welfare have decline significantly. These new programs really are helping our community gain the confidence and skills they need to be able to succeed in our world today.

In this program, many mothers in Chanudry's study had to adapt to the new "rules" of this program. They had to be flexible in terms of jobs, timing, etc. They also had to make their work schedules fit around their child care schedule. They had to utilize their money and work subsidies to qualify for center based child care. Many attended classes and seminars on a weekly basis that were required, to find out new opportunities for work and to gain skills to enter the work field. However, these classes uncovered some common trouble that these women have been having, especially those who are pregnant. They discussed the hardships of obtaining a job while they were pregnant because their employers are hesitant to hire them for a short period of time and have them leave once the baby is born (if this is even their reality). Chaudry's study really disproved the common stereotype that these women on welfare are lazy and stupid and they are unable to find jobs. Unfortunately, they try and try almost every day of the week and are not able to find jobs. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act requires a certain number of hours per week dedicated to searching for a job.

Chaundry's recommendations are as follows: 1) Government should increase funding for children's programs and unify the system; 2) Create policy that acknowledges single mothers in today's working world; 3) Work for society in which cycle of poverty can be broken; and 4) Make the system simpler - build up systems, coordinate across programs and educate children. I think that Chaundry's recommendations fall very closely in line with the program that President Clinton put into place. They are asking for something in return for federal funding, putting focus on these single mother's and giving them the tools to empower their children. One of the articles talked about the impact that a mother going to work everyday has on a child living in poverty. It really helps to break the "mold".

The opportunity for these women to be able to not only gain the experience and tools they need to get a great job and to support their family but to get the assistance they need at the same time is a much better program that the Welfare program that was being used before this act. Before, the women on the program were looked at as stupid and lazy because the government wasn't requiring them to do anything but collect on welfare. That is not the solution to the problem. Allowing these women to collect without bettering themselves and their families is a problem. The current system really empowers women and brings them together to provide them the opportunity to get that great job, and also be backed up by an entire class of women in their same situation to support them. The time restraints that they have put on the program also act as a motivational tool for these women to get out into the working world and succeed the best they can. The new goals of the program will help better our community.

Blog #9: Working Poor Mother's Unpaid Labor

With the national poverty level below $20,000 for a family of four, many low income families fall underneath this guideline. Right now, there are 13 million children that are living in a family with income under the poverty line. It has been said that families of four need to make at least two times this amount in order to make ends meet. These types of conditions severely impact a child's life. Unfortunately, the children do not have a choice, with many of them being too young to work and help provide for their family. 16% of children experience food insecurity, and are not able to eat three healthy meals a day. This can add to the level of disease and sickness in the house which in the end will create medical issues to go unaddressed because of the lack of health insurance. 19% of children living in poverty live without any form of health insurance, which would be a deterrent to visit the doctor because of the extremely high medical bills. Out of all of the families who rent properties, 41% of these families spend over 1/3 of their income on housing. At $20,000 a year, a family of four would have only $13,400 to live off of for the entire year. Most of the time these rental properties are not in safe and secure areas, and are actually dangerous places for these children to be living. Often times, older children do not attend school because they need to work to support their families. Women in low-income families do the best they can with what they have to work with, but often end up setting their child up to follow in their footsteps. They do not have the tools needed to set up their children to have a good adult life.

Blog #8: Working Poor: Women's Paid Labor

There are several important characteristics to urban poverty: limited access to employment opportunities and income, inadequate and insecure housing and services, violent and unhealthy environments, little or no social protection mechanisms, and limited access to adequate health and education opportunities. These can effect poor working mothers and their children in a variety of different ways, and are currently making life even more difficult for these mothers than ever before.

