• Home
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • News Tips/Press Releases
  • Advertising
Sunday, February 5, 2023
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
The Times Delphic
  • News
    • Administrative News
    • The Ones
    • Campus Events
    • Campus Health
    • Crime Log
    • In Des Moines
    • Student Senate
    • Senate Elections
  • Features
    • Clubs
    • People
    • Greek Life
  • Commentary
    • Opinion
    • Letter from the Editor
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Rowing
    • Golf
  • Relays Edition
    • Commentary
    • Coronavirus
    • Elections
    • Features
    • News
    • This week in photos
    • Top News
    • Top Stories
    • Video
    • Security Reports
    • Relays Edition
    • Poll
    • Podcasts
    • Online Exclusives
  • Podcasts
  • News
    • Administrative News
    • The Ones
    • Campus Events
    • Campus Health
    • Crime Log
    • In Des Moines
    • Student Senate
    • Senate Elections
  • Features
    • Clubs
    • People
    • Greek Life
  • Commentary
    • Opinion
    • Letter from the Editor
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Rowing
    • Golf
  • Relays Edition
    • Commentary
    • Coronavirus
    • Elections
    • Features
    • News
    • This week in photos
    • Top News
    • Top Stories
    • Video
    • Security Reports
    • Relays Edition
    • Poll
    • Podcasts
    • Online Exclusives
  • Podcasts
No Result
View All Result
The TD
No Result
View All Result
Home Commentary Opinion

Disparity of workplace attire seen in lacking women’s options

bySARAH BETH COLEMAN
April 13, 2015
in Opinion
1
0
SHARES
30
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

STORY BY SARAH BETH COLEMAN

Sarah Beth Coleman can be reached at sarah.coleman@drake.edu
Sarah Beth Coleman can be reached at sarah.coleman@drake.edu

We all know the scene from that one rom-com where that empowered female role model goes on a liberated and freeing shopping trip, powerwalking the mall court with bags filled with the latest fashion. I thought I would follow suit in preparation for an alternative spring break doing volunteering out east, but I wasn’t shopping for Dior or Gucci, I was looking for safety gear and equipment.

Perusing the aisles of Walmart with my mother in tow I found everything from travel supplies, to first aid, a quality flashlight, and good work gloves. The gender-neutral eye protection and hearing protect was easy to find, and fairly inexpensive.

All I needed now was a pair of steel, or composite, toed boots. I took to the Internet to find the best bang for my college buck, and found that I was out of luck.

Many sites only offered hiking boots, or slip on shoes with a composite toe.

Red Wing Boots carried four appropriate women’s boots, compared to the 66 in the men’s boots. Timberland failed to even include a women’s section when you go to their site and search ‘composite toe,” and offering one appropriate boot in their “pro” line of shoes.

This disparity in products designed for women’s safety has surprised and scared me. Not as a raving college feminist ready to burn bras, but as a person that understands that equal opportunity employments means nearly 60 percent of women age 16 and over participate in the workforce. What about the Rosie the Riveters of our embowered female working class?

I reached out to a business that wished to remain anonymous, and they suggested that their women might just wear men’s boots, and that the genders are more so about “decoration.”

A 2001 study by Wunderlich and Cavanagh called “Gender differences in adult foot shape” concluded that “female feet and legs are not simply scaled-down versions of male feet but rather differ in a number of shape characteristics, particularly at the arch, the lateral side of the foot, the first toe and the ball of the foot. These differences should be taken into account.”

So the men’s boots might not fit perfectly, what’s wrong with that?

This little thing called the Occupational Safety & Health Administration under the United States Department of Labor happens to have a page called “Women in the Construction Workplace: Providing Equitable Safety and Health Protection.”

It’s got some fun sections that say things like “Having inadequate or ill-fitting clothing, boots gloves, or safety equipment presents a safety hazard for any worker” and “When asked if they could easily find protective clothing to fit, 46 percent of women in the second NIOSH said “no” with respect to work shoes.”

So here’s me putting my steel toed boot down on the lack of safety attire meant for women. As members of the working class we deserve to have safe attire, and gender disparity shouldn’t impact safety.

Tags: gender balancegender discrimination issuesgender equalitySafetywomenwork

SARAH BETH COLEMAN

Next Post

Dorm room delight: Nutella s’mores made with leftover Easter candy

The Times-Delphic The Times-Delphic ·
@timesdelphic
Two people were injured in a shooting near the Drake neighborhood Saturday evening, according to the Des Moines Police Department.
View on Twitter
1
8
The Times-Delphic The Times-Delphic ·
@timesdelphic
Drake Public Safety was informed around 5 p.m. Sunday by a third person account that someone saw "an individual by Mars Cafe carrying a rifle," according to DPS Assistant Director Tricia McKinney.
View on Twitter
2
4
The Times-Delphic The Times-Delphic ·
@timesdelphic
https://t.co/dMAArL3bcb
View on Twitter
timesdelphic photo
0
0
The Times-Delphic The Times-Delphic ·
@timesdelphic
https://t.co/L02BBrJQhv
View on Twitter
timesdelphic photo
0
1

Newspaper Archive and Print Edition

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
  • About
  • Home
  • Podcasts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Virtual Edition
  • Advertising

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Sports

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Bodybuilder is fighting for his life after taking dirty steroids femara uk trump's "operation warp speed" for mass vaxxing. "big bucks for big pharma" - global research