Social Issues and the Social Marketer

I was just reading an interesting post about the workplace sometimes being a boys' club where women are not always treated equally and men actually agree that this is the case. I can understand where the misconception that women are inferior to men comes from. The origins of many developed countries come from patriarchal societies. The role of men and women were clearly defined and separate. Back in the days where a woman's mission in life was to be married, they were married off young and were passed from one man (father) to another (husband). The men went to work and the women stayed at home and took care of the home and children.

I can see where this behaviour comes from in older men. It is when this behaviour is apparent in younger men that I really have a problem with because I think, you should know better. We live in a society of equal opportunity where it is not uncommon to see women holding an elevated status to that of their male counterparts. As a result of this, gender roles have merged and I belive it is archaic to still believe in the gender roles of the past.

As women rise the ranks of society, we face a range of issues that generations of women before never had to face; How do we manage the work-life balance? Women are still primary care-givers to children and women still average more hours in a week in terms of household duties compared to men. Men have never had to ask themselves, how will I balance having children and having my career? Because men never had to stay at home to look after the family and the home. Men worked. But now that women are working too, why do we still have to ask ourselves how we are going to balance our lives?

My hope is that as educated, successful women, we will teach our children about equal opportunity and fairness. I hope that we will teach our sons to value the women in their lives and that the real secret to a work-life balance is working as a team and not be bound by gender roles. But sometimes, I look at Gen Y and feel whatever hope that I have just die a little inside.