Limited access to employment and income will create a large group of these poor working mothers to work low end jobs at minimum wage. These jobs do not provide substantial income for these families, require long and inconvenient hours, and leave no room for advancement or improvement within their field. This can create a vicious cycle that doesn't allow these working mothers to do better for themselves and their families, forcing them to move into neighborhoods suffering from urban poverty. Inadequate housing and services makes these families always on the move. Children need routine, and it's very difficult to ask a child to adjust to new living situations several times a year. This can be completely detrimental to a child's normal development. Living in a violent environment would also be a reason to try and get out of these types of neighborhoods, but sometimes the income is not great enough to allow for such a move putting children and their mothers in dangerous situations, even while at home. There is very limited access to education and health opportunities, creating both a problem for working mothers and children. Education is what is needed in present day to advance and get hired into specific jobs with higher pay. Without this education, women are stuck in low income jobs at minimum wage. However, without the access to education, it's impossible for someone to become educated. No access to health facilities will create sickness within the family, and also rack up medical bills that will not be covered because of the lack of health insurance. This is a vicious cycle that many of these mother's are not able to get out of. This type of life style is passed on to their children and they will often live the same life as their mother's did.

Blog #7: Working Poor Women's Paid Labor

There were many factors that contributed to the instability of child care experienced by Jacqueline and Julia. They started out living in a homeless shelter in their cities shelter system. While Julia was trying to go back to school, she attended a community college down the street while the kids dad watched them. When Julia and the children's father broke up, they no longer had anyone to watch them while their mother went to school. She had her younger sister move in to try and help her watch the girls. Julia's grants would be cut if she worked over a certain number of hours and the money that she was making at her second job would push her over the top, so she quit her second job so she would still qualify. She then applied to the Agency for Child Development, but along with the rest of her city, she was put at the bottom of a very long waiting list. While waiting for this program, Julia joined the welfare-to-work program where she was provided child care. However, the problem that most low-income mother's face is the hours that they are required to work at their minimum wage jobs. Most day care facilities are open 6am to around 6pm Monday through Friday, the hours of a "normal" work day with a little time on the front and back end to allow parents to drop off and pick their children up. Minimum wage jobs do not provide normal business hours and you are often required to work nights and weekends, with no one to care for your children. Also, these minimum wage jobs do not offer any benefits for the mother's or their families.

There are such a high number of care givers in a child's early life in these situations that it is not good for development. Often a lack of good quality child care will lead to conflict between parents and providers, as well as poor quality facilities and programs. Overall, there are not very many good child care programs available if you do not have the money to pay top dollar for one.

Blog #6: Cost of Child Care

There is a wide range of child care options for mother's currently. The same is not currently true for low-income working mothers. Within the home, there is child care in the form of father care - where the father takes responsibility for the children during the day and either doesn't work, or works at night. In formal care by a family member or non-related adult is also a widely used form of child care amongst low-income mothers. There is care by a paid nanny, and also by older siblings. There are day care centers in the caregivers home, or a family daycare group. Pre-K and Preschool programs are often available but very expensive. There is mother's care at work, which is not offered in most occupations. As a last resort, there is also child care in hospitals, shelters, etc.

These mothers often have to pick second best child care options for their children because of the cost and availability of these programs. These are usually not the best options for their children because they start and stop abruptly and are not ever in a routine with their child care. These relationships with caregivers often start out very informally with family members or family friends. They don't have access to the top child care facilities with the best educational programs because of the cost and working mothers are often paying more than they can afford just to put their children in a decent educational setting. They are also often limited by the rules around the subsidies that are offered to them. Often times, the child care offered with subsidies is not somewhere you would like your children to be for a majority of the day.

The stories from "Putting Children First" showed the instability of a child's life because of day care. They are put in a different situation every single week, moving from their older sister's apartment to a shelter for care, to their grandmother's house, etc. Subsidies to these families come and go and they are forced to adjust their child care based on these dynamics.

Blog #5: Identifying the Working Poor

Chaundy argues that we are asking too much from the less fortunate and really not taking any responsibility for the financial hardships that are taking place in their lives. The video that really summed up this argument for me was the video Poverty in America, where it broke down how families of 4 live off of a mere $21,000 every year (the poverty line in America). The expenses of the family of 4 to live in good conditions cost more than what the income is bringing in. After food, shelter (but nothing that would be considered in good condition), health care, child care, etc. there are still so many aspects of life that were not able to be covered by the income -- one of the most important being education. I think that the first responsibility of the public is to recognize that a family of four living off of $21,000 is WAY below what should be the poverty line. Some families of four are not able to live off of double that. I think that a major point for which Chaundy's basis his argument is the fact that if one cannot afford to be educated they will be stuck in a down-hill spiral for life. They will always work low-income jobs and this will then be passed along to their children. The public needs to step in and break these families of this life-threatening cycle, because they will not be able to do it on their own. Expecting these families to work harder to provide the minimum for these families will just add to their problems, including medical problems. The children that are born into these families are already a step behind, and it is up to the community to step in and help these children make a life for themselves so they do not get stuck in the low-income "trap". I think that a lack of self-esteem translates to a lack of motivation to do better for themselves because they are only used to what they have. Offering child care or helping to replace the negative in their life with positive could be very beneficial to helping these young children break the cycle and understand that they can be different if they put their mind to it.

