3.+Gender-work

Gender & the Work Place = =

There are several facet's of the work place that are rarely discussed, one of these major components is gender. Gender believe it or not can have a severe effect on the way daily activities in the work place are handled. In this page we will cover several components of how gender is related to communication in the workplace. *The reactions of others The Spa In this portion I will be analzying my day to day work at "The Spa." I will be discussing the way in which the genders communicate in my workplace at “The Spa”, the way that the management is constructed, and how the body language and clothing influence communication.
 * The components that we will touch on are as follows:**
 * How males & females act around one another
 * Gender and management style
 * The different types of work enviornments
 * How do the different genders communicate in the workplace both verbal and nonverbal?
 * flirting
 * angry
 * jealousy
 * the act of sucking up
 * body language: like tattoos, clothing style, eye contact
 * clothing/uniforms

Gender Communication at "The Spa" 
 * The way gender influences communication at "The Spa" is more than one would guess off the cuff. "The Spa" has a both a huge female presence with an underlying male domination. The main employees of the spa are all female with the exception of two male employees, one heterosexual and one homosexual male.

Steven & Daniel

There are no roles that are typically given to males or females, since the girls at my work all have prescribed jobs with a set of skills that they are waiting to preform for the general public. However there are still the traditional set of male/female stereotypes that seem to come out every once and a while. At the close of the day the front desk is expect to, among other things, carry the water containers to the break room, dump the water and lemons, and clean them for the next day. We are also expected to carry a large sign in from outside that we put out each day. Whenever Daniel is closing, my manager Trisha asks him politely to perform these duties for me, because "those things are too heavy for her to pick up." I don't resent this type of behavior, because it's a remedial task that I don't like to do. However I would be mad if it were something that I like to do.

Even though there are only two males who actually work in "The Spa" all of the upper management at the hotel are males. Whenever they even walk in the doors we, the front desk, are expect to stand up, smile, and great the upper management males. To be truthful I do find this behavior sickening. The general manager likes to fool around with the front desk, which I think is childish and silly. He pokes his head in the front door and leaves and repeats these actions until he's had enough. We are expected to play along. In my opinion I think the general manager should have something better to do than taunt the front desk into staying at attention like toy soldiers. In most of the jobs I have encountered there is always an element of sexual tension between either management and the employees, the employees amongst each other, or amongst the management. Since most of the employees that work at "The Spa" are female this tension has been altogether eliminated, but once upper management walks around the place, these women starved for male contact begin flirting, giggling, fluttering their eyelashes like school girls. I think it's interesting to watch these strong women completely change their behavior once a male enters the picture.**

Management & Gender


 * It has been suggested by Unger that male bosses are seen more favorably than female bosses. I agree with Unger's research in this area. The female bosses at my job are seen as nice for the most part however they are criticized when they exercise their managerial powers. When my bosses Trisha and Caitlin go about their daily duties as manager they are sure to be extremely careful and thorough when it comes to over seeing their staff and their performance. The staff for the most part reacts in the same general manner of annoyance when they are told to do something, and call my managers "bitches" when they are strict.The male managers at the hotel are viewed favorably even though they can be abrasive and make some wrong decisions, since they are not used to dealing with a spa at their hotel. The spa that I work at has only been in operation for two months. However the majority of the existing staff worked at the same location under different management for the past two years.After careful observation I feel that if my managers were men there would be none of this type of behavior. It is also interesting to observe these reactions because in this setting the majority of the employees are females and they have this male stereotypical reaction to female authority. There is also a front desk supervisor who is female and twenty two years old. The majority of the staff doesn't respect this individual and has a serious issue with taking direction from someone so young. I don't think that the staff has a problem receiving instruction from the other young female front desk members. The front desk doesn't have a problem communicating amongst ourselves and with management, only with this individual. It is my assumption that there is simply a conflict of personality with this individual and the majority of the staff. Like you will read in the "Ice Cream Shop" journal, the other underlying factor is that the staff doesn't fully respect someone who isn't their true authoritative boss. Below is a link to Unger's work. **

[|Handbook of the Psychology of Women and Gender By Rhoda K. Unger]  The Influence of Body Language & Clothing on Communication


 * Appearance is an extremely crucial element when working at "The Spa." As an employee you are expected to look your best at all times regardless of other events that may be taking place. The spa director is completely guilty of using her clothing as a status point in our work enviornment. She talks about how she only shops at certain places because of the label associated with that particular item and purchases things to be like other people.



