Pink collar work refers to the jobs that have been traditionally termed as women’s work. This term was used to differentiate blue-collar jobs and white –collar jobs from the female-oriented jobs (Liben et al. 350). Traditionally, most of the pink-collar workers were women and were involved in occupations such as daycare working, babysitting, teaching and nursing. Currently, the pink-collar work has transformed in that; the workers are trained to ensure advancement in their careers and men have also assumed the pink-collar jobs (Glick et al. 560). However, although the men who take the pink-collar jobs have more job security, they are also faced with stigmatisation due to the cultural views of masculinity.
As a male taking up the pink-collar jobs, I would be confident in telling other people what I do for a living. I would definitely be happy for having a job in this population filled by unemployed personnel’s. This is because gone are the days when the pink-collar jobs belonged to women, and the white and blue collar jobs belonged to men. Nowadays, the job roles have been switched with more men taking the female-dominated careers and females taking up the male-dominated careers (Loscocco 162). For instance, most of the lawyers are female while most teachers and nurses are men hence indicating that there has been a transformation in the gender roles.
As a female, if, my partner or a relative did the pink-collar jobs, I would be proud of them due to the fact that they can earn a living and are strong enough to take up the roles which are culturally termed as feminine. Additionally, I would also be proud of them for their ability to overcome the stigmatisation that comes with men assuming the pink-collar jobs.
Work cited
Glick, Peter, Korin Wilk, and Michele Perreault. “Images of occupations: Components of gender and status in occupational stereotypes.” 32.9-10 (1995): 565-582.
Liben, Lynn S., Rebecca S. Bigler, and Colleen R. Krogh. “Pink and blue collar jobs: judgments of job status and job aspirations.” Journal of experimental child psychology 79.4 (2001): 346-363.
Loscocco, Karyn A. “Reactions to pink-collar work: A comparison of women and men.” Work and Occupations 17.2 (1990): 152-177.