Post #4 -Balancing Work Family and Assignment

A good family life shares a balance between work and family.  Every parent is has the responsibility of contributing to his or her family in one-way or another.  Whether both parents work or the father works and the mother stays at home and takes care of the children, it is still working together and providing for their family.  (Sometimes, the women work and the men stay a home but I think that takes a strong man to do that!) There needs to be time to spend together as a family on top of all the work that has to be done on a daily basis.  Even something as simple as having a family dinner together every night where you can share the experiences of your day can make for a very pleasant family life.  It's all about managing your family and this varies based on your individual family dynamics.  Having a loving relationship with your spouse and your children also contributes to a good family life.  Fighting in front of your children is an easy way to throw off those "good vibes" so parents need to make time for themselves as well to keep their relationship strong.  A lot of couples focus too much on the "work" part of life that they loose their relationship with each other and that creates a "bad" family life.  Life for kids with two separate sets of parents and stepparents is not always a good thing; although, again depending on the family this could work best.

Balancing your career and family life is extremely important.  Leaving work at work and leaving home at home can help balance these two things.  Many people carry their work problems home which in turn creates family problems, which takes family problems into work and affects your work performance.  Always make time for your family, because in the end they are really all that you have.  You need a strong foundation of support in order to succeed in your career.  However, there are many factors that can make this balance very complicated.  Most adults spend a good majority of their day at work or focusing on work.  Without the skills to "unwind" from a day at work, life can turn into a big "job", making life in general stressful.  For many women, they experience the "second shift" which is working all day and then coming home to their household duties.  With women putting in an extra 12-15 hours a week on house work, their life can quickly become all about work and nothing about enjoying their family.  Money is often a giant stressor in families, especially now, when people are used to living a certain way and then they are forced to either change their lifestyle or pick up a second job.  When money is tight, family life becomes very stressful and you tend to focus all of your thoughts on what you will have to do to make ends meet.  

In the 1940's it was very common for the woman to stay home and work around the house and care for the children.  The men went off to work everyday, came home to a cooked meal and then played with the children while the woman cleaned up the dishes.  Now, with both parents often times working, the household responsibility needs to be shifted over to the males.  This becomes a very complex issue because many women don't want to have to give up the responsibilities and so they work extra hard to make it work.  Family issues also become very complex because you must enter in a third party to help care for your children whether that be a nanny or a child-care provider, which puts a strain on your relationship with your kids because they are being "raised" by another person.  Seeing parents only becomes a nightly routine instead of a way of life.  

It's really important that employers be flexible with families because everyone experiences the same kind of issues.  Families often share the same obligations, the biggest one in my mind is finding child care.  However, child care is extremely expensive so parents have to work harder just to pay the $300+ a week that it costs to have someone else take care of their kids.  Some companies provide childcare at the office so they are actually able to come to work with their mothers for no charge.  Some companies, such as mine, offers tax-free childcare program where you are able to put money that is not taxed into an account just to pay for childcare expenses.  Depending on the varying income tax, this can save parents a lot of money and a lot of stress when trying to provide for their children.  In the last blog, we talked about the Carer's program and this is a great idea because it truly gives the employer flexibility to work full time and take care of their loved one's, whether elders or children, by allowing them to work odd hours or from a home office.

Some families are lucky in the sense that they have their family or neighbors support.  Carpooling with neighbor’s kids to school and back in the morning can cut down on unnecessary stressors related to transportation.  Switching off days to pick up the kids can help families work out some of these issues with neighbors by sharing the load.  Maybe your child can walk to a grandmother's house after school until you are able to pick them up after work, which would cut down on child care expenses, meaning you wouldn't have to work as hard to provide.  Family/Friend support in this area really helps people manage the balance between careers and family life.   It makes it possible to have both! 

