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Summary Of Just One Of The Guys By Kristen Shilt

1765 Words8 Pages

Today, gender inequality in the workplace still remains a popular discussion within institutional and social realms. In Just One of the Guys? by Kristen Schilt, through a variety of methods she shows how transmen are susceptible to systemic gender inequality even if they go through different experiences. Schilt performs in-depth interviews with transmen in the workplace to show how the types of experiences transgender people go through, good or bad, can be influenced on what race or social class they are in. She uses informational tables showing yearly statistics, real life examples of transmen’s stories, and her own observational data to provide an explanation of how individuals participate in the reproduction of gender inequality within …show more content…

For stealth transmen it can be easier on the individual because he is entering an environment where nobody knows about his transition so therefore they won’t judge him or even choose not to hire him based on what they know about him. The trust in gender appearances make the transman more comfortable going stealth because they know if they are physically passable they have a strong chance of getting the job as a man. If a person is stealth, they can receive more respect, authority, and economic opportunities within the workplace. With these positives, there are some risks that are associated with being a stealth transmen. Stealth transmen can face problems or consequences if a former acquaintance or paperwork shows that the person is a different gender then what they are currently classifying themselves as. An example of one of these risks is when Crispin who had been working in a blue-collar field for a lengthy time to give himself a better chance at receiving a job with better pay. His license and Social Security said he was a male, but after interviewing with several employers the final step was to give the employers references of his past employers. His past employers were unsupportive of his transition and they made it clear to him that they would not be helpful in using male pronouns. A few weeks later after his potential employer communicated …show more content…

Her work gives us an idea about the persistence of workplace gender inequality in particular. Through her in-depth interviews with transmen, we learn that workplace gender inequality is still a common thing in workplaces. Some women feel forced to transition to men so they can compete for better jobs and be more respected as a person at their job. This is showing that women are not receiving the same benefits or opportunities so much as men that they actually want to be a man just so they can reap the benefits that men receive. Even for transgender people who are in the process of transitioning to a man, they still receive some of the negative effects of being a women because employers and employees notice either the past history of being a female or they have yet to become physically passable as a man. If the transmen have positive or negative experiences in the workplace it still shows how gender inequality is taking place. If a transman receives negative feedback from his employer for not being enough of man because he was in the early stages of transitioning, that is showing that the employer has no interest in hiring a female. Similarly, if a transman is physically passable and qualifies as a male they will get hired much easier in a blue-collar field or receive more promotions than in the past when they were a

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