The feminist movement has evolved the role of each gender in society overall. The thinking patterns regarding gender and politics all over the world have continually evolved over time. The feminist theory explains gender as a “socially constructed role,” showing that it is a byproduct of political provisions and hence is acquiescent to any form of communal and political examination. To further explore this mechanism, there is a need to scrutinize this notion as to how or why certain tasks, responsibilities, and privileges are distributed in each culture rationally and not based on differences perceived by each gender. This assignment will, hence, attempt to analyze the equality of both genders over time by reinventing new laws by investigating aspects of femininity and masculinity and the role of diverse social belief systems on the assumption of gender-related progress for each sex (Casey et al., 2008).
The feminist movements have, in fact, led to the formulation of laws promoting equality for not only women but also men. The theory of gender equality has formed better legislation due to feminist movements, which can be further narrowed down to the formulation of better labor laws like the Family and Medical Leave Act, which offered both female and male workers in the United States full protection and rights to pursue any family or medical-related leave (Seward et al., 2002).
Such an act ensures that both genders would be able to get paid paternity/maternity leaves to take care of their family or kids, which was assumed to be a primary responsibility of females, and male members of the society were never accommodated for such vocations by their bosses. The petition for equality has effectively aided the benefit of both sexes by providing 12 weeks of unpaid leave for all U.S. workers (irrespective of gender) for each year to attend to their family members or to take time off work (Seward et al., 2002).
Women are burdened with the task to bear children and give them birth biologically, however, men are thought to have an equal role and bear the penalties of having offspring as well. Hence, an expansion in maternity leave and associated rights impacts their control over their private lives. Anil Dash appreciated this notion by declaring that emancipating each gender eventually liberated the other one as well. He said
“I see as a husband, a father, and a friend to other husbands and fathers who have been in the same situation that we’ve been able to better serve our families and our communities because our wives and partners have had authority over what happens with their bodies. Freeing women to have control frees us men who have built our lives with them.”
28 November 2017 marked a day in the history of Africa when parental leave was approved by the Parliament, which included the intelligence of paternity leave where fathers were entitled to get around two weeks of paid paternity leave from the government of Africa to take care of their family members (Casey et al., 2008).
Whereas in the US, there is no compulsion on the employer to give paid time off to either the mother or father of either an infant or an adopted child federally. Hence, the parents can only do so by taking an unpaid leave of absence grounded on the necessities of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Under the newly formed Family and Medical Leave Act, FMLA extensions have been made to provide equal protection to both mothers and new fathers, where fathers can take around 12 weeks off from their work for the newly born babies. Legislation was formed in the US, where the governing bodies forced employers not only to give the fathers paid leaves but also not to change the terms and conditions of their employment due to their newly formed status of being fathers. Primarily, the FMLA only supported leaves for females by enforcing their rights due to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) (Seward et al., 2002).
According to the terms and conditions of the FMLA, the cons of the law include that the fathers can only get an unpaid vacation without having any adverse conditions to their occupation. However, it still lacks the need for an employer to compensate the fathers with equal salaries as women with maternity leaves for their time off. Another drawback of the law is that the employee needs to be a government officer and must have at least 50 or more employees working with him within a 75-mile radius of where he works. It is also necessary that the father must work for at least one year in the company prior to taking the leave, along with having completed around 1250 Hours during that time span of a year (Casey et al., 2008).
If both father and mother are working under the same company for the same employer, then they are both given a combined amount of 12 weeks off (assuming that both the parents can assume the role of caretakers alternatively by splitting the time of between them). In this case, it is mostly seen that almost all the leaves are taken by the mother, hence giving the father a brief and limited opportunity to spend time with his infant (Casey et al., 2008).
To conclude, I feel that this law, if regulated in a better context, would provide opportunities for both genders to aid their families equally without any discrimination. As society’s perception regarding gender roles continues to evolve with the passing of time, there is an indefinite need to provide equal opportunities to both genders to not only grow and prosper in their workplace but also gain peace and stability in their family and kinship ties.
Works Cited
Seward, Rudy Ray, Dale E. Yeatts, and Lisa K. Zottarelli. “Parental leave and father involvement in child care: Sweden and the United States.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies (2002): 387-399.
Casey, Judi, and Karen Corday. “Parental leave policies in 21 countries: Assessing generosity and gender equality.” (2008).
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