Blog #3 - Balancing Home and Work/Public and Private

"Care work" in my family did not occur like a normal family.  My parents both have had very stressful and demanding jobs since before I was born.  I was born into a family that worked all the time and I spent everyday but the weekends with my grandmother while my parents were at work.  I was so accustomed to being with my grandma that when my Dad would come to pick me up, I would cry and say that I didn't want to leave.  However, care work existed in my grandma's household, she did all of the cooking/cleaning/laundry for her husband who was at work all day.  We went grocery shopping almost everyday followed by vacuuming the house so it would be perfect for when Pam-Pops got home from work... All while trying to take care of a baby.  She went from being an "empty nester" having normal stay-at-home wife responsibilities to a stay-at-home mom again.  However, when we moved to Colorado when I was little, we hired a live-in nanny and maid because we had no family around to help take care of the kids.  My parents did not do anything around the house that I can remember, they came home to their house cleaned and dinner on the table every night.   Their kids were bathed and ready for school the next day.  My nanny was really more like a parent to me because she was the one that spent the countless hours with me throughout the day doing the "care work" and the parenting.  It is interesting how I am already experiencing a different situation for me in my adult life than what I grew up with! 

The Juggling Work and Care video that I watched describes a great thing that they are trying to do and it seems to be having a very positive impact on their employees.  Everyday stressors are going to be with you at work, you can't help that, so by having your employer accommodate those situations it makes you much more loyal to your job and it makes you want to work harder for them.  This is the outcome that Centrica has experienced by implementing the Carers program.  This allows mothers to work from home with small children, or son's to work odd hours to take care of his elder mother in the nursing home.  It really is a great program.  They encourage employees to talk about their problems with one another so people are more supportive when a situation arises, and they focus on teamwork so they can keep productivity up while being flexibility with their employees.  

Blog #2 - Major Concepts & Theories on Gender Inequality and Assignment

"Sex segregation" in the workplace means that women and men have very different expectations and it is not socially acceptable (or wasn't) to cross those boundaries.  I took another class over the summer similar to this one in which we discussed women in education and how this really affected the fields that women enter into.  I think this has a lot to do with the sex segregation at ASU.  There are a very small number of Professors that are women in the physical sciences and engineering fields.  This is because of the lack of women in the educational courses, as well as discouragement from social boundaries to enter these fields.  Women are not educated in these errors and continue to get degrees in other areas so males will consistently dominate the field. 

At home, gender roles play a major part of our life.  I go to work full time, just like my boyfriend, but it always seems that my work is not as tiring or difficult as his.  After the power battle, I end up doing the laundry and cleaning, while cooking dinner and doing my homework and he can "relax" and mentally prepare for his next day of work.  When is my relaxing supposed to happen? When I'm knee deep in my last semester of college textbooks? Although I make more money than he does and he benefits from this, it kills him inside that he is not the "head of the household" on his tax forms. 

At work, I am in a very female dominated field (Property Management) but am surrounded by males in the construction and acquisitions sector of my company.  There are currently no women that work in either of these fields.  Women are shifted automatically into the Property Management side of the business.  I'm sure that this is not a coincidence that only males are interested in construction and women are only interested in Management... however, personally I don't complain because I love my job.  In my office there are females and one male, until you get to the maintenance team, which consist of 4 male technicians and one female HOUSEKEEPER.   

I am happy to say that I don't face very much sex segregation at school because my degree is pretty even as far as male and female participation.   I haven't experienced anything that has been uncomfortable for me because I was a female, besides learning about the injustice that is occurring around us everyday between males and females.  

After listening to "Moms become Breadwinners As Job Losses Hit Men", I believe that the gender gap still occurs because the women are not ready to give up their responsibilities as a housewife, but still having to support their family.  14% of full-time working mothers have to take on a second job, and then return home to finish their "second shift" at home by cooking dinner and cleaning up after their children.  This is really affecting women because they don't have as much time for their children as they used to.  4 out of 5 of the job cuts have been men because men dominate the fields that need to cut labor (construction, car companies, etc.)  On a positive note, 75% of the health care industry is women and the industry is booming in this economy.  However with the women still making less than men (77 cents to every dollar), they have to work harder than ever before.