{"id":1081,"date":"2016-10-17T11:05:46","date_gmt":"2016-10-17T16:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1081"},"modified":"2016-10-17T11:05:46","modified_gmt":"2016-10-17T16:05:46","slug":"women-in-male-dominated-fields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/10\/17\/women-in-male-dominated-fields\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in Male-Dominated Fields"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Women<\/a>
Women in Business at the White House. Photo by BusinessForward, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s no secret that the U.S. lags behind many other countries in terms of the number of women\u00a0in\u00a0politics. In Congress and\u00a0<\/span>state legislatures<\/span><\/a>, women occupy <\/span>less than a quarter<\/span><\/a> of available positions. Hillary Clinton enters this arena, hoping to be the <\/span>first <\/span><\/i>female president in the US (but not first in the world: see Mindy Fried\u2019s \u201c<\/span>Global Women at the Top<\/span><\/a>\u201d). Sexist critiques of Clinton range from criticizing <\/span>her voice<\/span><\/a> for being too loud, too shrill, and too naggy, to anti-Clinton merchandise that reads, \u201cDon\u2019t be a pussy. Vote for Trump,\u201d or \u201cHillary sucks but not as hard as Monica.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

While there is some incentive for women to enter male-dominated fields–the pay and status is often greater–there are also negative consequences. Sexual harassment may function as a form of backlash against powerful women who challenge gender norms by entering male-dominated fields or positions. Many women report sexual harassment at work and female supervisors report especially high levels. These consequences occur on a much broader scale, as well. For instance, when women enter occupational fields traditionally dominated by men in large numbers, the average pay for those jobs decreases over time. To explain this phenomenon, scholars point to society\u2019s devaluing of women\u2019s work more generally. <\/span><\/h5>\n