Culture plays an imperative role in the allocation of roles on the basis of gender. The concept of gender is a construct of society. Gender has been used to categorize men and women based on the roles that are considered to be appropriate and desirable for them. In the military environment, gender inequality is still a major challenge. Women are still perceived to be tender, less aggressive, kind, and more sensitive to pain. On the contrary, men are considered to be very hardy, aggressive, more effective, and having strong leadership styles. Such perceptions about men and women in the military explain the perpetuation of gender inequality when it comes to the allocation of duties. Social constructs affect the interaction between men and women as well as the ability to bridge the economic gap. Despite the efforts such as the affirmative action, prejudice on the basis of gender still exists in most professions. Women are still perceived to be inferior to men. As a result, men to be more economically empowered as compared to their male counterparts. The following discussion will demonstrate how gender, religion, and race affected me in my previous work environment.
From 1986 to 1996 I had an opportunity to work in the U.S Army Specialist. As a female who had been brought up in the society that perceived the military work to be a confine of men, I considered myself to be very lucky. I thought that I had managed to transcend the societal beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions about gender roles. I came from a very humble beginning. My family was very religious and we went attended the church more frequently. The church reinforced the beliefs men were superior to women on many fronts. One of it was the belief that men were better at leadership roles. I saw a church that was dominated by men. The religion also perpetuated the notion that men were family heads and providers, while expecting women to be submissive. The perception of people on submissiveness was that women had to serve their husbands as if they were masters and not equal partners in a relationship. As such, I also grew thinking that men are in most ways superior to women.
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Despite the social constructs about gender roles, I refused to accept the thinking that as a woman, I could not join the military. As a young girl, I liked to work in the military. My motivation did not come from the community in which I lived, but it was internal. I also watched a few movies where military women were main actors. I adored them. I wanted to be like them.
At the U.S Army Specialist, I was respected by both men and women as a partner. The U.S Army Specialist was composed of men and women from different races and ethnicity. However, I noticed that the whites were more than the people of color. The whites also occupied more of the top leadership positions and administrative posts. Knowledge and experience had nothing to do with the kind of inequality on the work environment. As I continued to interact with my colleagues, especially those who had been there for a couple of years, I noticed that what I observed had become a tradition. With time, I realized that there were racial constructs that maintained the status quo.
One of the common belief was that the whites made the best leaders. They were perceived to be trustworthy, organized, disciplined, focused, and more effective in their work compared to the people of color. Such a belief did not go well with some workers who felt the need for equality in the distribution of leadership positions. Racism has been a common social phenomenon in the United States. For decades, people of color, especially the African Americans have been considered to be inferior to the whites. However, that is just a perception that is constructed and reinforced by the society. I found race and religion to be two major forces that affected what people considered to be the truth. When certain people want to dominate over others, they begin by labeling those considered out-group. The labeling is meant to create a distinction between the in-group and the out-group. The perceived differences among difference races are as a result of labeling and prejudice. What makes me think that such labeling and stereotyping have no truth in them, was how I found the people of color to be efficient and effective in what they did. The few who had been given leadership positions executed their mandates excellently.
Another social construct that I observed at the work environment was the gender inequality. To begin with, there were very few women working in the U.S Army Specialists. Their number could not be compared to that of the women. The low number of women was attributed to a number of reasons. Firstly, during the recruitment process, fewer women than men were given the opportunity to join. As a result, the number of men continued to soar. Secondly, I noticed that women had few duties and responsibilities because of the social constructs about gender. As mentioned before, there is a tendency for women to be perceived as being less aggressive and more sensitive to harsh environments than the men. Therefore, more women are more likely to work as administrators, in communication, and in departments that don’t expose them to much stress. I noted that the men manned the gates and were more likely to be deployed during peace keeping missions or in combat.
During my 10 years of service, I noticed that most men respect me not because of the value I added to the institution, but because I was a woman. Male friends could even offer to assist me in certain duties because they thought I could not handle pressure. I did not blame them. I learnt that some behaviors are not intentional and people act unconsciously. The social constructs make people belief that what appears in their society is the reality. For instance, it is very difficult to convince some men that there is no different (apart from physical strength) between them and women. The process of socialization plays an imperative role in reinforcing gender roles and beliefs. As children grow, there is the tendency to allocate different roles on gender basis. Therefore, it is difficult to change the perception of gender of such people when they become adults.
In conclusion, social constructs on gender, religion, and race determine how people behave and perceive each other in the society. Social constructs are considered to be the reality, making it difficult to change people’s perceptions. There is a need to foster gender equality in the work place, especially in the military. Issues of stereotyping and discrimination based on race also need to be addressed.
References
Milionis, J. (2014). Sociology , 14th ed. Pearson.
