I am currently a college senior, preparing myself for these last few weeks of school before the “real world,” and I can’t help but consider feminism as I embark on the hunt for a career. It seems to me, that lately the only jobs I feel super qualified for, are the assistant positions. While it’s a slightly different world these days, it makes me wonder, if life today is really so different from the Mad Men era of women as secretaries, while the men do the big jobs. I live in close proximity to New York City and want so badly to “do it big” with a dream job fresh out of college. I have worked very hard these last few years to market myself and be a competitive candidate and still, the only positions I think I may have a chance at, seem to be the clerical ones. Now, when considering this alone, it’s not really all that upsetting. When viewing it on a gendered basis, it then becomes an issue.
It’s quite evident the positions are intended for women as qualifications and requirements have been listed as overtly feminine and as they are on the lower end of the totem pole, this is a problem. I don’t mind working my way up the corporate ladder to achieve success in my career, but I do have a problem with the fact that my male competitors don’t have to go through quite so many steps to get to the place they want to be. I don’t think it’s right that I will have to organize lunch dates, be discreet about my executive’s personal life, and make sure I’m dress to the nines, while men my age are cruising past these jobs and snagging the positions I’m perfectly right for. It’s really been upsetting as I see myself falling into the statistics of women’s wage wars and sexism at a premium in today’s corporate world. I feel that we, as women, have worked incredibly hard to assert ourselves as able individuals, and yet we are still dealing with the issues from hundreds of years past. In one of my women’s studies courses this week, we examined European women’s conflicts in the Victorian era/ British Industrial Revolution. Many of the articles we read in our primary source document weren’t so different from my own problems, as they begged for equality in work attire, job selection, and the right to be more than just a body with a uterus. Well, maybe not exactly the last one, but you all see what I mean… through a sexist lens. I know it’s all about finding the “right fit” these days, and pushing hard until we find a good match, but the more applications and cover letters I fill out, the more exhausted and irritated I become. Why do I have to try so much harder, for the same decent jobs? Why must I accept the fact that I will absolutely need options, because there will be positions that will probably not take a woman if a male candidate is available? Why do I feel like I am supposed to accept a lower salary, when I know a man would demand better compensation (and receive it). These questions cannot be answered simply in one day, but I believe they are worth asking, as I firmly maintain women are worthy.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 