Abstract
This paper discusses gender inequality and highlights a landmark paper entitled "Five Feminist Myths of Women's Employment" by Catherine Hakim, which focusses on feminism in Canada.

Outline:
Introduction
Rising Female Employment and Work Dedication?
Poor Quality Jobs and Sexism?
Implications
Last Remarks

From the Paper
"Hakim spent a decade in labour research for the British public service after completing her PhD. Then she returned to academic life. Her exposure to large surveys and studies of labour trends had shown her something other than what feminists continued to teach in universities, in terms of rising numbers of women making their contribution to a work force that should be, and would one day be of 50-50 male-female composition. Feminists resent what they see as sexist stereotypes of women as less committed to their careers than men. Hakim found that fewer women were strongly dedicated to working life, in the way that more men were, and significantly, they chose another kind of lifestyle, their home and family lives important, too, many of them not interested in high career achievement, not driven by dreams of upward mobility, high incomes or status. (2000) This is interesting to compare with work focused on women victimized by gender, class or other social forces. (See Siltanen:2004) For instance, lack of affordable child care is seen to block women's efforts to advance, over and over, in Canadian sociology addressing women and labour. One also notices in Canada a tendency to measure women's fortunes, or the fortunes of the feminist movement in terms of women's earning levels.
"A late 1990s Canadian Council on Social Development report is totally geared to whether or not women were catching up in the 'earnings race'. (Scott & Lochhead:1997) This began to seem a curious focus, given the very trying and unpredictable 1990s employment market, that has made many Canadians grateful to be employed, able to pay their expenses and enjoy good health, a set of factors shaping a new Canadian culture that is nowhere in statistical assessments and a strong idea of what "should" be happening. Hakim found that many more European women who could afford childcare because they had professions or high enough wages did not want to work part-time to earn more, preferring their family lives ahead of career life. Hakim is well aware of women prevented from taking employment due to childcare costs but they saw this as temporary, being able to raise one's own children for a few years one of the benefits of the lives they chose. Women did not feel driven to make some sort of feminist, careerist example as academic feminists asserted that they wanted to make. In Canada, a national childcare system is seen as essential if single mothers are to become financially secure. (Davies Et Al:2001)"

Tags:sociologist, career, family, stereotypes

Abstract
This paper discusses the LSE's Catherine Hakim, a feminist scholar of work and equity, to discover that European women were not keen on all that the sociology of gender and work, and the feminist movement continued to argue. References are made to the Canadian context starting from papers contained in Curtis et al(2004)Social Inequality in Canada. Hakim's work gives a new spin to statistics on women's incomes and achievements owing to her discovery that only one third of european women Wanted dedicated careers, more choosing to live simply, balance some sort of job and family.

From the Paper
"Women's work and advancement can seem a kind of `religion' of gender inequality although Western societies are no longer surprised by women in the professions and in every other way working on the same footing as men. Women that have not achieved in this way are said to be victims of sexism or patriarchy or gender discrimination, or childcare burdens, or other parts of an unfair and pathetic women's reality that prevents their onward and upward careers. In contrast, Catherine Hakim, a professor of sociology in the London School of Economics, has explained that what feminists tend ..."

Tags:gender, role, discrimination, equality, advancement

Abstract
This paper will argue that Canadian attitudes towards Asian migrants is subtly (and sometimes, not so subtly) racist with respect to their contribution to this country. Although Chinese workers have literally helped build this nation from the time of its foundation, they have never received credit for this. In particular, an anti-racist feminist analysis will reveal how the lives and work of women of Asian descent in Canada has been defined for generations by a complex intertwining of racist and sexist stereotypes.

Abstract
This paper introduces, discuss and analyzes the topic of Greek mythology. Specifically, it contains an analysis of the role of women in Greek life as depicted in literature. It discusses how women underwent a tremendous change between the time of Homer and that of Aristophanes four hundred years later, as five different plays clearly illustrate. Early Greek women were one-dimensional and needy, while four hundred years later they were feminists complaining about their sex lives.

From the Paper
"Women in Greek life are portrayed in a wide variety of ways, and they did indeed change between Homer's type and Aristophanes' time. Homer often portrays women as scheming to keep men from performing their duty, such as how Calypso holds Ulysses on her island in "The Odyssey," attempting to keep her with him rather than allow him to return to his home and family. "This daughter of Atlas has got hold of poor unhappy Ulysses, and keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to make him forget his home, so that he is tired of life, and thinks of nothing but how he may once more see the smoke of his own chimneys" (Odyssey, Book I). In the Iliad, Homer continues to portray women as one-dimensional beings without feelings when he has Chryseis, the daughter of Chryses given as a war prize to Agamemnon as his share of the looting and subsequently ransomed by her father."