For example: Trisha brought in a fancy water bottle the other day to work. For the past two years the only thing this woman would drink was diet coke. She explained to me that she bought her water from Pottery Barn and was only drinking water to be like everyone else, but I digress.

There is a very strict dress code in place at the spa for the front desk and the rest of the therapists. The uniform for the front desk members is a black wrap shirt, which we all wear, black knee length skirts, and close toed black shoes, heels are suggested. The uniform for the rest of the therapists are black shoes, black pants, and the same wrap top. The only other individuals that are allowed to dress differently are my managers and our hairstylist. The attire that the hairstylist wear is corrdinating pant suits with a matching shirt and tie. My managers on the other hand dress business casual, however for the most part their outfits are hyper feminine along with their hair and makeup. As I observed by collegues I noticed that everyone uses fashion as a means of competing with one another. Each day at work someone has purchased something new to adorn themselves with at work, just to be able to say, "Look what I just bought, isn't it pretty?" While we are at work we are expected to dress and act like a unified group. However there are some elements that are beyond the control of even my managers. Some of the employees who work there, one female imparticular, has tattoos. This individual is expect to cover up the very body that expresses her individuality in the name of conformity.

**


 * Next, I will be discussing the way in which the genders communicate in my workplace at “The Ice Cream Machine”, the way that the management is constructed, and the reactions of customers on the behavior that takes place by the employees. **

=Gender & Communication  = = =
 * <span style="display: block; font-size: 121%; color: rgb(0,101,255); font-family: Georgia,serif; background-color: rgb(255,255,255); text-align: left;">In the small ice cream shop I work at, each gender has very specific roles. The males stock the ice cream and supplies needed while the females work at the windows, serving customers. There only some exceptions but those are the standard roles in my workplace. The way the different genders interact in the workplace is very interesting. Since the females outnumber the males, it seems as though the girls are very flirtatious with the guys because there are so few of them working there. The nonverbal cues are playful touching amongst the genders and eye contact. There is certainly verbal drama between females because some are more outspoken than others. A couple of the female workers are not afraid to express their anger if they disagree with how something is being done. The males are pretty laid back and are very comedic, which seems to relieve the tension between the females. I am nice to everyone and work productively because I like to avoid conflict. The closeness in age of the employees definitely impacts the relationships we form with one another. **<span style="font-size: 17pt; color: rgb(0,112,192); line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">



<span style="display: block; font-size: 160%; color: rgb(0,0,0); font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Gender & Management <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(224,46,97); line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif';"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 110%; color: rgb(0,101,255); font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size: 160%; color: rgb(0,0,0); font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">Reactions to Gender <span style="font-size: 110%; color: rgb(0,101,255); font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 121%; color: rgb(0,101,255); font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: blue; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Lucida Sans','sans-serif';">Although all of us are very friendly to our customers, I feel like sometimes they would get annoyed of how much fooling around is going on in the shop. I also feel as though I subconsciously judge customers before taking their order. A lot of motorcyclists stop by to get ice cream and many have tattoos and leather jackets and I am instantly intimidated. However, it usually turns out that they are nicer than a lot of other customers I’ve had. I like to think that I am pretty personable with my customers and always give great eye contact and smile. Most customers are friendly back but there are always people that will not even make eye contact with me and will not say “thank you”. I have learned that it does not matter what gender the customer is because I get a pretty equal amount of friendly men and women. **
 * When it comes to management, my bosses are a couple who own the ice cream shop. When they are not around, they put some of the employees in charge but it seems as though people do not take them as seriously as they would our real boss. The closeness in age also makes it hard because not all of the employees think it is fair that they have to listen to someone a year older than they are. My female boss is much more lenient than my male boss. She never raises her voice and she is not strict, which is not always a good thing because people tend to slack off. Her husband constantly makes sure that we are working hard and keeping busy. I don’t think my workplace has sufficient management because the employees take advantage of the laid back personality of my female boss and are not productive.** <span style="display: block; font-size: 160%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; text-align: left;">


