Gender inequality still an issue for modern workplaces
While editing Jeffrey R. Smith’s article #8284, which looks at a woman’s fascinating 19-year battle for pay equity, I couldn’t help but think of a recent episode of Mad Men.
The AMC series, which has been an Emmy Award magnet since it first aired, gives us a taste of what the working world was like in the 1960s through the eyes of a Madison Avenue advertising agency. I’m told by those in the know the show is a pretty accurate snapshot of typical office behaviour from nearly a half-century ago.
On Sunday nights while watching the show, I often marvel at how far we’ve come in the workplace. But then I read articles like #8284 and have second thoughts.
Ines Sainz might not think we’ve travelled too far down that road. Sainz is the reporter for Mexico’s TV Azteca who was subjected to childish, boorish and sexist behaviour by members of the NFL’s New York Jets last month, including some coaches. While plenty of debate swirled over the appropriateness of what she was wearing, it’s a red herring. No woman should be subject to harassment in the workplace. She was a professional reporter trying to do her job, period.
The owner of the Jets is now footing the bill for training the entire league (32 teams) on proper conduct in the workplace.
But let’s go back to Mad Men. Peggy Olson, one of the show’s main characters, started out as a secretary but fought her way to the position of copy writer, the only woman holding down such a gig at the agency.
She has been subject to all kinds of ridicule and scorn, despite the fact she’s one of the most talented writers on staff. When she points out to Don Draper, her boss, that she’s underpaid compared to her male co-workers and wants a raise, he coldly says, “It’s not going to happen.”
In the Sept. 19 episode, we get a further glimpse into discrimination. One of the firm’s clients, an auto parts store, refuses to hire black workers in the southern United States. While discussing this with a male friend, Peggy likens racial discrimination to the workplace injustices women face. Her friend jokingly refers to a “civil rights march for women.” Infuriated, Peggy storms out.
While it’s pure Hollywood, the comment from Peggy’s friend is insightful. Even in the 1960s, most people realized racial discrimination was inherently wrong. Yet those same people wouldn’t bat an eye at overt gender discrimination.
It’d be nice to think we’d left all that in the past. But, unfortunately, it would also be naïve.
