Humanism

Discrimination against women has been rampant and much of it being experienced at the societal level. The social discrimination is majorly based on the economic status, height, age and the level of education which are the most valued standards of the current society. In most communities, discrimination was much felt when girls were forced into early marriages which became an obstacle towards their progress in education and other aspects of life. Similarly, in the film “Bread and Rose”, similar experiences were undergone and women of those days rose to fights against social discrimination. Among the content of the bread and roses’ slogan, struggles that women faced have been highlighted (Kenloachfilms, 2012). On this basis, this paper will describe the concept of gender discrimination against women and how social policies have influenced various attitudes towards women and their identity.

To start with, women are usually discriminated at workplaces by denial of fair wages. During the Lawrence strike, women were demonstrating against the way they were treated during the wage payment. They went holding signs which read "We want bread, but we want roses, too!" (Bittinger, 2012). On this complain, the attitude of the community regarded them as weak and as people who did not deserve equal treatment as that of men. The society in today’s generation is also subject to these perceptions that women are inferior. The social policy during the Lawrence strike was an increment of salaries to a level that promotes fairness. This was a remarkable strike that came to prove that women have every potential to work and deserve fair treatment in the workplaces (Kenloachfilms, 2012).  

The other evidence that women discrimination exists is the lack of dignity and respect. The society has been holding the attitude that women are inferior and had no right to complain or question. Their tasks were therefore considered to be domestic oriented and people perceived that white collar jobs were not fit for women (Bittinger, 2012). This is an attitude that was fought against by the introduction of social policy of being respected and treated with dignity. The Lawrence strike made a difference towards the attitude of the society as per how they perceived and treated women. In addition, the strike proved wrong the owners of the mill who believed that women could not unite due to their cultural and ethnicity background by organizing and successfully conducting the strike (Bittinger, 2012).

Lastly, unequal gender representation in the work place has for decades seen as substantial evidence that women are discriminated. This affects the hiring and firing as well as promotions. It is a common trend that managers recruit workers on the basis of gender rather than qualifications. This has significant worsened the attitude of the society that women are people of low social class. In the Lawrence strike, the struggle of bridging the marginal economic advances was a policy that would raise the social status of women. This is a subtle policy that tries to free women from the bondage of low social class. The social attitude of inferiority in women in terms of social class generally changed the attitude. “Social policies to be pursued must seek to enable them to live an independent life…” (Beleza, 2003).  This is a substantial statement that would enable women to be self dependent as the author states.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Top of Form

Bittinger, C. D. (2012). Vermont women, Native Americans & African Americans: Out of the shadows of history. Charleston, SC: History Press.

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Paterson, K. (2006). Bread and roses, too. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Top of Form

Beleza, M. L. (2003). Discrimination against women with disabilities. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publ.

Kenloachfilms, (2012) Bread and Roses- Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrDpd4sCswY