Blog #34: Unbending Gender

Joan William’s interview relates a lot to the material we have read in Gender on Trial. Even with the Family and Medical Leave Act there is a lot of discrimination going on that is related to the work/family balancing issue. Joan Williams speaks of women and men who have been penalized for taking care of a sick loved one. There were cases where the employee was assured that everything was fine and that it would all work out. She was assured that her job would still be there when she go back from being with and taking care of her premature daughter. Then out of the blue she finds out that her job has been terminated and her position has been filled. If she wants to come back and work for the company, then she has to apply for another job and take a lower salary. Then, there was the case of the State Trooper who could not get leave approved and had to keep going to work to get his pay check while his wife was struggling at home with the new born baby. Joan Williams also talks about her book Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About It (Oxford University Press, 2000). She describes what she means by the term “unbending” and I am glad they asked that question because I was unsure about what it meant as well. “Unbending” means that after all these years of women swarming the work force and having careers of their own, gender roles and expectations have not changed in the least, but instead there are more traits as to what is acceptable for females and what is acceptable for males.

In Gender on Trial, Holly English (2003) reflects on gender stereotypes that are associated with men and women lawyers which makes it hard to have both families and careers. Both English and Williams talk about the characteristics that males are faced with in the workplace. Men are expected to be the providers of the family. When a man expresses his interest in taking time off or reducing his hours to spend time at home with his family or to take care of the kids so his wife can go to work, he is met with questions of “Why?” and complete puzzlement as to his intentions. No one can seem to understand why a man would like to actually spend time with his family and know his kids. Both English and Williams also talked about how employees were penalized after they returned to work after a leave of absence or paternity/maternity leave. Clients were lost or responsibilities were taken away. Williams had some good ideas about how to make America a more family-work friendly place. She suggested prorating salaries for reduced hours, having more subsidies for childcare, and to have benefits for women who are working full-time in the home to take care and raise their children. Americans’ differentiate between “market work” and “family work”, Williams suggests providing benefits for the “family work” aspect of life as well.