Tags:homer, Ulysses, Medea, Lysistrata

Abstract
Acknowledging that there are a variety of legitimate positions on this issue, this essay will nonetheless argue - as per Will Kymlicka - that while multiculturalism is, by definition, inclusive, it cannot and must not accept discrimination and oppression within itself. Of course, it must be admitted that there is no society in the world that is free from discrimination. However, as will be demonstrated with particular reference to the rights of women, to accept any form of oppression within a multicultural society is to invite a fatal virus into the body politic. However, it will also be argued that this absolute response can only legitimately be maintained within the boundaries of Western societies. To extend this rule on a global level represents a form of cultural imperialism that may, in fact, do more harm than good.

Abstract
Although many things have changed for women in the last century, the full equality between the genders has not been achieved. This paper l argues that this is because women are still paid less then men for corresponding jobs, that they are underrepresented in certain professions and in more prestigious positions with power, and that they often do the 'second shift' of housework which is undervalued. The paper looks at how women still form the major part of part-time and temporary workforce, and women and men are occupationally segregated, with women concentrated in jobs stereotyped as "women's jobs" (nursing, clerical child care, retail). The paper also examines how women are poorly presented in science, computer science and engineering occupations, which are often very prestigious and well paid and how this job inequality is rooted in the broader social inequality, which separates boys and girls from an early age, and which still sharply defines male and female roles with the family and society at large.

From the Paper
"One of the biggest indicators of the lack of equality between men and women is the fact that women are still paid less then men for corresponding jobs. Women earn about 30% less than men do in corresponding full time jobs (Nelson, 2006). The figures are similar according to Statistics Canada (2000) "Women generally have lower incomes than men. In 1997, the average annual pretax income for women aged 15 and over from all sources was $19,800, just 62% the figure for men". On the other hand, Davies et al (1996) show that the wage gaps are smaller among younger age groups, nevertheless, "Women earn between 62% and 65% of what men earn" (Wilson, 2005) and "the gender wage gap is widespread and exists in all occupational categories" (Nelson, 2006)."

Tags:male, female, workforce, jobs, salary

Abstract
This paper examines the role of Puritan women in their homes and the larger community. The writer details the responsibilities of a Puritan woman, describing her household and child-rearing tasks as well as her charitable works. A brief description of their religious outlook and witchcraft is also presented. The author contends that Puritan women saw a life of toil as a religious obligation.

From the Paper
"According to Christine Leigh Heyrman, Puritan women, beginning in the early to mid 1600's in Pre-Colonial America, played numerous major roles in regard to work and religion and were quite knowledgeable on a wide variety of topics, especially those related to child-rearing, household duties and serving the Church. Yet despite being "subordinate to their husbands" at both home and church, "Puritan 'goodwives' played an important part in the economies of their households and husbands entrusted them with a wide range of practical responsibilities" ("Religion, Women and the Family," Internet), including maintaining the needs of the household and actively performing in church functions while leading a "Puritan" lifestyle based on religious purity, chastity and devotion to one's family, husband, children and fellow men and women and their communities."

Tags:pre-colonial, America, family-life, Protestantism

Abstract
This paper examines the challenges faced by women when they belong to a trade union. Specifically, it focuses on the barriers to becoming active members in their unions that women face. Additionally, it considers how women's working- time is divided between home and work.

From the Paper
"Unions were established by workers for the protection of workers. Over the years, this aspect of organized labour has enabled workers to improve their conditions in many ways. However, for women, belonging to a union can pose special challenges. Women face specific barriers to becoming active members in their unions - such as the fact that their working time is divided between home and work. This essay discusses these barriers, as well as the strategies and methods women have used to overcome these barriers, to press for change in the union movement, to raise issues of concern to women, and to obtain more equal representation. It will also..."

Tags:trade, union, women

Abstract
This paper explains that, in "Professions of Women", Virginia Woolf contended that in the future barriers to professional women and careers would be eliminated. The author reviews current views of Woolf's argument.

From the Paper
"In "Professions of Women", Virginia Woolf told a group of women that her own profession as a writer offered fewer experiences for women than any other. Woolf felt that she did not deserve to be called a professional woman."

Tags:women, gender, Virginia Woolf