Describe Gender Roles at Work and in the Home Essay

Males and females have always had different gender roles and these roles have an impact on the workplace and home. However there are also some disadvantages for both of them. This essay will describe gender roles at work and in the home with reference to Japan. Firstly, many women are distressed by the balance between home and work. They face â€Å"role overload† ,which means trying to merge the roles of worker and mother or wife. When both spouses work outside, women tend to do the â€Å"lion’s share† of the housework. For example, an Australian research showed that working women do roughly 70 hours of housework while working husbands only do approximately 31 hours. In Japan many women work fulltime share the housework with their spouse. However there are still some women who work both at home and at the work place and still experience â€Å"role overload. † Secondly, many men also experience challenges with gender roles. While they are less likely to suffer from prejudice, there are more disadvantages than advantages. For example, many men tend to experience stress from the pressure to make money, the situation employment, and social expectations. In Japan, many men experience these problems as well as the responsibility to earn a good salary. However the current financial crisis makes difficult for them to keep their position and workplace. Thirdly, a lot of women are confronted with inequality at work. Nowadays their rights have become much better than in the past and therefore gender equality is guarded in many places by laws. As a result, most women can get higher salaries than before. However inequality at work still remains and even though men and women have the same qualifications or skills, women still earn lower salaries and have lower status. For example, many of their jobs are inferior to men’s jobs and they do not have opportunities to get higher positions because of the â€Å"glass ceiling. † In Japan, women’s rights have improved and many can get higher positions, like cabinet ministers in the Japanese government. However for some women this problem still continues. In conclusion, many workplace rights have become much better than in the past and many women can get good salaries and positions. However both spouses still experience â€Å"role overload† and pressure to earn money. When these problems are dealt with, people’s lives will improve in the future.