Entry 1: Topic Selection
I chose to look at how men and women are characterized differently in society. I have seen how gender roles can influence society first-hand through my family. For example, in India, both my uncles are the primary breadwinners of the family while my aunts are traditional housewives. My research question would be: how do gender roles continue to affect the wage gap?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6364132/
I found a research article (linked above) that surveys different men and women and how they characterize both themselves and each other. The study found that men and women both believe that women are less assertive and have worse leadership abilities than men. I think it’s interesting to see how both genders view characterizations of men and women as this helps to further reinforce gender stereotypes.
Entry 2: Women and men in STEM jobs
https://www.wgu.edu/blog/why-are-there-so-few-women-in-stem1907.html#close
The article above looks at why there are so few women in STEM related jobs. STEM jobs are known to be some of the highest paying jobs in the world, yet there is a small amount of women in these jobs. “Historically STEM fields have been dominated by men, which has created a taboo for women scientists and technologists. Women in these fields can be stereotyped and this can cause women to not want to pursue these degrees or occupations”. This is an interesting line from the article that states how history has discouraged women from going into these jobs.
Entry 3: History of women in workplace
The above article shows how women didn’t really start entering the workspace until post World War II as they had become essential parts of the workplace during the war while the men were away. However, before this, women were primarily homemakers and were in charge of taking care of the children and the house while the men made the money. This helped to create the idea of males being primary breadwinners that continues to exist today.
Entry 4: Gender Wage Gap
The above article shows how women make 82 cents for every dollar a man makes. However, some of this is due to motherhood. The study found that mothers with children tend to stay at home more and are less engaged in the workplace. However, it also explains how women’s expectations about their careers may affect occupational choices as they often are overrepresented in low-earning occupations.
Entry 5: Flexible jobs over high-paying jobs
The above article shows how the gender pay gap is caused by women seeking positions that are more flexible and lend them towards more family responsibilities. Due to the history of gender roles, women are still the ones who primarily take care of children which leads them to not seeking jobs that may require more hours and higher pay. In my paper, I can relate all these statistics to Dracula. Although presenting feminist ideas, the novel still plays on the fact that men were more assertive and all had jobs while the women didn’t.