 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0,176,80); line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">In this past week, I have tried to change my behavior towards customers and see what differences occur. I am usually very nice to all of my customers but I have found that that will not always get me a tip in the end. I have also found that even if I am not as friendly to some customers, they will leave me a tip anyways and vice versa. I do not think my behavior impacts other people as much as I thought it did because the people who do not want to tip me will not tip me even if I am extremely friendly to them. I know this may sound odd, but I guarantee it is true at my workplace. I think that receiving tips and getting friendly reactions from customers depends more on their own personality rather than my personality. I also do not believe that gender makes that much of a difference to customers. The one obvious difference is that when I serve males my age, they may be more opt to leave me a tip than older men. Other than that, I receive very mixed actions by customers. Like I said, it depends more on their personality than on their gender. **


 * Analysis of Gender Roles in the workplace: **

According to our text book, “Readings in Gender Communication”, there are definitely more serious issues that arise between men and women in the workplace, such as sexual harassment. Frances J. Ranney gives an example of how a male boss would say degrading things to a woman employee such as “you’re a woman, what do you know?” (p. 269). This shows that in some places, men still believe they are smarter than women and take total advantage of it. There are certainly times in our own workplaces where the males might feel like they have the upper hand in situations. For example, in our workplaces, we have described how there are pretty stereo-typical roles that the males and females have. I can relate to Nichole’s experiences at “The Spa” and how males always take charge and say they can take care of the heavy items to carry and kind of push the females aside. ** ** In conclusion, Ranney offers ways in which to avoid gender conflicts. He says that organizations should not just hire women in order to show that they are not gender biased and exclude women but they should actually take the time to give women a chance. Managers should look at the work ethic of women and hire them based on their intelligence and what they could bring to a business. (275) **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msothemecolor: text1; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msotabcount: 1;">
 * When it comes to gender communication in the workplace, males and females will not always see eye-to-eye on issues. Although there may not be as many problems in places we work at in our 20’s, as we grow older there may be certain times where males and females do not agree on something. According to an article, it is said that “women tend to see gestures of help with tasks as a gesture of assistance and support” while “men may view this is a gesture of insult to his competency” (“Gender and Communication). Men and women simply communicate in different ways that may lead to some disagreement in the workplace.  **

References

4 Unger, Rhoda. __The Handbook of the Psycology of Women and Gender__. New York, NY: Wiley, 2004. 5.<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> Dobkins, B.. "Gender and Communication." //SocyBerty//. 22 Mar 2009. Stanza Ltd.. 16 Jul 2009 <http://www.socyberty.com/Social-Sciences/Gender-and-Communication.606633>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">
 * 1.** Backlund, Phillip M., and Mary Rose Williams. __Readings in Gender Communication (with InfoTrac )__. “Excluding Genders: A Case Study in Organizational Conflict” Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2003.
 * 2.** Backlund, Phillip M., and Mary Rose Williams. __Readings in Gender Communication (with InfoTrac )__. “Nonverbal Communication: Your appearance, traditional stereotypes: A fashion alert!” Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2003.
 * 3.** Backlund, Phillip M., and Mary Rose Williams. __Readings in Gender Communication (with InfoTrac )__. “Assigning Responsibility for Work Place Behavior: Sexual Harassment as a Form of Organizational Communication” Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2003.