Page 80 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2024

story by
Cherie Ward
With an increase in global education coupled with the rapid growth of the Internet, the world is changing its mind about previously accepted gender roles and stereotypes.
Rising female labor force participation has been one of the most remarkable economic developments of the last century with gender equality experiencing a nationwide significance. Female roles have evolved to a comparable male level with women working the same jobs, attending the same colleges, and holding the same high corporate and governmental positions.
In previous years, men dominated fields such as science, technology, education, mathematics, and politics, but now, despite women closing in, men still hold the lead in areas like construction, automotive repair, and firefighting.
In Mississippi, women were once seen as subservient, but are now viewed as influential leaders in business and government while also resiliently advocating for equality throughout the Magnolia State.
But it wasn't always that way down South.
Previous eras such as the aging Baby Boomer Generation shattered the workplace glass ceiling by accepting societal responsibilities similar to their domestic roles. People often
assumed Mississippi women were mainly homemakers, cooking, cleaning, and caring for children. But in actuality that was a privileged role allotted to only the wealthiest of households. Most Magnolia State women in the '50s, '60s, and '70s dealt with stagnated wages and worked tireless hours in chicken factories, seafood plants, or on farms, pulling in a second income just to help put food on the table. These same women were often at the forefront of movements such as reforming child labor laws, controlling alcohol consumption, and changing the electoral college process.
Although it took a while for women to climb through that shattered workplace glass ceiling, it is not the only gender role that's shifting, slowly but surely.
Data from the 2022 Census Bureau reports show that one- fifth of Mississippi’s opposite-sex, married-couple families had a stay-at-home parent and at least one child under the age
of 15. Moms make up the overwhelming majority of these stay-at-home parents, though the stay-at-home dad rate has steadily climbed during the last decade, reaching 15 percent in 2022.
And while Mississippi women have come a long way, there are still plenty of areas in need of inclusion and more glass ceilings to be shattered... Alas, a woman’s work is never done.
80 | September 2024
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