Gender and Work - Masculine or Feminine Work Essay

Gender and Work - Masculine or Feminine Work - Essay Example Any activity which led to the seeking of subsistence means was covered in the heading of â€Å"work† while all other activities of â€Å"reproduction† and assuring the sustenance of life cycle (nursing) were reduced to â€Å"limitation†. Unfortunately, the later was what women were supposed to do by default and therefore men took the charge of the more proactive role of sustenance of family like tracking and killing animals for food. This natural evolution of role created â€Å"myths of work† for men and women. The simple myth which evolved was that what men do is â€Å"work† while what women does back at home does not fall in the definitions of work or we can say that the distinction was laid down as masculine or feminine work. With the advancement on the course of history the women’s influence in different fields has changed and now women are also out in search of sustenance means for their family, thus blurring the primitive masculine and feminine myth of work. However, the age-old psyche was not that easy to overcome as the women came in the field with the â€Å"the same old myth† attached to her. Resultantly, either woman was given â€Å"inferior jobs† presupposing that the jobs pertaining to men could not be done by them befittingly. Although, the increase of women’s role in the domain of men â€Å"work† and success in that continued the attack on the masculine and feminine myth of work but initiated another dimension in it. More work, with an assumption that women are not able to go through such rigours of intensive work, entered the scene. This ability to work for long hours was equated with success and a general perception was created among people that working long hours is important for career advancement.  This development made both men and women so involved in their jobs and working places that they grade their workplace as â€Å"a place for (their) soul to recreate itself, a place for self-improvement, and a place for spiritual training . . . [the worker] looks for the reason of his being or identity in hard work’ (Schwenkter, 1995).