Women between a glass ceiling and a glass floor
Gender equality will come closer when we dare to admit that it is still far away
|
|
|
By Annamari Sipilä
The green shoes of doctor-feminist-sexologist Shere Hite have heels that are at least ten centimetres high.
Hite slips on the floor, teeters, and almost falls on her back. She regains her balance at the last moment.
"It sure is slippery", she says, not the least bit embarrassed.
Hite's slip could not have occurred at a more opportune moment.
It is the eve of International Women's Day, and we have gathered at a London press centre to await the start of a panel discussion related to the day's theme.
To put it bluntly, Hite's role is an analysis on slipping on floors.
The view of American-born Hite is that there is not much to celebrate in the International Women's Day.
Gender equality is not progressing, but rather regressing. Family values have become a new mantra that is being used to surreptitiously lure women back to their homes.
"What shines through in the speeches of politicians is that the best woman is a woman who is married and a full-time mother", Hite observes.
So what does this have to do with a slippery floor? Let us start with the ceiling.
We are all aware of the term "glass ceiling". A glass ceiling is the invisible and mostly inexplicable barrier that puts an end to the progress of women's careers in the corporate sector.
The glass ceiling is the reason why only few women become executives in large corporations. Invisible barriers, attitudes, and prejudice are also behind the fact that many women still receive less pay than men for doing the same job.
So the glass ceiling prevents moving upward. The sister concept of the glass ceiling – the glass floor – hinders movement already at the basic level.
A woman who slips and slides on a glass floor does not even want to be a top manager on the other side of the glass ceiling. For her it is enough to fit together a regular job and a regular family.
But it is not easy to fulfil even this simple goal.
The possibility of a pregnancy, a culture of short-term job contracts, pregnancy itself, dividing child-care tasks, dividing home work, labour markets that are divided based on gender, care for the elderly. . . No wonder a foot can slip on a glass floor.
Many matters are left as the burden of ordinary women in practical working and family life. No matter how gender-neutral - or even favourable towards women - the legislation may be in Western countries.
Hite does not use the term glass floor, and it has not become an established expression to date.
However, the problems created by the glass floor are clearly visible in recent studies and surveys.
A broad-based survey on the attitudes of young women conducted by the British magazine New Woman has attracted plenty of attention in the UK this week.
According to the survey, only one in ten British women want to return to a full-time job after having a baby. The majority of the 1,500 respondents held an extremely traditional view of family life. Many felt that the man has the principal responsibility for providing for the family, and only one percent of the women said that a career would be their number-one priority after having a child.
As many as 70 percent of the women stated that they have lost faith in the dream of their mothers' generation, or that it would be possible to achieve everything: a family, a career, and a personally satisfying life.
Of course, the situation in the UK is more dramatic than what gives in Nordic countries.
British regulations on the rights of mothers and fathers to stay home caring for small children are not up to Nordic standards.
The British Union of Shop, Distributive, and Allied Workers reported this week that over half of its members could not utilise their entire legally-mandated maternity leave. The reason was that remaining at home was simply not possible financially.
But there are glass floors in Finland as well.
While they are students, girls still believe that is it perfectly possible to combine a family and work, as they will have a modern man who has understood the concept of equality standing at their sides.
However, this equation does not function very often in practice, no matter how good the intentions. Families cut back first on the working hours and free time of women.
Of course there is no simple solution to the issue. Even speaking of a problem can evoke aggression.
Men become angry when they fear being blamed. Stay-at-home mothers become angry when they fear that people will question their choice. Those balancing a family and a career become angry when they fear that they take care of both of their duties poorly. Career women become angry when they fear that they will once again be branded as selfish.
The requirements of gender equality do not include everyone making the same choices. But if the consequences of choices in life are strongly dependent on gender, it is a sign of inequality.
Gender equality will come closer if we dare to admit that equality has not yet been achieved.
Researcher Shere Hite speaks of double standards. What is allowed for men is not necessarily allowed for women.
Hite claims that dividing women into madonnas and whores has once again become more common of late. The modern terms for this bipartite division are stay-at-home mum and sex-crazed, career-minded single.
The truth has more sides to it. People are individuals who want to make their own choices.
The freedom to choose is limited if you need to constantly hit your head on a glass ceiling or slide on a glass floor.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 13.3.2005
ANNAMARI SIPILÄ / Helsingin Sanomat
annamari.sipila@hs.fi
