Community Blog 1- Pink Collar Jobs
Women have faced obstacles when trying to enter the workforce for hundreds of years. But during World War II, as men went off to fight overseas, women were encouraged and welcomed into the workplace. When the soldiers came home, women were once again limited within their job opportunities, settling in fields we now know as “pink collar” jobs. Similar to the terms “white” and “blue collar” jobs, “pink collar” jobs refer to jobs where women dominate employment, like nursing, assisting, cleaning, or communications, such as a secretary. The issue lies in the stigma surrounding “pink collar” jobs. These jobs are often looked down upon, seen as easy work, underpaid, or offer no opportunities for advancements or benefits. They have to do with caring for others, either in health care, service, or childcare. Our society has undoubted improved its treatment towards working women, but there are still misogyny’s footprints everywhere. Women no longer have to stay at home and raise children, yet over 75% of k-12 teachers are women, and for pre-kindergarten childcare, the percentage is even higher. Stigmas surrounding women-dominated fields harm young people’s mindsets whilst entering such fields, and even persuade many not to apply. “Pink collar” jobs are not exclusive to women, and, just like misogyny, society’s treatment of these jobs harm everyone, not only women.
I identify with the college-aged female community, so society’s lasting misogynistic tone towards women-dominated fields directly affects me as I am planning out my path after college. I have worked part time jobs for many years, all of which have been within this “pink collar” category. However, even I have been guilty of the thought “I could never be a secretary,” as I let my pride and internal misogyny cloud my judgement. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a secretary, but since it has been female dominated for years, it has a frivolous reputation that I hold myself above. Women who do chose these careers face this type of judgement often, as the profession is seen as unmasculine, so therefore, less than. Men do not want to feel emasculated by working these jobs, but also women do not want to face the discrimination that come in a male-dominated field. Young women today are at a crossroads between wanting to be taken seriously as a professional and wanting to pursue a desirable “pink collar” job.
Not everyone views differing standards for these professions as an important issue. After all, these people chose to work in their designated field and go into it with knowledge about what their job would entail. I often hear this argument in regard to discussing raising teachers’ salaries. Many people believe that teachers do not have a difficult job, and since they get summers off, they do not deserve to be paid more. However, one could also argue that there are no other professions we take for as much granted and are so dependent on as a society as teachers, since it directly involves shaping the next generation, and denying teachers a pay raise is really just further denying women’s importance in society and its future. It is also widespread that when one pictures a doctor and a nurse, the doctor is a man and the nurse is a woman. Even though it is 2022 and we know rationally that such is not always the case, it is stereotypes like this that demean women’s importance in saving lives. Also, many people believe that the wage gap exists because women chose lower paying fields. But stopping to consider why that is, one would realize often women do not “chose” these jobs so much as the jobs have been chosen for women, and if its true that women-dominated fields are paid so little that it will drop the national wage gap, maybe we should pay working women more.
While there will never be an overnight cure for misogyny, there are ways we can lessen its influence on working women. A start would be to completely do away with the wage gap between men and women in the same profession. Another would be for society to start respecting “pink collar” jobs more. Studies show that we are moving in the right direction as employees are becoming more diverse across careers, more women are entering male-dominated fields and more men are entering women-dominated fields. We need to eliminate outdated thinking that one’s sex somehow equates to their professionalism.