There have been many efforts over the years in different countries to get equal rights for women and men. Girls have not only met the amount of boys getting an education, but now they have overtaken the amount of boys getting an education in Germany (Women and Men in Working Life). Hearing this is great because I remember learning in other history classes that women were refrained from going to get an education at all. I believe this is great progress towards many things. With more women getting an education and starting their careers, they still only work part-time compared to men who usually work full-time (Women and Men in Working Life). Still some of the wages are not very fair when it comes to men and women. Women who work full-time get 77% of what men doing the same job are getting, and the top earners are only getting 73% of what the men get (Women and Men in Working Life). Now this I do not believe is very fair. These people are working the same job doing the same exact thing but the women are getting paid less than the men. It is almost sexist. Most fathers would like to spend time with their children as well as mothers, about 80% of fathers say they want to have more time with their children (Women and Men in Working Life). It was mainly women who took parental leave to watch after their children, although fathers recently put their job on hold to watch their children has risen about 16% (Women and Men in Working Life). I believe this is good because children need to be able to spend time with their mom and dad everyday, not just one or the other. Another thing I find interesting is that women are more established in politics than business then men are (Women and Men in Working Life). This is something I would not expect because learning about politics in the US usually you see more men than women.
For Germany being the country to define the feminist movement and have the first women chancellor, you don’t see very many women in professional businesses (Women in the German Workplace). I believe that there should be more opportunities for women to work in business like men do because they are just as good as men. A good question I have is why are women getting an education but then not using it when they finish school? Apparently 60% of women work outside of home but 30% of that number work professional jobs and two-thirds work full time (Women in the German Workplace). If women are working so hard to get an education they should work hard to maintain their status and continue on to do more in the workplace. Currently men make up most of the workers in professional full-time jobs. Walk into a professional workplace and look around to see only suits and ties (Women in the Germany Workplace). Although, there are some cultural traditions and social legislations where women are suggested to choose alternative jobs than professional careers (Women in the German Workplace). I understand if there are certain traditions and culture that women want to live by if they were raised that way. Although I still believe they should give it a chance and step out of their comfort zone.
Some of the traditions that women like to listen to are that many years ago women followed the 3 K’s rule, which was Kinder, Kuche, and Kirche (which meant Children, Kitchen, Church) (Women in the German Workplace). The first two are still considered very important in Germany and it is still believed that women should not try to manage both (Women in the German Workplace). I agree with this statement if the women have younger children who need attention most of the time, but they should also be able to live their own life and work if they would like to. Every woman should be given an equal opportunity to do whatever she wants to do with her life. If women try to handle both raising children and working for a job she will be faced with criticism by family, friends, and colleagues (Women in the German Workplace). This statement is not fair to women because if she wants to try and handle a job as well as raising her children she should not be held back by what people will think of her.
There wasn’t much information about the roles of men and women who are of different races in Germany, but there was some information about the roles of different races in Germany. The jobs that immigrants took were as unskilled laborers and they were usually required to do simple activities (Immigration and Integration). Since the immigrants weren’t educated and didn’t have much experience they would take whatever job they could in order to make a better life for themselves and their families. Most immigrant families had trouble improving their economic status or climbing up higher on the social status (Immigration and Integration). Some steps are being made to improve their language skills, education, and incorporation in the labor market (Immigration and Integration). I think that if those things were improved then it would make it so much easier to find more advanced jobs for immigrants in Germany. If the education and language was improved maybe they could even start working for professional companies as long as they fulfill specific requirements that they need.
Some things have changed over time whereas some things have still stayed the same. I think it is good that more women are going to school and getting an education, although I do think they should try to put themselves out there and get a professional job. I like how the roles are reversing a little bit by the father’s wanting to spend a little more time at home, and the mother’s are wanting to get out more. These are all good examples of how society is changing and gradually evolving over time. Who knows what could happen 50 or 100 years from now, maybe there will be even more change to come.
References:
Immigration and Integration. (2015, July 17). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/society/main-content-08/immigration-and-integration.html.
Women and Men in Working Life. (2015, July 17). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/society/main-content-08/women-and-men-in-working-life.html.
Women in the German Workplace. (2015, January 10). Retrieved July 17, 2015, from http://www.german-business-etiquette.com/34-women-in-the-german-workplace.htm.