Gender and Psych

 “In spite of advances made by women in a number of different arenas and the work done by the Women’s movement, feminist organisations, and other activists, women still do not yield or exert the power that men command.” (Galliano, 2003)

During the 1960’s, American women’s world was limited; from family life to the workplace. It was expected that women followed a certain path which was to marry in her early 20’s, starting a family and devoting her life to full housekeeping, caring for her children and most domestic chores. Husbands controlled their wives property and earnings. Research showed that 38 percent of American women who worked in this era were highly limited to jobs such as teachers, secretary and nurses. Women’s salaries were lower than men and were also denied the opportunities of promotions. In 1920s, there was a push for women's suffrage, and they finally gained the right to vote.The feminist movement originally focused on dismantling workplace inequality, such as denial of access to better jobs and salary inequity, via anti-discrimination laws. A group of feminists including Betty Friedan decided to found an organization that would fight gender discrimination through the courts and legislatures.

Are women less powerful than men?  Do women not exert the power that men command? In the Political, Social and Economic environment where there is controversy with gender at all times. Legitimate power typically derives from a person’s status or position and is based on a subject’s perception, that a person has the right to prescribe and control the subject’s behaviour. Research shows that women have less legitimate power than men because women do not command the authority that men do (Fiske & Ruscher, 1993; Johnson, 1976; Wolf & Fligstein, 1979). Cartwright (1959) states that power is the amount of tension toward changes which one person can bring to bear on another person's "life space". Women are expected to be sneakier and use more indirect forms of power. (Broverman et al., 1972). If a woman does use direct power, she may risk becoming known as pushy, overbearing, and unfeminine. If one is dependent on others for resources, one's power is lessened. Women are usually portrayed as the weaker sex, dependent on men for resources.

Political

In the political sector, we have women like Kamla Persad-Bissessar; a former attorney general, married and has a son, graduated top of her class from law school. She is a descendant of Indian indentured labourers who came to Trinidad to work the sugar plantations and has been the Member of Parliament for her area Siparia since 1995. In 2007, she became the new political leader of the United National Congress party, which was formerly led by Mr. BasdeoPanday and currently leads the People’s Partnership.

Kamla Persad-Bissessarwas the first woman to serve as Attorney General in Trinidad & Tobago. She then became the first female Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in March 26, 2010 to September, 7 2015.  She also became the first female Chairperson in office at the Commonwealth, using this opportunity to address issues as women’s rights and equality and the importance of women as leaders in today’s society. Time Magazine name Kamla Persad-Bissessar as one of the top ten female leaders across the world for her contributions to politics and social reconstructing and gender equality in the world. She was also awarded by Glamour Magazine in 2010 for Woman of the Year. Kamla is often judged by her appearance and wardrobe rather than by her political savvy. As first female Prime Minister of T&T it often seemed as she paved her own path and unorthodox ways in an industry often led and dominated by men. Renuka Singh (2013) reported Kamla stated, “We have many highly successful women in our country, but the system itself militates against women rising.” Many times women give up and do not pursue their dreams. There are not many women that get involved in politics at the highest levels. We can see, since the political environment is mainly male dominated, often times persons say that she is influenced by the men in her Cabinet.The society just could not accept that a woman could have as much power that a man could. Instead persons put her under the microscope, seeing her as weak and incapable of running/ leading a country.