Social Policy Essay: "Sexism in Work and Pay":
The institution of work is the central institution within society. Every person, no matter their gender, needs work to survive in our economically based society. Gender in our society is intertwined with work because the institution of work creates and sustains gender, and more specifically gender inequalities. In 1977, the Canadian government passed a Canadian Human Rights Act that provided the legal foundation for employment equity/affirmative action policies (Nelson & Robinson, 2002, pp237). Essentially, this recommendation protects individual women's rights and promotes employment opportunities and fairness for everyone within the workplace. But are employment opportunities equal to everyone? Do sexism, and pay inequalities still exist in 2002, 25 years after the passage of this act? It is my distinct belief that this act has been ignored within our Canadian society; as a consequence there is still sexism and pay inequality prevalent in today's work institutions. This essay will explore some of the reasons why sexism and pay inequalities still exist within the institution of work, even though there was a Canadian Human Rights Act that was suppose to alleviate sexism in the workplace. Sexism still exists within work for pay because of three problematic areas, which will be critically analyzed in this paper. …
